a kind gesture . . .

 This lady

and these napkins

led to this - please ignore the paint everywhere, it's an art studio.

When I posted this picture on Instagram last week, I had no idea the affect it would have.

The comment on the photo was, "I am planning my Thanksgiving table now that the flatware I ordered on Amazon arrived. And I am mad at myself that I didn't finish embroidering the napkins. I only have 2 finished and I don't think I can finish 5 more by Thursday."

Donna of Georgia Ann Vintage Instagram commented that she had picked up a lot of napkins at an estate sale and that she would GIVE me whatever pieces I wanted - I just needed to stop by the shop in town where she works - Lavender Blue.

This was an incredibly sweet gesture particularly because I had never met Donna, in fact when I went into Lavender Blue, I asked if she was Georgia Ann - it turns out that Georgia Ann was her grandmother.

Steve NEVER goes shopping with me, but that day was an absolutely gorgeous day in Ventura and we took Lulu for a walk downtown to Lavender Blue.

While I chatted with Donna and selected which napkins I wanted, Steve found this vintage workbench.

He could not get that bench out of his mind so we went back to Lavender Blue on Saturday and paid for the workbench - turns out that another man was looking at it so we were lucky to get our payment in first.

Today is actually Steve's birthday and he is having fun organizing his tools and paint supplies on his new workspace.

Meanwhile, back to the napkins . . .

The stitchery is so pretty and I loved them on my Thanksgiving table.

You can see that I fit my primary color scheme in even with Thanksgiving.

I have 2 napkins finished

and my basket is waiting for me to finish the others.

But, right now I am focused on decorating for Christmas.

I should have been cleaning . . .

We have company coming in 3 days, so you would think that I would be using my time wisely, 

but I finished the crocheted edge on my embroidered Christmas table runner last night

and I wanted to see how it will look on the table.

That got me thinking about the Christmas Link Party I am joining at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson and I headed to the cupboard to dig out all of the Christmas decorations I have bought so far this year.

I should have been cleaning, but instead I played with my decorations and took pictures.

When I looked in the garden for greenery, I was surprised to find that the asparagus fern not only had little white flowers, but also red berries - how have I missed that each year?

I gathered together all the new gift wrapping items I have purchased

and found the mercury glass ornaments I bought months ago.

A few tin hearts and a wicker heart are new this year and those hearts gave me an idea.

I goofed up when stamping bags for my future daughter-in-law's "Girls' Weekend" - they were filled with yummy salt water taffy.

I added hearts to two of them and you can't even tell the bags were rejects.

I am looking forward to decorating for Christmas on Friday,

but the rest of this week, I need to be busy preparing for Thanksgiving.

The new flatware I ordered arrived today, but I didn't finish embroidering all the napkins.

So although I should finish cleaning tomorrow, it looks like I will be playing again - this time with plates and napkins until I come up with the right table setting.

Slowly getting ready for the holidays

Slowly, but surely, I am getting back my energy and doing projects around the house.

I don't usually decorate much for Thanksgiving, but this year we invited JP's future in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner so I wanted to make the house festive.

Some dried flowers from Michael's, a chalkboard tag and a burlap bag dress up the front door.

The weather was cool today and our Dutch door was closed  - this view gives a different perspective on the colors in our house.

Finally, I finished decorating the mantel.

I took a lazy approach to the banner by using pages torn from a book, stickers for the letters and just folding the paper over the twine.

Today, I had time to play a little in the garden.

The bench beneath the dining room window was looking a little sad

so I added some ivy that I hope will start twisting and turning around the bench.

For the holidays, I will swap the wooden balls for Christmas ornaments and hang decorations from the ivy.

The one thing I have been doing a lot of lately is embroidery and crocheting.

When I get tired and have to rest, I grab my sewing basket and keep my fingers busy.

I am using up leftover fabric and tracing the designs on with pencil.

This project will be a table runner for Christmas

and this is one of 8 napkins I am embroidering for our Thanksgiving table.

via

I will be working on the napkins in the car on Thursday as we drive the coast of California to Carmel for a stay in this beautiful spot.

I leave you with a collage of my day on Saturday when my sweet daughter treated me to a spa day at the Ojai Valley Inn - mine are the feet on the right.