The Chapman Christmas Living Room is DONE!!! And the Santa Canvas Winners are.......

I'm loving the living room tree!

It's not totally decorated yet but I'm still working on it!

This Monday morning was the very FIRST time we have sat in here with our coffee and reading.

For days I would tell Louis Dean to NOT walk through the living room! Go around by way of the kitchen!

Finally there is a path!

I think it's so pretty!!

I need to add some lights to the doll case top but that will finish it up - I think!

This is the new CD player and it is wonderful!

Simple and easy to use and the sound is great!

Plays one CD at a time but I have learned how to make it 'repeat.'

The Christmas ambiance is making me happy!

I have more Santas that will fill this wall - so the extra Santa paintings will be going in the sewing room....once I get to that!

Lots of Santas....

We are spending Thanksgiving Eve with the Bells and then going to see the film 'Red.'

On Thanksgiving Day we will be at the Cumby's and I am taking Mincemeat Crescents.

Brenda loves mincement as does my step son Dean!

I'll  be making these for him when we are at the ranch in December.

I love this recipe and I love that Summer wrote it out for me.

Today Louis Dean and I took out all the remaining fall decor from the dining room and sewing room as well as the gazebo. I also worked on Sam's Cowboy Santa and then packed away the art table until later when I will finish it.

And now to announce the winners of the Santa drawings!

And the Santa Canvas Winners are....

Comment #185 - Susie Q!

You know who you are and we love you dearly.

I know you will always miss your beloved Teddy!

Louis Dean has loved all the western DVDs you sent.

We have loved being friends with you all these years.

Even though Louis Dean is suffering from dementia - he knows who you are!

Comment #39 - Sheila W!

Again, we have been friends and prayer partners for a very long time.

You are in my daily prayers along wiith your mom, Jean.

I have both of your addresses and will mail the canvases out tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Pecans and Decorating for Christmas - Still at it!

 Bruno came on Tuesday afternoon and trimmed our pecan trees!

The harvest is all but done and it was time to cut off some dangerous limbs.

He did such a great job!

Louis Dean continues his pecan 'peeling' day after day.

It's turned somewhat chilly lately so he is shelling in THE only room in the house that he's allowed!

Finally the foyer is done!

One night it was 4:00 in the morning when Louis Dean finally went to bed and he slet until 2:00 in the afternoon! I didn't want to wake him up so I slipped on my robe and houseshoes and took my first cup of coffee outside. I laughed outloud when I looked down!

Friday I was tweaking the foyer - again!

This light is so pretty!

I continued the angel theme and used a lot of gold.

I'm loving this tree!

This was a thrift find and Louis Dean loves it!

It's taking me longer than usual as I am deep cleaning and purging as I go.

Gone is the bulky stereo - that only played some CDs SOME of the time and the radio FM quit working.

Today I ordered a new small scale system that got good reviews. One guy said he bought it for his elderly parents and it was easy for them to use! Win! WIN!!! That will work for me!

My current room 'under construction' is the living room.

My stereo arrives tomorrow and I will start playing my Christmas CDs.

The tree is up and lit and partially decorated.

Still need to get the Santa  wall up and more to be done but I am trying hard to finish it by the end of the day tomorrow. That would put me with 6 areas decorated and 6 left to go!

It's been a quiet cozy week here with chilly mornings and lots of Christmas movies.

I'm on the 'H's' in my Christmas cards and will be  mailing out the first batch on Monday.

I'll do the random number generator on Monday morning and plan to go to the post office for stamps and to mail the Santas.

My goal is to be decorated for Christmas by December First - freeing me up to enjoy the season's baking and cooking and a little bit of entertaining.

I'm letting go of some traditions - as in making sugarplums - and parting with over 12 tubs of decorations. I'm giving them to Summer to decorate the cabins at Bar-J ranch. It feels good.

There's now 31 days to Christmas!

I pray you will enjoy each and every one.

Jesus is the reason for the season -

let's not lose sight of Him in all that we do.

Tuesday Treasures!!!

 I am SO enjoying these days and weeks of decorating for Christmas!

There's no pressure as I have no deadline or parties - not that I won't be entertaining some during the Christmas season. I know I will host a ladies Christmas Tea sometime in December - hopefully mid month. If you are local and would like to join me I would be honored.

Bruno came to trim our pecan trees this afternoon!

The harvest was pretty much  over and we had a good crop this year!

Louis Dean has been 'peeling' pecans for days and days......

I am thinking it is good therapy and he is loving it.

I left at noon to do Tuesday Treasures with Brenda and he was still out there when I came home at 3:30!

Now for my Tuesday Treasures!

A beautiful Cristmas Cardinal ....

Win! WIN!!

Another treasure!

This is a Karen Didion original and brand new with tags - just a missing wine cork!

No worries there!!

These two signs - just $6 for both!

A HEAVY glass box with lights and a gold bow!

$3!

Super cool ornament hangers!

L for Linda - or Louis!!

A pink Santa for my pink porch!

Napkin rings for next fall!

When I start to decorate next year it will be a surprise!

A beautiful Christmas pillow for the living room sofa.

Ha! A draft stopper and goodness - you know we have many!

I have wanted this pillow for the last two weeks but today it was half price!

SOLD!!

A holiday nightgown!

YES!

It is still warm in Texas and I am yearning for warm gowns and PJs - but it's not happening here!

Brenda and I thought this was gift bag filler - but turned out to be a garland!

It is now hanging in the foyer!

Finally - my best find!

I know nearly everyone has had YETI cups for a long time but I bought our first ones today!

His and hers!

One for his coffee and one for my ice tea!

Not bad for $2 each!

Here's a sneak peek at our foyer....

This side is mostly done and I used angels and gold  and nativity scenes.

Hoping to finish the other half tomorrow!

Look what a TREASURE I received from my counter part - Linda Chapman in Canada!

I teared up when I opened it!

Made with love from a dear friend - I am blessed beyond measure!

Thank you, Linda!

I love you and our visit last year when you came to Texas to meet me.

It's on my Bucket List to visit YOU in Canada and also to join you on one of your travel adventures!

YOU are the reason I keep my passport updated!

Our Christmas Porch and Celebrating Louis Dean's and Son Jesse's Birthdays!

 I'm still in a decorating frenzy here and enjoying the process!

Watching lots of Christmas movies!

Making meals!

These are cheese/egg bites and I really liked them.

No recipe - just eggs, cheeses, chopped onions and seasonings and a splash of Half and Half plus a tomato slice on top of each one.

I'm happy to say our possum is visiting regularly.

I've never done the front porch in pink before.

I'm doing every single room differently this year...

And I'm loving it!

Friday night Louis Dean made hamburger patties and I grilled them as well as made some steak fries in the air fryer.

Louis Dean put the burgers together and they were delicious!

We watched yet another Christmas movie and went to bed early.

Saturday was Louis Dean's 88th birthday and son Jesse's 58th birthday is on November 24th.

We celebrated both with lunch at Las Vaqueras!

*Source*

*Source*

This is the restaurant my siblings and I have had so many happy times through the years.

As we walked in I nearly teared up seeing all the places we have sat and celebrated holidays and birthdays and gatherings.

Jesse had picked us up and Rachel and her darling 18 month-old neice joined us.

The food and drinks were great and we loved spending time with them!

Alas, I did not take even ONE photo!

I think I'm losing my touch!

From there Jesse took us to the John Wayne Museum and you all KNOW how much Louis Dean loves all things 'John Wayne.'

We visited the gift shop first!

Nice photo ops!

We had such a good time!

We meant to visit for the last 3 years or so and Jesse made it happen!

They did have a John Wayne coffee shop run by one of his sons but it closed last year.

They still sell the coffee and we bought some!

I was going to buy Louis Dean one of the gold handled coffee cups like Jogn Wayne gifted every single person who worked on his movies.....

but they were $85 so we made due with the coffee.

He wanted a hat but that was out of my price range, too!

The museum is a family affair and the family of John Wayne made it happen.

Our docent told us that many members of the family come every May to celebrate his birthday and that they are nice as they can be. They know the names of all who work there and it's no surprise what wonderful people they are.

There are still bags and bags of mail that was never opened after his death in 1979 and the family take turns opening up some of them.

Many of the letters he received are now part of the documents in the exhibit.

My favorite was seeing the outfits John Wayne wore in his movies!

Since Louis Dean watches so many of his films - I am going to pay close attention to the clothes!

Everything was interesting....

After the museum, we went to Jesse's apartment for some John Wayne coffee and a visit.

Levi came home while we were there so we had a bonus visit with him!

As soon as we got home - late afternoon - LD started on cracking and shelling pecans and stayed at it until after 8:00!

Ilene came down and helped me add some finishing touches to the front porch.

While LD worked on the pecans outside - I came in and finished the Santa painting for Levi.

I asked Jesse to critique it and I had told him what things I thought I needed to do.

He asked, "Are you going to paint in the fish?"

Goodness! I ad not even SEEN the fish!! On closer inspection - there it was.

So I did, indeed, paint it in!

I guess my eyesight is even worse than I thought.

This Sunday morning we watched church online and then I continued my decorating things while trying to keep the clean rooms clean!

So far I only have two! The den and the kitchen - three if you include the laundry room.

Now four since the front porch is done.

I'm in the foyer now and hope to make a good start in there.

The living room is a wreck but Louis Dean did get the large Christmas tree in there - far left at the top!

What a mess!

It's been a football Sunday and while I have been watching - I also addressed all the Christmas cards that are international. I decided to mail them first since they take longer to arrive.

I don't know why I haven't been doing that all along!

So far I have 125 entries for the Santa drawings!

I will draw the two winners on Monday November 25th and put them in the mail that day if I already the addresses.

My goal is that you receive them by December first since most people start decorating for Christmas right after Thanksgiving!