Out and About : Shop Local

Hi! And now it begins, the holiday whirl. No matter how low key I try to be about Christmas, the excitement builds along with the pressure to find affordable yet charming gifts for one and all. 

My plan is always to have my gifts and wrappings planned and purchased by Dec 1. I have one more gift card to order and a few girlfriend presents to buy, but this year I am right on track. 

 I did do some small business shopping last week. A friend took me to a darling tiny shop in town. A bit pricey but fun in a head shop/ New Age/ ''we sell crystals'' kind of way. 

Lots of sage roll ups, to [what? clarify and purify your homes. We passed, like the idea, do not like a smoke filled room.

I liked this field notebook very much. The margins had woodland lore and pencil sketches, with plenty of room to record a person's walks, own sketches, pressed botanicals and so on. Quite beautiful.

Lots of local candles...

Another day, our bi-weekly stop at Home Goods.

Lovely antique-look ornaments,  didn't have time to sort thru them properly.

Trader Joe's was a delight of flowers, greenery, bulbs for forcing, and fresh vegs,

I am crazy about these brussel sprout logs. Aren't they so amazing, so beautiful. I would roast one, then drizzle with brown butter and bacon bits! Serve a whole section on a plate, lol. My friend the fine cook said they are hard to clean, hard to cook, hard to serve. He didn't even want to try, too bad.

Notice the perfect Fibonacci spirals. Has anyone ever made the whole stalk like this? Tell me!

Back home....will it snow? Nope, not even a frost, just that gale wind that hurts my bones.

My house is de-Autumned and is resting for this transition week. 

The wind blew so hard, the cottage vibrated and my stack of Shaker pantry boxes toppled over, as did a stack of fabrics. This tiny heart fell out of one of the smallest boxes! I have never seen it before, though it looks like my work. A mystery.

Snowball candle, handmade by a friend. Bowl is filled with pine cones, cinnamon sticks, star anise and clove bedecked oranges and lemons, now dried for many years. I love the prim simplicity.

This next week, first of December I will dig out my red quilts and red throw pillows, put up my ''world's tiniest tree". I saw a few pillows online, I'd love to add this year. here   HERE  here

....

It has been unexpectedly cold and very windy here. Too cold for November or even December, brrr. I had to get out my parka for doggy walks.

I'm trying to teach Mo to be more cuddly. He loves it if I sit on the sofa and he can perch on my shoulder. So we're working on that. I am not a fan of sitting in front of the TV.

Photo below, from some unknown source, not mine---my ideal    Christmas, vintage and loved. Enjoy the holiday season, everyone.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

below: a sunset walk with Mo, peeking thru the seawalls and snow fences, on to our favorite bench [despite the cold!].

"I wanna play outside, mommy!"

Hydrangeas second wind.

Looking thru the seawall. That is sand, not waves, then dunes.

The earliest sunset [here] this year is Dec 8, though that is not the shortest day. Something about the angle of the earth. So after next week the days will be getting longer, in an imperceptible kind of way.