And onto another year….

 

The stockings were duly looted…

New little friends were welcomed…

All in all it was lovely.

Now I need to get used to a new computer and relearn Windows…8

anyone love it??

Yuletide…

 

…And the desserts are ready.

Bouche Noel: Hazelnut cake with local pomelo cream and chocolate ganache

Chocolate salted caramel tart

 

A Beautiful and Merry Christmas to my readers

friends from afar.

Wishing you Peace and Hope….

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”                                                                                   ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

A big thanks to a lovely local French bakery Patissierie for the goodies!

The Christmas Bliss winner…

 

Ok…I had a hard time placing the random.org number on the blog

But trust me on this…

the winning number was 27

Cyndi

“Sounds like the perfect, lovely holiday "get-away" I crave amongst the typical days with two small children, hectic job, holiday commitments, etc...”

Email me your address, (verodoula(at)yahoo.com) Cyndi…and we will get your little

holiday right out to you!

fa la la la laaaaa

<

Who doesn’t love a little Christmas Bliss…(giveaway)

Ok…be honest.

You read design blogs. The idea of fixing up, owning and being an innkeeper

on Tybee Island is pretty magical, no?

Breeze Inn

Add in a wedding on Christmas day…

We did THAT…Really. Christmas Eve, actually. Beautiful, quiet…with a dusting of snow and a handful of friends.

Well,in this hustle and bustle of the season

why not give yourself the GIFT of a small chunk of time and immerse yourself in

New York Times best selling author

Mary Kay Andrews new novella

Christmas Bliss.

It is a fun read of quirky Savannah  friends Weezie and Bebe… with some twists and turns and it leaves you with a warm holiday feeling .

Perfect little break in your Holiday schedule!

Grab a cup of Joe…or a coconut rum eggnog…

Put your feet up. And gift yourself.

One lucky reader will get a copy of the new hardcover little book in their stocking

Along with a tree ornament and some recipes right from Mary Kay's own kitchen!

Just comment below…

Easy Peasy as Christmas Pie…no?

Winner will be selected Thursday December 19th at midnight (if I can stay up that late…)

A little bit of Christmas…

Very little this year

It is one of those years where my Christmas Mojo…or Christmas decorating Mojo has gone south.

While I know it has been cold and stormy in the rest of the country

Here it has been hot . sultry even.

So…keeping it simple

Baby Jesus on the half shell

It’s Florida….what can I say

 

Yep…you see tile on our floor. Roof tile

Getting quotes….need to re-do the ole red tile roof

We are thinking about Ekoroof. Recycled plastic/rubber.

been used in South America for years…Just got hurricane code approval for Florida.

heard of it?

Merry Merry

Joy Joy

Getting our Christmas swag on…

…More this weekend.

Enjoying the season?

Imbibe…Christmas-y, Tropical-y…

We don’t tend to do a classic red bow Christmas

in this tropical land of sun and color that is Florida

We happen to do pinks and oranges and gold gilded coconuts in this here casa.

 

So…say I…Why not add that  tropical twist on the classic Christmas eggnog?

Enter the Coquito.

Puerto Rico already figured this delicious concoction out…centuries ago.

It is true Feliz Navidad in a cup.

Slowly cooking egg yolks and evaporated milk over a double boiler

adding the quintessential tropical ingredients of

coconut milk, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla

and

white rum

Then blending…

and then…pouring into a cleaned wine bottle

and keeping in the fridge. Great to break out for guests.

Or continue to taste….and then REALLY get your decorating mojo going.

and hang glittery paper stars from the ceiling

as I may or may have not done.

Coquito:  helping your tropical flag to fly.

:: cha cha cha ::

Coquito…Puerto Rican Christmas eggnog

• 2 egg yolks, beaten
  
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
  
• 1 (8 ounce) can cream of coconut
  
• 8 oz of coconut milk (I use light)
  
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I tried it with non-fat)
  
• 1 cup white rum
  

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• some fresh grated ginger (you can omit this….I did)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  

Directions

1. In the top of a double boiler, combine egg yolks and evaporated milk. Stirring constantly, cook over lightly simmering water until mixture reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F. The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
2. Transfer mixture to a blender, and add cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, rum cloves, cinnamon,ginger  and vanilla. Blend for about 30 seconds.
3. Pour into glass bottles, and chill overnight.
4. Decorate your house in wild Christmas colors. You will. Promise.

 

~~~~~~~~~

Planting narcissus and bringing fall indoors…

Fall flowers awaiting their Thanksgiving debut

in a vintage champagne bucket

 

Ilex, croton from the garden…and orange tulips from afar

Paper white bulbs….

 

slowly opening and unfurling for winter

I love collecting thrift store trophy bowls and loving cups through the year

and planting the narcissus in them

easy….and so winter in the tropics to me!

 

“Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.”

                                                                                       ~Koran

A bathroom…

As big as an airplane

lav….

 

That would be our  powder room.

Took me 4 minutes to paint it  including priming and getting the mail.

When just the Mexican star is lit….It feels like the night sky.

A fave snap of Picaso on the beach

brought to Staples and made into an engineering print

$4.99 clams.

Benjamin Moore Hale Navy on the teensy walls.

Now

just need to place this  suggestion somewhere…

Apparently tight spaces can be confusing…

OOOO

carry on.

Land of the free…BECAUSE of the brave.

To an awesome Veteran’s Day!

This time…a ONE minute lamp re-do.

I tell ya.

Getting faster and faster at this.

:: Lamp re-do weekend in the ole casa ::

Added some grass cloth wallpaper to these lamp shades

 

And

well... you know.

Big Black Dog approved.

Another 3 minute re-do…'cause that is all the time I can afford...

So…I found a  reading lamp

for 30 clams

Nothing exceptional….but wanted the warmth of brass.

Enter this paint

and about two minutes of my time

 

Voila.

Now the dog can read

On HIS couch

::sigh::

EVERYBODY deserves 49 seconds of peace…

Use your 49 seconds wisely :).  

Sharing a slice of ours…

With YOU.

Autumnal sunshine. Or, walking around on a lazy fall day…

Hanging lanterns waiting for cooler nights to be lit and sparkle

Some still budding

Others…

fading.

.

Gates to the secret garden jungle

painted

adorned with a new handle.

Jungle continuing to jungle

Those are hoses. not snakes.

I think monkeys may live here.

With us.

one never knows, in the jungle.

Forgotten statues become unearthed when the leaves drop.

...I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.

So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

                                                                                                     ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, 10th October 1842