Greetings from the Limberlost

I can’t for the life of me understand how it can possibly be mid-October…the last you heard from me was the beginning of January. Good grief.

By the end of 2018 I was exhausted and in need of a break. And then 2019 came roaring in.

And about the best I can say is 2019 has been a… year.

In a nutshell, we’ve had quite a lot of this:

But, mercifully, there’s also been a good dose of this:

I’m not talking about the weather, incidentally.

I can’t relate everything that’s happened because this post would become a novella, but here’s a little about what’sbeen going on.

I had long planned a much-needed (as in it ought to have been done 24 years ago) renovatation of my bathroom and we went forward with that. The plan was to have it all done by June or July at the latest, so that everything would be done by the time I really needed to focus full-time on my work. Well, guess what? Still not done. It’s almost done, and I am using it (it’s divine!),  but I’m waiting for the final chapter: wallpaper. And waiting… sigh. Oh, and then curtains will need to be made. Here is a peek at the before and the during…

Astonishingly, this bathroom reno turned the whole house upside down as much as the kitchen reno did – if not more.

This happened mid-stream…

Oops.

The bathroom is directly over the front hall and a board Mike was standing on tipped and he came through the ceiling. Mercifully, he was ok but it certainly scared the bejesus out of me as I was standing in the kitchen – sounded like a plane had hit the house.

My sweet Emma P Buttercup got a melanoma on her front leg. Thankfully, it got removed  quickly and signs are good so far.

Gabby Glittermoon turned 19 in August and she’s doing pretty well. Still queen of the roost if quite a bit thinner than she used to be.

Unfortunately, Mr McC has had quite a lot of medical issues.  It has dogged us all year long. He has been a real trouper throughout but it has been very, very stressful. In a few weeks, it will be 4 years since his transplant – hard to believe. I still hope – and believe – that things will improve for him. Despite it all, he stays incredibly good-humored. And, of course, very thankful to be alive.

We’ve had sadnesses this year, too. Losing people who were dear to us. Losing some neighbors as well as they decided it was time for them to go elsewhere for another chapter.

As for me, I got to work on Glittermoon Vintage Christmas later this year than ever.  It was mid to late August. Consequently, I am way behind in production. And deadlines are looming.  If I had any idea of what color my hair actually is at this point, I’d guess it’s gone pretty much white this year. Yikes.

But 2 weeks from today is the first day of the Country Living Fair in Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta. Barring a catastrophe, I’ll be there for my 8th time. I will be back to post some goodies before I go. Right now, I’ve got the big pieces pretty much made and I’m now focusing on making lots of Christmas Canapés.

Additionally, as I went about putting away last year’s Christmas decorations, I decided to thin my collection somewhat. I’ve got way more stuff than I can get put out every year plus I’m finding that my tastes keep evolving, especially as I get deeper into collecting old pieces. The Golden Glow of Christmas Past has been instrumental in this move – I’m much better educated than I ever was and have been exposed to phenomenal collections. What a great bunch of enablers they are!

SO, the consequence of much of this downsizing is that I am bringing loads of things from my own collection to sell in Atlanta. Here’s a peek at just some of what I (painfully) diverted from my collection but there’s plenty more of these and other things all packed and ready to go.

In early June, I went to an estate sale and came across the biggest stash of vintage Christmas I had ever seen in one place. Turns out this lady had about 5,000 ornaments! Well, I think I came home with about 90% of them! Holy cow.

This is much of the stash after I had finished organizing it.

With all of this, it took me quite a while to get the workshop straightened up and ready to go to work. But I finally did. This is just one small section. I need a bigger building!!

I’d say that this picture is a good reflection of the year thus far. We have persevered just like this little violet.And that is good.

See you soon.