Happy New Year's Eve

Ring Out Wild Bells (from In Memoriam  by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

     The flying cloud, the frosty light:

     The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

     Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

     The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind

     For those that here we see no more;

     Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

     And ancient forms of party strife;

     Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

     The faithless coldness of the times;

     Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

     The civic slander and the spite;

     Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

     Ring out the narrowing lust for gold;

     Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Seeing Red

Yesterday I mentioned that I'd decided to paint our dining room red, last night, one wall got painted with a sample color, million dollar red by Benjamin Moore.  Above, you can see the perfectly good gold color that the room had been painted. Once it dried, the color made me smile so off  we went to the hardware store to get more paint.

 Thursday was spent taking everything off the walls and throwing on two and,  in some places, three coats of paint. By 10:30 p.m. things went back on the walls.  (Why is that mismatched chair still at the table and not upstairs?)  BTW, the tablecloth really is the same red color as the walls but because of a metallic sheen, it appears pink in these pittures.

 
One usually sees red walls with white trim but I'm unwilling to paint the original varnished wood.  There was a worry that the color with the wood might be too much but I like the combination.

By the way, the white spots that you see around wome of the wood is where a painter of the past slopped white paint over onto the wood.  It would probably look better if it were covered with the new color.

While lounging around in my gardening sweats/pajamas was fun for a couple of days,  it was fun to play with paint for a time. Have a good weekend  all!

So I Had to Stop at Watson's

On December twenty-second, the clock was ticking on finding a gift for a dear friend who has everything so I decided on a gift certificate from her favorite nursery so I had to stop by Watson's.  Here's some of what caught my eye.

The rusty metal trees have a price tag commensurate with their awesomeness so I'll simply admire them.

Primroses, hellebores, and a host of other winter bloomers kept a couple of hummingbirds busy.

These were already marked down 50%.

Nice foliage combination.

A tree decorated with artificial tillandsias, ornamental kale, succulents and topped with agave bulbils. 

Umbrella trees?  Perfect for the PNW!

Baby cacti look so cute.

The crew were busy moving all sorts of merchandise around and putting ornaments in boxes for the upcoming sale. 

Pests!

Velvet pomegranates. 

Here's that weed pulling angel again. 

Here's Cathy from Rambling in the Garden contemplating her next In a Vase on Monday offering.

Lots of fun stuff but I've got too much already so it was easy to stay away from the sales.  Instead, inspired by Linda from Each Little World, I've started to paint my dining room red.

Hope you're enjoying this week.  Are you taking advantage of any post Christmas sales?

Wednesday Vignette - A Well-Deserved Rest

After flying all over the world in one night, the reindeer settle in for a nice snack before settling in for a long winter's nap.  I hope you have time for a little rest and relaxation too.

Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna at Flutter and Hum.  Click here to join the fun.

I'm No Longer Dreaming of a White Christmas

Because here in the Pacific Northwest, we had one for the first time in years!  It started snowing during the day of the 24th and by the time we returned home late on Christmas eve, there was a bit of accumulation.  I had my phone in hand and snapped this picture.  The phone has been throwing weird purple color into images sometimes.  This time it was rather pleasing.

Snow fell on and off during the night and continued to fall all morning on Christmas.

A heavy wet snow perfect for making snowballs and snow people.

 By late on Christmas day,  most of the snow on main roads has melted but a few patches remain in the garden.  Tonight the temperatures are predicted to be in the mid to upper twenties which will freeze the water on the roads and make driving dangerous.  Thank goodness we don't have to drive tomorrow.  Although, the after Christmas sales at Watson's, Molbak's and other nurseries are starting then.  Happy Boxing Day/St. Stephen's Day!