i got to spend new years weekend at my friend maggie's farm.

"marge" and her family moved to this fabulous place last may and

i hadn't been there yet to see it blanketed in snow. they still had their

christmas decorations up and i loved seeing how she (and her momma) 

made their wonderful home pretty for the holidays.

this old weather vane got a big red bow~

love their sparkly tree topper

how fun would it be to look out at this view every morning? (and there
are about 6 more red buildings).

one whole wall of their house is windows~atrium doors~ windows so the view is aah-mazing.

Maggie's daughter Josie was home with us too and she and i love to do projects.

girlfriend is 7 and super creative! i brought ingredients to make bars (we didn't get

to that), yarn and a crochet hook to teach her to crochet...and thought it would be

fun to show them how to make ice luminaries. she was all about it!

momma m. got josie a scissors and a great basket and she bundled up and

headed out to forage for what we would put in our pails.

before she could start collecting berries and boughs though, she had to attend

to the 4 kitties that thought it would be fun to play.

to make ice luminaries, you start with a pail filled with water. next you add whatever you want

that will freeze down in the water and look pretty.

*the pails sat ready filled with water~ check.

i was inside in my robe, taking photos through the screens. lol

hey! it was bitterly cold out.

bailey-- the coolest yellow lab in the land-- was out there foraging with jos.

we knew berries from their flowering crab would look pretty~

kitty crawled up the tree to oversee the project.  : )

jos came in with her loot and she and momma started assembling their

pails. Maggie had cut up some oranges to add- i could tell

their luminaries were going to be really colorful and pretty.

the last step before freezing them is to find something to push down in the middle of the water,

that will make the hole to put a candle in.

you have to tape it down or it won't stay in place. we thought they would freeze in a few

hours... it was below zero outside, but nope... not even being out overnight did the trick.

they took about two days to freeze rock hard and then when they do, you bring them in and

put some hot water in the jar or container you taped down in the center, and then that

will pop out and you tip over the pail and tip out the whole thing and

it's ready to put outside and add a candle to the middle at night and

voila! they are soo pretty and if it stays cold- will last for a long time.

don't you just love the finished product? i wasn't sure if having so

much in them would be "too much"- but i  really love how partial branches

were sticking up on the top.

new years eve- masks were involved and bailey let me put one on her for

about a minute...

a quick trip to goodwill so we could each pick out our "party glasses" for the evening,

we ate pizza and watched a movie (sully) and it was just a perfect way to

ring in the new year-

jos has some of the cutest stuffed animals and i always like to snuggle with them.

there is a pig and this penguin that are particular favorites and i teased her that

i needed one to sleep with- but she said "nooooo, i need them to sleep"!

well, my little friend went to bed before me and look what i found when i went to

my room later.

: )

that's a good friend right there~ and i swear i slept better with this little fella next to me.

oh  and teaching  jos to crochet went great. she caught on immediately (she's 7!) and

she never stopped all weekend. she crocheted in applebees and in church, girlfriend's probably

made an afghan by now!

Maggie was out on the deck giving jos some direction while she was gathering

the goods for luminaries and i snapped this picture of her loving on a kitten.

 

wishing you a great weekend,

January is already half over guys. if you live in a cold

state like i do, put your face to the sun and keep your chin up~

xox, beth