Movies in the afternoon.....

Sometimes in the afternoon Jack and I watch a movie in the den. I am not too courageous when it comes to a movie that might frighten me so we tend to watch some of my favorites over and over again. My current favorite is A Good Year. My second current favorite is Under the Tuscan Sun. 

I have always felt that the scenery in this movie was familiar so I researched where the movie had been made. Then I had a "ta da" moment because I had been there. I loved it. Rich and I did not travel until later in our lives but I am grateful for trips we did take together. I decided that a night in Provence should be reproduced and the sunflowers in the market clinched the deal. I told Jack I had been in the shop in one of scenes so, of course, I had to show him what I had bought.

I set the table with a cloth I bought in Gordes. My white dinner plates are Apilco and made in France. The cups are from Anthropologie. The salad plates are Jars Cantine and are made in the South of France.

We started the brunch with Prosecco and a fresh peach slice. Now I know that Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine but remember my second favorite movie....

Grand Marnier flavored the fresh fruit cup quite nicely.

Creme Brûlée French Toast was the entree. I love this recipe because it is made the day before and refrigerated overnight. This quite rich but a small portion suffices. You can find the recipe here.

I dragged out my photo albums and took a "trip down memory lane" trip.

What I remember the most are the markets, the food and the scenery. The light is spectacular.

A painting followed us home.

The artist is Raymond Gizzi from St. Remy. I need to scan some of these pictures.

Over the years I have have collected pottery and dishes from Italy and France. I am drawn to the colors.

Wonderful memories and they surround me in my house to this day.

Thank you for stopping by!

Back in my studio

At the top of the stairs outside the studio are silk poppies. I have had this arrangement for years. The color is a soft coral/peach and one of my favorites. The spot of color is worthy of a smile as I climb the stairs to this room which serves as an office and studio and, upon occasion, a guest room.

My quilts are displayed.

Some are scrappy and some are more contemporary.

Some need to be sewn together. These crazy quilt squares are made on my embroidery machine and then sewn together. 

My Singer featherweight is in her new cabinet. She needs to be oiled and cleaned up after a long summer but then she will just purr.

Some of my vintage pottery lives on these shelves which houses a Murphy bed.

So now that the room is organized once again, I can mess it up! I cannot create in an orderly way. If I have an idea, I cannot put the fabric back. I have to keep going through all of it until I find what I need.

Then there is the knitting. The name of this post should have "broken promises"! I promised I wouldn't start any new knitting projects. So, I started a coat/jacket. And I started a shawl which is named Persian Poppy and I have yarn all over as I decide which color combinations to use. There is just something about the poppies!

Oh, well. Have a wonderful weekend!

All wrapped up......

Well, finally! I made bows this year! I know that in the scheme of all things important this accomplishment is not at the top of the list but my inability to make a bow has always distressed me. I love a beautifully wrapped present. Just couldn't make it happen. Then I read about the Bowdabra somewhere and decided to try it. I have no affiliation with this product by the way. I ordered mine from Amazon and there are online demonstration videos.

A present for Jack sits on a branch of the tree.

A plaid bow sits by my faux chocolate Santa given to me by dear friend Patti many years ago. If it were not faux, I would have eaten it long ago!

My first attempts with the Bowdabra were not too successful but I persisted.

My Featherweight has a new cabinet. My present to me. I ordered this from B&D and it arrived 2 weeks ago. I will write more about this cabinet in another post.

So today I will finalize my menu, listen to Christmas music, knit and count my blessings. I wish you a Merry Christmas or a happy holiday of your choice.

I will join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Stop by and say hi.

Enjoying the view......

I am enjoying the decorations this year. Just a few little touches are left which may or may not happen. I sat this morning and wrote some Christmas cards. We don't send many but the ones I send are important to me. 

My feet up on the coffee table with a cup of coffee, I scribbled away. This felt good.

The Wolford lamps were a Christmas present from good friends. We light them just about every night. They sit on a vintage aluminum tray that belonged to my mother and the whole arrangement rests on a Christmas  runner I made a few years ago. These metalware pieces are fun to collect. Some call them "poor man's silver". Last year I found some Christmas ornaments in by Wendall August. They have a vintage appearance and are a nice addition to the ornament collection.

I make lace ornaments on the embroidery machine. I miss the tinsel that we use to hang piece by piece. I wouldn't have the patience now but we have been watching old Christmas movies and their trees have this tinsel.

Two of the bears I made sit on a child's rocker with an antique doll (who needs some work on her hair). 

My Carolers will live on the Welsh cupboard for a while. 

The stocking are hung on the garland  attached to the railing. We discovered pre-lit battery operated decorations this year. They have opened up a whole new world for us! The tree is real but our garland and wreaths are faux. Real greenery and Florida temperatures are not compatible.

My creche is my favorite and celebrates the true meaning of Christmas. It is the first thing to be set up and the last to be put away. I found these pieces in Marshall's years ago. The set was not complete but the past few years I have found the missing pieces on eBay.

So, this is the view or most of it. I find it hard to photograph the tree as there is too much light coming in from the sliders and shutters.

Thank you for stopping by. Now I shall listen to some music and knit a while!

The day and some thoughts . . .

I love transferware. Enoch Wood's English Scenery has been accumulating in my dish closet for a few years. This was the year to use it. Perfect!

Vintage glassware completed my table and then there was the food! Thanksgiving is my most favorite meal to cook. When my children were growing up, it was the one meal that they would eat without a fuss. So, I was happy and so were they. It was not unusual for me to have two or three kinds of stuffing, two or three kinds of breads, and all the vegetables that would go along with the bird. We would eat at the round oak table that had been my grandmother's. I still have that table and many of her recipes. I treasure them and the memories.

This green works in my house. I found these candlesticks in Arcadia. 

I like to print a menu for these holiday meals. This was the year of the watermark on the menu page. It only took me several hours to figure out how to do this. Love the look. 

The menu is traditional and not as fancy or complicated as it used to be. Nevertheless, we are stuffed and there are leftovers. I think creamed onions for breakfast sounds good.

I hope you all had a wonderful day.