Darkness cannot drive out darkness -- Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ January 17th

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remembering the great civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., today and asking you to consider this:

If you love one person today, you'll have made the world a better place. You can love one person, can't you?

Wordless Wednesday ~ January 12th

My tree of words for 2011 ~ January 8th

I had a little New Year’s Eve gathering at my house this year, and I did something different for a table decoration: I made a tree of words for 2011. To make it, I gathered branches in my yard and then attached paper leaves. Each leaf hides a word. Now every visitor to my house gets to choose a leaf so they can discover their word for 2011.




My word is ...



I was rather surprised to receive this word, since for quite some time, I have been on a bit of a hiatus from dating. Well, maybe 2011 is the year I will meet someone special. We will just have to wait and see. One of my friends got contemplation. Another one got optimism. I asked them if they were happy with their words, and they said they were. I would have let them choose again if they wanted to, but they declined. Do you have a word for the New Year? If not, I’d be happy to choose one for you from my little tree. Just let me know.

Wordless Wednesday ~ January 5th

10 Things I know for sure ~ December 30th

If you read Oprah magazine, you know that at the end of the mag she always writes about one thing she knows for sure. Today, as the year winds down and I take a few moments to reflect, I've put together my own list of what I have come to know.

10 Things I know for sure:

1. You can’t force change, but you can allow it.



2. I am truly my own best friend.



3. Happiness is an inside job, every single time.



4. The more I care for myself, the more I can care for others.



5. Action isn’t everything; attitude is.



6. There are little things to be enjoyed in every single day.



7. I get better results when I play at life than when I work at it.



8. There is a gem of hope and joy that can be found in each traumatic or sorrowful life experience.



9. If you weren’t born into a big family, you can make a family of your friends.



10. Whatever you’re wanting in life, you have to believe it to see it.

Wordless Wednesday ~ December 29th

The Simple Joys of Christmas ~ Dec. 24th

It's Christmas Eve, and just like a little kid, I woke up early today, filled with excitement! For me, it's the little things that all add up to making Christmas a special time...


I love my little Christmas tree with all its special ornaments! The angel that tops my tree this year decorated my friend Maria's tree for many years, and now she watches over mine.


I love the shadows that the tree lights make against the wall -- in the same way I love cloud shadows on the mountains in summer.



I have collected so many special ornaments over the years. My dad was the first to get me started with an ornnament collection when he gave me a group of vintage ornaments back in the late 1970's. This lovely red bird was given to me just last year by Maria.



It's fun to wrap presents. These were sent off to Silke & Daniel in Savannah.



And it's fun to see how others wrap gifts. This is one of my favorites this year. Thanks, Maria! I'm enjoying it without even having opened it yet.



I don't typically decorate with themes the way some folks do. But this year I did end up creating a little pastel tablescape in one corner of my living room. The centerpiece is a pretty blue and white tea cup my friend Barb brought back from Russia. It's holding this wonderful old corsage that Silke gave me a few years ago. In the back is a DREAMS jar that I made as part of my Artist's Way group and a bright magenta tree in a silver pot.



I also made this little grouping on my porch to greet visitors as they come into my house. It started with a little red chair, circa 1920's, that I found at a flea market in Jersey about 15 years ago. It holds 2 little volumes of poetry from the 1880's and a reproduction bottle brush tree.



I like to make small gifts for my friends. This is a wreath I decorated for my dog-loving friend, DeeDee, who owns a biz making all-natural dog food.



I love stationery and I always have fun choosing Christmas cards to send.



Sometimes I like to relax on my couch with my favorite mug filled with hot chocolate and just enjoy the little presents underneath the sparkling Christmas tree. (My Christmas tree lights are doing magical things this year: sometimes they blink, and sometimes they don't.)




I'm blessed to have wonderful friends, several of whom are also fabulous bakers. Every year my friend Patty sends me a box of what I think of as THE COOKIES. Patty and I have known each other since kindergarten -- and believe me when I tell you, that's a loooonnnggg time! With 400 miles or so separating us, we don't get to see each other that often, but she is never far from my thoughts. This year she sent 16 (!) different types of cookies. Here are some of her pretty sugar cookies on a vintage plate that Maria, another close friend, gave me one year for my birthday.

And so, I'll wrap this up by wishing a very Merry Christmas to all my blog readers! Thank you for reading my little blog. I hope that wherever you are, whatever you're celebrating, you take some time to enjoy the little things that make the season special!