My own personal hygge

Have you heard the word, "hygge"? It's pronounced HUE-guh and is the Danish word the emcompasses the feeling of cozy, charming, or special. I've been pinning posts on Pinterest and thought I would share my own little slice of winter hygge. It was unusually cold in my area last week and we even had some unexpected snow accumulation of 1-2"...a very rare occurence. So I thought it was a good time to use my new word, Hygge, and see what I could do with it. Hygge makes the winter more bearable.

Hygge is similar to the German concept of gemütlichkeit and the Dutch idea of gezelligheid. It has been a key part of Danish culture since the early 1800s when the word first appeared in the written language (it's derived from a Norwegian word for "well-being"). The Danes also attach hygge to other words such as hyggekrog which is essentially a nook where you can get cozy as in a window seat where you can wrap yourself up in a blanket and watch the world go by or your favorite armchair where you do all of your reading.

So what's considered hygge? Candles, first and foremost, glowing fireplaces, warm throws, anything knitted such as sweaters and socks, mug of your beverage of choice incuding coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc., books, furry companions real or stuffed, comfort food such as hearty soups, stews, chili, chicken pot pie, grilled cheese/tomato soup, gooey pastries, and we can't leave out bacon! It's basically remembering to appreciate the simple things that bring joy to your life.

So my books of choice today are by one of my favorite author/artists, Susan Branch. Susan Branch is the self-taught artist and author of the fourteen (so far) best-selling "Heart of the Home" lifestyle BOOKS all published by Little Brown and Company. From her studio overlooking her picket-fence garden in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, Susan writes and paints about the "home arts" of cooking, gardening, sewing, family, best friends, entertaining and the little things that make life sweet. So fitting for the hygge lifestyle, don't you think? Her followers are called "girlfriends."

To find out more about Susan Branch, see my "Links I Like" on the right. Be sure to click on the Shopping tab to find "Free Stuff" you can download and print. To follow my Pinterest board on hygge, click on the "Follow me on Pinterest" link to the right (until my hyperlilnks start working) where you can find out much more about the wonderful art of hygge.

Love is in the Air

I hear wedding bells... Don't you love weddings? This year I am humbled to help plan and host the wedding for my very own Baby Girl which includes hosting a Tea Shower for her.

These were my grandmother's (Nanny) dishes collected as premiums from soap boxes in the 1950s. I've added more of the same over the years acquired at thrift stores and antique malls. It will almost be like having her here with us.

I've collected these purple and pink hard back books from thrift stores to use as decorations. Didn't you used to play in your grandmother's jewelry box, too?

Here are a few more items I will use to adorn the tables. I'm hoping the crocheted doll dress and hat will fit a Barbie. What do you think? The pink and purple flowers are on a handbag...see the handles? After the shower, I'll post more pictures of the final outcome...much to do before then.

Who says a scarecrow has to be scarey?

Isn't she beautiful? I just love it when a plan comes together. Everything about her came from a thrift shop except the ribbon.

I had already purchased the hat and skirt as fall decorations a couple of years ago. This year I found the dress form and added the blouse, sweater, and beads.

Then I added yards of ribbons and bows...I think she's beautiful!

June Thrifting Treasures

I have found a few new-to-me treasures this past month and I'm sure you will love them! The first is this initial embroidered handkerchief. Isn't it lovely? I just fell in love with it and have a special "L" someone in mind. I use vintage handkerchiefs as napkins at my tea parties. I have an old jewelry box that was my mother's. I will put these pink "pearls" in the box for my little tea party guests to choose from to wear at the tea party.

These crocheted doilies will be used as chargers and under glass cordials for pink lemonade at the tea parties.

Don't you love these drawer pulls? They had four and three of them were mine and my husband's initials! They were $2 each!

The hammered silver heart was my most expensive purchase, but my husband (who was with me that day) said I needed it! <3 I was going to put it on a necklace, but instead hung it with grosgrain ribbon from a metal tree with little Eiffel Towers hanging on it. The quilt was my best find...only $20...couldn't believe it!

Do you Pinterest? If so, click on my Pinterest tab to find and follow me. Here is one of my favorite pins...gives me more treasures to search for...

Enjoying the Emerald Coast

Thank you, Ralph Waldo Emerson. US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882) I WANTED to show you what it is like living on Florida's Emerald Coast. It's so beautiful...with the sugar white sand (whose color is caused by the Appalachian quartz that arrives at the coast from the mountains) and the emerald green water which creates the area’s namesake hue from the light reflecting off the micro-algae giveing it a lovely green tint. The water's clarity results from the fact that no large sediment-bearing rivers flow directly into the area's gulf waters. The incoming water is filtered through the estuary of Apalachicola Bay. Thank you, God, for creating such beauty! IT WAS SO HOT (it was so hot I thought I was gonna have to git under the porch with the dogs) the first couple of days...temps in the 90s, humidity in the 90s...you had to stay in the water...or under the umbrellas or go to the pool. Thankfully that lasted only a couple of days. I THOUGHT these "ghost clouds" were cool looking...later discovered it was smoke from a controlled and then later uncontrolled burn. ON ANOTHER DAY we took a boat ride to Crab Island which is not actually an island at all but an underwater island located on the bay side of the Destin bridge. This is where the boat owners anchor in the knee-deep to waist-deep water to spend the day and enjoy beautiful water and weather. Do you see why we call it the Emerald Coast? To me there is nowhere else more beautiful than FL's Panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico! ONE OF OUR TRADITIONS when we go to Crab Island is the Hermit Crab Races! As soon as we anchor the children with their nets and some adults jump in the water and search for hermit crabs and also live sand dollars. Before we pull anchor we position the crabs on the back deck of the boat and watch them race back into the freedom of the water. Another tradition is to eat ice cold watermelon. This year my husband cut off the ends of the watermelon, hollowed them out, and made watermelon hats for the children and later became buckets for the hermit crabs...made another memory...watermelon heads!! AFTER A RIDE through the Destin Harbor we headed back through the Santa Rosa Sound at sunset, and we were blessed with another treat... bottlenose dolphin! These are the most fascinating and delightful of all marine animals and we enjoyed them with their little ones for about 15 minutes. THE STRAWBERRY MOON (as listed in the Farmer's Almanac using the Native American names for the full moons) was showing all her glory as her moonlight reflected off the Gulf waves. The relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June from New England to Lake Superior where the Algonquins lived. In Europe, June's full moon is called the Rose Moon. This was the only night we had a view of the full moon...it was either smokey or cloudy the other nights. Those are the lights from the Okaloosa Island pier on the left. This public fishing pier opened in 1998 and goes out almost 1/4 mile. WE WERE JUST MINDING our own business, enjoying a day at the beach and then turned around to see this storm rolling in! Sometimes the prevailing winds from the South keep these storms away from the beach as it did on this day. It was threatening enough for everyone to leave the beach, but it never actually rained. FOR THOSE OF YOU familiar with this area, you know that these 6-8 ft. waves are not the norm for the usually calm Gulf. A disturbance in the Gulf brought out the local surfers and the Red Flag from the beach flag safety system. Red Flag means high hazard warning because of the rip tides. HERE'S THE RAIN that had been forecast all week. Someone didn't take their umbrella in...it wasn't there when they went back...those 15 mph winds took it on a magic carpet ride up into the wild blue yonder! THE VIEW from my sliding glass door on the balcony: As you can see the wind was quite fierce as the balcony is 8 ft. deep and the wind drove the rain so high up on the glass door. I took the opportunity give my little potted begonia a drink of rain water. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS LITTLE TOUR OF THE EMERALD COAST! Oh, and if you're wondering if I found any "treasures" on the Gulf Coast...YES, I did...but that's another post!

Peter Rabbit Tea Party

Please come for a cup of tea at my Peter Rabbit Tea Party! (Inspired by Susan Branch's Peter Rabbit Room: http://www.susanbranch.com/archives/1132

Everyone had their own Peter Rabbit place setting.

A few of the table decorations all of which were found at thrift shops or antique malls!!

Miss Moppet's Bunny Sized Cupcakes with Confetti

Squirrel Nutkin's Petit Fours

Feeding carrots to the bunnies...they love carrots!

Jemima Puddleduck's Pasta and Cheese with Timmy Tiptoe's Pink LemoLade!

A Walk in the Courtyard

It's that time of year when the garden is in full bloom so let's take a stroll.

I hope my mailbox brings joy to the mailman! That's mandevilla growing up the post and pink periwinkles all around.

Here is another little "find" from a thrift store...a broken column. My husband placed a palm in it and then I planted lysimachia all around. My husband also collects small iron animals and places them throughout the garden.

My creeping fig has finally taken off and it has a daunting wall to cover, but...

...but it WILL cover this whole wall. We willl eventually have to trim it from overtaking the fountain and wood stash.

These vines are Moonflower and Morning Glory and live very nicely together as one blooms in the morning and the other at night! Seedlings were provided last year by my hairdresser and friend, Kelly, and this is the second year I've had them...they reseeded themselves all over that bed and I moved them to the corners and added the contents of one seed packet each this year.

Here's the beautiful moonflower, it only lives one evening...but what a night!