Happy Saturday morning! Gosh, it is hard to believe the first week of the New Year is over. Thank you for joining me for Saturday Meanderings as we reflect on the comings and goings of the week.

It always takes me a while to file away the holiday spirit. Slowly we are dismantling our holiday day decor as we leave it up until January 6th, which is the Epiphany. Organizing and storing it all always takes a bit of time. We’re not in any hurry.

Thinking about my Spring Garden

When it comes to gardening, I feel rather knowledgeable about the vegetable garden. The last week of February through the month of March is the ideal time to get growing, and get the most out of the 2021 tomato season here in Phoenix.

If you live locally and want to start a garden, Farmyard Farmers is an excellent resource. The year I had extensive shoulder surgery I hired them to design and plant my garden. They did an incredible job. You can also purchase seeds and seedlings from them. Here is the link to their website.

However, I am a novice in planning and planting a flower garden. The thought of having access to fresh cut flowers is a dream of mine. I am awaiting several packets of seeds from Floret Farm. A family run flower farm and seed company, they specialize in unique and heirloom varieties. They have a lovely website and their seeds sell out quickly. Once the seeds arrive, I will develop a plan and share that with you. We can learn together.

Inspiration from other sources

As much as I don’t enjoy spending hours on the computer or social media, I do love the inspiration from other sources. A comment from The Vintage Contessa on my last post about the grilled cheese tomato soup party led me to another blogger, Annie from Most Lovely Things (who also happens to have a grilled cheese recipe).

On her post, Annie shares her five favorite things and one is the artist, Aiden Paez. Aiden is a self-taught, 14 year old and don’t you just love the picture above? You can follow him on Instagram @throughaidenseyes.

Another inspirational artist and blogger is Sandra Sallin. Sandra started her blog at age 72. An awarding winning artist, her energy and sense of humor is contagious. Her informative blog, Apart from My Art is here. A good lesson in that it’s never too late to learn something new.

Last week I was craving a hearty, warm Mediterranean style soup~like a tortellini or a good minestrone. And then I read The Enchanted Home’s Seven on Sunday (one of my favorite reads) and lo and behold, there is a recipe for Pasta Fagiole. That was it! I made it right away and it is so delicious. The timing is great because we had a bit of Elisabeth’s homemade bacon that I used instead of pancetta. Adding jars of our garden tomato sauce, this soup is a winner. Here is the link to that post. Note: I doubled the recipe as the original one serves 4.

Another blog that sets my mind into dream mode is Cheap Old Houses. Do you follow them on Instagram @cheapoldhouses? Not only do they feature homes for sale (cheap) domestically, but also internationally. I have often fantasized about restoring a villa in Europe! Once you sign on, it’s hard to not go down the rabbit hole and spend hours on this site.

Fun Recipe

Do you recall back in November we made the Alton Brown Aged Eggnog Recipe (see post here)? Well, it aged for approximately 6 weeks and we consumed it on Christmas. It is D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S! I also discovered that my sister, Susie and her family, made a batch last spring and had it aging for months. We will definitely be making more soon. You can find the recipe here if you want to make it now.

Elisabeth’s Birthday

Hard to believe my youngest is now 20 years old. It seems like yesterday that she was dressing up and twirling around the kitchen. Well, she still twirls around the kitchen! And what a fine young woman she has become.

The children always get their choice of homemade birthday cake. Elisabeth decided on a Chocolate Matcha cake from my favorite cake cookbook, Layered by Tessa Huff.

This is a HUGE cake with 4- 8″ cakes~2 chocolate and 2 matcha flavored. The filling is a white chocolate matcha ganache, all covered in Swiss meringue buttercream.

For Christmas, I received a professional revolving cake stand from my son. Being an amateur cake baker, I still need a lot of practice on this new stand, however, it made frosting this cake a bit easier.

Fortunately, half of the cake is now at college with her and not part of my thighs.

Funny Photo of the Week

As you know, our large dog, Cooper, loves sitting on whatever is around.

However, one night he decides to sit on the sofa on top of our cat, Donovan. Poor thing. The cat tried using all its might to push Cooper off. Not sure Cooper felt a thing.

Well, that’s a wrap! Will be spending the weekend taking down the balance of Christmas. Our houseguests (our son and girlfriend) will be leaving on Sunday to head back to D.C. We feel so blessed to have had our son here for a month. Sad to see them go but know they have their own lives too.

Have a beautiful weekend!

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I cannot believe this is my last post of 2020. Well, it’s been a year, hasn’t it? When I reflect back over the course of the last 12 months, I count my blessings. We are healthy and happy, most of the time. And 2020 is a year where the world realizes that having good health is a cherished gift.

Being the eternal optimist, I contemplate and note that even though life is bittersweet, many unexpected surprises emerge from these unusual trials and tribulations.

Importance of Friends and Family

With lockdowns and restrictions, my focus is more family/home centric. With two adult children working remotely, we are lucky to have our son (who lives in DC) able to visit for longer periods of time. Our daughter loves being nearby and working from home allows her more quality time with her pets. Our youngest is at college, but within close proximity, which is comforting.

A welcomed side effect of being tethered to home is that we have strengthened relationships with our adjacent neighbors.

In the Spring, Wine at the Wall Wednesdays was a creative way to socially distance with our neighbors, yet still socialize. Bring your own glass and we would trade off who provided the wine. I don’t know about you, but I need human connections. As a result, we now have this lovely circle of friends, who also happen to live right next door. Lucky us!

Importance of Personal Responsibility

It is never too late to be healthier. Never. It takes fortitude and a change in lifestyle, but now, more than ever, we must do our part to be well. One of my top blog posts is 10 Tips to Stay Healthy, which I posted last winter and before COVID. You can see it here. There is SO much we can do to build our immune system and stay well.

Granted if you have a pre-existing condition, do what you can to make yourself less vulnerable to viruses. It is never too late to start on a healthier lifestyle.

The picture above is a card I received in my latest order from Native, which produces an aluminum free deodorant. I highly recommend their products. But doesn’t the card says it all?

Importance of Aging Well

There is no surprise here, but we are all getting older. Our aging population stresses our health care system, but getting older does not automatically mean poor health. There a plenty of older adults who enjoy an active vigorous lifestyle.

I believe happiness and aging well are choices. Granted, some days are better than others but you cannot stop trying to live an interesting, fulfilled life. If you haven’t read my 10 Tips to Aging Well, here is the link.

Kindness is Free

As I have mentioned, I have completely stopped watching the news. People who are hateful have no place in my life. No news is good news. Maybe it is naive of me to put my head in the sand, but I now have more time in the day to do something positive and productive.

In January 2019 I wrote a post on Kindness (see post here) because back then we were seeing less and less of it in the world. Then 2020 happened and it just got worse.

Instead of getting frustrated, I am committed more than ever to the mantra: JUST BE KIND. It doesn’t cost anything and you never know whose day you will make better with a random act of kindness. Can you imagine what kind of world it would be if everyone did this?

Keep Moving Forward

For me, moving forward and keeping in motion is therapeutic. Creating momentum staves off paralysis and fear. If any year provided excuses for hunkering down and doing nothing, it was 2020.

However, we tackled more house projects than ever before, with lots of fun stories in between. Remember the mystery around the antique locket found under the dishwasher (see post here)?

2020 has been the year of unexpected problems and expensive repairs with cars and plumbing. Cha-ching! For a while, it was one thing after another but let’s hope that phase has passed.

Once travel opens up, I am definitely planning a trip to recover from all the projects, both planned and unexpected in 2020.

Focus on my Blog

This year, I truly focused on making my blog more enjoyable for you. My commitment to post on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday is occurring most of the time. My new found blogging friendships are allowing me to participate in blog hops with others. These same friends are encouraging me to be better. Lucky me!

The best part is that I am learning new things each and every day (another great tip to aging well!). The goal is to update the design of my website and add more good pictures of our home so hopefully you will see more positive blog changes in 2021.

Looking Ahead to 2021

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I do and for the most part, I do stick with them for at least the first 6 months of a new year.

My first resolution is to take better care of my hands. With all the hand sanitizer and washing more than usual, my mitts feel like sandpaper. Plus having clean and tidy nails is a good thing . My hands go directly into the dirt in the garden. I wash dishes without gloves. Truly, my 10 digits are a mess. I’d post a picture of them but you would shudder.

More Time for Painting

Painting more is also high on my list for 2021. Getting into a routine where I painted every Friday afternoon would be desirable. And maybe then, I’d feel more confident in selling a few finished ones.

Re-commit to structured exercise

Pre-COVID I was exercising 6 days a week. Pathetically, I am now down to 2-3 days per week and I can feel the difference. Do you need to do more? If you are interested in my exercise goals, I am happy to post those and perhaps we can keep each other on track. It is just a matter of starting….

Reducing the Clutter

At the end of 2019, I had over 7000 emails in my inbox. It took me 9 hours to sort through them. I vowed to not have over 100 emails in my inbox. Fast forward a year later and I have 7,394 emails in that very same inbox. My goal is to officially unsubscribe to nearly all promotional emails and only allow room for ones that matter. If anyone has tips on how to stop this email madness, please let me know.

On my camera I have 52, 000 photos. Just the thought of sorting and deleting and filing those gives me angst. But it needs to be done! Again, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Celebrating the New Year

The days where I stayed up until midnight to welcome the New Year are long over. My choice would be to wake up early and watch the sun rise on a new year instead. Maybe a morning hike or walk and then home for some fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh brewed coffee would be the perfect start to the new year.

How will you be celebrating the end of this year and the beginning of the next? What resolutions, if any, are you making?

Wishing you all the best for the New Year! Remember to stay safe, stay healthy but most of all, be happy!

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Yesterday, I went shopping for pink (yes, pink!) Christmas ornaments. Seriously. What was I thinking?!? Hobby Lobby is one endless row of empty shelves after another. Online shopping will get you ornaments at the end of December. Not admitting defeat, I checked out Michaels. Again, hardly any inventory, but I went down every aisle and hidden, in a strange out of the way place I found what I was looking for! And now the holiday decor for the dining room is complete! To see more about the decor evolution of this room, click here.

This year, I am happy to report that we have a live, Noble fir tree tucked into the corner andit smells H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y! If you recall, this is the room with the burgundy/pink rug (clashing with the typical red and green for Christmas). But the fresh tree and a pretty roll of pink striped ribbon, is the basis for the inspiration. Click here for the ribbon.

With our Michaels’ purchase of a few packages of miscellaneous ornaments and floral picks, my sweet daughter, Elisabeth and I began decorating the tree. Since ornaments do not seem to come with their own hangers, we use pipe cleaners to attach them to the tree.

Still debating whether I need a tree topper of some sort, but for now the pink striped ribbon bow will do.

The glittery floral picks catch the reflection from the clear light strands.

To cover the tree stand, I use a pink and white quilt (that typically makes an appearance for Valentine decorations).

Completed with wrapped packages decorated in fun pink holiday paper, the tree is complete.

The pink tree ties in nicely with the mantel, which has a variety of bottle brush trees, garland, pink peppercorns, gold berry picks and a garland of sparkly balls. To see last year’s mantel decorations and the sources for the trees, click here.

Though not really planned, it appears trees are the theme in this room. On the dining room table, tinsel and white conical trees, candles and pink roses make up the centerpiece.

With our dry weather, I don’t need to polish the silver tea/coffee service often. But it hadn’t been cleaned since last December, so it is definitely time to do so. Not my favorite task, but a little elbow grease is rewarded with gleaming silver.

A simple addition of more trees here too along the pink linen runner from Williams Sonoma.

My second Christmas painting, done in 2017, rests on the wainscoting trim behind the buffet.

In stepping back to look at the room, I just love how it looks this year.

I have always wanted a tree in this room. Initially I thought an artificial tree, perhaps a white one, but the fresh tree looks spectacular and fills the room with the scent of the great outdoors. Such a delight!

A warm, magical holiday mood happens at night when all the lights from the tree and mantel are on, and the candles glow in the windows.

So the big fresh tree in the living room gets decorated today. It fell over last night but thankfully it was bare without ornaments and lights. Missed my December 15th deadline for sending out our Christmas cards too! But who cares? It’s the holiday season and time for merriment, right?

Have an amazing Wednesday!

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What a week! Slowly the decorations are coming out and we will get our fresh tree this weekend. It’s a family tradition to get our main tree on or near my husband’s birthday. The goal is to have the tree up and decorated no later than next Tuesday. I know I am way behind other bloggers, but it doesn’t really matter because this is how we celebrate here at Bella Terra.

The Annual Christmas Painting

As you may recall, I started painting about five years ago (see post here). Each year I attempt a new holiday painting. Based on a wonderful photo, I painted our cat, Donovan. He is a stray Maine coon cat the girls found in the yard years ago and he is currently our only cat. After losing our very first cat, Tippy this year, I have an increased desire to capture our pets on canvas. If you follow me on Instagram (I hope you do!), you may have already seen this.

Two New Recipes

Chocolate Sourdough Babka Bread

Every Christmas, I replay the previous Christmases and holidays in my head. I feel blessed to have had many happy and joyous holidays from my childhood to now. Naturally there have been a few where loved ones are not there and occasionally my heart feels heavy from their loss. Lately, I have been thinking of my Mom and Dad, who both passed away rather unexpectedly 5 years ago, 5 months apart.

But they were very good parents and they made our holidays extra special every year. Being of Polish decent, I recall some of the traditions and foods surrounding the holidays. With fond memories of babka bread, I realize that I have never made one.

Babka is a dense cake, although it looks a little like a bread. It’s a sweet yeast dough filled with fudgy chocolate or cinnamon in layers and baked. It also sometimes has a streusel on top.

Since I am always looking for ways to use my sourdough starter discard, this recipe is a Chocolate Sourdough Babka with Streusel de Coco from Artisan Brian is perfect. You can see the recipe here.

A 2-day recipe, but well worth the effort. Also, I have never braided bread before but this is a fun learning recipe with excellent results!

Aged Egg Nog

Have you ever heard of aged egg nog? I certainly haven’t, yet my son brought up the idea at Thanksgiving.

Although most Americans think of eggnog as something they get out of a milk carton during the two-week period leading up to December 25, eggnog actually descends from sack posset, a strong, thick English beverage built upon eggs, milk, and either a fortified wine (like Madeira) or ale. 

In this recipe, you must age it for a minimum of 2 weeks, but they say a month or two would be even better. We made this on November 24 and will drink it later this month. Made with eggs, sugar, fresh nutmeg, half-and-half, whole milk, heavy cream, Jamaican rum, cognac, bourbon and a bit of kosher salt, let’s not count the calories!

It looks like it has lost a bit of volume (where would it go?). We all tasted it before it went into the refrigerator and it is delicious. Should be interesting to see how it tastes 6 weeks later. Click here for the link to the recipe.

An Easy DIY Holiday Decorating Idea

As you know, plaids are all the rage this year. During a recent trip to Michaels, they had buy one and get one free rolls of wrapping paper. So I grabbed all the plaid ones and did this simple, easy and fast DIY.

Here is the chest in my family room, before.

And look how festive it looks now with minimal effort!

I simply wrapped the books with the plaid wrapping paper, changed out the wooden beads for silver ones (a necklace of mine) and added faux greens.

In setting up a small tree at the other end of the chest, I added small wrapped packages underneath too.

I hope to show you more of our holiday decorations (if I can get my act together) next week with a holiday home tour.

Thanks for the help

If you don’t follow me on Instagram stories (I hope you do), I want to thank you for all the fabulous feedback on how to improve upon my dining room mantel. My friend, Jeanne suggested adding fairy lights and that did the trick! Most voted against adding ribbon and I think that was the right choice.

Every year I order a 75 foot roll of fresh cedar garland. Unfortunately, this year none was available from my resource. So I am hoping when we pick up the live tree this weekend, there will be fresh garland to purchase. Important areas of the house are draped in garland and this may be a year that we go without.

Enjoy your Saturday and weekend. We had our first big rain here the other day and I am hoping and praying for more. If you missed any posts this week, see how I clean our crystal chandeliers and how to make bleached pinecones.

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of hosting 4 other bloggers here at Bella Terra. Being the recipient of their collective creativity, they tackled 3 fireplace mantels and decorated them for the holidays. What a fun experience watching these talented gals in action. Today I want to share the mantel over the fireplace in my art room. To see more about this fireplace and room, click here for a previous post.

Barbara from Mantel and Table is the innovative person behind this. If you love fine china, silver, teacups and flowers, her blog is one to follow. Barbara actually participates in table setting competitions (who even knew those existed!) and is an elegant, poised lovely individual.

She went right to work finding items to use~including artificial garland, faux silk peonies, candles, ribbon and ornaments.

First of all, I wouldn’t have thought to use clusters of peonies. Nor would I add the ornaments. What is so wonderful is how much I am learning from these talented women!

Adding the gold sprig brings a bit of brightness to the theme. I love how Barbara weaves the ribbon throughout. This is such a soft and feminine look, perfect for my art studio!

Lastly the candles are added at different heights to create interest and ambiance.

I love the fullness of the garland. Typically I just run the garland straight across the mantel, however, this abundant look is more appealing. The asymmetrical use of the pinecone ornaments and garland works too!

Barbara states that her inspiration is a painting that I haven’t completed, but is sitting on the easel nearby. It is also a bit hard to stand back and take a picture as this is a very small room, filled with my art supplies. I love how romantic this mantel looks in my work space!

To read more about the fireplaces at our home (we have 7), click here. There are two more decorated fireplace mantels to show you and I will post about those tomorrow. To read more about these 4 fabulous women and their visit to Bella Terra, click here.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. I am just now starting all the other Christmas decorating slowly but surely!

Please share this post on Pinterest~thank you!

Source for similar items used in mantel:

Artificial Garland at Amazon here

Pinecone Ornaments here

Gold Berry Stems here

Ribbon 2″ wide here

Silk peonies here

Straight taper candles here

Candle holders from West Elm here

Full disclosure, I am not a crafty do-it-yourself-er. And I am reminded of that when I take on a new cute project and completely screw it up. But like most things in life lately, we need to make the most of it. Here is my story on when a DIY craft project fails.

The Inspiration

Over a year ago, I saw this adorable craft idea on someone else’s blog. Since I have never tackled a project like this, I clicked on all her links and purchased the items needed for this craft. And they have literally sat unopened for the last year. So I decide this is the week to try making it.

Here is how Karen at Sanctuary Home Decor (who just seems to be perfect in EVERY way) made this craft. It is a dinner napkin stenciled with the word “thankful”. She used this for her Thanksgiving table last year. Pretty, isn’t it? And she claims she did it in 5 minutes!

Follow the Instructions

I carefully follow her instructions by first ironing my napkins. Since I didn’t want to completely copy Karen, I choose the word “Blessings” to stencil on the napkin. I proceed to cut out the letters and decorative vine. See below for sourcing information.

In making sure I place the letters neatly, I determine the center letter so I can line it up properly on the napkin.

Up to this point, I’m fat, dumb and happy about this project. And then here is where it starts to unravel. There are only two “S” stencils available and the word “Blessings” has 3 “S” letters.

Applying the Letters

Next Comes Paint

These mesh stencils have self-adhesive backs, however, in order to protect the rest of the napkin from paint, I use blue painters tape on the edges. Working with the plastic wedge recommended with the paint gel, I apply the paint to the stencil.

Of course, mid-way, I needed to move the S from the end of the word to fill in for the missing middle S.

The Disappointing Result

When I peeled off the stencils, the paint has leaked between the S stencils and left a mark. I try covering it up with White-Out…..what a mistake!

So, with 11 napkins to go, I try this again on a new napkin. Changing the word to “Blessed” solves the lettering problem.

Carefully applying the paint, I am convinced this one will be perfect. However, this napkin also has paint blotches. Seriously?!!

Third time is a charm, right? Not for me.

After the fourth failure, I just gave up. At this point, I have ruined 4 napkins and most of the afternoon. Karen said this is an easy 5 minute DIY. What is wrong with me?

The next day, still disturbed over the fact that I am a complete failure on stenciling napkins, I am determined to find a solution.

Making the Mistake Obvious

Fortunately, I purchased 2 additional paint colors for this project. Using red paint, I cover all the black blotches and make them into hearts.

Where hearts didn’t work, I applied some white paint. They certainly are not perfect, but at a quick glance, you almost don’t notice all the boo-boos.

I will use these 4 napkins to wrap baked bread over the holidays, so not all is lost. Who knows? Maybe I will try again as I still have 8 white napkins.

The moral of the story~not all DIY projects are perfectly easy. If I share one in the future, please know that I will warn you about the challenges. In our social media world, perfection is often portrayed. However, in this case it was certainly not my reality!

It is good, affirmative exercise to write the word “Blessed” many times. Because I am blessed to have you reading this (and hopefully laughing about it!).

If you want to attempt this DIY project, here is the link to Karen’s post. Also,

you will need the following supplies:

Napkins of your choice (I used these from World Market), quantity of your choice. I ordered 12.

• A Maker’s Studio – Mesh Stencil “Alphabet 4”
• A Makers Studio – Mesh Stencil ” Details”
• A Maker’s Studio – Gel Art Ink in color of your choice. (I used “Hold Your Horses”) 
• A Maker’s Studio – Chalk Art Spreader
• Painter’s tape (Optional)

Good luck! If you do this, please let me know the results.

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