The Nutcracker

It's that time of year again…you know….Nutcracker time!  Each fall a fundraiser is held for Ballet Austin.  This year they had a tea lunch and my niece was in charge of table decorations with a budget of $000.00!  I think she did a fabulous job with old ballet shoes decorated like the different costumes.  She painted and embellished with no end to the inspiration - The Snow Queen, the Arabians, Spanish dancers, the Sugar Plum fairy.   The centerpieces were part of the silent auction raising a good amount of $$$.

My daughter in law,  granddaughter and I made an afternoon of it.  Normally there's never an opportunity to take pictures but this was a great opportunity to take all sorts of fun shots.   The performers served tea and then it was picture time on stage.  This is my sweet little grand girl Crea in the sled (which by the way was made by my nephew, Andy!)

 

And this is my great niece Megan who is the picture of grace.

 

Megan has three major parts this year.  Here she is in her oriental tea dance costume and also a flower fairy.

It wasn't the entire performance – just a few of the different dances.  The Arabian Coffee Dance

 

The Russian Candy Cane

They twirled and swirled and the whole thing was just

Magical!  When we came in we carefully wrote our names on our tickets – Nanny, Erica and Crea - and placed our tickets into the raffle for prizes.  They called all the winners and finally came the Grand Prize winning number - a giant Nutcracker completely filled with all sorts of goodies.

And guess who won the Grand Prize!!! Who is completely thrilled with herself???

I hope you enjoyed all my Nutcracker mosaics!  I'm joining Mary at The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.  Do go visit!

                                                       

Decorating the Store

We've been busy trying to get our antique store decorated and stocked for Christmas so when the mall opened today it would be completely ready.  My plan was to have a red and pink theme but it seems that I had too much silver and gold and green stuff so I only have one little cupboard and even then some purple snuck in!

 

We redid this Santa and made him much shabbier than he was and added old lace etc.

 

  

Trying to get a picture of this tree is like trying to get a picture of the wind!

 

See in the picture below?  You can't even see the ornaments.

This old tree skirt is sooo pretty.  It's from the '50's that some long ago crafter made with little mirrors and mercury glass beads.

Here's the Santa with this cute little velvet boat added. 

Love it and maybe he won't sell and I'll just bring him home! 

I bought this "fireplace" last January for display.  It has glowing embers and it has a cracking dying fire sound. 

And here's another view.  See how full we are…see how my pink plan was doomed.   Since my pink pooped out I just walked two aisles over to see Eileen's booth!

Isn't this just heavenly? It's all girly and pink and aqua and sparkly and I could just spend all day in there.

She paints everything pink and paints those gorgeous roses on everything.  Want to see my favorite thing in here?

I love love love this little heater that she did.  If I had one square inch of room left in my house I'd buy it!

That's it for me!   Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and got all your shopping wrapped up on this "Black Friday".  Now I'm going to check out Beverly's new link for Pink Saturday.  xoxo Nancy

Turkey For Two

Happy Thanksgiving to all my turkey blogger buds!    I hope you had a bountiful day full of turkey and dressing and all the trimmings.  This year was a first for us..we had dinner for….just the two of us!  Our kids were with their in laws today and one grandson went to spend Thanksgiving at his Mom's in Oklahoma.  My idea was "let's go out to eat" but Chef Jeff wanted turkey for leftovers so he cooked up one fabulous feast.  I was in charge of fruit salad and gravy and the table and he did the rest.  Turkey for two has it's advantages…get up when you want. Set a time to eat and change it if you want.  Put your pajamas on in mid afternoon if your pants get too tight.  Clean up is a breeze.  

And look no veggies because – we didn't want any even for looks!!!  And while we were eating our Turkey for Two we had

two turkeys right under the table because when it's just you and your chef you can have all the dogs under the table that you want!

Now it's time for the Longhorns to whip up on the Aggies. (Oh shut up and quit laughing you Longhorn bashers!  Every 20 years or so the team has a few…"issues"!  Blessings to all of you. xoxo Longhorn Nan

The Sheltie Herding Trials!

The Shetland Sheepdog also known as the "Sheltie" was fine tuned over the last century to herd sheep.  This instinct comes natural to them.  Given the opportunity they will keep the sheep together taking them where ever their master orders them.  The shetland sheepdog being of extreme intelligence loves the challenge of "herding"  Being the good dog parents that we are, we, along with fellow sheltie owners arranged an instinct trial for our dogs.

First up…Rowdy:

Next came Simon…

Then came Sunshine

And Bridgett

 

And Dillon has them on the run.

And finally although she went first – Lillie Louise…..

 

 

 

 

Truly – could anything be more fun than herding.  Now let's smell each others butts!

No sheep were harmed during these trials – especially not by Lillie!

I'm joining The Little Red House today for Mosaic Monday with this mosaic showing the many colors of Shelties!

Gratitude

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer


“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” — Ralph H. Blum

“Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted–a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner

I am truly grateful for:
My family, my friends, my home, my country.  I'm grateful for the beauty that surrounds me. And I'm grateful for the calmness in my life.
I'm grateful to this blogging community of friendship and inspiration.  Thanks to Lynn of The Vintage Nest for the "gratitude" prompt.

Show and Tell Friday and Pink Saturday

I'm sharing a few things around my living room today.  A little

vignette that I have in the living room on an old wicker table.  I really am loving the softer tones of autumn this year.

 

So I'm working in more white.  That squirrel is part of the snowbunnies collection.

 

I made this little art piece in a class I took at Paper Cowgirl last summer.  It was really a fun and relaxing project taught by Joanna Lewis.

Here's a fabric pumpkin I sewed a few years ago sitting in an ornament holder.  It sort of reminds me of Cinderella's coach.

Some old Gurley turkey candles I have in the pie cabinet/tv holder.  I don't have a flat panel tv yet…am I the only person without one?!?

This is in the living room simply because she's waiting to go to The Roost as soon as I figure out what to put on her.

I picked up yards and yards of brown tulle at GW for probably 75 cents and putting it here just got it out of the way.

Now I was on a roll designing a dress so I added a pale pink boa and my giggle necklace – honestly it's like playing dolls having these around!

I figure she needed a purse and how about that plunging neckline?  So there you go…Friday and Saturday all rolled into one post.

I just really have to show you this.  My kids were over for Jeff's birthday last Sunday.  Here's my DIL and Granddaughter.  Are they not just the sweetest sitting there knitting together?  But this is the difference between boys and girls……

at the opposite end of the couch my two grandsons. Wallowing all over wrestling trying to squish each other.

And yes, I pulled out my finest china for the event and we all drank horchata.  We are party animals!

Linking up today (like you've read this far) to:

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and

Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.