Coffee!!!

After my 3 year old grandson's first sleepover, the morning after... for the first time in my life, I realized that I really, really, really needed coffee!

 

Made in honor aFtr gr@nDkid's firStt sleEpoVeR...  

Madona

Gustav Klimt
Mother and Child (detail from The Three Ages of Woman), c.1905

Beauty

via

Birthday

 
 
(✿◠‿◠)❀  ♫ ❤ FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO!!! ❤ ♫  ❀(◠‿◠✿)

for Son¹, in Paris

Green Green Garden

Pretty cool!
And, if we put some wheels on, it can be turned to get sun on all the sides.

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Babythings

With a grandchild on the way, the first, naturally mind and eyes turn to babythings.

A lovely "moon crib" from Crème Anglaise.

Baby Boy!

It's a boy!
Just heard from BelleFille³ that the Baby will be a boy, as my son and she were desiring.

♥

6 months

Six months since my surgery, and minus 28 kg.


Amazing --- Having a second chance!

Christmas Eve

Prepared the turkey for its roasting early tomorrow morning
(Note to self: Put in oven at 07:00!), and other ingredients for tomorrow's Christmas dinner all organized.
Ufa! What a week, but everything's now pretty much done/planned...
I see that I still haven't recovered my stamina after the surgery.

Tonight, we go to my friend and youngest son's godmother's home, for their Christmas Eve family dinner.
It will be lovely, I'm sure — dear friends, laughter, and caring.

Merry Christmas!

Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
(click to enlarge)

Christmas: Butzelmann&Roses

Remember my Butzelmann bottles?

Here they are, all dressed for Christmas!

I sent the photo, along with my Christmas card, to the friend who sent them from Germany.
To you, dear:

Christmas

Got the tree up!
Happy dance, happy dance!
(This year, I actually got it up on Dec. 12th — Yea! Triple happy dance!)

 Tannenbaum 2011

click to enlarge

Got some candles lit...

And a few friends 'round the house...

 

(it's blurred cause the critters won't stay still!...)

(... not my hand shaking!)

Happy Holidays to all!

Thanksgiving

via

Today I spoke with/saw with Skype my family in the States, while they gathered and cooked for Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house.

How wonderful are comp video calls?

One more blessing to give thanks for today.

There I was, albeit stuck in a propped up flat box, in the their midst sharing the holiday in New England!

Simultaneously, I'm sitting in my chair in the spring/near-summer of my hemisphere, roughly 7427.1 km (4615 miles)* away, as some crazy bird would fly.

And that's about a third, very roughly, of the Earth's diameter!

(This little bit of info to add to my collection of interesting but useless information.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

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Auto Lurking

I haven't had the urge to blog for awhile now... but I have been coming here, lurking about my own blog for several days now.
This to catch up on my the doings of the people of my blog list (I guess that would be in newspeak my blog peeps).
Although not in a blogging mood, an executive blogging mood, I'm enjoying catching up with those who are cheerfully posting away. There some of my favorite bloggers who also seem to be having a time off ... a long while between posts for them also.

Today marks the second month since my surgery. I'm starting to feel human, slightly, again. Or maybe the term shoud be normal, whatever THAT is, as human can aptly describe the highly fragilised state I've been slogging through.
Post-op, even the excellent ones like mine, basically
                   just
                          plain
                                   suck.

So, 2 months and 14 kg returned to the Cosmos, or Gaia, or who/whatever needs it most at this moment.
I'm having more energy now, more mobility... so now I'm actually starting to get a happy feeling about it.
And fitting back into some of my old clothes. Yippee!

April Ladies

Been out of posting mood for a while. A very upsetting beginning of the year. Now, I think all the bootstrap-pulling-upping is finally working.

Today, after a long abscence from quality blog-time, I visited The Girls.

Whenever I do come to the blog and give myself some short or long visiting time, these are usually the first I visit: Posy, Attic24, and Marmalade Rose.
So, why not post of this simple little ritual that brings me happiness.
A two-fold blessing: aknowledging the gift of their presence and getting a post written!

They always cheer me up (even when giving me that pang of envy by all their energy, lovely locations end crafty work!) I love their gorgeous photos. I love taking little or long trips with them to town, to the countryside, even to the supermarket; or just sharing, for a moment, a little bit of their lives.

They don't know of my existence as I'm pretty much of a "lurker", dreadful sounding as that word is. Although once I did comment at Posy's and once at Marmalade Rose's. Fiona, The Rose, kindly answered me back, a happy, warming moment. Although nice to receive, the "commenting" is not what is important: sharing their world through their blogs, these generous ladies share it with me, and this brightens my life.

Note to Self:

Ok, ok, already!!! My conscience pestering me!

So: I like all the blogs on my list!!! (or they wouldn't be there, right?)

Some also are cockle-warming, some have fantastic decorating info, many are crafty, all with interesting and beautiful photos... It's just that these three I start with, like today, when I specially want some coziness.

There, are you satisfied? Can you give me some quiet now?

Japan

Let us pray

Christmas 2010

This year (last year!) I have to admit that I wasn't in too much of a Christmas mood.
I usually love setting out the decorations... getting out my family of stuffed animals that join us in our Christmas cheer, my tree decorations made and that survived the years, and twinkly lights for the tree and veranda.

This year, although I got the boxes out at the beginning of December, I finally managed to put the wreath on the door (the official start of Christmas for me) only a week and a half before Christmas eve. The tree, although bought a full week ahead, I was only able to get ready on morning of the 24th...
I guess this is the "Just in Time" planning so much touted about in the business world!

Hubby desired a live tree for Christmas this year, so we found this lovely little conical expensive thuya. The decorations were more in a minamalist mode: your basic lights&balls.
I used the survivors of various years' white incandescent mini lights, and a new set of unearthly (as in "alien/from another galaxy') white LED mini lights Hubbs brought back from his December trip to Germany. Yes, I do not like white LED lights...
But mixed, alternated, with the leftovers of the regular mini lights, it actually came out interesting... but just by themselves, just think Christmas at the Frankenstein's or something else rather creepy!

I added the red and green butterflies that Son²'s girlfriend gifted us and a bow of iridescent cellophane I made years and years ago, and ... voilá!
Nearly instant Christmas tree!

I then added the few animals I did find (the box with most if them I couldn't find... ??? where or where has my little lamb animals gone?).

Although not to an auspicious start—actually a rather bad one with sleepless nights the whole week before due to my cold&coughing and some others troubles—the Christmas gatherings came out very well:
Christmas Eve dinner here at home and Christmas Day dinner that we cook and take to my mother's. The food was all delicious, and more importantly, everyone was happy and in good spirits.
All peacefull under the Christmas star!

Hubbs also brought back from Germany a green tablecloth and some red embroidery sousplats. Once out of the package while setting the table, I found out to my dismay that it was a rather garish, very shiny satin. Added to the red sousplats, the table came out veeery colorful, more than my usual style. But, honors to my dear Hubby for thinking of a pretty home!

* Instant centerpiece: brass candlesticks plus apples plus red christmas balls *

I'll leave the Christmas dinner(s) menu(s) to another post.

"Papai, papai, deixa eu filmar!"

My eldest son got out the remains of the VHS tapes that we had filmed the children when very small and had them passed, whatever could be saved, to dvd's.

While watching a few of these with the aforementioned children, now in adulthood (fingers crossed!), we all started to laugh, as the soundtrack with its endless refrain, came through:
"Papai, papai, deixa eu filmar?! Papai, deixa eu filmar?! Papai, por favor, deixa eu filmar?!
Pai, eu sei filmar! Papai, deixa eu filmar?!"
>> (Daddy, Daddy, let me film? Daddy, let me film? Daddy, let me film?
Daddy, I know how to film! Daddy, please let me film?!")

Rather like this... though the pro-active part was only thought of, to be sure!

Just love Pierre Coffin's work...

And for more of the Lady in the Shoe theme: (see also That time coming around ... and Rose Hill Cottage)

© Passion Pictures / MacGuff Line / P. Coffin

via The Pings Page

Thanksgiving

Another Bright Blue Snuggie

Oh, this is funny!

A few weeks ago on Nov 12, Son² came back from a week's business trip to the States bringing a gift for his dear old ma: a Snuggie.
At first, I thought it was just another blanket, a ve-e-ery bright blue, a blue that used to be called eletric for its visual shock potential; a blanket for warm tv watching.
But, eyes aglow, he insisted, , "Open it, open it!"

And, lo and behold:

A blanket with sleeves!!!

The Sleeve!

Ok, ok, this may not be world shaking news for all the blasé I-already-know-what-a-Snuggie-is folks, but is was a surprise to me!

I have since then, on the recent unseasonably cool evenings, been watching tv shnuggled in my son's sweetly thoughtful, very bright, electric-blue gift.

Taking a peek at The Pioneer Woman today, I suddenly see that there is another bright blue snuggie in the world!
Here you can read the funny&wow "A Gravel Road, Two Photographers, and a Bright Blue Snuggie", which was posted on the ... 12th Nov!
The very same day that my very own bright blue snuggie brightened and warmed my life!

Joy

A few weeks ago while going through the garden, I realized that the scruffy, drooping plants in one of the fountain borders was lavender. Lavender!!!
With the start of the rains and few good soakings, the plants had recuperated from being transplanted and had started to bloom.

I love lavender!
Up until a few years ago it was very difficult to find lavender plants here.
Suddenly, surprise, surprise! Lavender in my own building's garden, planted unbeknownst to me.

These pictures are from a few days later...
Spring's joy.

 

 A new hydrangea