What, you say? It’s already time for A Favorite Thing? Again?

Yes, an enthusiastic yes, indeed!

Let’s take a look at a few of the wonderful contributions from last week’s get-together.

Judy, of 20 North Ora, shared her sweet fairy garden with us. If you know Judy, you know that she loves Coca-Cola collectibles, so it seems oh-so-perfect that her garden is in a collectible Coca-Cola crate.

Mary, of A Breath of Fresh Air, shared her one of her favorite things – a sunset safari camel ride on the beach in Broome, Australia. Mary has been traveling quite a bit and has lots of adventures to share on her blog. This looks pretty amazing to me.

And Sandy of The Wonders of Doing, shared such a touching story. This sampler was stitched by her mother and given to Sandy and her husband when they moved into a new home many years ago. Sandy’s brother died in 1986. She asked her sister-in-law if she could have her brother’s lithograph from Boy’s Town – something he had always cherished. She was turned down. Sixteen years later, during a move, the frame for the embroidery pictured above was broken and some damage was done to the embroidery. But when Sandy looked at the damage, she discovered her brother’s favorite lithograph behind the embroidery. Amazing.

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I had something else picked out to share with you this week, but we suddenly have a frost warning for tonight. It’s one of those one-night-only things and I’ve been cutting my remaining flowers and preparing to cover some of my plants.

But what makes me the saddest is that my beloved catalpa tree (photo taken today) with its large green heart-shaped leaves will suddenly drop those leaves overnight. Whenever we have a hard frost, the catalpa sheds its leaves en masse. My catalpa tree is one of my favorite things here at the cottage and as I was looking out my bedroom window this afternoon, I spent some time gazing at my tree trying to memorize its beauty. All that lush green growth will be gone tomorrow.

Now it’s your turn! What do you have to share this week?

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

How can it be week number six of A Favorite Thing! But it is. So let’s look back at some of the contributions of week number five.

Haworth shared Mr. Tyger, a gift to her during a hospital stay. Mr. Tyger is beautiful and formidable and Haworth adorns him in his crown and a ring of holly during the holidays. Late winter brings some decoration in the form of Mardi Gras beads.

Becky is over-the-moon about her new laminate floors. I don’t blame her. After years of carpet, her beautifully decorated home looks even more beautiful, if that’s possible!

And Sarah writes about her Peanut Bird. The Peanut Bird used to belong to her father-in-law – whenever he wanted peanuts, he would go to the pantry and bring the bird out. Years later, it came to live in Sarah’s house and is now proudly displayed on her baker’s rack, bringing back wonderful memories of a beloved father-in-law.

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This week I want to share another Favorite Thing with you. But do I dare to call him a thing? Oh no!

Meet our beloved Monty. Isn’t he handsome? Monty came to us when we first moved out east. We were living in a small hamlet and often went to another small town on the Hudson River to go antiquing. One shop, an adorable shop, that unfortunately didn’t last very long, had some of these cows on display. Each one was slightly different and I was entranced. So was Don. This guy with that innocent, slightly hang dog look, wormed his way into our hearts and we took him home.

‘Mont’ were the first four letters of the hamlet we lived in, so the name Monty was born.

I ask you, could you resist that face? He usually lives in the den, but I brought him out to the living room where the light was better. He told me he likes this stool and might he please stay here for a while?

Of course.

Now, it’s your turn!

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

Enjoy and have fun!

Hello, friends! It’s time for another A Favorite Thing Saturday – our fifth! It’s a rainy Friday as I write this post, rather dreary and gray, so let’s look at some happy highlights of last week’s party.

Be still my heart – look at all those deliciously vintage Santas and other Christmas goodies. Dottie, of It’s Just Dottie, displays these gems in a cabinet in her entryway. How could you not smile every time you walked past it?

Rob, of Island Rustic, collects mottos. I, too, am drawn to these wonderfully framed vintage mottos, with fabulous graphics and words to live by. I only have one, but Rob has a whole collection!

And look at this dearly loved bear:

Anikó, of Idle Needle, has had this teddy bear since she was a child. You must read the story to get all the details, but years later, sweet teddy had no more eyes. Eventually, she decided to use all of her mother-of-pearl buttons to create new eyes for him. Or as Anikó says, to make his eyes bright as buttons.

I love seeing everyone’s favorite things. And I think I’m not the only one!

Which brings me to my favorite thing:

This copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was given to my great-aunt Rhoda by my grandmother. Grandma wrote an inscription inside the cover. I never met Rhoda because she died in 1918, along with another sister, Maggie, from influenza. They died within 10 days of each other during the devastating influenza epidemic that took so many lives in 1918. Rhoda was only 15 and was the apple of my grandmother’s eye. I don’t think she ever got over the untimely loss of her sisters. The pages of this book are so fragile that I rarely open it. Grandma held on to it all her life and I am honored to have it here at the cottage.

Now it’s time for you to share your favorite things.

You can link up anytime from this evening through Sunday. Make sure you enter the URL of your post. If you’re unsure how to do that, just click on your post title after you’ve published it and copy the information in your browser address window. Come back here, paste the URL into your link entry and there you go! If you have any problems, drop me an email and I’ll help you out. Please link back to this blog on your post. That way, those that read your post and are interested in reading more can do so.

One of my concerns about link parties is that the very reason for them has somewhat gone by the wayside. They’ve become so big and there are so many of them that many bloggers don’t take the time to visit any of the other participants. Link parties are a way to meet new bloggers and share with each other and the only way to do that is to visit each other. So, please, take some time to visit everyone over the next few days. No rush. Stop by, introduce yourself, and leave a comment. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

Have fun!