Of Tonsils and winter decorating

Tonsils are a strange part of your anatomy.  Everyone knows that they sit in the back of your throat but not what your body uses them for. Tonsils are part of your lymph system and are used by your body to fight infections.  However, if removed, they don't impede your bodies ability to fight infection any more or less.  I only bring this up because my daughter has been fighting tonsillitis every few months for a little over a year now.  Finally today she got them removed!  

For me the thought of her not missing school for a week or more every couple of months is exciting!  For her I am sure she is excited to not have so many sore throats and laryngitis every few months. 

So while we are recuperating I took the opportunity to decorate for 'after Christmas'.  Sometimes after the holiday's your house can look so empty and plain.  Personally, I love it.  As I am getting older I find I just want things simpler, easier and less cluttered. 

It has been too cold here to plant my little tree's that I bought for my holiday table so I found places for them around the house in my after holiday decorating. 

When you first come in the front door I have a small table where I put a little tree, a lamp, a small bowl filled with pinecones and a candle.  This is where I want to put a larger entry table, I am still looking!

 

Straight ahead is the dinning/living room and the massive, massive dark mantel. 

I always struggle with decorating the mantel, sometime things just end up looking like soldiers standing there, uncreative and boring.  I like this one so far....

 

Turning around you see the dinning table and buffet.  This buffet has a broken leg and is about 100 years old.  I want to get new, shorter legs for it, paint it and re-purpose it in my family room as a TV stand.  First I need to get some other kind of storage for all the crap I have in it!  For the dinning table I cleaned the Epsom salt dollar store glasses I made for Christmas and filled them with pinecones and put them on the table with a wrought iron candelabra.  For the buffet, I used my old book craft from the holiday and put my little lamp on it.  I also put another little pine tree here. 





 

Finally in my kitchen I cleaned the door fronts (still no handles or knobs) made a sort of coffee/tea station.  My hubby hung a new shelf and I decorated it with a rosemary plant and some other things I had on hand.



 

Above you can see that large Plexiglas countertop saver.  We cut on it and really abuse it and it looks brand new.  I got it online at Home Improvement.com.  They carry 2 sizes, the one above it the large size.  I have junky, laminate, 1970's, white countertops that stain and mar easily.  I find if I just leave cutting boards out they get used.  Since this one is clear and has a lip that covers the front face of the countertop as well it was very attractive to me. 

 

I hope you enjoyed the little house tour.  I'm off to care for my baby, poor girl.  Till Wednesday!

Victoria