Winter Tables

Our Christmas was lovely. I hope yours was, too.

Micah and I host for my side of the family every Christmas Eve.

We enjoy it very much.

It felt easy this year.

I kept thinking I was forgetting something. But then it occurred to me...

I've "put on" Christmas Eve for my family every year for a decade.

I've got a system.

I know what works.

I suppose that's why the Bible says to, "Practice hospitality."

Practice gives you experience... experience gives you confidence!

(A quick picture was snapped of me as I was bustling around my kitchen.)

It is such a delight to set a pretty table that I want to make it more a part of my daily life this winter.

Sort of like a New Year's resolution.

Since becoming a wife and mother, I've discovered that winter can be a time for peace and rest, and a time for home.

(A page from the first grade Abeka science reader.)

So, why not settle into a nice long winter by setting tables that encourage a feeling of rest?

Stay and linger a while... I made dessert and tea... 

(A winter table from tonight's dinner.)

It sure helps that we've received our long-awaited snow!

Winter is drab and dull without snow.

And as you know, we like to search our bookshelves for some poem or story that relates to what we're experiencing.

This one will do... isn't it cute?

Sometimes I am asked about my tables.

I'm not sure what the mystery is, but I will touch on a few points about it in case someone reading may benefit...

I've purchased very little of my tableware. A lot of it has been handed down to me from relatives. But even if that were not the case, this is very attainable... I see beautiful china sets all the time at thrift stores for very little money.

Chargers and glassware can be purchased at the Dollar Tree.

Cloth napkins and place mats can be found at places like Hobby Lobby and HomeGoods.

It's fun to get creative at times... flat bed sheets make good table cloths for larger tables. Blanket scarves make good table cloths for smaller tables. And regular scarves make great table runners.

Even if you're limited in your tableware inventory but still want a rich, impressive look, the best thing you can do is a fresh flower arrangement as a centerpiece. They can be as little as five dollars for a small bouquet in grocery stores.

I like to think in terms of what's real when I set a table.

Real flowers, candles and glass will always be superior to plastic or battery operated options.

It's so easily achieved that I figure, why not?

It's inevitable, I always get the question, "Well, what about kids?" 

Even when my kids were babies and toddlers, I did it this way.

I always believed they could rise to my standard.

But for a larger event, it's nice to set a kid's table.

It's fun for the kids and it gives the adults room to visit.

(A Christmas Eve kid's table place setting.)

Yes, I think that setting more beautiful tables this winter will make a nice New Year's resolution for me.

Remember that a New Year's resolution doesn't always have to mean some huge upheaval in your life.

It can be something you're already doing, but you just want to strengthen the habit. You want to take it from good to excellent.

And speaking of New Year's resolutions, (I actually prefer to call them "winter goals") I'd like to work on developing deeper connections with the homeschool moms in my church. We always have such a nice time when we get together, and we get along so well, that I wish to prioritize those friendships this winter.

One of my ways of doing that includes setting a lovely table.

So, I will have plenty of table setting opportunities, I hope!

But more will have to be written about that at another time...

I hope you are pondering all your lovely winter goals.

I am looking forward to January, and a fresh, new year!

💐

~ Courtney ~

An Afternoon Outdoors

The weather lately has been glorious. 

I realized immediately this morning that we were going to experience another spring-like day.

For December in Wisconsin this is really quite something!

The sun was bright, the sky a deep blue, and the air looked clear and fresh.

When our school lessons were complete, and the lunch dishes washed, we put on our warm jackets and walking shoes to meet up with our trails and head down to our swing.

"Cold winds shake the trees and bushes. Winter time is near."

Never mind that we should be well into winter and under a few feet of snow by now... 

A brisk walk in sunshine and fresh air is welcomed at any time of the year.

I brought along our current read-a-loud, and read a chapter to the children while they climbed the tree.

Then I sat with my face toward the sun and closed my eyes for a bit, listening to the far off caw of a black bird. Other than my children playing, there was nothing else I could hear.

In the summertime, the tree is buzzing with life. But winter is such a quiet time for animals and bugs, that even on this warm day we were not in their company.

Soren brought along his gun because he wanted to go off alone to do some hunting.

He says the likes being in the woods alone.

That is just like his father.

He never actually shoots anything, I think it's all in the experience for him.

When he got back to the house his spirits seemed revived and his cheeks were rosy.

As Charlotte Mason wrote to the parents of the "poor London children" of her day, "The gutter children who feed on the pickings of the streets are better off (and healthier looking) in this one respect than your cherished darlings, because they have more of the first essential of life - air."

- Charlotte Mason, Home Education

It is important to remember that when this was written, the wealthy upper class kept themselves indoors most of the time.

"Mid-Victorian interiors went with the frail and fainting feminine type that was the mode of the period. Dyspepsia and other ills flourished in the depressing darkened rooms of the Gothic Revival. Modern days have taught us the value, mental and physical, of plenty of air and sunlight."

- Gladys Becket Jones

Here is something you can try with your children the next time you are sitting outside:

 - Mental Photographs - 

"Get the children to look well at some patch of landscape, and then to shut their eyes and call up the picture before them. Let them say what they see. This is an exercise children delight in. It is well worth while of getting a bit of landscape by heart in this way, because it is the effort of recalling and reproducing. It is the altogether pleasurable act of seeing, fully and in detail."

- Charlotte Mason, Home Education 

When we practice this exercise I have noticed that my children recall different scenes, even though we all have the same view before us. One might say they saw fluffy clouds, whereas another may say a patch of pine trees, and another, long shadows stretched across the ground from the tree branches.

My hope is that when they are grown and moved away, when the difficulties of adult life are heavy upon them, they will be able to bring to mind a detailed memory of carefree times from their home in the country, and that would give them comfort.

We are due to get snow this Saturday, which the kids and I look forward to very much.

It will probably cause another burst of blogging inspiration, as sudden changes of weather usually excite in me the desire to write something.

I'm not sure why that is, but I don't fight it.

I write for this blog whenever I feel like it.

I never force something to flow out of me that isn't there.

However, I'm contemplating making "publish more blog posts" one of my New Year's resolutions.

Whether people will click over and read is not something that concerns me.

I mainly do this for my own enjoyment, and also "for the record," as they say.

But to those who do stop by and read, and tell me they're reading, you encourage me so much!

I hope to be back here again soon...

💐

~ Courtney ~

Christmas Corners

~ Happy December! ~

💚💚💚

 It seems that I have taken an accidental blogging hiatus.

That happens sometimes, and I really don't know why.

There have been topics I've wanted to write about, but for one reason or another I can't seem to sit myself down at my computer.

I've even jotted down notes for these pending blog entries. But alas, the notes just seem to semi-exist, as the more pressing matters of the day take precedence. So there they sit, next to my daily to-do list, getting knocked around my desk day after day. 

Then what happens, when these hiatuses occur, is that I'll receive a call or text from a friend (usually about some unrelated issue) and they'll casually slip in something like, "Hey, have you stopped blogging?"

I love it when this happens.

A loving nudge from a friend is good motivation.

Today's post isn't going to be about any of those interesting and thought-provoking topics that are scribbled down on notes. Maybe I'll get to those one of these days. Lately I've done a little Christmas decorating, and thought it'd be fun to share that instead.

Several years ago I saw a photo in an old Victoria magazine of a homeowner who used red roses in their Christmas decor. I was so inspired that I've used red roses myself ever since.

I've titled this entry "Christmas Corners" because my method of displaying the roses is to tuck them in here and there around the house.

Like this...

I even found an antique pot holder with a red rose on it in a thrift shop a year or so ago. I love to hang it above my sink at Christmas...

I also like to use fresh pine and boxwood from my yard in some vignettes, too.

In the kitchen...

On my mantle...

And of course, twinkly lights at night...

My home is very old therefore I believe it's best to stick with traditional decor schemes.

I'm not a big trend chaser anyway, so it suits me just fine.

It's better to decorate in accordance with what's best for the house, than what the commercial world tells us to buy.

"She is not enslaved to advertisement or the fashion of the moment, but will think primarily of the needs of that house."

- Modern Priscilla Home Furnishing Book, 1925

If you find what you like and what works perfectly for your home, the look should last for many years.

Like my red roses. 

🌹🌹🌹

I haven't tired of them yet, and my old-fashioned home continues to accept them year after year with no trouble. 

I am enjoying all the little Christmas corners around the house.

It gives my work at home a fresh, new feeling!

🌹

"If your surroundings are cheerless and ugly, you will only be conscious of the work to be done and of the desire to finish that you may be free to seek pleasanter quarters."

- Modern Priscilla Home Furnishing Book, 1925

I hope to be back writing again soon, friends.

Until then...

xo,

~ Courtney ~ 

A Pretty Laundry Room

Hello again, friends.

We've done some sprucing up in our laundry room recently, and I have a few photos I'd like to share.

This is my new, pretty laundry room...

At some point a previous owner of our house converted an upstairs room into a laundry room.

I've always liked having the laundry upstairs.

It's very convenient.

And since we live in a very old farmhouse, with an unfinished fieldstone basement, it would not be very lovely to spend my days down there doing laundry.

It's much nicer to do laundry upstairs where it's bright.

Nonetheless, we still decided it was high time to spruce the room up.

Here is a before photo...

The plan:

Paint over the blue

Replace the windows

Sand and poly the floor

Make it pretty!

*smile

The kids are at great ages to help!

Roman completely removed the old wallpaper border for me.

I was thankful I didn't have to do it!

They also enjoyed removing old nails, filling holes and wiping woodwork down.

My crew!...

Aren't they cute?

Here are a few during photos...

The room has this very large, blank wall. So I decided to paper it in a colorful vintage rose pattern as an accent wall.

An annoying fact about wallpapering is that you should over-order since you will need more than you think. However, because of pattern repeats, you will have a ton of waste in the end.

It is worth it, though.

I love how it turned out, and I think it fits my old-fashioned house very well.

When I finished papering the accent wall, Micah sanded the floor...

And replaced the windows...

For as long as we've lived in this house, I have had a junky old cabinet in this room to hold my laundry and cleaning supplies.

Micah offered to fix it up and paint it for me.

He made new trim for along the top and bottom and put it up on these decorative wooden feet.

My mother came to the paint store with me to help me pick out a bright, celery green that matched my new wallpaper.

It sure was fun to organize and put all my supplies back in a fresh, new cabinet!

Now for a few after photos...

I put the panes on the new windows and sewed cafe style curtains for them.

Do you like the little trim detail along the edge?

That's my favorite part...

I was given a collection of bird prints recently as a gift, so I decided to frame and hang three of them on the wall above the laundry machines.

It's easy to make out the sparrow and robin, but there's a glare on the middle one. It's chickadees on a pine bough covered in snow, and it is my favorite.

I love looking at them while I stand here folding laundry each day.

Isn't Regal sweet? He loves to be wherever I am. (He's actually sitting right here on my lap as I type this.)

Where are you going? You're not leaving, are you?

I placed a cute plant stand in the corner so I would have something fresh and pretty to look at as I iron.

I leave my ironing board out all the time.

I would really like to get into a better routine of daily ironing now that I have such a pretty room to do it in.

I placed a little chair in front of my ironing board because sometimes Nola or Elsa will read to me in the afternoons while I iron.

They used to just plunk themselves down right on the floor, but now they have a nice chair.

Isn't it a bright and happy room?

I am enjoying it so much!

There's always something that can be improved when you're a homeowner.

I'm glad we took the time to give ourselves a pretty laundry room.

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Regal the Cat

 It all started with a long, bumpy car ride to a place I had never been.

I am not a scaredy cat, or even a shy kitten, so to me the whole thing seemed curiously adventurous!

Where am I going? What will happen next? I wondered.

I was delivered to a family in a large farmhouse and told this is my home now.

It was all so exciting and new!

Many people came to greet me in the kitchen, where I made my arrival through the back door.

The house was loud and full of clamor!

The mama was shuffling around me in her house slippers, clearing off the table, while the children took turns picking me up and playing with me.

Everyone seemed happy to have me there and I heard the mama tell the children to be gentle with me.

Even through all the commotion, I always felt safe.

This is a happy home, I thought.

Finally the dinner dishes were cleared and the mama sat down with me, scooping me into her lap.

"I am your mama," she said. "You are loved here, but I expect you to be a good boy."

I try to be a good boy, but there's so much to explore here that sometimes I get into trouble.

I really like the bathroom sink, but my mama doesn't want me to play in it...

I was told this is my bed, but I don't want to sleep in it...

And when I tried to help one of the kids with their school work, I was shooed away...

I guess I have a lot to learn about the rules.

But then I used my litter box. 

My mama patted my head and said, "Good job!" and that made me feel proud.

They tell me I am an elegant cat, so I was given the name Regal.

I don't know if I like it, but they say I will grow handsomely into my name .

Today, there was a bright sunbeam stretching across the kitchen table.

I love sunbeams!

So my family made a cozy place for me to sit and get warm while watching the birds flit around outside.

I am having such a nice time at my new home getting to know my family.

They are very kind to me and pet me whenever I ask.

But it is exhausting at times. I am just a little kitten in a loud, big house!

So as long as I can take my nap here, and not in my bed, I am content.

The new member of the Downs family,

~ Regal