ironstone, monograms and denial

The kitchen was buzzing with chatter and excitement from all of those fabulous young folks here Thursday night.

I LOVE having them here in my kitchen... in my home.

It has taken me a while to get things back to some sort of order, but I am making progress... little by little.

Everything has been washed and ironed...

ready to go back into the cupboard.

I almost hate to put it all up.   I love the way the ironstone and fresh linen look on this old pine table.

I have a thing for old pine tables.

Well... I have a thing for old pine.

The napkins are an assortment I have gathered over the years with various monograms.

The monograms may or may not be my own, but I don't mind...  that is all part of the fun and charm of using them.

I still cannot believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the Christmas season is upon us.

I think I am in denial.

I think I did this last year.

So today, in an effort to shake the denial, I did two things.

I bought two boxes of candy canes at the grocery store, and I went Christmas tree shopping.

My little guy and I headed to our local nursery, and went strolling through the rows of evergreen.

This is where we get our tree each year.  We like to support our small town businesses when we can, AND they know how to do it right when it comes to Christmas trees.  When the trees arrive,  they stand each one in water.   It makes for a fresher, and much longer lasting tree.  They are also one of the very few places I know of that can "flock" your tree.

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I think we may be on the road to embracing the fact that the Christmas season is indeed upon us.

***Photos of the new chicken coop coming in the next few days***