My First Winter

DISPLAY

Hello sweet friends!
Yesterday it rained most of the day,
so in between working on more bunnies,
grabbing Bob some lunch,
I decided to create a simple Winter display.

I took one of my Child's chairs
which is Winter white in color.

Added one of my many wreaths.

Then placed my log cabin in front.

With my mom staying with us for
almost a week,
she reminded me that when she was little
she actually lived in a log cabin
for a few years until their farmhouse
was built on the property.

She said their first Christmas tree 
in the log cabin had all homemade
paper ornaments on it,
and gramma B's polish ornaments
which were handed down to her.
It was all they could afford.

I imagine that simple tree and even
though their tree was not ornate,
the love that was poured into
those ornaments was so special.

Simplicity at its best.

The new year is almost here.
What will your New Year's Eve plans be? 

Bob and I will spend a quiet evening
at home this New Years Eve.
A few appetizers which I will make,
whilst Bob whips up some frozen Margaritas.
We will try to stay up until the new year...
but one never knows if we make it or not. LOL

I want to wish all of my friends a
HAPPY and BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Be back in the New Year.

A Winter Display Blessings To All!
Janice 

Post Christmas Snippets

TGIF Friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful

Merry Christmas.

We hosted Christmas Eve with Bob's family

and my mom.

Christmas Day my brother and his wife were our hosts.

Both my nephews and their wives came up from 

North Carolina this year.

It was nice seeing them all.

My one nephew told us that his wife's

job was taking them to Phoenix,

and they would be moving soon.

She is a sports doctor and he is a teacher.

He will need to find a teaching job

 when he gets down there.

The grands came back with us
Christmas night

and spent a few nights.

We took them to the movies and saw
Spies In Disguise and then to dinner.
It was also fun catching up with them too!

Michael is 16 now.

Mikayla is 12.

They grow so fast.

Today I just wanted to show you

a few more snippets

of our Christmas.

Notice our investigator?

It seems Ace wanted to get in my picture.

That is it for Christmas 2019.

Hope everyone enjoys their last weekend

before the New Year.

Mine will be spent working on more bunnies.

Have 13 already completed of one design.

Need to make 15 more and then on to

another design.

Post Christmas Blessings To All!

Janice 

Redware And Pineapples

Hello my friends.

I cannot believe it is Christmas Eve.

Mom and I made a total

of 15 dozen Pierogi's.

Some will be eaten for our dinner tonight,

while others will be given to family

as a gift from my mom and I.

Today will be my last post for

the Christmas season.

Hoped you all enjoyed 

the colonial tour.

Remember my colonial desk.

Today I show you the rest

of my un-traditional look

 of our back room this year.

Orange and yellows. 

Today's final story is

about redware and pineapples.

First off the pineapple.

Most of this fruit

would be rotten

by the time it reached the colonies.

Only the fastest boats

in fair weather were able

to provide this precious cargo

to the colonists.

Because of this,

pineapple was only affordable

to the wealthy colonists.

A hostess who was able to set

out a pineapple in the middle

of her dining table 

showed her position in society.

Thus they were considered a sign

of the highest form of hospitality.

 Redware history.

Redware gained its popularity

with the English colonists

who created this type of pottery

from red clay. 

Depending on how much iron

was in the clay determined the color.

Before the Revolutionary War,

the colonists were considered inferior

potters to those in England,

thus did not make their own until

after the war.

After the war, they began creating 

their own redware with each region

having a different take on 

the designs they chose as the potters

did with blue slip crockery.

The most prolific potters were from

Pennsylvania with many utilizing

solids and multi colored glazes.

A classic Pennsylvania design was

the wavy yellow lines.

Redware was made from lead.

Potters used lead foil wrappers

that drinking tea was wrapped in at the time.

They melted the lead and added it to

the clay creating an affordable line

of plates, cups and other objects.

Being made so cheaply, housewives

flocked to purchase these goods.

However they were also poorly made,

quite breakable and very harmful

unknowingly to both the consumer and potter.

Redware pottery fell out of favor

in the late 19th century with the hand fired

kilns being replaced with modern day

furnaces of the time.

Well that does it for another year

of our holiday home tour.

I appreciate and thank all of you for following

along with me on my blog journey.

Bob and I want to wish you all a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope Santa 

gives you everything

 you wished for.

Redware And Pineapple Blessings To All!

Gingerbread Men

Winter Blessings all!
Yesterday my mom  and I 
made 9 dozen cookies.
Today is Pierogi day.
Cannot wait!
It's been fun spending time with mom. 

Today while I show you my 
Gingerbread kitchen area,
I will tell you the story about
Gingerbread Men.

Queen Elizabeth I was the first
known person to have
Gingerbread men.

She asked her baker
to make ginger cookie men
to resemble those men on her court.

It was the English then 
who brought over this tradition.

In Colonial times
Gingerbreads were made into 
men and animals. 

It was not until 1875

that the Gingerbread man

we know of today was created

and passed down from

generation to generation.

My Gingers were made
from salt dough. 

I purchased them from the artist
who sat next to me at my mom's
craft show.

My last post on Christmas Eve
will be of our Non-Traditional 7 1/2 ft tree

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.
I know I sure am!

Gingerbread Blessings To All!
Janice

A Colonial Desk

WOOT WOOT

On vacation now.

Will enjoy my time with my mom.

Not only making Pierogi's

Am being told we will 

be making cookies too.

YUM

Today am featuring my colonial desk area.

Although it is not from the 1700's,

it looks like one.

The history piece is about the 5 types

of furniture styles that originated

or were in the 1700's. 

Early American (1640-1700

Ornamental carvings, raised panels,

and woodturnings were from this period.

These pieces were made from 

the woods of apple, pine, cherry, maple,

oak, and birch.

Colonial (1700-1780)

These furniture pieces were influenced

by England's William and Mary,

Queen Anne and Chippendale.

The dovetail joint started in this period.

Pennsylvania Dutch (1720-1830)

The Germans influenced this period.

Straight lines and tapered legs

made from pine, oak and walnut.

Federal (1780-1820)

Fluting and inlays of various woods

came in this era.

Hardware was in brass in shapes of nature.

Sheraton (1780-1820)

These furniture pieces were named after

the English designer named Thomas Sheraton.

Wood carvings and dovetail joints

were the hallmark of this period. 

I apologize for not being able to show
you all the entire desk...
but that would have given away my 
final untraditional tree,
which I want to save for last.
So sorry.

Well off to take my car in for an oil change

and then off to the market we go.

Do you make Christmas cookies?

I have not in a few years,

so making some with my mom will be a treat!

Colonial Desk Blessings To All!

Janice

Bluebird Of Happiness

Good morning friends!

The countdown begins to my vacation.

WOO HOO!!

My mom is coming down tomorrow night

and will be staying until Christmas.

We are going to make homemade pierogi's

{polish dumpling filled with potatoes & cheese}

Other variations are sauerkraut or just cheese.

We will be also going to the Polish market

for some homemade Kielbasa.

My gramma B use to make her's from scratch,

as did my mom...but I did not learn how.

Any hoot, that will be both our 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meal.

Before I start my history story today...

aren't these hooked Indian corns

the cat's pajamas!

I made these for my lil tree.
Cannot wait to make more in reds for Autumn.

I made my bluebirds from blue cardstock,

which again I printed colonial writing on

and then cut into this bird shape.

Now for my Bluebird story.

The Eastern Bluebird or nesting birds 

as they were called in Colonial times

were just as or even more prevalent as

the Robin back then.

The colonists enjoyed putting up birdhouses

made from clay or gourds, and many

birds including the Bluebirds were flocking

to them.

This was a time where most folks raised

 their own food to survive.

Forests were cleared while fruit trees were planted. 

Even though many trees were cleared,

this did create a new habitat for the 

Bluebirds, as they then started roosting

in the overhangs of the colonists log cabins

and many of their farm buildings.

Before the colonist came along,

the beavers tenacious appetite of chewing

down trees allowed bluebirds 

the ability to nest in these fallen trees.

Once trappers realized the value

in beaver hides,

the bluebirds were much more

vulnerable and only those who thrived

were due to our colonial farmers

who hung hallowed gourds and erected

their buildings for them to nest.

Thank goodness they did.

As what a shame it would have been

not to see a gorgeous 

B L U E B I R D

By the way I chose orange lights

for this lil tree.

It's in our back room...

which I called my non-traditional room this year.

Are you all getting ready for Christmas?

Can you believe It is a week away now?

Bluebird Of Happiness Blessings To All!

Janice