Saturday, January 26, 2019

Adding Color .... Painting a Vintage, Western Style, Swinging Door


Hello...
It's a bright, sunny but cold Saturday
here in the mountains.
This photo was actually from a coupe of weeks ago.
The wispy clouds with the dark bank of threatening weather along
with that gorgeous sun caught 
my eye out the window.
I know many of you are experiencing
bitter cold temperatures and some are
starting to see signs of spring.
What a wonderful and diverse
land that we live in!

Today, I just wanted to quickly share with you
a little project that I did to add some color
I'm going to try to keep my posts a little more simple at times and perhaps I can post more!

Also, my computer won't recognize my new 
phone to transfer pictures. So that's a bit of 
a process! 

When we moved into our current home
nearly 20 years ago, I found a set 
of old western style swinging doors in the
garage. I have used them in their
natural state around the house but as
I shared before, I'm trying to add color
to my decor. So I found this wonderful
color to try and painted one of them.
What do you think? 

I am liking it. 
I have a hard time with
decorating large spaces and I love to use
items that I find here and there to fill
in around everyday things.
My rustic mantel. 
There's a story behind this that I'll tell one day :)
Limon roses in a pink hob knob vase.
I have always enjoyed pink and green!
I hope you're enjoying your day.
Isn't it interesting how 
life is always changing? 

I am on the verge of a big change.
Seasons of life can be scary yet
exciting at the same time.

There's gain and loss.
Joy and pain
Beautiful and hard times
It all makes up our story.

Embracing it all with hope and an
open heart seems to be 
the best way for me. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead
and joy in your journey!

Oh... I'm considering changing my
blog name to 
The Shabbi Gypsy.
It matches my IG account
and my business name.
Any thoughts?

Hugs and Blessings...
Tamara x







Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Winter Scape Wanderings~ Keeping the Wonder

I hope that your
new year is off to a good start.

I'm sitting here by a crackling fire, 
(that needs a log ;)
drinking tea with my feet up. 
My day started very early today for 
which I'm happy. 
That allowed me to get my work done early
and have creative time.

What a lovely "wintry" winter it's been so far.
Most days, when it's cold and snowy outside,
I can hardly wait to lay footprints
in the brand new blanket of white.
I have such wonderful memories 
of roaming the hills of our farm in Ohio.
That was way back when I was a girl and teenager.
Now the mountain you see invites me to
 wander and roam it's canyons, slides,
draws and ridges. 
If you've visited before, you know that we live
 at the base of a mountain. We call it ours,
but it really belongs to the 
National Forest Service ;)

Some mornings, we are 
awakened by the beautiful
creatures that live alongside of us.
Their antlers scrape the house as they bite off the
grass that grows there.

Last winter, it was so dry, they were drinking from
a hose that was draped in a tree.
They heard the water as it 
trickled down to the ground.
So we are very grateful that the mountains
have several feet of snow.
Aren't they such magnificent creatures?
we never tire of seeing them
but we do have to chase them off at
times because they make a snack
of the things we work hard to grow!

They roam the mountain among the trees. 
I saw them this morning skirting 
across the meadow at the tree line.
The deep snows have driven them to the
lower country to forage.
Here is a Yucca plant.  
Pronounced yoo-ka in Spanish. 
They grow wild here. 
They produce tall spikes of beautiful,
creamy white flowers during the rains!

My son and his wife lived in Ecuador for
 a year and they learned how to
cook the root. He baked us some
 Yucca root fries when we visited 
at Thanksgiving. They were delicious! 
Crispy and chewy.

Being the first snow of the season, makes it extra special. 
 I was blessed with a window that day to take a
luxurious amount of time. All I wanted really. To hike around
and take in the sparkles that wink at you when the sun hits 
each tiny little flake. To breathe in that 
cold, fresh mountain air...
Oh my.

I always want to keep the wonder
that creates excitement over these
tiny miracles that pile up and spread the
beauty of winter over mountains and valleys.
Don't you truly believe that there are those 
special little miracles and wonder in every day?
Something that touches you down deep.

I thought this little dried plant 
was so pretty even in it's simplicity.
Maybe especially because of it.
Simple pleasures.

It looked so frail but yet has held up 
through all the rainstorms and wind
and now it stands through 
the snowstorms, too.


Are we like that sometimes?
We will experience times of feeling fragile 
but we are stronger than we know.


Isn't it so lovely in all it's slenderness 
just holding up that snow 
that's reflecting the light of the sun.

(Some of my pictures are sunny and some cloudy
 because the skies cleared up while I was out.)
Thank you for coming by and sharing in
 my wanderings around the mountain.
I hope I haven't bored you.
I get so caught up in nature and life and can
obsess over the smallest thing!

I'd love to hear about something
 that you have found 
that causes you to stop and wonder.

That makes me think of Mary Poppins!
Enjoying the wonder of the simple
things in life seemed to be part of her very being.

Have a wonderful rest of your week.

Tamara xo