GLITTER & GLIMMER...

most people COLLECT things....

I have a COLLECTION of SANTA ornaments...

what do you collect?  

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.8.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

SHS 12.8.13

Wondering... how this holiday season came woooo-shing in? 

I haven't done a whole lot better getting my camera out, reading other blogs or posting (thank goodness for i-Pad's), ...

I'm planning to participate in Ashley's annual Memories, Reflections and Dreams. It will be a fabulous way to document 2013!!! Here's the LINK to get you started!!! I hope you join me - You'll be able to blog-hop while you watch the New Year's parades on TV.

WHERE I STOOD, SILVER, TINY, IN THE CUPBOARD & SHADOW.

From WHERE I STOOD in the doorway of the Apple Farm Gift Shop... this is what I saw... sort of a skinny St Nicholas!

Well, these outdoor decorations looked more SILVER when I took the picture! Pretty huh? and there's a SILVER car in the background.

This WAS actually very TINY! a TINY set of sweaters decorated with holiday characters... a Santa, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer.

All our baking supplies cannot fit IN THE CUPBOARD (known as the pantry at our house)... JPE used the "candy cane" melting chips to frost one end of his candy cane biscotti! YUM!!!

I took this picture the day before Thanksgiving! Taken at the charming, historic Santa Barbara Courthouse... several of the ornate lights are in the SHADOW! 

And, now for SONG-OGRAPHY! This is an archived photo! but... it's located in OUR (JPE & I  got married in this area) "special place" - Big Sur, California.

stop by Kathy's @ Don't Shoot Your Eye Out to see what others have posted!!!

This week's song is the "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell.

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem 'em

Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
Til its gone"

Well, in Big Sur they left this yellow bus, painted it blue, yellow & red & turned it into a little coffee bar! Truly unique... the bus sits on the dirt parking lot underneath some huge redwoods! Lucky for us... it's only a little over two hours north of us!

I'll be posting on a more regular basis this week. I've got a little stash of photos to share, so please come back.

WHEN WHAT TO MY WONDERING...

"When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

 but..."

...SANTA

relaxing & having a cuppa tea

looks like he experienced a "snow day"

{of yummy lavender}

You know those UGLY SWEATER themed parties? 

Well, I have an UGLY ORNAMENT

...that, I won't get rid of!

{might be bad karma} 

perhaps she could be my "ELF on a SHELF"

...SANTA spied in Santa Barbara!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.16.12

TODAY'S A DAY TO CELEBRATE!!!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY
don't forget to post your SHS link over at Rambling & Photos!

TONY'S BIRTHDAY

MY BIRTHDAY

MOVIE DAY

But first, this week's SHS words are:

SPARKLY, DOOR, DECORATE, STRIPES & A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Another adorable SPARKLY house... this one has been edited with PicMonkey --- I added some additional SPARKLE...

A trio of caroling snowmen --- at the front DOOR of a house in San Luis Obispo!

I always wanted to major in Art --- doesn't window dressing --- assembling a display case --- or DECORATING, as a profession, sound exciting? I would enjoy the DECORATING part --- but I dislike having to put things away! Urghh. 

These STRIPED Christmas trees caught my eye! Red & white ribbons of color drip from a coiled peppermint candy tree topper!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS... Santas, snowflakes, scrolled fonts, gelato, hearts, my grandmother's ice cream bowl...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

THANKS MOM & DAD....

I share a birth-date with my brother, TONY,

who was born on my 

FIRST BIRTHDAY!

JPE's taking me to see the movie,

Anna Karenina!

IN THE MOOD?

Are you finished decorating?

Monday, after work, Susan & I met for dinner

& to wander the Apple Farm Gift Shop...

hoping the holiday glitz & sparkle would inspire us

 to get our decorating started... completed!!

I think we've decided to "DECORATE LIGHT"...
& cut-out the frenzy of doing-too-much!!

SOOOO, in addition to tasty food, the APPLE FARM 

decorations are...

GLITTERY....

includes SPECTACULAR LIGHTING...

plenty of RED & GREEN...

and SANTA & HIS SLEIGH!!!

all pictures taken @ APPLE FARM, SLO

now that these pictures are posted,

I think I used too much "frost" from the Winterland theme...  

I edited my pictures with PICMONKEY !!!

Check out PICMONKEY ~ it's a FREE PHOTO-EDITING program!!! 

how cool it that?

 

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 1.22.12

another of my collections

How did this weekend pass so quickly? Oh my... I'm late to the party. At last glance there are almost 130 participants in this week's SCAVENGER HUNT.


Ashley, the hostess for this weekly hunt, shared some exciting buried in her post for this week's words.


The words this week are: SUNSET, BLACK & WHITE, FOUR, A DAY IN MY LIFE, & COLORFUL.


Don't forget to check Ashley's blog, RAMBLINGS & PHOTOS to see what she shared!

SUNSET

Due to the intermittent rain & overhead clouds, our SUNSET was short of being spectacular! Sort of ordinary...

BLACK & WHITE

Last week, I mentioned that I collect CHAIRS... several of my December posts showed "treasured members" of my Ho-Ho-Ho collection - you can spot several of my SANTAS HERE & HERE.

I also collect HEARTS. This BLACK & WHITE HEART is actually turquoise-green (see the original color in the first post) & the top lifts off to hold my high school CHARM bracelet.

FOUR

FOUR of my favorite HEARTS... I love each of them for their unique-ness! Which one do you like?

TIME

My TIME seems to slip by "quicker than a wink" ~ how about yours? this little pin is smaller than a quarter ~ isn't that a cute HEART at the top of the clock?

COLORFUL

Dumped out my BUTTON jar... yes, I collect BUTTONS too, don't you? Here are some of my most COLORFUL buttons! I used to have a tin with my BUTTONS, but it was misplaced when I moved from my last house ~ I found these BUTTONS tossed in the bottom of a sewing basket. 

So ~ I almost passed on this week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY! but, it's pretty addicting... & it forces me to get my camera out, even if only for an afternoon.

Next week's words are: SMILE, STAND ALONE, RUSTY OR SOMETHING OLD, ARTIFICIAL, & REPEATING PATTERN.

Stop by Ashley's blog,

RAMBLINGS & PHOTOS,

& share your

C-O-N-G-R-A-T-S!!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 1.15.12

"STACKED UP ACROSS"

{placemats}

It's that time... SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY...


This week I took 4 of the 5 pictures, while JPE was making breakfast (just 35 minutes ago).


While "walking the loop"... I considered my options & decided to snap as many pictures as possible in 15 minutes. This week's hunt included: Stacked Up, Winter Wonderland, Sweet, Hole, & Frozen.

"STACKED UP"

JPE makes the "best pancakes" ~ ask any member of the family! I won't divulge his recipe {gotta keep some things a secret}... they were topped with a pat of butter & apricot or strawberry jam. I feel very pampered. Ummm... I split this STACK of pancakes with him.

"WINTER WONDERLAND"

WINTER WONDERLAND on the Central Coast of California resembles this scene... we need to do some serious pruning, as well as replace some of our bare root rose bushes. The ground critters (gophers) had a field-day & decimated some of our roses ~ even though they were protected with wire baskets. Today, the skies are covered with high clouds & the sun peeks through occasionally... our temperature is currently 61 degrees {F}.

"SWEET"

My sister is a cross-stitcher! Check out the adorable magnet! SWEET face, eh?!! this Santa didn't get PACKED AWAY with the rest of the Santas. I need to keep his cheery, red cheeked face on the fridge for a while... 

"HOLE"

My fifteen minutes was coming to an end {remember, I wanted to keep my photography time to 15 minutes}... I still needed a picture of something with a HOLE. So, I grabbed the red, felt placemat from the dining table & held it in the air. Got it! a snowflake HOLE. 

"FROZEN"

This was the ONLY photo taken outside my "self imposed" 15 minute, morning,  photography session. My rear windshield was pretty frosty (eh, covered with FROZEN water) on Friday. Snapped this picture before unlocking my car door.

Limiting my picture taking to 15 minutes of shooting time was pretty ingenious - otherwise, I could have spent hours trying to get the perfect shot!

There are some great shots over at Ashley's blog, RAMBLINGS & PHOTOS. Be sure to check them out!!

You are OFFICIALLY invited to participate. The rules are few! check them out on ASHLEY'S BLOG. 

The words to photograph this week include: Sunset, Black & White, A Day in My Life, Four {a set of four related photos}, & Colorful. 

PACKING 'EM UP...

All my SANTA'S are packed in tissue & put away! I took pictures of the NEW ones in my collection & thought I'd share them with you!

...got the "STEAL 'EM" Santa at a work party! Of course, because he's so adorable, I was the THIRD & final person to steal him ~ LUCKY ME!


He's got a great beard with a jingle bells on the points of his whiskers!


The other four ornaments were gifts: two from JPE (purchased in Big Bear this past summer) & two from ACE & her boyfriend.

Sleigh Santa & Bubble Santa from ACE & boyfriend!
Love Santa & Santa with a List from JPE...

I'll leave you with this quote from
:: John Greenleaf Whittier ::
an American Quaker poet &
advocate for the abolition of slavery!
(pssst! my hometown, Whittier, CA, was named after this poet;
& the town was started by a group of Quakers in 1887)

"A little smile, a word of cheer, a bit of LOVE from someone near, a little gift from one held dear, best wishes for the coming year... these make a MERRY CHRISTMAS." 

Have you packed up your holiday decorations yet?

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.18.11

Wooden Head Santa ~ all pics taken 12.18.11

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.... this will be the last one for a week! If you want to start participating, check Ashley's blog (after 12.25.11) for next series of words... I've peeked at a few of this week's participating bloggers! there are some great photos ~ you can find everyone at Ramblings & Photos (Ashley's blog).


This week's scavenger hunt included: Children / Fur Babies Sleeping, Joy, What is it?, Window, & Half.

CHILDREN / FUR BABIES SLEEPING

Since I don't have children or pets (in my home), I took a picture of the manager scene in one of my holiday books, CHRISTMAS, by Robert Sabuda. I think Baby Jesus qualifies as a SLEEPING BABY! If you need a book for an artsy person, check out this book... pop-up books make COOL presents...

JOY

This holiday season brings me a lot of JOY! I love the traditional colors (the combination of red, green & white); the smells (of biscotti & cookies baking); the candles (to brighten & warm the house); getting reacquainted with my Santa collection (memories of holidays past); the gift giving (finding the perfect gift & wrapping paper); & spending time with family & friends (even when I'm exhausted). December is a JOY-ful month for me!!

WHAT IS IT?

This time of year is about sparkly, glittery things that make noise, isn't it? So, WHAT IS IT? Check out the next picture!!!

WINDOW

Looking out the guest room WINDOW, you'll see what our favorite tree looks like today. The leaves are falling... (this tree was featured in another scavenger hunt ~ click here). Don't you LOVE the adorable Christmas tree? adorned with jingle bells... leaning, but securely attached to a wheel gear tree base! it was to be a Christmas gift, but don't know if I can bear to part with it!??! You can see the detail of the tree in the WHAT IS IT? photo.

HALF

I posted late because JPE & I went to a matinee to see, My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams. Michelle gives an Oscar worthy performance (singing & dancing) as the sexy, notoriously sad actress, Marilyn Monroe! Don't believe the movie rating (3 out of 4 tickets)!!! This is a 4 ticket movie... Oh, here's HALF of the ticket stub... check out that price! A "perk" for being classified a "senior"... 


When we got back from the movie, lunch & our errands, I thought I would skip this week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY, but my camera called to me as I walked through the door at 3:30pm. Hope you enJOY my late entry?

SANTA HIS-STORY...

pic taken 12.10.11

I don't remember when I began my SANTA Collection ~ I don't think I intentionally thought about it?? until about the early 1990's. 


When I first married in 1971, our Christmas decorations were minimal & if the ornaments were purchased, it was from Pic n' Save (similar to the Dollar stores). Most garlands (remember popcorn & cranberries) & ornaments were handmade...


When the girls were little, I began tucking a new ornament in their stocking each year. All three of us (ACE, SLE & myself) have a SANTA tin filled with ornaments; each lovingly wrapped in pieces of tissue. ACE collects snowmen & penguins.... while SLE's ornaments are more eclectic.

Over the years, my SANTA collection has grown, so the small tree ornaments are stored in the SANTA tin!


the "large" SANTA's are wrapped in tissue & stored in flat boxes.


My "large" SANTA's are created from a variety of materials ~ some are soft sculture, a few are painted canvas, several are made from metal or wood --- ALL were selected for their unique features.

Lydia calls this "Scary SANTA" --- perhaps it WAS scary??  lucky for me! I purchased it after Christmas (Providence, RI). 

JPE bought "Glittery SANTA" to celebrate our first Christmas together. He's always on the look-out for a unique SANTA to add to my collection.


I'll share another episode in the "SANTA His-Story" series later this week... BUT, you may be wondering how I keep track of my SANTA's?? 


Look back up at the first blog picture: on the bottom (or backside, any discrete place), I put the date + name of the person who gave the SANTA as a gift; or where I purchased the SANTA.  For example: the ornament on the left was purchased in Big Bear this past summer; while the ornament on the right was a gift from Jackie (one of the girls in my Camp Fire group) in 1997... 


How do you keep track of your collections?