Clocks...countdown til the New Year

Hello everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are now looking forward to a brand new year! I was thinking about CLOCKS today! How many clocks are in my house? How many are in your house?All those clocks are counting down the hours and minutes until  2013 and I am thinking about those New Year's Resolutions. It is Time to Make a List!!!!

Here are a few of the many  clocks in my house. I didn't realize there were so many. I guess I just love clocks, especially those that chime. Isn't it strange, though, that when you live with chiming clocks, you seldom "hear" them. They become unnoticeable to you!

Here is a humorous clock and goes well in the little library.

Remember the "Big Ben", one of the best clocks! This one is an old wind up clock and I love it. It ticks rather loudly.

An old railroad pocket watch that was my maternal grandfathers. It has loads of sentimental value.

Who doesn't love a cookoo clock, made in Germany. 

Pretty little boudoir clock.....

THE REGULATOR

The little brass dancers on this one waltz away the hours.

Another old wind-up clock. As you notice,they all have different times! However, the photos were taken at different times as well. But it is almost impossible to synchronize  all these clocks. Well, I just don't have TIME to go on with this blog today! It is only a few days until New Year's Day and I must start that list of things to do in the New Year. I sure hope I will have Time to do all of them!
Happy New Year to you !
  --------------------------------clocking out for now----------Egretta

Christmas in Sunny, Gorgeous Florida!

Hi everyone and welcome to Sunny, perfectly, beautiful Florida. As you can see, this morning it was 70 here with sunshine streaming across the green grass! No cold snow here! So all you cold folks in Minnesota and other places, head on down to warm and sunny Florida!

Ten Gables is decorated with garlands and red bows and red poinsettias. This photo was taken  just before sundown when the rays were casting long and beautiful shadows.

Four rockers await those who want to relax, perhaps drink a cup of egg nog, sit and rock "a spell"!

A red cardinal (sorry he isn't really REAL) sits on the kitchen window ledge! At first glance, he looks real! We do have many birds in the garden that have left the cold North to winter in Florida.

I think Santa will have to arrive in Florida by surf board! Or at least trade his red velvet suit for some shorts! Perhaps I speak too soon, though  I hear tonight a cold front is coming, which will probably mean maybe 50 during the night and a crisp 70 during the day! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Patio...ready for a party!

Isn't this a beautiful plant!

Patio magic! 

I made a garland of Santa hats! It looks so cute on the porch railings.

I bought this Pole Santa at a craft show years ago and still use him to welcome people into the house!

Above:

It is so easy to use things you have around the house. Just add some greenery and a pretty red bow!

Here are two old things I use on the back porch....both are Shabby Chic. All I really needed was a touch of red.!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Ideas....

Hi Everyone and welcome to Ten Gables! It  is looking rather like Christmas around here! We have no snow, of course, in Florida, so I made a few little snowmen from "Magic Modeling Clay" by Crayola. They are so cute....found the instructions on another blog. I can't tell you the name, but first saw it on Pinterest.

Well, Drats! I just deleted two more photos. I am so busy that I won't re-post them today. I have made Crock pot Fudge and packed up some for friends today. Above is how it looks cooling after having been dropped by the teaspoonful  into paper liners. It is so easy to make. Here is the recipe.

Crock pot Fudge

In the order listed put contents of 2 jars of roasted peanuts in the bottom of crock pot. I used one jar of salted and one jar of lightly salted. Add 1 package German Chocolate, 1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips and 1 package of white "almond" bark, broken in chunks. Cook 3 hours on Low. Don't open lid or stir. After 3 hours, stir well and drop by teaspoonfuls into tiny muffin cups. Makes about 100 or so pieces. Plenty to share with everyone you know!

I made some before Thanksgiving for our church bazaar and they went over well. I think they sold 5 pieces for $1.00 packaged in a zip lock bag.

Back to work! Today I am working on my patio. Yes, the sun is shining here and it is in the 70's, a beautiful day! 

More Special Ornaments....

Hello Everyone. Come inside Ten Gables and let me show you some more special ornaments.

This little Scottish Lass with bagpipes was one I brought back from a visit to Scotland.

I love the little plastic dolls...they are very inexpensive, but so cute for the tree. Here is a little policeman...do they call him a Bobbie in England?? Not sure.

This little doll above is a bagpiper from Ireland. 

Now I want you to see some handmade ornaments made by a dear lady from Germany who settled in American. Not only was she able to create with needle and thread and bits of fabric, but she was a talented artist. She passed away a few years ago, but her creations will be enjoyed by many. This one is Peter Pan. Notice the little bell in Tinkerbell's hand.

This one is Jack and the Beanstalk. Just look at that Giant's face! Notice all the detail.

One of my very favorite ones is Little Women. If you have read the book, you can pick out each of the girls . I won't tell you which is which. You have to guess! I will be showing you some more of the handmade ones later. I have quite a few of them.

Back to decorating and then off to Advent services tonight.  Hope you are having a good time preparing for Christmas and doing things that make you happy.  I might mention that today a small group of ladies from the Lutheran Women's Missionary League at my church visited and took lunch to a nice older couple from our church who have moved into a beautiful assisted living place. We were able to get a nice dining room there and had them a wee party and luncheon and they were so appreciative of it. What a lovely way to share Christmas.  I hope you, too, are sharing with others and spreading a little happiness all around!

"Decorating for Christmas"

Hi Everyone, I've been busy starting to decorate  Ten Gables for Christmas! I decided to use the tall tree toppers again at various places on the tree by wiring small dowel rods here and there and sitting the toppers down on the dowels. It is hard to get them straight, but they look so pretty! Enlarge the photo for a better view.

I have so many ornaments! Over the years I have collected various ones from craft shows, department stores and travels both in the U.S. and overseas. Also I have many that have been gifts. The one above in the shape of Minnesota and hand painted was a gift. I love it! The snow scene looks so Christmasy and pretty. The little teapot ornament is from Harrods in London and I bought it on a trip there.

Here is a different view of the glass toppers on the tree.

This is a little group of three tall skinny pine trees and I have placed them in the entrance hall. They are decorated with a children's theme and the ornaments are either handmade or from a country I have visited. The handmade ones were made by a talented artist and I met her at a crafts show several years ago. Her ornaments were nursery rhyme characters and children's book characters, all done by hand and with incredible details.

This is old Humpty Dumpty.He is about to fall and that black is the bottom of his shoe. So cute!

This little doll is from Finland.

This wooden moose is from Norway. I will show you more of my collection  in a few days.Must say goodbye today and get back to cleaning my porch, getting ready to decorate it. Happy decorating to you, too.

"A Beautiful Day in Florida"

Hi Everyone, I haven't posted in a bit, as it has been a very busy time. Thanksgiving was great, with family here and my youngest grandson stayed on a couple of days. We were very busy doing all sorts of fun things, including a couple of long and exciting Monopoly games! The weather is beautiful here right now.....at night in the 50's and about 70 during the day. My little garden is growing in spite of no rain in quite a while. I try to water the cabbage and broccoli plants at night, but that is not the same as a good drenching rain.

The bougainvillea is blooming now...it is in it's glory in winter.

The huge live oaks have now lost most of the acorns and the squirrels hate to see that happen, I am sure. The Spanish Moss sways in the breezes. You can see the shadows cast by the trees, so you know it is a nice sunny day here.

The little Hibiscus tree is blooming a lot, too. This time of year is the best in Florida. Do I miss snow? Not one bit! Wish you were here!

A Christmas Project

Hi Everyone, It is fast approaching Thanksgiving, and already we are thinking about Christmas! I did an arts/crafts show on Saturday and it was super fun! It was called "Crafts in the Woods" and was in a beautiful location out in the country. I was inside a building, though, which I prefer, as I take many paintings as well as crafts and I am very particular about my paintings being out in dust and possibly bad weather. But the day was gorgeous, about 70ish and lovely. The crowd was awesome and I did very well. One thing I had that showed a lot of interest but did not sell was this "dummy board" Santa painted on an old ironing board top. If I don't sell it at the crafts bazaar this week end, then I will enjoy using it myself somewhere in Ten Gables, or even on the porch.

Here is a bit of a closer view.He looks rather pensive; perhaps going over his good and bad little girl and little boy list.

An even closer view of his face. It was fun to paint this using acrylic paint and trying to get a fairly realistic look to his face. I love his little glasses! 

Have a great day...I'll be back with more crafts in a day or so! Egretta

Crafting.....making owl ornaments

Hi everyone,  I have been busy getting ready for a couple of arts and crafts shows. I have my usual paintings to display, but will also have a Christmas table with handmade ornaments and painted rocks, etc.  I've really had fun making these cute little owl ornaments of felt. 

I made my own simple pattern by just drawing the shape, basically a rectangle with ear turfs. Then I cut out two oval shaped "wings" and white circles for eyes with smaller black circles. A rounded shape make the eyelids and of course, a golden beak. I stuffed them lightly as I whipped around the edges. 

The last finishing touch was a bit of Christmas greens and berries, tiny cones, and a piece of ribbon for hanging. I sewed everything, except I did glue on the Christmas trim. They are really cute, especially a whole basket of them!

Painting Rocks for Crafts Shows

Hi Everyone, As you have heard, there is a Tropical Storm off the coast of Florida right now and is slowly moving North East and developing into Hurricane Sandy. Hopefully it will weaken and not cause anything bad. We had lots of rain and some gusts of wind, but it finally has finished here and is really nice today with cooler temps and some nice dryer air coming in. During the worst of it, I painted a bunch of rocks for the upcoming arts/crafts shows.

You may ask where I find so many rocks. Well, certainly not in my yard, as there are no rocks here in South Florida, except at the garden shops where I have to buy them. Part of the fun is going through a big pile of rocks and finding the right shapes for various animals.

There are squirrels in the yard, though, loving all the tiny acorns on the huge live oak trees, so I just had to paint a squirrel!

Rocks lend themselves to every possible animal from leopards to doggies. 

I love the little guy on the left.

This little girl is all dressed up for a Pooch Party!

Sad, but true, I must get back to painting canvases instead of rocks. Click on any of these for a closer view.

Have a great weekend!