Renewed love for my Roseville Pottery collection. I walk by this cabinet fairly frequently, but stopping to take a picture changes everything. I see these beautiful pieces through fresh eyes.
Also featured: a Swanky Swigs glass. Swanky Swigs were made for Kraft foods. They came filled with cheese spread. Once the cheese was gone, you had a charming little glass.
And the girl on the Easter egg is another creation from Vintage by Crystal. I love, love, love her sense of whimsy.
We toasted the new year with a glass of Martinelli’s sparkling cider and settled in to watch the two-hour finale of Stranger Things. Brilliant! Now I want to watch the entire series again. It first started airing in 2016 when the young actors at the center of the story were 12 or 13. They looked like babies. Covid delayed things, of course. Don and I didn’t start watching until the first two seasons had aired – we played catchup – and we had no idea what to expect. But, we were quickly hooked. I’ll miss it. Hence, my decision to watch it all again. I don’t know whether Don will be on board with this, so I may watch it on my laptop.
We had more snow overnight on Wednesday/Thursday, but it was less than an inch. It’s brutally cold around here. Thankfully, we had some much needed sunshine yesterday. Today looks rather gloomy.
This will be the year of committing to the renovation of the Beacon Hill. I’ll do it on a budget. (I have no choice!) It is so big that the very idea of doing anything seems impossible.
So. A room at a time. Hopefully. completing one room will serve as inspiration for the next. And so on.
I’ve been slowly removing ornaments from the tree as one side of it is drying out and the branches are sagging. I know from experience that precious ornaments can fall and break when that happens. As to why one side is drying out more quickly? I have no idea. Anyway, the lights are still on the tree, as well as several ornaments. We’ll probably do our best to enjoy it for the weekend, but we’ll take it down sooner if we have to. The feather tree will remain fully decorated until we change it out to some other theme.
Today I will be un-decorating the girls’ cubbies as well as taking down the little white tree that sits next to me here in the den.
The porch lights will remain on through February – at least!
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
I always feel it’s a sad time when holiday lights get taken down. I love the light and sparkle, especially welcoming when I drive back through my neighborhood coming home in the evening. Mine will come down within the allotted time given by the association that covers my development, 30 days after an event. I’m counting from New Year’s Day…
My daughters and I continue to play the Count the Holiday lights game that my husband and I started as a couple and then included our girls as they learned to count. We each guess how many homes will have light decorations when we start out a trip. We have a few specific rules: even if a house has lights up, they must be on to be counted. If a home has blow-up decorations but no lights, that doesn’t count. Even as adults, the daughters (and now their partners) still enjoy the game with me, and I get to enjoy the memory of how much my husband enjoyed it.
What a lovely way to celebrate Christmas lights, Wendy.
Ours will be up until February at the very least. This has been a harsh winter so far, so I expect I’ll have them up until March.
Stay safe.
Oh good! I’ll be interested to see what you do with the Beacon Hill.
I like to get all the Christmas stuff put away by New Years. I like to start the new year as I plan to go on, but I’m looking around and need to dust so I guess that’s not a priority for 2026, lol.
Happy New Year!
I actually did a bit of dusting today. A rarity!
Thanks so much, Marilyn.
Stay safe.
Our New Year was quiet. Duck Soup, watching the London fireworks, just apps and Thai leftovers. Nothing fancy, not even sparkling. But the new year entry I needed. I’ll be eager to see the Beacon Hill.
I remember when I had a live tree and in the night I’d hear the dropping of balls and the whisper of pine needles falling. I miss that in a way. I don’t miss having to take it down before I’m ready. I’ll probably start mid-January, or at least the big tree and the ones that look more Christmassy. I’ll swap out some of the Christmas look on a tall pencil tree for woodland ornaments and birds from a tree that never got up this year. It’s always one of my favorites and will stay up with lights till equinox.
What comes next is thank you notes and putting away the obvious — the Santas and Father Christmases, swapping them out for snowfolk. And culling what I choose not to use anymore. It’s time to give them a new home.
Luckily, this year we have the feather tree, which will still be on the coffee table, fully decorated. We plan to do the same thing as you do, change out the ornaments to something seasonal.
Enjoy, Jeanie.
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia!
I will look forward to seeing progress on the Beacon Hill! Yay! And I will do my best to not bombard you with comments about it! :) I know you will be taking your time and “feeling” your way back into it, but I hope to see lots of in progress pictures too! (Really, any minis are “eye candy” to me!) So play away, and some of the best minis are made from “scratch” egg cartons and paper and basic paints. But you know that! I will hope you can find many hours of happy time in this project! Happy New Year!
Thanks so much, Betsy!
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia. I love your little swanky swig. I have a modest collection of them, maybe 12 or 15. You don’t see them as often, anymore. Enjoy your tree till you have to take it down. What a great idea to decorate your feather tree seasonally. I’m sure you will share pictures. Hugs, Elaine
Oh, lovely that you have a little swanky swigs collection, Elaine! I remember way back when I started collecting Fiesta, there were a lot of swanky swig collectors out there.
Stay safe.