8 to 12

The Eighth, 

Ninth,

Tenth,

Eleventh,

and Twelfth Decorative Touches of Christmas!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Discovered our Helibores budding this AM!  Happy New Year! Spring is around the corner! 

The Seventh Decorative Touch of Christmas

             Candlelight & roses grace our dining room table for the Holiday.

Wildlife Visitor

Along with Santa Claus, we had another visitor to the estate from the Northlands. This is a red-shouldered hawk, which we'd never seen before but evidently winters here sometimes. Or perhaps he is just passing through. They breed in Canada and New England. I am sorry he is not more fierce-looking, but he was probably pretty wet and tired at this point. We actually thought at first he was a baby owl who hadn't grown any ears yet!

The Sixth Wreath of Christmas

                   I like this one since it incorporates many different textures as well as tints of the colors red & green which translate into rosy pink & lime green ~~ a more comtemporary approach to the color palate but certainly within the realm of traditional red & green.
       

The Fifth "Wreath" of Christmas

 Well, really the Fifth Decorative Touch of Christmas. Above, a quilled snowflake made by the Flower Lady, hanging in the window. The Flower Lady just recently taught a successful class at Longwood on how to make quilled snowflakes. How successful? I'd say wildly successful: I made the snowflake below, from the instructions in her handout, all by myself!

The Fourth Wreath of Christmas

The Flower Lady's Fourth Wreath of Christmas. The Flower Lady comments: Yes, there are green ornaments & accents on this wreath but receded in this shot as the reds & golds jumped forward. A good lesson for me to learn when designing for photo shoots or distance viewing.