Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all of my wonderful blogging friends a wonderful day with family, friends and food!

Hygge

Last week I posted a picture of a plaid throw on Instagram

and I received a private message from Serendipity Loves asking if they could use my pic on a blog post titled

which I of course agreed to despite having no idea what hygge meant.

Here is my picture shared in their blog post, We Found Hygge on Instagram.

This definition came from the Oxford Dictionaries in a discussion on the 2016 Word of the Year shortlist.

The Danish blog, Skagen, with lots of easy adjectives for hygge helped me understand it best. 

Hygge descriptions talk about enjoying "life's little pleasures" - which for me is flowers in the garden

and a carefully arranged centerpiece on the table.

The words "hospitality" and "warmth" jumped out at me 

and came to mind as I created place settings for our holiday table.

Family and friends were mentioned and I think decorating using old family treasures leans toward hygge in my home.

I'm not sure if I fully understand hygge, but I think I'm on the right track.

How do you bring warmth and coziness into your home?

In a World of Flowers

All through the month of October, I saw this L. M. Montgomery quote on Instagram

and today I thought of the quote as I did my morning chores.

But, my wording would be, "I'm so glad I live in a place where I have fresh flowers all year long."

I love having colorful flowers

to brighten up our outdoor space

and add to the view through our windows.

 I am grateful that there are always flowers 

in the garden

to use in bouquets.

When colorful flowers are sparse

there is greenery

available to liven up my vignettes.

 I can always find flowers in local shops to fill the house with lovely scents - 

roses in the dining room,

hydrangeas and freesia in the entry,

and mini roses in the guest room.

I am as content with simple baby's breath

 as I am with spectacular roses

and when roses begin to fade,

they are dried so we can continue to enjoy them.

I have only lived in spots where flowers are plentiful so I'm curious -

are you able to enjoy fresh flowers year round?

Out of Whack

In my last post (over a week ago) I wrote that I was Finding Balance.

I was busy making pillows, embroidering

and creating vignettes.

 But, I think I jinxed things because we just had a crazy mixed up week.

We scheduled our house to be tented for November 1 - termites are an issue in southern California.

We escaped to a charming spot in the town of Ojai, just a few miles inland and took Lulu on her first vacation ever.

She started crying (what a Drama Queen) when she saw the suitcases and was surprised when we told her to hop in the car where she found her crate filled with her favorite blankets and toys.

She had fun playing in the meadow in the back 40 of The Blue Iguana - new smells and the crackle of leaves beneath her feet kept her busy.

Steve and I  were happy to tuck into one of the cute cottages to simply relax.

Lulu was happy to be back home and oblivious to the fact that we were frantic due to a gas leak.

Fortunately we were able to have a new gas line installed the following day

and life is back to normal.

I'm busy preparing for guests on Wednesday 

and happy that things are no longer out of whack.