Christmas in the Casa.....

We are having a Floridaloha Christmas this year. We are waiting to move into the almost finished new house and were fortunate enough to find this dear little cottage that celebrates old Florida.

Decorating has been minimal as most is packed away for next year. We brought this little tree and decorated it with a vintage Santa that we found on Etsy. We have searched and searched to find the one that Jack remembers from his childhood and this is as close as we could come. We shall keep trying.

I shall be on the lookout for this fine fellow which has graced the table here. The furniture in the cottage is Frankl  or Frankl-like. Very comfortable and fitting for the cottage. You can read about the furniture and designer here. eBay has some fine examples.

The owner is a noted ukulele player and will give a lesson if you wish. The cottage is decorated with much love and care.

I am a long time lover of bark cloth. 

Actual bark cloth or fabric with the same feel furnish the cabin. And for a bit of whimsy the sheets feature hula dancers.

So the month here has flown. Next week at this time we shall be getting ready to spend the night in our long-awaited new home. It has been quite the journey but we are almost home.

15 days and a wakeup.....

Jack served proudly in the United States Army and much of his training carries through to our everyday lives. When referring to time left in the service "days left and a wakeup"was a common description. We are using it for the time left before we move into the new house.

I never thought I would ever be tired of shopping but I am getting close. Choosing the fans put me right under and then came the window treatments. 

This is a picture of the studio. A whole room with no other purpose but quilting and other stuff. I can display my quilts and have a design wall for those in progress. The light will be wonderful. The room through the doors will be an office or an extra guest room if needed and there is a bathroom between the two rooms. I cannot wait to organize it and start and finish some projects.

I picked this fan for this room.

It is all very exciting! Staying at the cottage has been a nice break but dining out is getting old. Although we have cooked some nice meals here, it just seems easier to grab a bite as we go back and forth from the new house to here.

So, as they said in the army, "15 days and a wake up."

Awesome Alliteration.....

So here we are in this dear little cottage. It has taken me several days to unwind. I need to recharge and get ready for the next stage. Just think we get to unpack all those boxes. I am calling them surprise boxes because I have not a clue what I shall find when we open some of them! Perhaps just calling them the "good, bad and the ugly" is accurate.

I have tried to find words to describe the cottage and most start with "e".

The cottage is enchanting, eclectic, exciting, entertaining, environmentally sound, expertly outfitted, an ecotourism destination, etc.. We love it.
It was built in 1925 and has been restored with modern appliances. And I don't have to pack anything!!!

 

We shall sit outside for our adult beverage tonight as we have some citronella and "Off" now.
Butterflies are swarming the bougainvillea. The seem to know that I would love some pictures so they only pose when the camera is inside.

Tonight we will have a mini Thanksgiving dinner. We had dinner with friends but I wanted a leftover or two.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I appreciate all the encouraging comments during the saga of the move.

A time to be thankful....

The past few months have been stressful to say the least but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel (I think) and I am thankful. Our new home will be ready on December 31 and we are both quite excited. The movers cannot come until January 2 but that is OK. First we shall make the bed so that we can fall into that night.

Jack shall place his fish tank on this wall.

I shall climb these stairs to my studio and this will be the year of quilting and needlepoint with a little knitting thrown in. While we wait until the house is ready in the cottage we have rented, I shall try to organize my photographs and tweak the blog a bit.

So, I hope the light in the tunnel isn't a train.....

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and joy for the season ahead.

Under Construction...

I definitely need to make some changes here. Stay tuned.

Big Girl Panties......

I have no idea when my house will be ready although they say I should close sometime in December.  I know that this one is sold and will no longer be mine after December 1. Sometime in December is really quite vague. I am trying my best to cope with this uncertainty  but moving is difficult enough without specifics. 

Originally we had hoped to be in by November 20 but apparently this is not going to happen. The upcoming holidays are my favorites. We shall look for a place to stay on the beach for 2 or 3 weeks until we can move in. I will not have a Christmas tree. But we will have Christmas and we have much to be thankful for so we shall just try to be patient and calm. 

Now, where did I put those big girl panties????

I know it's early.......

I know, I know, I know. We have not even had Halloween or Christmas yet but I don't know when the new house will be ready and I don't know where we will spend Christmas. We may move in the week before but I am not sure I can make it happen. I am enjoying a bit of it now. It is my favorite time of the year.

As you can see there is still a lot to be done.

This area will be my studio. There will be a bedroom and bath up here as well. Torrential rains have slowed down the process. Stressful to say the least. My home is sold and will close on December 1. Stressful.

Most of the cupboards are empty. We have filled one storage unit and now will stack things around the house. 

Soon, the artwork will be packed but I like looking at it for now. In a perfect world, the new house would be ready before Thanksgiving and we could slowly move "stuff" in. I am crossing my fingers.

The village will be packed toward the end and be the first thing set up. 

I know it is early.......

Packing and finding. . .

I have been packing drawers and sorting out. I am a saver. My finds this week have been possessions of my parents which I could not part with and tucked in a drawer. My mother's pen, some watches and the purse from a trip to Italy. The hair brush and mittens belonged to my dad. 

All the crocheting was done by father's mother. I made the needlepoint tray. 

In another drawer I found my father's pencils. Words on the box proclaimed that they were for his use only. 

Amazing the things we save. 

Studio Time

I have contract on my home. I am thrilled. There will be an inspection on Monday but that should go well. So now we can have a life until the closing December 1.  Hopefully the new house will be ready before then and we can move with no storage time involved. Fingers are crossed. 

Yesterday I embroidered some guest towels for the new house. Machine embroidery is one of my hobbies and I love to make things for my house. These designs with the bugs are from Anita Goodesign and called Beetle Blossoms. Now we all know that if I actually saw one of these bugs in my house I would have to call 1-800-Pest Control. The first design is from Urban Threads and has a French flair. I will do another with a postcard next.

The wonderful thing about selling so quickly is that now I can do some of my projects again. The quilting will have to wait until I am settled in my new home but the machine embroidery, needlepoint and some knitting can be done and we can cook again without worrying about what the house will smell like. We like onions and garlic!

Color charts are spread about and thread is all over sewing table.

Jack is making out the grocery list. Think Puttanesca sauce.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Fine Line . . .

This is most of what was in the house. There are a few more boxes in the garage which will go to storage today. Now I shall pack at my leisure and as the spirit moves me. I am most anxious to knit or sew or do some needlepoint. This move and the new house have consumed me this summer. Most of my projects are packed away.

My sewing corner is all but empty. My project table is in storage.

My quilts are in the now almost empty linen closet.

My coffee table has one side that lifts up to make a desk/table and there is storage. There are two little seats on rollers and the seats lift up for storage. Think knitting.

My pine cupboard has gone to its new home where it looks better than it did here.

The concrete walls are up and the wood arrived. 

We went to Pop's Sunset Grill for lunch and while there (sipping an adult beverage), I decided that I can do no more packing until there is a contract. I need to be able to live here. So tomorrow I am going to do some machine embroidery. I will pick up as I go along (a challenge) and then maybe make a list of what needs to packed next.

Happy weekend!