Autumn flora in the home

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Karen B. in Autumn, Fall Entertaining and Decorations, Flowers, Halloween, House and Home, Thanksgiving

Good morning, my friends! So much for getting back to regular posting, right?!

I am an avid fan of fresh flowers and plants in my house year round. I’ve used branches from shrubs and trees in the yard, and flowers from the market for our home most of my married life. I also have several living plants in my home. Ivy topiary, Peace Lily ‘spathiphyllum’ and a large pothos live in various rooms of the house. When Christmas rolls around I’m happy to use faux garland, embellished with live cedar and pine.

So it was with some hesitancy that I returned the kind email I received from Silk Plants Direct. They were offering me a shopping visit of their site, where they would ship a product of my choice (with a generous pricing limit) for my honest review. Still doubtful, I visited the link and found many of their plants to look very believable. The item I selected reminds me of bittersweet, something that is sold live per stem by florists this time of year in our area. I’ve always loved the look of bittersweet in autumn arrangements and wreaths, but couldn’t always find fresh stems.

I emailed my contact with Silk Plants Direct and was thrilled with the speedy delivery and the quality of the stems. The flowers filled the large porcelain blue and white vases and finished the mantle decor for the season for me. Thank you Silk Plants Direct!

Silk Plants Direct, a Silk flowers and plants retailer, has a user-friendly site and provides a column on their home page that allows shoppers to narrow their search by topics such as category, size, price, color, variety and season.

If you’re a die hard fan of real live plants and flowers, as I consider myself to be, you may be in for a surprise. I urge you to take a look at Silk Plants Direct.

Disclosure: I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The honest opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.

{Home} Happy Thanksgiving ~ 2014

24 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Fall Entertaining and Decorations, Holidays, Thanksgiving

≈ 30 Comments

Well, the year is entering it’s final laps. Does time seem to speed by for all of you? It sure does for me.

{my friend’s iron pumpkins : Linda ~ Bainbridge Island}

Hopefully all of you have wonderful plans for a beautiful Thanksgiving day. Maybe you are the chef of the feast, or maybe you’re being entertained by others, either way, I hope you have delicious, sane, enjoyable day!

Since table settings are one of my favorite things to do to get ready for a meal, I thought I’d share with you some of the beautiful tables I’ve found online.

{Cottage Hill Magazine ~ Lauren Holly Photographer}

{via}

We are enjoying the holiday with our new granddaughter and her parents! You, my sweet blog friends, are on my list of things I’m grateful for!

{Garden Home and Party} Gratitude

19 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Family, Thanksgiving

≈ 33 Comments

Over the past decade science has identified the great social, psychological, and physical health benefits that come from giving thanks.

No longer just a thing we remind ourselves to do at Thanksgiving, gratitude is now a tool for reminding ourselves of the things in our lives that we are lucky to enjoy.

family ⋅ friends ⋅ mother nature ⋅ pets ⋅ a roof over our head ⋅plenty to eat

Yes, sometimes appreciation seems a reach when bad things happen, but overall I’ve experienced a certain amount of balance and comfort when you can stop the stress long enough to realize that even though the water heater broke, your car needs a new transmission or a loved one is diagnosed with a health issue, your life overall is blessed and will go on. This may seem very Pollyanna like, but it works for most who practice the habit.

{via}

So as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, and the soon to follow Christmas season, try to remind yourself every day over the next 30 days how much you have to be thankful for. It will be a healthy habit after 30 days, and we can all use a little good health and comfort this time of year, not to mention throughout the year.

{via}

If you’re interested in reading more about the benefits of gratitude, whether you create a mental list or keep a journal, there are some great tips on making happiness a staple in your life here.

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Since this is a blog sit, not Lucy’s stand for counseling (remember Charlie Brown?), I want to share with you some images that make me smile. I hope you and yours have lots of reasons to be thankful not only this holiday but throughout the year.

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♥

The happiest lives belong to those who own the happiest days. There are the gilded days – weddings and births, Christmas and holidays – that take their rightful places on pedestals in our memories. But if we can manage to find beauty and happiness in the midst of the everyday, then we are truly fortunate indeed.

~written and published by Pamela of From The House Of Edward

I hope you enjoy the days leading up to Thanksgiving Day. I’m always thankful for your friendship ♥

{GHP} Gratitude

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home, Thanksgiving, Traditions

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is celebrated here in the U.S. ( I understand Canada has a Thanksgiving Holiday as well) and I’ve always loved this holiday. There’s no gift buying involved, just good food, good friends and family, and for the men in my life, good football.

{unknown}

{and George}

As I’ve “matured” I appreciate the good things that surround me, there’s no taking this stuff for granite, as maybe I did in my youth, and Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we’re thankful for.

{unknown}

{Party Resources}

I’ve avoided the trend towards a gratitude journal for a couple of reasons, a) I’m terrible about keeping up with things like this…I start out strong and then let it drop; and b) I think about what I’m grateful for every day from the huge (family, friends, my first (and only-so far) granddaughter, whose birthday is on Thanksgiving Day this year, good heath) to the items that to some would seem frivolous (gardening, nature, good food, a warm house, blog friends, kind acts by strangers).

{heirloom philosophy}

So whatever you are thankful for this holiday, I hope you’ll keep it in your heart and remember everyday as we head into a new year. We need to remember…

Happy Thanksgiving!

{GHP} Things that delight the senses

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Fall Entertaining and Decorations, Holidays, House and Home, Thanksgiving

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

Thanksgiving

Each season seems to have its own list of treasures from which we derive great pleasure. That list can vary but there are common truths about a season that most are in agreement on. I’m sure that’s why certain seasons appeal to some and not to others.

{This is my first picture collage, the large image on the left is from Greet, Belgian Pearls – this is an exceptional post and if you’ve never visited Belgian Pearls, I think you’ll be hooked. I apologize about the other 2. I was so excited to create the collage I failed to write down the source, but I believe they were from tumblr, Debby at Inspired Design has the best tumblr site [That Inspirational Girl] and I probably captured the pictures from there.}

My perspective is slightly different than say those who experience extreme cold in winter or loss of an otherwise lush landscape in fall because (and trust me, I’m not bragging here) I live in Southern California where a change in season is subtle, to the point of being nearly non-existent.

We locals take the changes where we can find them, cool nights, warm days during the month of October, the drop of leaves on certain trees i.e. liquid amber, sycamore and birch, in November and a medley of other thing’s that delight my senses and confirm fall’s arrival for me.

{Courtenay Hartford}