Red!

Normally you'll hardly see a speck of red in my house because I lean toward lime green, pinkish orange, turquoise and yellow. But at Christmas I break out the red and love it. The first sign of a transformation is the yucca in my front yard tipped out in red ornaments.

Then more red on the front-door wreath ...

... my coral fountain by the front door that blooms this time of year ...

... and the doormat inside.

I bring out the red dishes ...

... and sprinkle poinsettias around the house.

The red and green quilts come out ...

... and red pillows and couch throws replace the lime green ones.

All around the house, I deck the rooms with touches of bright red.

Even my hand weights, by the fireplace, fit in. And that's my post for today, which is also my birthday.

Have a colorful day

Poor Christmas tree!

I hosted book club last week and my stuffed crescent roll tree appetizer (above) didn't turn out exactly like the one in the recipe (below). So I threw some cranberries at it, hoping that would help the presentation. Ha! But it tasted good, because it was stuffed with spinach artichoke dip and you can't go wrong there.

 

It inspired Beth to make a pizza crescent roll candy cane, and hers looked a lot better.

But my decorations turned out well, and setting a pretty table is for me the best part of hosting a party.

Here we are! We had lasagne, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, fruit salad, Caesar salad, a veggie tray, wine and a decadent Texas chocolate sheet cake for the December birthday girls (Judy, Kristina and me).

I have my beloved little white lights everywhere, and I turn them all on first thing in the morning and at dusk. The ones over the window stay up all year and I turn them on every evening because they remind me of stars and make it feel cozy.

Last night I got into cookie baking mode and made chocolate crinkles and ginger molasses cookies. Next up will be sugar cookie cutouts.

And speaking of holiday decorations, people here hang ornaments from their outdoor trees because we don't have to worry about bad weather knocking them down.

Here's Juniper with her stocking that I made and some sentimental ornaments that I sent to her. I can't wait to cuddle with her soon! I don't think I'll let her go the entire visit, except when she cries and then she'll go to Mom.

Have a colorful day

Oh Christmas Trees ...

I finished my little wool appliqué tree quilt and it's hanging in the living room! The corners really are square, even though they don't look it in the photo. No matter how I tilted my phone I couldn't get it right. I'm going to go back later and add some quilting in the borders, but for now I just wanted to get it up.

Here are a few of the planters. Each one is different, and I veered away from some of the pattern's stitching suggestions. (The pattern is "Tinsel" by Sue Spargo.)

 

I love the velveteen green rick rack, which I tacked down with green glass drop beads.

The pom-pom trim wasn't in the pattern, but I had some in my stash and it adds the perfect snowy touch.

Each tree topper is also different but uses the same red wool.

It was really fun adding all the little touches, like the silver bows on the packages and snowflakes on the mittens.

I also decorated my big trees:

 

The ornaments have special memories, like the sewing machine given to me by one of my stitching friends.

My parents gave me the wooden German doll when I was young because I was born in Germany (and they also thought about naming me Heidi). I pulled the string so many times to make her dance that it finally wore through and fell off.

I added snowy saguaros after I moved to Tucson, and the fancy gym shoe is from one of my walking group friends.

The wooden sleigh ornament is from a dear neighbor in Gig Harbor who loved everything Norwegian. Every year she gave me a different painted wooden Norwegian ornament.

I didn't forget to decorate outside, either, but instead of putting lights on trees I put ornaments on my yuccas.

Parting shot: The gnomes have gathered in my kitchen and make me chuckle every time I look at them.They stare at me when I make my coffee in the morning. (I made the smaller ones.)

Have a colorful day

Christmas Tucson-style

 

I went to two holiday concerts this weekend and realized how strange it must seem to my northern friends to see our musicians in t-shirts and sunglasses under a sunny blue sky. 

The TubaChristmas concert took place yesterday at an outdoor festival with a striking backdrop of the Catalina Mountains, palm trees and a brilliant blue sky. There were 50 local musicians ranging in age from 12 to the 80s playing carols on all types of tubas and decked out in their Santa gear. It was a blast!

Today's concert, by the Civic Orchestra of Tucson, was indoors at El Conquistador resort, but afterward we went out to the poolside patio and waited for the snow machines on the roof to bring "snow" to the desert.

Again, there was a striking backdrop of the mountains and palms with the crescent moon high above. And I was perfectly comfortable in a lightweight short-sleeved shirt and capris.

We also decorate our yards differently here in the desert because we don't have to worry about snow storms. Here's my front yard, with ornaments stuck on the tips of my yucca. People also hang ornaments from their trees, but that was too much work for me because it would've meant hauling out my ladder.

Have a colorful day

Christmas tree blocks and hiking

 

I've been working on my wool appliqué Christmas tree blocks on my patio this past week because the weather has been so nice. My goal is to have all nine done, bordered, quilted and hung by the end of next week. They're heavily embroidered, which is the part that takes the most time.

Here's the current one in progress. Below are the seven I've completed.

I've also been hiking a LOT! I can't get enough of our intense blue skies and gigantic saguaros. I really feel alive when I'm hiking in the desert in the dry, warm air under a clear blue sky.

 

I've seen a lot of horseback riders at Catalina State Park lately. Many snow birders bring their horses down here in the winter.

The desert mountain scenery never gets old for me. I'm so fortunate to live within a 15-minute drive of these trails.

It's also the holiday baking season, and besides binging on the baking shows I made some peppermint fudge yesterday. I left the crushed peppermints off of half because some people don't like the hard, sticky candy on their teeth.

Have a colorful day