Thursday, November 21, 2019

Flower Child Lunch, Pecan Harvest, and our Christmas Den is DONE! My Thursday!

My friend, Terre, lives in California and we met her and husband Joel a few months ago when they were visiting their family in Cleburne, Texas.
She flew into Love Field in Dallas for a visit to her 'Birthday Grandboys' and we had arranged to meet up for lunch today.

Her flight landed at 11:30 and we were going to meet at Jason's Deli on Cedar Springs in Dallas.
I Googled it and found it was the closest location. They have a gluten free menu and it is vital Terre stay on that diet since she has Celiac Disease.
Silly me! I did not know that particular Jason's Deli was INSIDE the airport!!
I drove around nearly an hour before I figured that one out.
I am a slow learner!

Terre, in the meantime, was having her own troubles trying to get to the rental car location but we connected and were thinking of where to meet when I came upon the Flower Child - a health food restaurant! Perfect!


So that's where we met and it is in the Inwood Village - a place I have not been to in years.
I was still having trouble getting there - having gone down a lane in the Village not knowing it was one way until I got to the end and saw the One Way sign! No wonder the other drivers were frowning at me! I drove in circles again but finally found it - having been so close several times as I looped around! I'm telling you - I have no sense of direction and surprise myself in the fact that I can get anywhere!


Terre ordered tea. I had a Mimosa. Don't judge! 
My nerves were frazzled by the well over an hour I had spent driving in circles.


It was a perfect lunch spot for us and we both liked the menu.


I chose this and it was delicious!
 CHOPPED VEGETABLE Salad
organic greens, romaine, avocado, heirloom carrot, snap pea, radish, baby tomato, cucumber, toasted sesame seed, ginger miso vinaigrette


Terre had this......
                                                         FLYING AVOCADO Wrap
                              smoked turkey, gouda, romaine, tomato, avocado hummus


We had the nicest visit!
I think we both needed a sister to talk to this afternoon and our friendship was the next best thing!

Terre headed to Cleburne and I drove home - by way of Northwest Highway.
I was driving roads I haven't driven in years.
Inwood Village was an area I once knew well - over 50 years and another lifetime ago.


Look who I found in the front yard!


That high wind yesterday dropped down a bunch of pecans and I was out there picking up the harvest. We are going to have more than enough to last us for a year!
I am so thankful Louis Dean likes to crack and shell them.
In past years, I would crack up a tin full - using the nutcracker Doug Stiegler (Reaoma's husband) made for me so very long ago. This time Louis Dean is cracking AND shelling! Win! WIN!!!

I am so happy to say that our Christmas den is all dressed up and I am loving it.
Louis Dean and I both agree that this is the prettiest it's ever been.


I am purposely decorating this year in a way that I can take some of the things out - like Santas - and leave the red plaid and poinsettias for the winter.


I am not  good photographer but I do love my den and wanted to show y'all.


The gold plate chargers are from Brenda and the table is all ready to set when I find my Christmas place mats and dishes.


I suppose the den is my favorite room but that may be because it's the ONLY room ready for Christmas.


Another gift Brenda gave me last night was this candle set.....


and the little golden book stand holding a Christmas book I have been trying to read for years.
I get it out about this time every year and pack it away after the holidays and start over again the next year! Maybe I will keep it out and get it read while I'm recovering from surgery in January!


Summer arranged the pine cones, greenery and berries in the dough bowl I bought at Magnolia last year. I just love the way she does things. She has so much more patience than I do.
The glass votive and candle are from Brenda, too.
I have so many things to remember not only Brenda but her mother, Mary.
I suppose I am sentimental but I treasure all these keepsakes.
As Brenda, Billy and I were packing up the things left from her parents lives for the Salvation Army to pick up soon - I was reminded how brief our time here on earth is.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
James 4:14


Some day all the things I treasure here on earth will go to others and I hope they will enjoy them all as much as I have.


Louis Dean loves the colored lights and I have tried to add some....


He will be happy that I stapled the 'debris' behind the couch to the wall!
He has put up with debris rubbing against his head when he leaned back and I try not to do that anymore.


I loaded up my photos and they are not in the order I took them - but I'm too tired to do anything but use them as they appear! I have a collection of Santas that has outgrown the living room and/or foyer.


So I gave  them a prime location in the window seat area of the den.
It may be a window seat but we haven't used it as one in over 40 years!


This is one thing I am planning on doing in 2020.....
redo the entire window wall here.
I want to stucco it in the same manner I did the utility room a few years ago.
It's time to give the whole thing a new look with real window treatments and everything.


I wasn't going to hang the stockings up this year - but I did it anyway.
The reason being - the bookcase holds photo albums and they don't look good - so I covered them up.
That's another thing I'm going to address next year.
I have been making a lot of plans.


I've been getting up early every morning no matter how late I went to bed - just because I am so excited about dressing the house up for Christmas.
Now  I know many of you, my dear friends, are still enjoying Fall.
I'm still enjoying it, too.
Some of you are not as big a fan of fall as I am so I have been celebrating it for a good while now while y'all are just now getting around to it.
We all have our favorite seasons and because I tend to go early on Fall does not take one single moment away from your enjoyment of Summer.
I am never quite ready to leave the fall season and in times past I never did until after Thanksgiving.
But I was younger and stronger and more energetic back then and in order to do things these days I must start earlier.
I hope and pray that I can continue to do all the things I love to do for many more long years.
I may just need to do them earlier as it takes me longer these days.

Louis Dean and I have been sitting out in the gazebo - he shelling pecans while I have been writing my journal entry. I made stuffed bell peppers and sweet potato casserole along with black eyed peas  for our supper tonight and the aroma floating out to the gazebo is telling us it is time to eat.

Louis Dean says this is like  'putting it into pretty words at the end of a chapter.'
That's because I just read this out loud to him and had a multitude of corrections to make!



19 comments:

  1. Your den looks so lovely and festive. It takes me so much longer to decorate for the seasons as well. I am the worst ever at directions; I even get lost inside buildings! I call it being directionaly impaired.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The den looks fabulous. You are very clever about making things look better...the art of disguise. I know that the things that Brenda shared mean a lot to you by way of memory.

    (I try not to think about leaving things behind knowing that my kids have both said they will not keep anything. It’s all going to Goodwill. Depressing.)

    A man who enjoys gathering, cracking, and shelling pecans is a saint. 😁

    Happy preparing...I am putting up my Christmas tree this Sunday. Time foreshortened this year after all. I agree that things take longer as we grow older.

    So glad that you were able to enjoy time with a blogging buddy. How frazzling to be lost and or confused. I am in a perpetual state of bewilderment some days! Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my goodness....the Christmassy-ness of your den. I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you for sharing it with us. If I wasn't already getting in the mood this definitely would have done it. I'll have to post a picture of my Santas when I get them out. I like to collect ones that depict different jobs or nationalities. My new one for this year is a big soldier one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We have our Christmas out too and many homes in our area do too. I love this season like you do. But my home will never be as Christmasy as your beautiful home is.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So beautifully welcoming to see your Christmas Den tonight Linda.
    Hugs.
    Joy

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you and LD are awesome!

    Your home is looking beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Girl, you've been so busy. Like you, I have no sense of direction! Not fun.
    The den looks soooo good.
    I pray that you have many, many years of decorating and wonderful things ahead of you. You deserve good things!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just love it. I rarely ever comment but Linda, you seem like the nicest person and so creative and loving. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and many friends. I'm 72 and want to be like you when I grow up.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I totally get doing the decorating bit by bit as we get older. I too used to knock it out in a day or too but those days are gone. I got out in the front flower bed and pulled up dead hosta leaves, trimmed the nandina and decided we had to have mulch this year. So I called the local garden guy for our subdivision and he is coming Monday to do that. Marvin protested a bit but I told him I did not want to get his Sciatica aggravated so we will pay someone to do it. I reminded him that we will be doing more of that in the future as we cannot do everything that we used to do. Love your pretty den...I am taking out a few things at a time as well. I plan to work on that this weekend. Thanks for your sweet comment yesterday Linda. I love you and Louis Dean and I hope we can meet in person one day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love this, just absolutely love this! I look forward to each season and seening your home all dressed for the holidays....it looks warm and festive! I so relate to you as to enjoying the memories of all the decor pieces....yes, it gets a little harder strengh wise to bring out all the decorations from the attic and keep the decoratins flowing....but it does bring great joy doesn't it! You did a marvelous job this year Linda...hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The den looks GORGEOUS this year!! I love all the plaids and it just looks so cozy and inviting! I still have all the fall stuff up and I keep telling myself I'm leaving it up for Thanksgiving but...I would love to find the time/energy to get at least a little bit of Christmas up before my son comes home for Thanksgiving. I'll have to see how far I get with it this weekend -- you've inspired me! Summer definitely has an eye for decorating, she did an amazing job helping you! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Glad you could meet up with your friend and have a nice lunch. You need to add a map app to your phone and it will direct you to where you are going and save some of your hassles. You always go all out on decorations but this year I think it at the very top:) Good idea to use things that can stay after Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  13. your FESTIVE is out and ready, now get to the other rooms, this one looks beautiful...Summer is talented in arranging... your lunches both look good to me... yowsa on the one way street.. glad you survived that.... enjoy your Christmas joy.... I am enjoying my joy, which is the sun coming in the kitchen... I need to remove the flowers from the vase and put the berries in. that is the extent of my décor. Charlie brown tree with come out on TG or day after...

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's always nice to visit with a good friend and I'm glad you were able to connect. LIFE IS SHORT. AND we need to take every advantage of the time we have. I do love your Christmas Den it is full of holiday cheer. Tomorrow is our family Thanksgiving then I'll start purring FALL AWAY and start on Christmas. Sometime today I need to find a Christmas shirt to wear. Everybody does when we get together for Thanksgiving and I want to join in. Hope you have a happy weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Linda, The den looks awesome. I love how the plaids look. I have some reds like that I should put out soon. As soon as my back stops hurting so badly, I will try to get it a bit like Christmas here. I love that LD enjoys cracking those pecans and getting them shelled. With the nuts and honey, you will be making some good desserts. :) My Angie's been teaching for years, so she has a huge collection of Santas and snowmen from children she has taught. So good you met a blog friend for lunch. Linda, any more I get turned around in old places I used to go. Blessings for a fun filled weekend. Love you, xoxo, Susie

    ReplyDelete
  16. Delightful as always.
    Your den is so cozy and inviting. I just love your Santa wall.
    Good idea to put things up in such a way that some can remain all winter long.
    Love LD's statement too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Linda :) I would choose mimosas over tea, I'm not judging! :) Your den is so beautiful and cozy!!! Our cats would have a field day there lol!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Christmas is so soon - yikes! Lovely to see your decorations even if you have more that I could live with. Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love your den! I love Christmas, so it makes it feel so cozy to me. I have done a little decorating today and I will be sharing it soon.

    ReplyDelete