{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

{pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ optional edition

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

We understand if you are too involved in Christmas preparations to participate this week -- we really do! We won't be offended if there are only a few links. We almost didn't make it ourselves. But then it turned out that there were pictures after all (and Rosie spent some time trying to teach me a few things about my camera)....

{pretty}

Photo by Rosie.

Making ready.

Today I am...

... Baking bread to be ready for when I won't have time to bake, but will be feeding lots of large, bread-eating people. Today it was spent-grain bread. Already in the freezer: Italian bread (3 loaves) and sandwich bread (2 loaves) and rolls (30).

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

I love the Christmas stockings I finally (finally! after 30 years!) made for my family. I love that I was able to use some outrageous Scottish wool skirts and suits that a friend gave me to "figure out what to do with." It made me {happy}!

But... the ribbon was a quick fix. I didn't have a vision of how I could finish off the tops.

Plum pudding, a tutorial.

{The recipe and instructions for flaming your plum pudding are at the end of this post.}

Our family is so Thanksgiving-pie-oriented that by the time Christmas rolls around, we really are ready to have a dessert that is not pie.

Before and After: Dresser Makeover (with awesome knobs!)

I have a backlog of projects to show you, and I am starting right in the middle with this dresser, which was my husband's before we got married, and still is:

This is not our bedroom.

It is unfinished pine, well-used, serviceable, but really Nothing Special. I have been  trying to find him a dresser more befitting the Man of the House ever since we got married, but have not yet come upon that elusive Handsome Chest of Drawers in My Price Range.

It was rather beat up, as well-used unfinished furniture tends to be (especially after you move it around a few times), and I confess that when I last rearranged our bedroom, I had stuck it in the closet:

This, on the other hand, is our bedroom. I just looked too hard at the odd door/doorway situation and got very confused. The closet door is behind the other one.

It's a big closet, and he didn't really mind, but still. I felt a little bad about that.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} -- two unrelated things edition!

~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

A very happy Feast Day to you all! 

Yesterday here's what I did:

Since dear Annie (Rosie's sister-in-law, the girls' friend from high school, and our good friends' daughter) is really, really pregnant right now, she understandably has a little trouble doing her children's Music Together class with them, as it involves a lot of sitting on the floor, jumping, rolling around, and running!

Leave room for wonder.

The dining-room wreath -- these days we don't eat in there! The candles will be lit  maybe for Thursday 's Feast!

This year Advent lasts the full four weeks -- this is as long as it gets! I hope that you will give yourself permission to leave room for wonder.

As I go around reading ideas about how to celebrate Advent, I cringe just a little on the emphasis on activity for its own sake. 

Doings.

Just catching you up on some doings! No crafts to speak of.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

 

The Lt's brother flew out to spend Thanksgiving with us, which was just so much fun. One of the things we did over the weekend (one of the few activities that didn't involve eating vast amounts of food) was bring him to one of our favorite local sites, the Mission San Luis Rey.