Sunset View.

Driving home while the sun was

setting in the West. The reflection

ended up on the trees and behind

our house, which is East. Amazing!

Right now, we have beautiful pink

sunrises as we travel east on our

subdivision road in the morning.

This is the first time I've seen the

sun setting and casting light this

way. I hope to see this again soon!

~ Chy

Office Art.

I finally hung up the charity shop painting

I picked up when we secured our grief office.

The colors in the painting ended up guiding

us as we chose the colors for the space. I

love the soft and warm tones. And the tones

that are light and playful. So very calming. 

~ Chy

Saying Goodbye.

Sometime over the weekend, we'll begin

to take down all the Winter decorations.

Time to say goodbye to the lovely light

the tree brings. We've loved our look

this holiday. It's time to start thinking

now about Spring and fresh decor for

Our Little Cottage in the Big Woods

as the warm sun stays longer each day.

~ Chy

The Secretary.

Now my favorite part of our little

cottage, the secretary says "home!"

It is solid, vintage, welcoming, quiet,

engaging and so comfortable. I loved

writing our Christmas cards here. And

I often will blog in this spot, or write

letters to my overseas pen pals. Plan

meals. Look over budgets. Make cell

phone calls. Dream. Remember. Ache.

Reflect. Plan. Execute. Reflect. Chill.

Do you have a favorite writing spot?

By chance, is your desk a secretary?

~ Chy

Eric in the Sun.

Eric the fig seems to really enjoy the

sweet sunny spot we chose for him.

We've moved some of our other plants over

here for the Winter as the sun hits and stays

here the longest. They are all growing well.

You can see Eric is taller by the green tape

on the side of the cabinet to measure his

height. At least a good solid inch this month.

~ Chy

Food Prices.

This was $58 worth of food earlier in the week. Not even a full weeks worth of groceries. The veggies, chicken broth, tortellini and the pack of chicken were all to make my soup. The buns were to go with the soup as well. The rice was to fill up the bin. The orange juice was for my cold infected dh and ddh. The blueberries were for muffins. The salad was for a different dinner, with left over chicken, and the strawberries and grapes were for snacks. Enough but not cheap and definitely not the enough to sustain us. When we were first married, we budgeted $60 to $65 per week, including paper goods and laundry soap, shampoo, etc. Now we spend about $200. I wish a true need, good quality food, doesn't have to be so expensive. We are lucky to have decent, comfortable incomes but I often wonder how families that are not as fortunate create healthy meals. I'm sure it's a creative process to ensure the food matches the funds. 

What is your food budget like?

Are you able to buy healthy foods?

~ Chy

Creamy Tortellini.

Colds have attacked our home. I'm healthy but both

dh and dd are suffering. So out comes my soup pot.

Cream Tortellini soup with carrots, onions, garlic,

celery, peas, tortellini and chicken, in a creamy broth.

Simmering and medling all the flavors together.

The taste even improves once it has cooled.

My favorite soup now. So much so, it made

it's way in to my Susan Branch recipe book.

Do you have a favorite soup?

Do you make soup when colds strike?

~ Chy

Brekky in Bed.

Sometimes I get spoiled by my guy,

and a favorite is yummy brekky in bed.

Cheesy eggs, cinammon toast, with

fresh fruit and vanilla yogurt. Yum!

~ Chy

Winter Project.

We've started on a Winter Project for
those nights where we have no plans.

A sweet little box to turn in to a tiny

bakery ~ all in miniature of course.

It started out brown and white but

we've now painted the outside a

lovely shade of green, with white

and black trim, including the door.

Do you have any Winter Projects?

Are you a dollhouse collector?

~ Chy

Mama's Hair.

I love that the staff at my mom's care

home does her hair every day. Today,

it was 2 sweet braids, just like mine!

We looked like twins. Such great care.

~ Chy

Late Afternoon.

As much as I'm loving the sunshine in

the morning and the later sunset, I'm

also still loving the muted late afternoon

sun in the living and dining rooms. Cozy.

~ Chy

Chocolate House.

Finally eating up our little Christmas house.

Made from white and milk chocolate bars.

Royal icing and a whole lot of Smarties.

This is just before we started to break

it all up to munch. And crunch. Yum!

~ Chy

Visibly Armed.

Cameras are going up around our home.

Nice packing, lovely instructions, fun!

Love the inside of the camera boxes.

Soon we'll be able to watch who comes

down the little lane and which deer and

moose families wander through the trees.

Looking forward to this next step for us.

~ Chy

More Soup.

Our staple this week with everyone

feeling a bit under the weather with

chesty colds. So far, I'm healthy but

feeling a bit achy. Warm soup for now. 

~ Chy

Deer Crossing.

Coming home, we had to stop for deer.

They stopped for us. It was a standoff!

But then they began to move again and

we could slowly drive along the lane to

home without scaring them. I love the

wildlife that shares our little forest.

~ Chy

Winter Roads.

So very thankful today for above normal

temperatures and sunny morning skies.

This was our Range Road just 2 weeks

ago. Icy and poor visibility all around.

The wind kept moving the snow across

the road, making is super dangerous.

I picked up our kids early and we headed

home and ended up staying there all week.

Our home was cozy and warm, the pantry

and freezer were full, and we had many

projects to keep us busy, while keeping

up with our work as well. I love this era

where we can work from home and not

get behind. Staying connected to my team

and our clients is vital to success in this

field. Feeling privileged to work at home.

What is your work and home life balance like?

Can you work from home? Do share your stories!

~ Chy

Easy Muffins.

During our Deep Freeze, I spent some

time in the kitchen, perfecting recipes.

One was my Blueberry Muffins. So light and

so full of berries. Easy to make. Easy to eat!

~ Chy

Tiny Cups.

My lovey takes quite a bit of time to

search for the perfect gifts for all of us.

I love that he remembers little things I say, like

"I can never finish a full cup of hot chocolate."

So what does he do? He finds tiny little Espresso cups

that just happen to be the perfect size for when I want

a cup of hot chocolate but can only drink a tiny bit at a

time! Such a thoughtful guy, he is, my lovey, with gifts.

~ Chy

Cards of Love.

My Christmas card from my lovey.

And my Christmas card to him.

Every holiday or celebration, we give each other a card. Gifts are always lovely and exciting but for me, the card is the best. Words of love, words of affirmation, both printed and written are so precious to me. So sparkly and heart filled ~ cards of love. These 2 will be my favorite, at least for now.

We're currently finishing up organizing our art studio, a great project over the Winter. I'll have to do a post one day once it's all done. While putting items in to their right cupboards, bins or shelves, I came across an old scrapbook that held all the cards we had received during our engagement, wedding showers and then our wedding. It was heavy and full but very tattered. Last Sunday afternoon, I carefully pulled out each card, peeled off the paper backing from the scrapbook (an old version that was just paper and cardboard), and piled up the cards in order. Today, after we've done enough work in the studio, I'm going to go into my scrapbook cupboard and pick out a new book for these cards. I'll likely have to split each card in 2, so the front and the inside can be displayed in the scrapbook. It might seem silly to save cards but it was really heartwarming to read all the cards last week and remember the individuals and the families who had wished us well as we embarked on our life together. I'm looking forward to putting this memory book together. Something to look back on to remind us that we are loved and encouraged through this lifelong journey.

Do you love to receive cards?

Do you keep cards or toss them out?

~ Chy

Dreaming ....

.... of Spring! We have had some warm

weather this week, which has created

some melting, slushy roads, muddy cars

but lovely sunny days. But I am starting

to count down the days until the buds

return, the flowers bloom and the birds

are singing again. I miss the green. I

love new snow but not muddy snow!!

~ Chy

Brrrr ....

It was the Deep Freeze of all

Deep Freeze's! But thankfully

today, it changed. We went

from low's of minus - 48 C,

to a warm high today of - 2C.

Crazy and we hope no more!!

~ Chy

Love. Hate. MLK.

~ Chy

Opposite View.

A bit more of our little cottage on my

mini tour of our sweet tiny home.

There are actually a lot of details in the

dining room so I'll have to do 2nd tour.

Above is our front foyer that has a little

recessed hall for our closet and cabinet.

My grandparents dining room set from

the 30's. The larger chairs we are using

from an old kitchen set. One day, I'd like

to replace the wood chairs with upholstered

soft fabric ones. For now, we will use what

we have. This is what our frugal living is all

about. The chandelier was gifted to us and

the table coverings were gifts, with the

gold table cloth from my in laws and the

crocheted lacy cloth from my great great

grandmother. Pretty prints hanging on all

the walls. And an old antique music stand.

Do you have a dining room?

Do you use it often if you do?

~ Chy