Porch Pictures 2013 and Happy New Year 2014

Every Christmas, we attempt The Porch Picture.  The first thought I had when the buyer's loan fell through on our home was that there would be at least one more Christmas Porch Picture. 

There are always escapees and you can tell by the faces that not everyone enjoys this endeavor...

I am happy for "one more", though we let Kathy get away before our session and we missed those not with us this year...

Our last visitors left yesterday and all are safely home.  It is so. very. quiet. around here.  My heart breaks every time the house empties... 

Even though there is heartbreak,  I am so very, very, very thankful for the times we shared.

From our home to yours, I hope each of you run headlong into 2014 embracing life, love, laughter and the Lord... that you may live joy and contentment and passion... All the best to each of you and yours...

Happy New Year!

blessings ~ tanna

Elves, Rockettes, Loveless Cafe... and The Real Reason...

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I flew to Nashville for a perfectly timed pick-up at the airport by these two cute elves, a.k.a The Little Men and their Little Momma.  They were winding down the first leg of their long trip home to Texas for the holidays.  I was meeting up as back-up for the second leg.  ;)

Little Momma had a fun rest day scheduled for Saturday... and a Christmas wish of her own to see the Rockettes' Christmas Show.  I did forewarn that the other three of this party (myself included) have the attention span of gnats and it might not be as enjoyable for her as desired. 

All in all, we had a WONDERFUL time!  We ate popcorn.  Sang along.  And, tried to be as good as we could... Roo took himself a nice long nap, woke up and exclaimed, "This was so FUN!"  You just have to love that!  Alex may have asked 99 times, if he asked once, " Are they almost done?"  They both really did enjoy the Toy Soldier routine and the finale of The Living Nativity was AMAZING!!  I'm very happy I was able to share this treat with them thanks to their Momma.

 

Probably my favorite part of the day (other than the precious hugs from my Little Men) was biscuits at the Loveless Café!  FABULOUS!!  If you are ever in Nashville, you deserve the treat of a visit here!

 

 

At the end of the day, we braved the traffic lines to see the Nativity at the Nashville Gaylord.  It was very beautiful with its all white figures... lit in the cold evening air... a reminder of the real reason for the season.

 

After our fun Saturday, we hit the road for a long 12 1/2 hours of travel.  We were soooo glad to see the lights of home!  Things have been a whirlwind since.  I'll be hoping to carve in some moments to visit, but in case I get sidetracked with my Little Men and the rest of the family, I wish for each of you a season filled with The Gift we each are offered through Jesus Christ. 

 

May the Light of His Love shine on you and yours...

 

blessings ~ tanna

Boo Knit and Carpet of Fire...

In all the fray of the pseudo-move, I never posted a photo of my Morticia Mystery KAL by Boo Knits after it was finished.  It has lots... and lots... and lots of beads.  They reminded me of caviar... mixed in the multi-layered blue of the Madelinetosh Light yarn in the colorway Esoteric.

Esoteric:  Understood only by those few with pertinent interest and knowledge; belonging or pertaining to an inner or select circle. ~ per New Webster’s Dictionary.

I still hope to get some better photos when there is more light... and less rain.  (Plus, the help of my daughter.)  The Little Men & Co. will be heading in for their Christmas visit soon.  I can hardly wait.

The rain has knocked down almost all the beautiful leaves...

They look like a carpet of fire... So beautiful...

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."  Numbers 6:24-26

Wishing you a holiday full of appreciation for the treasures of every day life...

blessings ~ tanna

Band of Angels, Wavy Windows and Juneberry Shawl...

Last week a Band of Angels appeared on my doorsteps... with lunch and help to undo the-big-mess-of-the-failed-sale-of-our-home.  One of the angels, Kim, said that she believes this the way the church was meant to operate... to help one another in need...  They certainly ministered to my need and were such a blessing... Not just in a physical way of helping... but, even greater for me, an emotional and spiritual help... a lifting and holding up... an encouragement... a hope...

So, Tallulah (our home) is back on the market.  Not quite as well dressed as she was before.  She's sporting what I have dubbed "Dorm Room Chic", complete with packing box end tables plus a few extra packed boxes in the corners.  And, I'm just going to go with that for awhile.  I'm not ready to consider moving all the rest of the furniture back just yet (all set up at one of the Old Girl apartments). 

Who knows what will transpire.  The folks we have a contract with on their home were kind enough to extend our contingency on the sale of Tallulah.  Day by day.... day by day...

Until the next step, I am going to enjoy the views out my wavy windows...

 

Because, if there is one thing that I've learned in the past few years, it is that you need to enjoy what you have... savor it... because each season is fleeting... way more than you might imagine...

 

We take things for granted... the special becomes ordinary... And, then its season is over...

 

I really can't remember when I finished this shawl.  I bought the yarn in May while in Austin for a wedding.  I do remember I was finally able to block it Monday afternoon... ;)

The pattern is Juneberry by Jared Flood and the yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.  I love the textures!

 

I am incredibly blessed by God's love and the amazing people He has placed in my life... I am so grateful for the thoughts and prayers and words and acts of encouragement... the goodness... the generousness... the kindness... from near and far...  My heart is full.

Thank you... thank you... thank you... blessings ~ tanna

Oh. My. Goodness!!

The first hard freeze came last night... so did the freeze on our moving process...

Over three weeks into a contract on the sale of this house (and a week into a contract on the purchase of another)...

Past the Option Period...

Past the Inspection...

Past the Appraisal...

After agreeing to a week earlier closing date..

After half of our things moved out into one of the Old Girls...

Boxes everywhere...

We get the phone call from our realtor that the buyers have been denied their loan... in spite of the pre-qualifying letter we had been given.

We are stunned.  The domino effect has impacted:  us... the people who own the home we now have a contract on... the owners of the home they were going to buy... all the ancillary folks to those transactions...  and all the workers lined up to begin the makeover of the new home in two weeks...  I'm still simply stunned that anyone could get this far into a transaction before they would know they could not get the loan.

Yesterday morning, I drove by the prospective new home... and it was the first glimmer of excitement I had felt over this move.  I felt the familiar old stirring of imagination and anticipation of what this property can become... I felt appreciation of an opportunity to make it beautiful again... Of the little spot it sits overlooking a small lake... 

I felt the door firmly closing to our lives in Tallulah and to the dreams she held... gratitude and peace for leaving her better than we had found her... Readiness to step into the next chapter...

There is a hope I have...  for a couple... who looked too late (after this house was under contract) and I could hear the love in their voices (my greatest hope for the next caretakers of this wonderful Oldest Girl)... I'm prayerfully hoping this could work out for them... but, who knows?

What a roller coaster ride...

For this morning, I'm taking a pause... taking a breath... stepping back...

Trying not to think about the fact that this house is upside down and way far off from being "ready to show" and getting it back on the market... Just not to think about any of it for a few hours...

I so deeply appreciate each of your thoughts and prayers in this time... This community of wonderful, inspiring, encouraging, supportive women never ceases to amaze me and lift my spirits.  I treasure each kind thought and word you have taken the time to share.  A heartfelt thank you... and blessings to all ~ tanna

On Broken Dreams...

It is probably wrong to love a house as much as I have loved this one...

It speaks to my very soul...

And... has held my dearest dream...

Of close family... 

 

Sunday dinners...

 

After school cookie baking...

 

Impromptu gatherings...

 



 

 Lives shared around a kitchen table..

 

All that was never a part of my childhood...  We always want what we didn't have, don't we?

 

 

I'm reconciling myself to the fact that dream is never going to be realized for me...  It has never been in my stars, as the old saying goes.

 

 

So, this chapter is closing...

 

 

My Beloved would like a different lifestyle... One near a golf course... A house with big closets... and a garage...

 

I've had my turn... So, we listed our Brick Street Bungalow and had an offer the second day...

We've been heatedly looking for a place to move.  The closing on Tallulah, The Brick Street Bungalow, is less than three weeks away.  I am going to have to be absent awhile longer as the frenzy continues...

 

 

I have missed keeping up with everyone... and I will have to continue to miss out for awhile longer.

 

This has been a difficult period for me... but, I'm ready to move on...  It is time.

 

Life will go on... New dreams will be born...

 

blessings to all ~ tanna

 

 

 

 

Tequila Sunrise?

Every once in awhile, a song will start repeating in my mind as I pin a shawl out to block...

Even though it was a gloomy day, strains of the Eagles' Tequila Sunrise just kept playing softly as I smiled and pinned this beautiful color to the bed.  I had been wanting to try one of the gradient yarns; my first is Glisten Fingering by Apple Tree Knits in the colorway:  Leaves Aflame.  I LOVED the glowing coral but was a little disappointed with the kind of blah I was seeing as I neared the edge... then the idea came of adding a pop of color... I love the brown trim (Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Fig) and this has to be my favorite bind-off I have ever done (I did add two knit rows before beginning the picot just to give weight to the brown addition)!   Plus, I am pleased with the coloring now.

My beads don't really show up all that well in these photos, but there is a tiny bead tucked in every curve of this picot-style bind-off.  The pattern, Palessie by Diana Rozenshteyn, is very well written and TV-knitting kind of easy!  I cannot wait for it to come out of the blocking pins! 

This was pre-blocking and you can see the beads a bit better (without the wires and pins). 

I just downloaded the last clue to the Morticia Knit Along and look forward to finishing that one, too.  Soooo many patterns and beautiful yarns... so little time.  ;)

 

Tequila Sunrise by The Eagles

 

It's another tequila sunrise
Starin' slowly 'cross the sky, said goodbye
He was just a hired hand
Workin' on the dreams he planned to try
The days go by

Ev'ry night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And she's out runnin' 'round

She wasn't just another woman
And I couldn't keep from comin' on
It's been so long
Oh, and it's a hollow feelin' when
It comes down to dealin' friends
It never ends

Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
It's another tequila sunrise, this old world
still looks the same,
Another frame, mm...

I hope something starts a song for you this week. 
blessings ~ tanna

Sippin' on Hot Tea...

Sippin' on hot tea and remembering...

I bought the this tea on one of our excursions in Virginia.  I love the beautiful silk pyramids with the perfect little leaves.  I love the way it smells... and tastes... You know they say smell is one of the strongest associations for memory.  Amanda and I enjoyed a few quiet cups during nap time for the Little Men.  So having it at home reminds me...

It is not uncommon for the Little Men & Co. to give their Noni other "reminders"... sometimes in the form of nasty colds... Let's just say that I'm being reminded and that the tea is very soothing.  It would be a bit MORE enjoyable if my sense of smell were up to par.  ;)

As I brought out this cup, I also enjoyed memories of receiving it as a child... I was about ten years old and one of Mom and Dad's friends, Mrs. Emily Redmond, gave each of the five children a beautiful cup and saucer.  I wonder if my siblings still have theirs.  I am especially happy to still have mine to enjoy this tea... and memories.

I'm trying to squeeze in some knitting time on my Morticia KAL.  I think I'm going to love it! 

"Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind."
~ Earl Nightingale

blessings ~ tanna

Little Men Love

I'm just home from a week with the Little Men & Co..  Oh, these two are just the bee's knees!  They delight their Noni's soul.  I miss them so very much.

And, I cherish each moment I have with my Little Men...

Even when I am exhausted from dragon making, I wouldn't trade a single millisecond.  ;)

I found this collection of quotes on one of our adventures; there are ninety of them. I think I am going to put them in a big ironstone bowl.  But for now, I'm enjoying them as a stack on my desk.  I do love a good quote.  Words hold the power to hurt or heal, inspire or defeat... May we always use them with care.

As a belated report on the fresh apple cake, it was good... just not as good as I had hoped.  I think I like a bit more spice in my fall-ish treats.  The praline icing was WONDERFUL though! 

I hope each of you have moments you will cherish this week...

blessings ~ tanna

The Perils of Impatience...

 

Do you see that nice little oval ball of yarn?  Well, it represents a lot of frustration and wasted time.  I got up and about early this morning in hopes of having a little knitting time. 

Today is the first day of a mystery knit-a-long by Boo Knits, one of my favorite, favorite, favorite designers.  Trouble is I didn't have yarn or beads picked out to start; and, our LYS is only open Wednesday thru Friday.  Impatiently, I dug in my stash and pulled out this Madelinetosh Light in Esoteric (isn't that a cool name for a colorway?!).  It wasn't the lace weight called for in the KAL, but I LOVE the color AND I found some leftover black beads! 

Finished all my early To Do List and was all excited to settle down and cast on... until, duh, I realized that both skeins were still in hanks.  You can't knit from hanks.  I KNEW I should have just waited until tomorrow and took it in to the LYS to have it wound OR drove the 30 minutes to where my swift and ball winder were. 

But, impatience took over.  I only had a small window of knitting time; so, I decided to wind one hank into a ball the old-fashioned-way, without the benefit of a swift or an extra pair of hands.  I knew the perils.  Imagined that I would be extra careful. blah... blah... blah...

Any of you who have wound 420 yards of fingering weight yarn know that, if it gets out of control, the tangles can be vicious.  At this point, I was starting to think about cutting it out!  I KNOW that you have to struggle GENTLY with yarn tangles or they only get WORSE!  But, man, oh, man, it can make you want to scream.  As it is, I had yet ANOTHER life-lesson in patience and not fighting so hard against the problem at hand.  I did finally get it all untangled... but, needed to step-away-from-the-yarn by then!  LOL!

Thus, the need for a little comfort.  I saw this recipe in an old Southern Living magazine when I was cleaning last week.  It is a fresh apple and cream cheese goody.  I'll have to report back on how it tastes.  It is cooling right now... along with my impatience!  ;)

Hope your week finds you making smarter, more patient choices!!  And, it's not too late to join the Morticia Mystery KAL by Boo Knits! 

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
~ St. Augustine

blessings ~ tanna