Under a Blue Moon

As the year draws to a close I like to look back and see how I spent my year.  The cooking, the crafting, the places I've seen. 

I think it's fitting that on this final day of 2009 we are actually having a blue moon!  I think it is an auspicious end to the year and a great start to the new one.  I, for one, am really looking forward to what 2010 brings.  I think it is going to be a really good year!

January – A lovely start to the year should include a visit with the girls.  They are so sweet and comical.

February – Ready for Spring with a freshly painted $30 table, a $7 Ikea vase and bunch of tulips. 

March -  A project that worked from conception to execution!  I still love those ruffly little stool covers.
 
 

April -  The yard starts to explode with blooms….and mosquitoes.
 
 

May – Finally got the house painted.  Only took us eight years.  My favorite part is the paint color name for the front door – "Kitty Kitty"

June – One of my favorite pictures.  When I look at those jars of buttons I feel rich. 

 

July – A month of visitors and baking – my first clafoutis (why do I want to say "Bless you!" when I hear that word?) 

August – A sweet little pig.  That I couldn't leave alone and painted and silver-leaf'd and antiqued….

September – The Winemaker's Wife and I embark on a new canning crusade.  Well we got six jars out of it…

October - Oven quits - Andrea complains – Thermador comes to the rescue

November – Let the glittering begin!

December – one of my favorite projects of the year.  And one of the few decorations I actually put up this year.

Thank you for sharing this year with me and indulging me in a little reminiscing.

Join the fun and see other bloggers' year in pictures.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Early in December my friend Karen and I were having an email discussion about the twelve days of Christmas.  I was explaining to her that they referred to the twelve days AFTER Christmas, ending with the Epiphany.  From there the conversation veered to food (King's Cake) like our conversations have a tendency to do.

I didn't think any more of it until just before Christmas when two packages arrived from her.  Just prior to that I got a cryptic email from her saying that two packages would arrive from me and I was to open the box but not thing thing that wasn't a box.  I was to open nothing in the box until further instructed.

In the box were eleven beautifully wrapped packages and the thing that wasn't a box (it turned out to be a mailing tube) was the twelfth package.

She sent me a present for each of the twelve days of Christmas!  Each day she sends me an e-mail instructing me which gift to open. 

It has been so much fun!  I was the most curious about the thing that wasn't a box and finally got to open it yesterday (vintage map of Paris).  So far I've received some high end eye-shadows, a makeup brush, chocolates, note-cards, an edger punch and the map.  I can't wait to see what the next six days bring.

I hope everyone is enjoying the lull between Christmas and New Year's.  Today I plan on housecleaning so we can start the new year with a fresh, shiny clean house.  I've already warned Rick that I'll be turning off the heat and opening all the windows.  The house is getting that mid-Winter staleness about it.

Tomorrow's post will be the year in review.  It's always fun for me to see what I did over the past year and what I accomplished (or didn't accomplish, as the case may be….).
 
 

Everything is as ready as its going to be.  Rick is out tracking down a FedEx delivery as we speak (misrouted to Memphis, delays due to inclement weather, Andrea having a nervous breakdown….). 

I want to thank everyone that takes the time to come visit my little corner of the internet and for all the encouragement and kindness you show me.  It means more to me than you could ever know.

My Christmas wish for you is that you are living your dream and that 2010 is a magical, sparkly year for you.

Thank you and Merry Christmas Everyone!

~Andrea