Happy New Year! Windows?

Wishing you health and happiness in the new year!

Anyone out there interested in another year of "My Kitchen Window"? Let me know.

Stay safe and make some memories tonight!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

What a day!

After this...

We did this!

This is our brand new bike/walking/running trail that was recently completed. It spans Tampa Bay and runs parallel to the causeway. It is awesome!

This was the first time we have walked/run this fabulous path. Annie and Mr. MW were out of the car in a flash and running. That's them on the left.

I walked...enjoyed the view...and took a few pics.

Pelicans are so fun to watch...these two were preening and snoozing.

The sky was beautiful! 

The sun was starting it's descent on the other side of the bridge.

And...............

............they're back!

What a great new tradition we started this year! 

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The "Big Guy" ate every one of the cookies we left out for him! They were yummy!

I hope that all of you had a magical Christmas...hope you made memories!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

December 25th

Believe

This is one of my favorite photos of Annie. It was taken at church, before the Children's Mass, on Christmas Eve, many years ago. The children went up on the altar where the large nativity figures were gathered and placed a piece of straw in the manger to prepare a soft bed for Baby Jesus.

You can see how much Annie enjoyed all the fun! Annie still gets this excited at Christmas. She still "believes"...and I think she always will. 

Annie had the same look on her face this morning when she opened a special gift that arrived in the mail yesterday.

This sweet punch needle owl was made by Nancee...http://flew-the-coop.blogspot.com/. Annie's face lit up when she saw the package with her name on it. She was overjoyed to find an owl inside to add to her tree! Thank you, Nancee, for your kindness, for thinking about my girl...and for the lovely little owl that has joined the others on Annie's tree.

The Spirit of Christmas...like my Annie...I am a believer!

Hope you are enjoying these last few days before Christmas. 

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

Christmas IV

I snapped a few pics of the living room last night. It looks as if the sun is shining but those are the spot beams that shine on the front door and the window wreaths. It was actually dark when I took these.

Welcome to our home!

...a lucky find from Homegoods! It's velour and so cozy!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

Sorry my photos look so grainy...I need to get the book out and figure out why!

Bits of Christmas & Pieces of the Past

I know many of you are experiencing some very cold weather. It's been nippy here in the morning...nippy for the Sunshine State that is. But the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming...it's December in Florida.

It is the best time of year for geraniums. I have several colors, but the red are always my favorite.

My great grandmother's black iron pot is just starting to bloom. My mother remembered her grandmother doing laundry in this pot, in the yard of her home in Georgia. If you are a visitor to this blog, you know by now we are a family that hangs on to things. 

This pot has traveled from Georgia to Florida, to Virginia, and then back to Florida.

There were two of these pots in my parents yard here in Florida...always full of red geraniums. When my sister and I cleaned out my parents house I knew I wanted one of those pots. They hung from their original tripods then. My father had cemented the tripods to cinder blocks and buried them for stability.  At the yard sale we held, I told a fellow interested in buying one of the pots if he could get both of them out of the ground I'd give him one pot. He did...and the remaining pot sits in my yard...full of red geraniums.

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A few bits of Christmas...

...a sweet Christmas angel

Another bit of my family history resides on the shelf next to the small Belsnickle.

That black thing is actually a lump of coal. It is a piece of anthracite coal from Pennsylvania...brought home by my grandfather as a remembrance of his days as an engineer in the mines. It has sat proudly on a shelf every day of my life, in each childhood home, and now in mine...a  reminder of my roots...deep in the earth of Pennsylvania.  

An old iron pot from Georgia and a small lump of Pennsylvania coal...pieces of the past still with us today. 

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

***The beautiful sampler I shared with you yesterday was bought on Ebay. Look for The Primitive Stitcher, Linda Babb's seller name, and maybe one can come and live at your home too***

A Sampler

I wanted to share with you this wonderful sampler that was waiting for me when I got home this weekend.

The talented Linda Babb made this beauty in her endearing primitive style. Also known as The Primitive Stitcher, I was delighted to meet Linda when we were in Tennessee last year. This makes the sampler even more special to me!

Love the reindeer!

Love the verse!

Love the red!

I think I will be leaving this sampler out all year!

Wait till you see the wonderful Christmas surprise Linda made for Annie! You'll have to wait till after December 25th!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

...we need a little Christmas

Here are a few pics I snapped last week of a few bits of Christmas. Another Christmasy red and green sampler. 

I love red transferware and, in fact, our everyday dishes are a collection of many different patterns...all red, of course.

I found this early white German Belsnickle this year. He still holds his original little feather tree...and he has a bit of sparkle to him.

An early Santa ornament having a chat with one of his reindeer.

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I posted yesterday from Ft. Lauderdale but it disappeared...those black holes are following me.

It looks windy with menacing clouds from our balcony this a.m..

It will look more like this as the day goes on...not a bad view!

Annie loves the t.v. in the bathroom. This is not the first time we have stayed in a hotel with a t.v. in the bathroom. We are getting to be hopelessly connected to technology as a society. I admit I have a little t.v. on my kitchen counter...but the bathroom? I don't think so!

The gingerbread boat in the lobby is not nearly as impressive as the one in Amelia Island...but they have a bowl full of gingerbread next to it, and you can help yourself to a taste.

Charlie, like the rest of us, likes the "cold sheets" and the view...but he can't wait to get back home!

The "bug" I had last week...thank you for the all well wishes...threw me way off schedule as far as decorating goes and I don't think I can catch up at this point. I have decided I'd rather spend the remaining days before Christmas doing other things. Annie and I will be making cookies, and wrapping, and just enjoying the season. Sometimes you just have to recognize you can only do so much...and mine is done.

Hope you are all taking time to enjoy the season!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

Annie's Tree

Just a quick post. Annie wanted you all to see a bit of her owl tree.

December has been trying my patience. I lost a few days to a wicked bug. Annie was my nurse and kept me well hydrated...complete with pink straws.

Over the last few weeks we've had visits from the plumber, the electrician and a red Elf that likes to sit on the Shelf.

Early one morning the rod in the closet fell down. I need to get rid of about three fourths of what is in there...a lesson I learned when I had to pick it all up off the floor. 

The Christmas Tree is a fire hazard. We've never had a tree dry out so fast. I've had to pull the shades down to keep even indirect sun off of it. Annie said we need to buy a new one. I told her this one isn't even decorated yet. Still missing a box of ornaments. Yikes!

And...we are traveling soon. Setting the alarm, turning off the water and hitting the road. Unfortunately we are going south...because it's not hot enough here!!! 

But...after all the silly inconveniences life throws at us...and they are silly...and trivial...I am grateful.

Grateful I live with power and plumbing...even when they get temperamental.  Grateful I have clothing. Grateful I have water to drink...with a pink straw. Grateful that my daughter is healthy and that her heart defects don't keep her from taking care of Mom...and hunting down a red elf every day.

So much of the world lives without these things...shelter, clothing, medical care..even water.

How lucky I am...and how very grateful. 

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

Christmas III

December if flying by and I am still tweaking. Here are a few pics of what I accomplished today.

My hooking chair is wearing tartan this year. I adore tartan! Nothing says Christmas like a little plaid...and gym socks in your stocking...sorry, that's a family joke of sorts.

The mantle is simple...just greens and fruit and pewter.

My hooking chair has a twin that lives in my bedroom. 

Annie and I worked on the tree a little today. We put a big Papa star, a medium Mama star, and a wee Baby star on the tree this year. 

We could not find the stockings last year and it's not looking too promising this year. We'll be the people with bare feet at the gym! We are also missing a box of ornaments. I think there is a "black hole" in my attic.

Hope you are enjoying the season!

Enjoy the day,

Robyn