************* Good Things Happened 2015 *************

Hello!  This is an end-of-the-year post with one photo from each month of my blog.  I have loved these peaceful couple of hours scrolling through my posts and selecting photos that made me smile at the memory.  As always, click to enlarge to see more detail.

 - January.  I titled this post "Day is done."  Photo taken outside the library near my home, after work.

- February.  The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta held a meeting in a church right across from our Georgia state capitol building in Atlanta.  I love its gold leafed dome.

- March.  Lenten roses at an Atlanta beltline park near the end of an after work walk.

- April.  Sweet violets at the weekend park in Lilburn, Georgia.

- May.  Note to self:  New Guinea impatiens do not do well on my back porch.  They sure were pretty that first day though.

- June.  The privet was blooming at the site of a Civil War battle - the same beltline park mentioned above.

- July.  I loved catching this bee in flight.  

- August.  My aunt's dog, Cotton, very interested in something down below.  At her home in Franklin, North Carolina.

- September.  A beloved spot - the walking path along the dam at Lake Chatuge.  Hiawassee, Georgia.

- October.  I titled this photo "by the light of the silvery moon."  Taken one morning as I was leaving for work.

- November.  Fallen leaves looking beautiful, in their own way.

- December.  Christmas Day at niece Amanda's beau's home in Madison, Florida.  It was a beautiful drive there to be with them for breakfast.  Lots of activity with a busy and excited six-year-old running around.  The larger rocking chairs belonged to my parents and were on their back porch at their home in Milledgeville, Georgia.  I'm delighted they are here now in this peaceful spot.  I told Amanda that her grandparents would have loved it there.  She says that she, her beau and his little girl sit in these chairs every evening and watch the sun set.

Happy New Year, y'all!  See you in 2016!

Over the river and through the woods, napping and merry

- I have literally traveled over a river and through woods to be with my sister and her family at their farm in northern Florida.  I love it here - so peaceful.  (This image from my favorite antique shop near my home.)

- Every time I see my sister's cat, Pete, sleeping like this, I always wish I could sleep so heavily and without care like he does.  But I sleep very well here - it's so very quiet.

- If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a merry one!  And I wish you all peace and joy.  Hugs!

Crazy punch bowl, framed rug and fuzzy vest

My sister Jo and I have long made a fun game of pointing out things in shops, prior to Christmas, that we are going to get each other for Christmas - tongue in cheek, of course.  And since we aren't together as often as we'd like, here are three photos I've texted to her with no message and her response.  :)

- She said, "What IS that???"  A crazy punch bowl, I think.

 - She replied that she could hang that in her dining room.  A framed Last Supper rug - amazing that someone thought to make that.

 - I sent this with the message, "I crack myself up!"  She replied, "You are too funny!"  Me, "That's going to look so good on you!"  One year another relative gave her a sweater with a fuzzy neck like that and she felt she had to wear it at least once.  :)

She was frantically wrapping all of the Christmas presents last Friday, in anticipation of the grandsons visiting - she needed to have all of her time to be with them.  She asked in the same text message if I remembered all those trips down to be with them on Christmas Eve and that I sat on the floor with her in a closed room and helped to finish wrapping all the presents.  That happened year after year - I thought it was fun.  She said that was a good memory and that, "You are the best sister ever!"  I replied - "No - you are!"  

Lessons and carols, ladybug bell and home

- A moment of hilarity among musicians prior to the start of my church's annual Lessons and Carols service.  It was a beautiful service and I was privileged to be one of the readers.  My committee is responsible for decorating the church sanctuary for Advent.  I think it looks enchanting.

- Friend Janice gave me this stained glass ladybug bell for Christmas (the bell hanging at the bottom is a bit obscured in the photo.)  We like ladybugs (long story.)  It's hanging out front where the fern resides during warmer months.  Not that it isn't warm now!  It hardly feels like December.  But the fern is safely ensconced on the covered back porch to protect it from frost.  On the day I took this pic with my phone - last Saturday - I shopped all day for Christmas, wearing Capri pants and flip flops

- And this pre-planted pot of pansies just begged to be taken home.  It was among a few bedraggled pots left at the plant nursery last Saturday.  It seems to like it by my front door.

Another highlight of the week, photos sent from my sister at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, where niece Carla and great niece Mina arrived from Turkey to spend the holidays with the family in the Shenandoah Valley.  Loved the action shots of Mina running to greet her grandparents.  And also loved the faces of strangers caught in the photos as they smiled at the happy reunion. 

Golden trees, festivity and off to a good home

- I still haven't put up my Christmas tree yet (due to the effects of a lingering head cold), so I'm admiring other trees.  Loved these golden trees in the antique shop window.

- When my sister was visiting from northern Virginia, we kept our eyes out for festive holiday earrings to go with her reindeer outfit.  She was to dress as a festive reindeer in a neighborhood Christmas party choir.  (I saw photos - it was awesome and she found some earrings during the trip home.)  Now I'm seeing festive earrings everywhere - this batch was dandy!

- A printing company client brought these mums in around Thanksgiving as a thank you gift.  But when they started looking a little peaked, someone sat them by the loading dock door.  I was standing there looking at them, when coworker Bobby walked by; truly the nicest man I know.  He asked if he could have them - he hated to see them thrown out.  So they went home with him and he planted them.  I love that.

Fancy Pants, Middle Sister and Drops of Jupiter

- I found myself in the wine aisle of the grocery store last night, looking for a bottle of wine to take as a gift.  This one caught my eye first - my sister Jo and I used the term "Fancy Pants" as code words during a difficult time in our family.  All we had to do was text or voice message Fancy Pants! and one would call the other.  How in the world we came up with that term - I couldn't say, but it worked.  And I love the pretty blue label on this bottle and that tag line, "I wear the pants."

- And the bottle next to it cracked me up.  I texted this photo to my sisters, since I am the sister born in the middle.  I'm sure no one thinks I'm a drama queen.  :)  The tag line "The dentist told me I needed a crown.  I was like I KNOW RIGHT!"  This one is apropos since I am facing getting a crown on a tooth.

- I'm terrible at picking out wine - I just go with interesting labels.  This one made me think of that song by the band Train, "Drops of Jupiter", and lo and behold, when I read the back of the bottle at home, it's their wine.  How about that.  And I just read that proceeds from sales of this wine go to charity.  I like that.  Hope it's good.  :)

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

Silver and green, little house and snowman

- Friend Barb and I went on our annual pilgrimage to beautiful Madison, Georgia last Saturday, for the annual tour of homes.  I didn't take that many photos, but loved a home belonging to a young couple married less than two years.  Restoration of their home has been a labor of love.  He told me that he took her to an 8th grade dance and they had been a couple ever since.  Their home was filled with beautiful touches and I loved this silvery vase on the back patio, filled with seasonal greenery.

- They don't have children yet, but there's a little play house waiting in the back yard, for when they do. 

- This snowman in front of a shop brought back a memory of drawing a snowman for niece Mina when she was about two years old.  We were out to breakfast and she brought me a pen and napkin and wanted me to draw a snowman.  She described exactly what she wanted:  branches for arms, a carrot nose and a hat.  Nice memory.

Shadow sisters, beautiful walk and in flight

- My sisters and I went for a walk last Friday on a gloriously warm and sunny morning.  We noticed that our shadows walked ahead of us, so I snapped a photo with my photo, but inadvertently cut myself off.  Still kind of neat though.

 - There they are again - I had lagged behind to take another photo.  This is a farm access road and a few friends of the tall sister there slowed in their cars to chat.

- There was a bird perfectly perched on the stump in the middle of that pond, but it flew away as soon as it sensed us nearby.  If you can left click to enlarge, you can see it in flight.

Thanks for coming along on our walk!  What a difference a week makes - it's 30 degrees outside here in Atlanta and I'm off to work.  Sigh.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Welcoming, good things, rooting and grazing

- Thanksgiving day was a perfect weather day - bright, sunny and warm.  My cousin's home in Fayetteville, Georgia is so welcoming and I loved the new outdoor fireplace on the back porch.  There were 30 of us for dinner, including my sister and her husband from Virginia.  The three of us headed down to northern Florida in the late afternoon to be with our other sister and her family for the rest of the weekend.

- I had to snap a photo of this shop sign, in my sister's tiny village of Monticello, Florida, featuring "good things."  Click to enlarge.

- Young Monroe makes his dad happy by wearing the Bear Bryant-like hat his grandmother bought for him.  That's the University of Alabama vs. Auburn University game reflected in the window.  Fortunately, Alabama won.  :)

- And in a quiet moment on Saturday morning, a couple of young deer were grazing in the back.  Click to enlarge.  My sister and brother-in-law consider their property a deer sanctuary.  The deer on the right spotted me and at the same moment, they turned and ran.

The internet is spotty down there, so I did not get to visit blogs, but I will catch up.  I Promise.