HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!!!

I hope that everyone is enjoying this holiday season, spending time with family and friends, if possible. For those that are alone, I hope you are able to find the joy of the season. As we all pause to think of all that we are grateful for, please remember those less fortunate.....not just now, but all through the year. This photo was taken when I was down in Austin, and the grandchildren made the visit to Santa. Madison told Santa that she wanted books, and Baby Mackenzie....hmmmmmmmm......maybe milk??? HAHAHAAAA!!! Their wishes have both been granted, I hear!! Happy Holidays to all!!

WINTER WILDLIFE.........

Just as in Texas, deer are everywhere in Colorado, it seems. Many of them are not at all afraid of the roadways and people, which often presents a problem for both the deer and the traffic. However, these deer seemed to stop and look both ways before proceeding across the road, just as we teach our children to do!! When I first spotted them, it was a group of 11 females, clustered in a pasture. As I watched them, they formed a single file line and came toward me across the snow covered field, and jumped the fence....stopping to look both ways before prancing across the roadway and entering someone's yard across the way. Later on I found the same deer meeting up with their male friends in a little grove not far from where I first spotted them!! Such beautiful animals!! Enjoy the pics!!

WELCOME WINTER SOLSTICE..................

I am ready for the days to once again start getting longer!! I do NOT like darkness!! I think that must come from growing up in Interior Alaska, where winter was VERY DARK!! Therefore, I joyfully welcome the Winter Solstice!! I LOVE Winter, though!! I especially love Winter that is bright and sunny, just cold enough to know it is Winter, and with just enough snow to sparkle and shine like glitter!! Here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains we have been having just a bit of colder weather.....sometimes a little colder than I like!! Tonight is cold and dark, breezy, and already in the single digits.....headed toward zero. The birds were happy to find nourishment at my bird buffet this morning, when the temps were cold, and the humidity higher than usual. Enjoy the pics!! ~~Trudy~~

AND THE WINNER OF THE BOOK GIVE-AWAY IS..........

ta da........TA DA...........DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........

Debi in Kansas!!!

Stop by her blog for a fun time, and some yummy sounding recipes, too!!

I will be sending a great hard back Debbie Macomber book to Debi.....the Blossom Street Christmas book published in 2006, titled Christmas Letters! It's a good one!! Congratulations, Debi!! Thank you to everyone that signed up for my give-away!! The Santa hat was full of many little slips of paper, and Debi was the lucky one to be pulled from the hat!! Email your mailing address to me, Debi, and I will get your new book in the mail to you right away!!!!

CROWS IN THE ATTIC ON COUNTRY FRIED PRIMITIVES!!!!

I hope you will stop by my new Crows in the Attic Primitives shop on Country Fried Primitives!! You might find a last minute gift, or something JUST FOR YOU!!! Don't forget to check out my listings on Lemon Poppy Seeds, too!! THANKS to all of you that have made purchases or emailed your orders!! I appreciate your interest in my work!! Happy Holidays!! Happy Shopping!! Primitive Blessings to All!! ~~Trudy~~

TODAY IS THE BOOK GIVE-AWAY DAY!!!!

Gosh, time flies by!! I have returned from a visit down to Austin to see the newest grandchild, and play with her big sister!! I have lots of pictures to post as time permits!! Even pictures of SNOW in AUSTIN!!! YES!!! I go South for sun and fun, and it SNOWS!!!!

New listings are up on Lemon Poppy Seeds and Country Fried Primitives!! I hope you can stop by for a peek!! I was busy over the weekend getting orders out, and now must concentrate on some new designs that are buzzing around in my brain!! I also have a stack of designs from others that I want to work up, too!! FUN!!! FUN!!!

I can't believe how cold it is now!!!! The official Denver temperature this morning was a MINUS 19 DEGREES!!!!! Yes, that is right!! -19!!! I'm not sure I remember it being this cold since we moved here to the foothills almost 4 years ago now. Our temperature when morning awoke today was -9.1. BRRRRRR!!! But it has warmed up now all the way to -1.5!!!! It will be above zero before long, I suspect, since the sun is shining beautifully!!! We got just a couple inches of snow yesterday, with more reported to fall later today.

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK BACK TONIGHT FOR THE WINNER OF THE GIVE-AWAY ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! IF YOU HAVE NOT YET ENTERED, SCROLL DOWN A FEW POSTS FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!! I WILL BE POSTING THE WINNER SOMETIME AFTER 7PM MOUNTAIN TIME!!!

ANOTHER DAY OF SNOW!!!

We were awakened this morning with a bird conference going on outside the bedroom window, as the robins and friends gathered in the big oak tree....I suppose calling for breakfast!! The snow was coming down and continued to fall for the entire day!! As darkness was setting in, the flakes began to lessen, and I suppose that now it may have stopped. Although I have taken many of these shots a zillion times, I spent much time today watching the birds and taking pictures!! Enjoy!! *******Be sure to scroll down a couple of posts and sign up for my Christmas reading give-away, too!!! Thanks to all that have already visited and signed up, and a double thanks to those that have posted on their blogs about my give-away!!!********

THE MORNING AFTER.............THE SNOW!!

This morning is a winter wonderland, and will be even more fabulous should the sun find it's way through the cloud cover!! I see the brightness starting to peek through some clearing sky over the mountains now!! As I look East I can see a bit of the sun struggling to shine through, too!! There have been many little visitors since dawn, eating ferociously, with lots of fuss and twitter!! I missed a shot of the downy woodpecker, getting a few bites of suet while the larger competion was away!!

Enjoy the pics!! Be sure to scroll down a couple of posts and sign up for my Christmas reading give-away, too!!! Thanks to all that have already visited and signed up, and a double thanks to those that have posted on their blogs about my give-away!!!

LATE THANKSGIVING SNOW!!!!

IT IS SNOWING!!!!! IT IS SOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! As I busied myself working on new listings for my various sites, and watched a mix of football and basketball, I happened to look outside!!! WOW!!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT!!!!! This is our first REAL snowfall, since the snow we got a couple of weeks ago was much lighter, and didn't last at all, since it came in the morning. This is not only a spectacular sight, but a much needed bit of moisture for our very dry ground. I absolutely LOVE night time snowfalls, too!! The contrast of the darkness and the white, white snow is so pretty!! Enjoy the pics!! ****** Be sure to scroll down a couple of posts and sign up for my Christmas reading give-away, too!!! Thanks to all that have already visited and signed up, and a double thanks to those that have posted on their blogs about my give-away!!!

THANKSGIVING WISHES TO ALL!!

************************Thanksgiving Day.......a day to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. A day for food, family, fun, forgiving........oh....and football!! (The Nuggets are playing, too!) I have much to be thankful for, and on that long list is my being thankful for nature, wildlife, birds. The robins came for brunch today. I'm thankful that I was able to provide for them. Blessings to all!! Enjoy the day!! ~~Trudy~~

CHRISTMAS READING GIVE-AWAY!!!!

I love books!! I love to read!! I love to collect books!! This picture shows my current holiday reading stash that is out where I can pull from it.....but there is more to the stash....still tucked away with all the holiday goodies!! Pictured here are only books for adult reading, and we won't even start to talk about my collection of children's books!! I saw a new one yesterday, too, and think it might need to go on the list for the 5 year old granddaughter. It was a story that introduced and taught about words like patience, anticipation, dedication, etc. The author used these character traits and weaved them into a story about baking cookies!! CUTE!!

Last year I began to pass on some of my holiday books that I had read, realizing that hanging on to many of these is not necessary, since I probably won't read them again. This year I thought I would give one or more away here on my blog!! Click on the pic, and you can see the titles and authors a bit better, I hope!! Here are the rules!!

Rule 1.....Post a comment here on my blog, telling me which of these books you would like to read!! Your name will go into the Santa hat once!! You can list as many books as you like, and if you are the lucky winner, I will choose the one from your list to send!!

Rule 2.....Post on YOUR blog about this give-away, with a link to MY blog, and your name will go into the Santa hat a second time!!

Rule 3.....I will draw the winner on Monday, December 15th, and then get the book in the mail to the lucky reader right away!! This will give me time to finish reading the new ones in my stash, and will still give you, the winner, time to read before the end of the holidays and 2009 is upon us!! Please make a note to check my blog on December 15th to see if you might be the winner!! I will need your mailing address!!

Thanks for stopping by, have fun with the give-away, and happy holidays to all!!

CHECK OUT THIS COOL GIVE-AWAY!!!

A quick visit around blogland today brought me to a great give-away!! This creative person happened to stop by my blog a week or so ago, and lives down in Denver!! Stop by Wonders of Whimsy and say hello to Jenny, take a peek at her wonderful work, and sign up for this great, great give-away!! I want to win!! Another new thing to be busy with!!

Hot Drinks/Hot Mamas Apron Swap Complete!! WHAT FUN!!!!

As I talked about earlier, one of the things that I love is aprons!! So...when I found some apron swaps, I jumped in!!! The first one for me to join was the Hot Drinks for Hot Mamas Apron Swap!! I have received a wonderful collection of goodies from Jill in New Hampshire, (the bottom pic) and have sent a collection of goodies to Regina in Utah!! WHAT FUN!!! The apron I sent was made from a great fabric I found at one of my fav quilt shops!! It was fun!! I created the pattern from a vintage apron in my collection. Then I shopped here and there for the little treats that were to be included along with the apron!! Such a fun diversion from the norm!! The box of goodies I received from Jill was such a treat!! Thank you again, Jill, for such special touches to the apron, the table mat, and the tea clutch/hot pad!!

THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF NATURE.........

We are enjoying some totally WARM weather......almost like summer!! The first snow went quickly, and it's hard to believe that we are past mid-November already!! However, according to the weather news, colder temps and wet freezing rain may be with us on Thursday! But until....we enjoy!! While out and about exploring, we came upon a little dirt county road that we had not ventured down before!! Here are some shots from that little trip!! ENJOY!!!