Furry Backyard Visitor

It's a sunny cold day here, and it appears that this backyard visitor has found a nice spot in which to relax for a bit . . . a playscape in a neighbor's backyard.

This is a gray fox, a small mammal considered to be in the wild dog family. Both coyotes and foxes are very common in Texas, and it's not uncommon to see these creatures in urban areas near greenbelts. One can assume from the coloring why this is called a gray fox. Their coats are mostly gray with a little cinnamon colored fur along the sides, neck, and legs. Their belly's are white.

According to Wikipedia, canidae is the family of wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and dogs. These mammals eat both small animals and fruits and berries. This gray fox may be napping here, but these agile creatures are known to be good climbers and can climb up and down trees. The gray fox is the only one in the canidae family with the ability to climb trees.

A young fox is called a cub, kit, or pup. The female is called a vixen and the male a reynard, todd, or dog. I've no idea if this is a vixen or a reynard, but I do think this critter has sensed being watched. So let's leave it alone and go on over to Susan's @ A Southern Daydreamer to see what others are sharing today for Outdoor Wednesday.

Hope you'll take time to leave me a comment below. It will make my day!

The photos were taken by a neighbor in his yard. Thank you, Michael, for allowing me to share these amazing photos.

I found the facts on the gray fox on The Web Site of Everything.com. Click here if you want to read more about the gray fox.

Tea Towel Treasures

It seems amazing that we are already into 2010. Feels like only yesterday that we were celebrating the new millennium in 2000. I'm happy you joined me today. I'm linking this post to Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally, Mosaic Monday hosted by Little Red House, and Three or More Tuesday hosted by The Gypsy's Corner. Thank you to each of these ladies for hosting these fun events each week.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day, I received a package from a dear friend who lives in France.

The little package on the left saying "Merry Christmas" contained this fabulous red and white tea towel. It's made of the finest linen. Feels so elegant to the touch! And it is woven with bands of red along the edges. So French!

This mosaic shows you the details of this beauty which features the Arc de Triomphe, L' Opera, and Tour d Eiffel. Judy knows The City of Light is my all time favorite city. I have a thing about the Eiffel Tower. She also knows that I adore tea towels as much as I adore pottery. Both are works of art as far as I'm concerned.

The other package on the right and saying " . . . and a Happy New Year" appropriately held this 2010 calendar tea towel. Judy lives in Brittany and is a friend I met through the Quimper Club. This blue tea towel features my favorite motifs found on Quimper pottery. Click on the photo to enlarge and you can see the details of the Breton people and the French coqs.

Here is the month for January, my favorite. It's my birth month!

I have some other tea towels from Brittany. Want to see them?

This is one that features the work of Quimper artist François Le Villec.

This Corentine de Quimper towel features the pieces of a faience tea service. Doesn't it make you want to heat up the water and enjoy a cup of tea? These French tea towels are larger and make great little accent cloths on a small table. A table set for tea perhaps?

Take a look at this lovely pair! The towels are made from natural linen and chain stitched to portray a Breton couple, he on one and she on the other. The embroidery is done in a cherry red, not the pinkish color that shows in the photo. These were an unexpected, but most appreciated gift from Fran, another Quimper friend. Thank you, dear Fran! I absolutely LOVE these!

And look how well they go with the linen Christmas towel Judy sent to me last Christmas. I might add that these towels are large. They measure a generous 20"x 30". Definitely NO dirty hands are going to be allowed to touch these beauties. Rather I'm going to come up with a safe creative use for this pair.

The darling towels above were Christmas gifts. I have a neighbor who shares my affinity for MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check. She gave me the towel on the left with the topiary poinsettia in the CC inspired cache pot. Pretty cute! Thanks, Shannon!

This beautifully wrapped gift arrived this fall. It was a thank you from Laurie @ Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie. You see I'm one of the lucky ones who got to "chat live" with Laurie. You can read about our visit here. Laurie, Thank You Again for these thoughtful gifts. It was such a treat to meet you!

The pink polka dot package contained a sweet personal note from Laurie, a little French dish with an A no less, and a darling tea towel. Wow! I guess Laurie knows a little bit about me. The little dish sits on my desk beside my computer and holds clips, and pens, and stuff.

The tea towel gets to hang about, but I don't let anyone actually use it. LOL It is too wonderful! The detailed work on this is amazing. The teapot is pieced as if it were from a quilt square, is embellished with beautiful embroidery, and appliqued to white cotton. It was made by Cupcakes and Cartwheels. The name is as cute as the towel itself.

This little waffle tea towel was a gift from my sister. She spent 6 weeks in Provence last January to be present for the birth of her grandson. It's special to me because it reminds me of what a special time my sister had while there and how excited our family was to welcome Beau Hubbard into our family.

I've lots more delightful little tea towel art to share, but I'll save it for a future post. I know you want to get back to visiting more posts for Mosaic Monday, Blue Monday, and Three or More Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment. It will make my day!

First Pink Saturday of 2010

Happy New Year to each of my Pink Saturday friends. I hope your New Year's Celebrations were filled with much joy and laughter. Thank you to Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound for hosting our Pink Saturdays to get us all together to share some PINK.

Today I'm packing away the Christmas decor until next year. It's been fun sharing holiday traditions and decorations with each of you this past month and reading about each of yours. Great idea, Beverly! Thank you for stopping in. I always appreciate your visits and your kind comments are like thoughtful gifts. Click here to drift back to Beverly's for more pinkness on this first Pink Saturday of 2010.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I WISH YOU ALL GOOD THINGS FOR 2010

My holidays have been filled with joy this year. I've much to be thankful for and not least among my list of blessings to count are the many wonderful friends I've made since I started HFTS. I want to thank each of you who stop by for visits. Your kind and thoughtful words encourage me, your friendships bring much joy, and your incredibly creative blogs continue to inspire me with each new post. Your postings give me pause to smile and laugh; your incredible photographs take me to beautiful homes and gardens and interesting places. I'm in awe of the endless number of talented individuals who share their creative spirit and are so generous with their time and talents.

This beautiful pink ornament from Jacque @ Campagne Maison hangs on our Christmas tree this year, a cherished reminder of the many new friends I've made in these past five months. Click on the link above to read Jacque's toast to the New Year.

In the spring of this year I knew little about the world of Blog. Then by chance I found Between Naps on the Porch and Confessions of a Plate Addict. Both Susan and Debbie encouraged me and guided me, and in August Hyacinths for the Soul became a reality. Now I'm joining in the fun of the weekly blog events Sunday Favorites, Blue Monday, Three or More Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Tablescape Thursday, Foodie Friday, and Pink Saturday. Since those first encounters, blogging has provided hours of friendship that I never expected. I've come to feel that many of you are the dearest of friends, even though we've never met. So a heartfelt "Thank you!" to each who have encouraged me and offered your friendship through your blogs and personal emails.

In addition to kind and thoughtful words from many blogging friends, I've recently been the beneficiary of several blog give always. In early December I received this elegant beaded pouch of lavender from Cindy @ Fairy Tale Cottage. I was so surprised! And little did Cindy know that the aromatic fragrance of lavender is my favorite. The fragrance from lavender calms and soothes my being. It's a wonderful way to relax. "Thank you, Cindy, for this thoughtful and delightful gift you sent my way."

December also brought new dishes to my home. Like many of you I'm a bit of a dishaholic. So needless to say, I was thrilled to learn that I had won Linda's give away @ My Shabby Rose Cottage. Thank you, Linda, for sending these charming plates my way. They are already favorites! I'm only sharing this peek at what was inside the package I received, because I'm saving the best photos for a future Tablescape Thursday. You see, another package of dishes arrived about the same time from a "dish angel", a blogging friend who facilitated a purchase for me after locating the very dishes I'd been searching for.

A toast to each of you who

are reading this New Year's Day!

May your year ahead

be one of good health and good fortune!

Celebrating Christmas

The following post was originally shared in 2009.

I'm linking it to today's Creating Christmas Linky Party.

~ Silver and Gold Christmas ~

I hope it offers some inspiration.

Nancy Thomas Print, Black Tie Santa, 1995

Christmas Eve at our home is a quiet celebration with family. We traditionally share the evening with my husband's twin brother and his wife and daughter. No gifts, just a time to catch up, remember good times from the past, laugh, and of course enjoy some good food prepared by my talented husband.

A Courtly Check Christmas was the theme in our dining room this year. We tucked one of the slim line trees into the corner by the buffet, decked it with our special glass ornaments, and topped it with a wide silk ribbon in black and white plaid.

These courtly Check ornaments were a special highlight added just days before. Aren't they spectacular? Linda @ My Shabby Rose Cottage painted these. I recently found her wonderful blog and was thrilled to learn that she had these for sale. I suspect I'll be doing a lot of shopping with Linda in the year ahead.

I wanted to set a casual, 

but elegant table for our Christmas Eve meal.

Those of you have read previous posts may know of my fondness for MacKenzie-Childs and especially the pieces in the Courtly Check pattern. Well, these MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check chargers were a gift to myself this holiday. I like the way the black and white checks look with the simple brown and gold bands of our wedding china, Palermo Brown, by Richard Ginori. They provide an unexpected twist. The green beaded placemats were a Pottery Barn purchase a couple of years ago.

I often use cyclamen plants in both white and bright pink about the house during the holiday season for the delightful aromatic fragrance and the lasting blooms. Once Christmas is over, I plant them outside in the garden. Here in Texas, cyclamen are the perfect winter bloomer.

As a little party favor and to mark one's spot, 

I added a glass ball glittered in gold at each place setting.

It's fun to send guests home with a little something, 

and what better treat than an ornament for one's own tree!

Each was tied with a Courtly Check 

ribbon to carry out the theme.

I placed them in a gold ball 

martini glass just for fun.

With the brown emanel of the Christophe Talisman silver and the gold, brown, and black accents of the plates, red napkins added a little punch and Christmas cheer to mix with the sparkly greens.

More sparkle for the table was 

provided with the amber crystal stemware by Denby.

My contribution to the meal. . . 

I baked a fresh apple pie and served 

it with whipped cream and . . .

these peppermint almond macrons 

I picked up from a local bakery.

Christmas morning I woke to a stocking full of gifts, each thoughtfully selected by my husband. This beautiful handmade European ornament was right on top and is a glittering masterpiece with intricate details. It's a French hen from the Reed and Barton Twelve Days of Christmas series. Notice the gold fleur de lys and the ermine tails that decorate this fine bird. I absolutely think this is one of the most beautiful ornaments on the tree! The fact that it is a gift from my sweetheart makes it extremely precious!

After a leisurely morning with a late breakfast and a brisk walk along the trail, we joined friends for a Christmas Day dinner at our friend Judy's home.

Her festive table was laden with plump red pomegranates and magnolia leaves from a tree in her yard. A bounty of fresh fruit and greens filled a compote at the center of the table.

Each place setting was beautifully set with Strasbourg and 

Winthrope silver and Spode Christmas china . . .

atop Spode Christmas placemats.

Heavy red Vietri chargers with 

white polka-dots held the china settings.

The cheerful bands of red and green and the whimsical peppermint inspired linen napkins made a stunning presentation. Note the beautiful antique French napkin ring. For many years Judy and I traveled to Paris each March. We would time our trips to coincide with the annual Brocante Et Aux Jambons held on the ile de Chatou and the oldest outdoor antique market in France.  Early on we discovered the charm of French antique napkin rings which are wider than most, not expensive, and the perfect size to easily carry back as a souvenir of our vacation. So over the years we each returned with one or two. Not only are they beautiful, they make great conversational topics for the table!

Saint Louis crystal stems 

held the evening's wine selections.

We started with a salad of fresh greens, 

pears, and blue cheese.

Followed by a traditional southwest 

meal of homemade posole and . . .

handmade tamales with chicken or pork 

and topped with red and green hot sauce.

All of the above enjoyed with friends gathered along each side of Judy's antique French farm table, another purchase from one of our yearly trips. Not only is this table the perfect venue for eating and conversing, it holds special memories. You see, this 9 foot table was one found at the Marché Aux Puces in Paris, another favorite antique market.

After dinner we moved to the living room to enjoy coffee and dessert around the cozy fire burning in the fireplace. The mantel was decorated with more fresh magnolia leaves and a collection of very special Christmas plates done in Copenhagen, Denmark.

These Bing and Grondahl porcelain plates are from a Christmas Around the World series done between 1995 and 2000.

Each is hand-painted and is 

the original art of Hans Henrik Hansen.

Notice the wide golden borders 

The dining room table was filled 

with an assortment of Christmas sweets . . .

around this clay blow filled with succulents 

within a wreath of red berries.

This sweet little Courtly Check birdie atop an intricately painted egg was my Christmas gift from Judy this year. Isn't it perfect for our CC tree? "Thank you, Judy!" and my heartfelt thanks to each of you who stop by today. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. I wish each of you the best for 2010!

Please, help yourself to a snow flake sugar cookie 

before heading off to visit 

Trina @ Teatime With Trina 

Creating Christmas ~ Silver and Gold Christmas