Winter Goodness

I have a cold. It feels like my annual post-Christmas tonsil nightmare. I am heavy with winter. So, I am reaching for good winter thoughts. I actually have many: old black & white movies, scratchy wool blankets with a hint of  moth balls that remind me of my grandmother. Long, hot, bubbly baths. :-)

Here's what I'm grateful for today:

Cream of wheat. My grandmother made it for us when we were kids with a chunk of butter, bathed in half-n-half. Today, I add nuts, cranberries and molasses. I eat it all the time.

Because I'm at home more, I'm cooking, drinking tea, making coffee and eating fruit and vegggies. The remnants fill my compost and in the spring I'll have fresh dirt. There's hundreds of worms under there all doing their work. :-)

I never drink tea, except in the winter. I keep the cupboard stocked. Chamomille and mint are my favorite.

 Both my neighbors have lemon trees. One is a Meyer's, my favorite. I just plucked a calandar full. I will eat, squeeze, drizzle, soak, drink all of these before the week's out and start again. I love lemons. :-)

I leave my small tree up just for the glitter and lights. My niece found tinsel and these groovy pink plaid bulbs while we were shopping last week. I love them.

What are you grateful for, just for today?

d xo

Hibernation

I just read "How do you hibernate?" on Apartment 34 and I scrambled back here to post, as the question was just meant for me--me and the bears, we've got hibernation down. This is how I hibernate aka "How I Survive Winter."

1. Down quilts, for me and Zephyr (the dog). He doesn't care so much yet, at a balmy 51 degrees at 11p.m, but he will when the wind picks up and we really feel how badly this ol' 1930's apartment is not insulated.

2. Mint/Chamomile tea. I drink coffee all day, nights are for sipping tea, while bouncing back-and-forth in socks on the floor furnace.

3. Wool blankets. Scratchy and mothball scented. They remind me of my grandmother--also, cream of wheat with raisins, walnuts and molasses. I eat it day or night all winter.

4. TCM. Turner Movie Classic is my favorite winter station. Old black and white movies, 24/7, no commercials. (Right now I don't have fancy cable and I whimper at my Twitter peeps sharing stories of Jimmy Stewart  and Cary Grant movies.) "Christmas in Connecticut" is my favorite Christmas movie. I watch it every winter.

5. Jig-saw puzzles are my latest winter thing. Last year I crocheted, the winter before it was Scrabble, now I scuddle tiles while watching TV. It's rather hypnotic. You should try it. :-)

6. Walking. We do this all year long, but it takes more energy in the winter, so it counts more. A long soggy wet walk begets sopped clothes, muddy boots, wet socks, Zephyr shaking in the house, towels, towels, towels, but a cleaner dog that smells like drying towels. :-)

7. Baking. I don't really like to cook, but I love to bake. Nothing fancy, just something warm, a reason to heat the stove, lick the bowl, eat dough and warm the house with bakery smells.



from find.myrecipes.com

Mine look just as nice with rosemary in them. :-)


8. My bed. It becomes a fort, a safe haven, my nest. I stay up late, sleep in late and when the world is all sharp edges and annoyances, I declare the bed a safe zone,  pile it with pillows, blankets, the dog, hot milk, my audio book (my ice pack) and close my eyes.

9. Christmas lights. I love a beautiful tree, and presents can be nice, but Christmas lights are my very favorite. Red, green, blue, yellow, pink, blinking, sparkling, snowflakes, lawn ornaments, nativity scenes, Santa, reindeer, whatever you've got I love it. Also, I think lights should stay up until Spring Solstice. Winter needs the festive brightness.

d. xo

Make More

I wouldn't call it a resolution so much as a coaxing towards pleasure. So busy running DahlilaFound I have left behind all my winter craftings: crocheting, sewing, making cards, creating ANYTHING, really.

I got a quick taste of this last week, when I dug out my glue gun to revamp this little curios basket. All that was on it was the green vine leafing & plastic bouquet. I clipped pieces of fabric flowers, found beads, shells & glitter and behold, made over this sweet little forgotten basket from the thrift store into something fun. And fun, really, is what crafting is all about, well, that perhaps and a tad of sanity. :-)

dahlila xxoo

Luminary

This is the most stunning treasury & I was honored to be included in it. What a nice surprise.

Birds & Lavender

In the middle of a zooming yesterday, (coffee driven), I slowed down enough to add a little something extra to some outgoing packages. Here in northern California we are in the middle of some crazy January spring. People are in shorts and flip-flops, car windows are open, buds are blooming. It's ridiculous. (I love winter--sweaters, scarves, woollies, hot tea, old movies, thunder storms. Ah, sigh).

Anyway, my lavender bushes are blossoming and I thought that might be a nice addition for customers deep in snow or stuck in blizzards. Plus, I've been making tags. I love the birds.

Ann Douglas made my coffee cup tags and they're almost gone! Ann, make more! ;-)

Now, I have crocheting to tend to. Plus, Grissom says goodbye tonight on CSI. I hate endings.

Good night, dahlila.

Treasury Sketch Captured

Yea! This is very exciting and I'll tell you why. It's not a treasury, but a treasury sketch. With the help of the boards I learned how to save a treasury sketch w/o actually trying to get one. (In a whole year on Etsy I have only ever gotten ONE treasury west--exciting, but crazy!)

I love this because it's a great artistic expression. Obviously, I haven't quite perfected it. (Only captured top half of screen, can't see the authors. Will work on that.)

Still, this way I can choose beautiful items, create my own visions and post them here. How wonderful. I love learning new tricks.

P.S. this one is called Snowflower.

dahlila.