Merry Christmas to all!

I hope you are having a great holiday season! I've been having fun. Here are a few pictures from this week.

My little pink tinsel tree. I love it, but next year I want a real tree, even if it's a miniature one.

My friend gave me a gorgeous arrangement of tulips, berries, and greenery. Flowers are one of my favorite things so I've really been enjoying this bouquet!

My friend Silke Powers gave me several great gifts, including these pretty fingerless gloves that she made and the wonderful bobcat mug with her artwork. Silke now offers her artwork on items over at Society6.com so if you have not checked it out yet, head on over there to see her mugs, totes, art prints, iPhone and iPad cases, and much more.

My friend Stephanie gave me a Christmas stocking in a bag, and I had such fun opening all of these goodies!

Many other people sent cards and gifts this Christmas, and I'm so thankful to have such good friends and family in my life. More importantly, as a cancer survivor, I am grateful every day just to be here, enjoying my life. The goal for next year is to increase the gratitude factor, which automatically increases the joy!

Truly, it was a great Christmas, and I hope yours was too! I have been absent from the blog world for much of this year. One project that's kept me busy is making beaded stretch bracelets for my Etsy shop, Fresh Start Beadery. You may or may not see more of me here in 2015. Who knows what the New Year holds! But I certainly wish all of you a terrific 2015. I think it's going to be an amazing year!

Worldwide Moment

Worldwide Moment: today at 10:16 a.m. ET
holiday prep

Wordless Wednesday ~ July 23, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Florida or Bust

I'm off to Florida for 6 days! See you on the flip side!

Seaside Saturday ~ March 1, 2014

Here we are in a new month, and the year is now 1/6 over. Hard to believe! All of us in the Northeast are feeling ready for spring! There is a certain beauty to Maine in winter, however. To give you a glimpse of the Maine Coast in March, I dipped into the photographic archives and pulled these 3 images from March 2011. I was up the Coast at Reid State Park, and for the first time, I was there after dark. The occasion? The super moon! The park stayed open after sunset, and a small group of hearty folks turned out to see the moon rise from the sea. It was a wonderful sight! Unfortunately, I couldn't capture it with my camera, but here are a few shots I did manage before it got dark. Please click on each photo for a better look.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy ♥ Day to you! It's a day for hearts and flowers!

Seaside Saturday ~ January 11, 2014

We've been having a bit of a rough winter here in Biddeford, but finally last Friday (January 10th)  it was dry and not quite so cold (about 30 degrees, compared to the previous week's single digits). I decided I couldn't wait another day to see the ocean. It had been too long!

I stopped by the public beach at Biddeford Pool, where the lifeguard stands wait patiently for summer to come. The parking lot was covered in ice, but I gingerly made my way to the beach.

The nice thing about the off-season is I have the beach all to myself.

Of course, it's a bit too brisk to linger for very long.

But I did manage a short walk and a bit of picture-taking.

It was later in the afternoon, and the sun was low in the sky.

The sun sets early here at this time of year, about 4:30 p.m. or so.

I'm always intrigued by this building, formerly a hotel and now a retreat center. If you've ever read Anita Shreve, you may remember the house that was formerly a convent that appears in several of her books. I imagine it might look something like this building. And since Anita Shreve has summered in Biddeford Pool, who's to say she didn't draw on it for her inspiration?

After my walk on the beach, I drove around the area a bit and stopped to take a few quick shots of a field full of Canadian geese. Actually, that isn't a field; it's a golf course.

The geese took off about the same time I did.

I continued along to a road where I could view the open ocean.

As I said to my Facebook friends, we Mainers see a different sort of beauty in the winter, a beauty that summer visitors will never know.

Happy New Year, 2014!!

This is a sweet vintage New Year's postcard from 1910. It is much cuter than my photos suggest, but hopefully, you can get the idea.

The postcard is addressed to Miss Nellie Knicerbocker, Lenoxville, Pa. And the postmark bears the date of January 4, 1910.

The message on the back intrigues me. Here's what it says:

Nellie, will you please be so kind and send that telescope (satchel) on the next stage and we will pay the charges.

Attend to it at once as we would like to use. Send it to Papa - to Clifford.

Lovingly, Kate.

So who are Kate and Nellie? Sisters, perhaps? And why is it postmarked Lenoxville if it's being mailed to Lenoxville?

I guess we will never know...

Good-by & good riddance to 2013!

As I wrote on my FB wall this morning, I have never been so glad to see the end of a year! Basically, 2013 SUCKED! It ranked as the second-worst year of my life, and I am so glad we are moving on into 2014....

I will say that many things became clear during the various crises I experienced this year. There is always good to be found in any situation if you look hard enough. I grew as a person, I was fortunate enough to be supported by many wonderful people, and I learned some difficult life lessons. So now, onward and upward in 2014!! I wish you a very Happy New Year! May it be filled with good health, good friends, and new adventures for all of us!

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus

NYC store displays ~ ABC Carpet & Home, Christmas 2013

I've been wanting to do a post on the store windows and displays I saw while in Manhattan last month, and I am finally getting to it. I have enough photos that I'm going to do two separate posts. (Click on each image for a better/bigger view.)

Today's post is all about ABC Carpet & Home, located on Broadway  in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. ABC Carpet & Home is known for their wonderfully creative displays. Honestly, if you don't feel creatively inspired when you walk through this store, you've got to be half-dead.

I love the way they take items that we might not necessarily think of and turn them into intriguing tabletop displays, such as the religious statues. And their displays contain so many surfaces that catch the light.

I'm not positive, but I think those are geodes at the top of this table. And then there are little glass ornaments with sand inside at the bottom.

This display inspires me to get out my vintage perfume bottles to mix with glass votives for a regal dinner table.

I love the look of the matte, charcoal-gray plates with the shiny fuschia and purple ornaments.

This is an idea that could easily be duplicated. Simply take a small bunch of branches, spray them white, and add glass ornaments in jewel tones.

Did you spot the Mr. & Mrs. under the cloche? Cute idea for a wedding or bridal shower.

This was my favorite display: an old set of rusty bed springs from which they hung a number of disparate objects.

Side note: A few weeks ago, I was driving down my street and I spotted an old set of bed springs in a dumpster. I was so tempted to go to a new store we have in town, owned by a couple from Brooklyn, and tell them about these springs. They are clever enough that I think they could have turned them into a display like the one at ABC Carpet & Home. But when I returned from running my errand, the dumpster was gone.

These are not the best pictures -- I was trying to hurry since I felt pretty self-conscious about shooting in the crowded store (although I had asked for permission) -- but I hope they give you a feel for what it was like in this visual playland at Christmastime.

Stay tuned for more NYC store and window displays in my next post!