Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 87

Welcome friends old and new!

It's week # 87 of the ORIGINAL Farmgirl/Boy Friday Blog Hop! Thank you all for a great turnout last week!  You surprised me with 102 amazing entries! And here I thought participation might get smaller during the holiday season. From day one I've enjoyed hosting this blog hop and I want you all to know that Farmgirl/Boy Friday will continue in 2013! We have grown together in blogging friendship and I can't imagine life without you! Hey, I can get a little mushy if I want too!

  Your Farmgirl Friday Hostesses are:
Heidi of My Simple Country Living
Dolly of Hibiscus House and me of course!

 Farmgirls love anything to do with homesteading, keeping chicken's, embroidering, sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting, natural home remedies for health care and cleaning, horses, goats, cows, organic gardening and cooking, caring for their loved ones and friends and are community minded. Re-purposing and UP-cycling are high on their list of " fun things to do too! "FARMBOYS like to join in too and we are glad to have'm on board!

 HERE'S YOUR TOP THREE  FROM LAST WEEKS HOP!

 Who says you can't have a simple, sunny Christmas?

Elaine at Simple Sunny Life shared how she decked out her kitchen cupboard with red and white checked trim! This looks so cheery and festive too!

 Country Gal, Elaine of  OUR COUNTRY COVE blog shared some of her SIMPLE Christmas decorations too! Her husband who she lovingly refers to as Papa made the ornately carved wooden trees with his scroll saw. BEAUTIFUL!

Bonnie over at Bees, Birds, Berries, and Blooms reclaimed an outdated computer corner and created the most inviting quilting nook in her log cabin in the woods complete with a view of snow covered mountains.

I don't know about you, but if I had this view I think I'd add a mini frig, a comfy couch and a coffee pot to this space and I don't even quilt! You'd need a crowbar to get me out of it until garden season starts!

Well done girls! 
Now, it's your turn to link up for yet another, weekly dose of farmgirl soul food!

 Here are the rules for the Farmgirl/guy Blog Hop!

1.) Write a post about your farmgirl lifestyle and brag a little about your farmgirl talents while your at it! Share what being a farmgirl means to you. Include lots of photos of your farm, crafts, animals,  quilts, home decor projects and thrifty make overs, your backyard garden, chicken coop, recipes, studio or workshop. You get the idea!

2). Leave your entry in the  Linky tools space to your  Farmgirl Friday post.

3). Please include the Farmgirl Friday button ( or link back here ) in your post and remember to share this hop with all of your blogging friends!
4.) Enter up to three entries per hop! 

 DON'T BE SHY~  

Be sure to leave a note if you're new to the hop!

We want to get to know you better! 
Have a great week and I'll see you on the hop! 
 Thanks to all who participate and welcome new linker- uppers!

 If you haven't clicked that follow button yet, please join us and be sure to stop by our FACEBOOK page and like us there too!  If this is your first visit, come on back and join the hop!

Thank you all for your continued participation! I'll see you on the hop!
Love,
Deb 

PS. Don't forget about YOUR Farmgirl Friday Recipe Box on Pinterest! I'm adding new recipes each week!  It's become a terrific resource for meal planning here at Dandelion House!THANK YOU!

A Homemade Christmas

 

I think I love the first few days after Christmas even more than the days leading up to it. It feels good to have the hustle bustle behind me, to slow down and savoir quiet moments here at home with my family.  I'm still enjoying the tree, and all our holiday decorations too.

Soon enough it will be time to put it all away and move on with a New Year. 

As always, I have BIG PLANS a brewin' but I'm not ready to hatch them just yet. I'm still relishing our cozy nest and this welcomed breather. 

                       Here are some of the highlights of our homemade Christmas this year!

Our daughter crocheted two scarves for her grandmother's and a pretty little coin purse for me with a fancy sparkly button. 

Our son created homemade cards (with sweet sentiments written inside each one )  made with wall-paper samples destined for the trash before Boz scooped them up knowing they would make for some thrifty and elegant wrapping paper! 

We had a vintage photo of my husbands father's family homestead from 1924 retouched and enlarged for family members and one for ourselves too. 

 I gave a few bundles of Dandelion House note cards as gifts too!

 The best gifts are those made with human hands straight from the heart. Having the time to relax and enjoy them is even better! Here's hoping you are catching your breath from a busy holiday season and finding time to enjoy each other and the comforts of home.

Max is diggin' the down time too! 

 

OPEN HOUSE ~ OUR HOUSE

Oh good! You made it! Your just in time for some nummy eats and the first snow of the season here in New England. 

Welcome to Christmas at DANDELION HOUSE ! 

If you'd have asked me if I would ever be posting photos of the inside of our home for Christmas on a blog one year ago, my answer would most likely have been an emphatic NO. Absolutely NOT. That's private!  

Well here I am one year later having an open house for my new friends and followers. ~ 

 Why not? We all get along famously so I decided 

I just had to have you over for some Christmas Cheer and share some of our traditions too!

 Our Hall Tree is a Trash to Treasure Gem in our house. It functions great as our place to hang our wet coats and the dog leash  ( while we dream of a mud room one day) and it is also a one of a kind PAINTED LADY made from an antique door hauled all the way from Nevada by my mom. The seat was an end table we purchased at a salvation army store and the brackets and hooks we picked up locally new. My mom did all the painting and my hubby " Papa Boz " assembled it for us! I would love to make more of them in the future and paint them bright colors from the garden. Dandelion Yellow, Spring Green, Poppy Red, and Lavender for starters... and perhaps a Turquoise blue too! Ahhh...Winter Daydreams~   

 So, come on in, hang your coat on the hall tree and grab a little something to drink and nibble on. There's lots to see. 

I've made this Onion Pie ( a Country Living recipe) twice this winter and its become a new family favorite. Perfect for a holiday brunch or any cold winter day. 

Saltine Brittle for you sweet tooth Sally's 

 ( I love a little Brie during the holidays )

We're coffee drinkers in our house and during this time of year I bring out my golden tea set ( a gift from my brother ) and set it out near the coffee pot. It adds a bit of elegance to an other wise every day tradition and makes having coffee just a little more special for us and those who happen do drop by. To spice up our every day ritual of drinking coffee we like to place cinnamon, biscotti, hazelnut pirouette's, herbal teas, flavored cream and granulated raw sugar all with in easy reach. 

Amy over at Homestead Revival really puts on her hostess with the most-ess hat when she creates her Hospitality Trays for drop by guests. If you have time, maybe you can drop by her place later too! 

We like to purty things up around here for the holidays... We don't over do it, but we love the extra sparkle and magic of the season. I'm all over the place with my decorating style. I LOVE things that twinkle and glitter as much as I enjoy the simple beauty of an UN adorned pine-cone, evergreens  and fresh cut holly too! My hubby  traipses through the woods behind his folks old farmhouse to find branches full of bright red holly berries every year for our decorating. 

It's tradition to bring out my Christmas Tea Pot and place the hand painted NOEL blocks out each year. The tea pot is a gift from my Aunt Nan to remind me of our treasured tea parties we used to have and my husband painted the NOEL blocks for our first Christmas together...

 I LOVE Santa's and I'm not partial to any one style... If he makes me smile I'll bring him home.

 The cook book on display is Winter by Goose Berry Patch. I've also been pouring over  my Vineyard Seasons Cook Book by Susan Branch and my Mary Jane's Farm Kitchen recipe books for inspiration too!

This year we added a ginger bread house to the mix! And here are some of our cherished Christmas Ornaments~

Turtle Doves from our first married Christmas nearly 20 years ago! 

We are always grateful for being Americans and the freedom we have. This is always on our tree during war time or not. 

Guess what? It's starting to snow!

 So much for that out door fire on Solstice eve ~ 

 The Little Red Hen House is lit-up like Main Street in Reno, Nevada in the midst of the fresh fallen snow. The " girls" are nice and cozy inside. 

Max's FIRST ROMP in the snow this season. 

Thank you for stopping by! 

We wish you the merriest of Christmas's and all Joy's for a Happy and Healthy New Year and May the Magic of the season stay with you all year long~ 

See you in 2011!

Love & many blessings, 

Deborah Jean 

A CHRISTMAS WISH

                                

 As Christmas day grows closer we are all trying to figure out how we will fit everything in. Traditions, old and new, shopping, parties, and cherished time with family too. Instead of posting a project or recipe today I  decided  to share these words written just days ago from my Aunt Nan.  The writing gods have been speaking quite regularly to her offering  up timely words we can all enjoy! Today I give you...

A CHRISTMAS WISH 

It’s time for friends to gather,

And to hang the mistletoe.

It’s time to hear the choir,

And for sleighing in the snow.

It’s time to recall memories,

And to read the children stories.

It’s time to make a wish list,

For the precious girls and boys.

It’s time to dress up fancy,

Put on your Sunday clothes.

It’s time to wrap the presents,

All tied up with Christmas bows.

It’s time to have an eggnog,

And toast this blessed season.

When all the love shows on your face,

Look around…you know the reason.

So I raise a glass to you my dears,

May your Christmas wish come true.

I know that I’m blessed tonight,

Just being here with you.

December 5, 2010

Karen J. Dixon

The Apple House

Keep that Christmas Cheer going... we are almost there! And for an extra bit of fun round' your holiday table, print this poem and share it with your loved ones! 
Love,
Deborah Jean