Over the River and Through the Wood...

Over the river, and through the wood, to Grandfather's house we go;

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood -Oh, how the wind does blow!

It stings the toes and bites the nose as over the ground we go.
Over the river, and through the wood,To have a first-rate play.

Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding",Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river, and through the wood Trot fast, my dapple-gray!

Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood -And straight through the barnyard gate,We seem to go extremely slow,It is so hard to wait!
Over the river, and through the wood -Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie

Thank you to all my teachers from Owasco Elementary School in Auburn, NY who faithfully every year had our whole class sing this song right before Thanksgiving break! Thank you Mrs. Northrup, Mrs. Chapin, Mrs. Burgette, and Mrs. VanArsdale for all the wonderful memories. You were the best! Michele, your grateful student from the 1970's.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(This Thanksgiving song originally appeared as a poem written by Lydia Maria Child in Flowers for Children, volume 2, in 1844. The painting is by Anna Mary Robertson Moses, "Over the River to Grandma's house", 1947)

Cozy up to a Sweater Pillow

After a damp, chilly weekend I'm in the mood for a sweater pillow. They're a terrific way to bring texture and warmth into a room during this time of year. If you happen to have some sweaters that
are past their wearing days but they still have some life left in them, you can make your own sweater pillow. For instructions visit Digs Magazine here
(image on left from West Elm)





Two cream sweater pillows above by White Butterfly Studio on etsy - $55 for the set
From West Elm, Lutz & Patmos cable pillow cover above and zigzag pillow cover below, $39

Irish wool sweater from JMBrecht on etsy - $18.

From Heart Felt Fun at etsy - recycled angora sweater for $18. How adorable!! The green one below is equally cute. And, for the remainder of 2008, all the profits from her etsy listings (sales less listing fees, CoMS, and mailing supplies) are going to the building of a new Youth Center in the Greater Knoxville area. How good is that!

Western Interiors - Memorable Issue

With the recent demise of shelter magazines in this economy (Cottage Living and O at Home to name two) it's great when you see a magazine put out a stellar issue. Western Interiors Dec/Jan 2009 issue is one of their recent bests. I gauge that on the "fact" that I've picked up and sat down with this issue at least 4 times in the last day. The cover to this issue is misleading as the inside is full of a range of design that would appeal to many tastes. Features include a home by Kenneth Brown and a peek into Barclay Butera's Park City apartment.


These rooms were created by architect Richard Beard and interior designer Michael Booth. Photography by Matthew Millman.

Cartolina Cards Online!

My favorite cards are now available online! I am a huge fan of Cartolina Cards and was so pleased to read on Fiona's blog that her cards are now available on GreetQ. A really great feature about GreetQ is the option to personalize cards with your own message. You can even schedule your card delivery dates and they'll mail them for you. Wouldn't it be great not to have to miss an important date?

This pheasant card is so beautiful!

Room Crush(es)

Designed by Brooke Gianetti, Velvet & Linen - love the wood tones and muted colors of this room.

Designed by Patricia Gray - Check out the ceiling reflected in the mirror. So crisp & lovely.

image via Seattle Times, photography by Michael Partenio. I"ve lost track of who the designer is - my apologies. Love the clean lines, warm colors and those wing chairs.

Fiona Newell Week's Store...lovely, lovely

Fiona Newell Week's Dwelling & Design is an absolutely lovely, lovely store. It truly captures this talented interior designer's vision of beautiful home decor. Located in the quaint town of Easton, MD it is a must visit if you're in the area. At this moment I"m currently plotting when I should return...

I really wanted to purchase the alligator box with candle. It's been two weeks and I still think about it. Darn that recession! The striped velvet fabric is gorgeous. It makes me want to place sample sized fabrics around my house - wonder what my family would think of that??

Pink and brown - so pretty.







Love the pink and brown rug.
So worth the visit.

Colorful Eye Candy

Leafing through a magazine at the bookstore, I noticed an eye catching photo of Hout Bay Manor, Cape Town South Africa.

A visit to this hotel's website did not disappoint. Love the pink and the yellow ...wow

*Update - the designer of this hotel is Boyd Ferguson. Thank you to the comment from Brown Family. It seems there is a store too but unfortunately no web site for it.

Shore Haus & a chance meeting with another blogger

The blogging world is small. Why do I say that? Well, I went to Shore Haus because of a post on Hello Gorgeous and guess who I happened to meet there - Hello Gorgeous! Just after I asked one of the owners, John Raines, if I could take pictures he said, "There's another blogger here..." It was fun to meet you!
(The first pic is of the interior of an outdoor cottage on the store's property. Stunning.)

Shore Haus is a terrific store full of serious eye candy and interior design inspiration at every turn. Happily for me it wasn't that far from the Punkin Chunkin event of last weekend.


This pic was taken in their upstairs level. Love the black floors and the metal ball.

My camera doesn't do justice to the finish on this wall. It has a lot of depth to it. The large art pieces add to the drama in the room.

These were terrific display units that were very reasonably priced. ( I can't remember the exact price but can remember thinking it was quite good.)


If you're in the Rehoboth DE area, Shore Haus is absolutely worth the stop. And, thank you to Chris for being so kind and helping me with directions to Easton, MD. I got there without a hitch.