Winter is here.

Marshmallow season!

I'm busy making marshmallows, trying to get them in the post this morning.

I actually made them last night and I'm cutting them up this morning.

Trying not to eat too many! HERE is the recipe I use.

One week until Christmas. Stay calm. 

Selfie.

Trying to figure out what to do with my hair! It has gotten so dark and frizzy over the last few years. Cut it? Color it? Get bangs? I know it's only hair and it'll grow back, but I can't even decide which direction to go. I think it's time for a professional consultation. 

I'm blogging on my phone, on the bus this morning...please excuse any errors. xo

Good night.

A very late post for today and a very dark picture.

Because I worked on Saturday, I took most of today off and worked on

cleaning and decorating at home. Believe it or not, that table from 

yesterday's post is completely clean. 

I put up my fake tree and I kept it very simple with just red and gold ornaments.

It's pretty, but just not the same, decorating all by myself. 

I really miss my kids at times like this. xo

Holiday prep.

Wrapping + crafting + baking = A MESS!

Having fun though. 

Foggy morning.

Looking out at the water on my walk this morning, it was almost

impossible to see a horizon line. Where the water met the fog, was a blur.

I think it can be just as beautiful as a stunning sunset.

These two photos were not taken with any filters,

just from two different directions. 

Looking for the calm.

Happy Friday all! Hope you are truly enjoying the holiday season.

I am trying my best to not get overwhelmed and keep it simple.

I'm looking forward to spending time with friends this weekend

and finishing up a few Christmas projects. 

We survived a nasty windstorm last night. Power was out for a few hours,

but it's on this morning and the forecast is for a few days of nice weather.

Another movie post.

And this morning the Golden Globe nominations were announced. A couple of these hadn't hit my radar yet, Cake and Selma. Just watched both of the trailers…they look fantastic. Cake comes out on Christmas Day, but looks a little depressing, not sure I want to go there. I think Into the Woods will be the Christmas movie this year. I did get out to see The Theory of Everything last night and loved it. Here is a complete list of the nominations. And here are a few trailers for you…

Cake

Selma

Still Alice

Into the Woods

Pride

I posted a few more trailers here. 

Award season begins!

The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced this morning.

Best performance by a cast in a motion picture noms are:

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

I've seen the first three; will see the other two soon : )

See the rest of the list HERE.

The rain rain rain came down down down.

This is about what it's feeling like here. It's been pouring since yesterday afternoon

and I'm inundated with projects inside! Of course, the stuff on the inside is by choice.

I'm trying not to make myself too crazy with holiday stuff. 

I truly enjoy it...if I just didn't have to go to work! 

This is what it looked like yesterday morning before it started raining...

Stitching.

Putting a blanket stitch on my holiday cards...

The last few years I have hand printed each and every card.

This year I made one print, scanned it and made multiple copies.

But I am putting a personal touch on each one, albeit with a machine.

Tired of the dark.

Still two weeks to go until the solstice and it's pretty damn dark here! 

Then comes winter. 

Weekend edition.

One of the best parts about Saturday….the WSJ Weekend Edition!

Rivals the Sunday NYTimes in my opinion. 

Getting old.

Aren't we all! My cat will be 17 in March and more often than not I find her in the 

same spot when I come home from work that I left her in in the morning.

Which looks about like this...

She's still playful and healthy, and she still wants to go outside.

I'm happy, I think she'll be with us another couple of years. 

P. S. Cat Calculator says she's the equivalent of about 85 human years.

Happy Friday!

Good morning! I'm so happy it's Friday. 

It's been quite a week, good and bad, mostly just hectic.

I never got to my Christmas decorations, so I get to do that this weekend. 

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Cover by Charles E. Martin, December 3, 1960

You can delete an email...

Just sayin'

More black + white.

Used these for my Facebook challenge. 

Like I said yesterday, gotta start experimenting more!

Waiting for the bus.

It was a very chilly morning, but I love the crisp air and the sunshine!

I'd take the cold and clear skies over warmer temps and rain any day. 

Downtown in b+w.

A friend gave me a Facebook challenge: post five black and white photos over five days.

I usually never change my camera settings, but I had so much fun shooting these.

I need to challenge myself more often…getting too stagnant, stuck in my ways!

These were all taken downtown Winslow, Bainbridge Island. 

Afternoon walk...

I left work early today and got a complete walk in before the sunset. That's saying something because sunset was at 4:20 today.

Downtown Winslow, Bainbridge Island

This is my downtown, looking very festive.

It's getting me in the spirit! I think I'll pull out my Christmas boxes today. 

Maybe I'll even put up the outdoor lights while it is clear and sunny.

Wishing everyone a joyous month of December. xo

A small town tree lighting.

I work for the organization that puts on the holiday tree lighting for our small town. Last Sunday we put the tree up and decorated it. And yesterday was the big day. After a dusting of snow in the morning, a nearly five-hour power outage, and freezing temps, it all came together. It was truly magical!

Fall skies.

The view from my sofa, where I've been spending a lot of time 

trying to recover from being sick with walking pneumonia. 

If one has to be sick, this is a beautiful spot to nurse yourself back to health.