Most years by this time we've had at least one snowfall here in Southern Ontario. We don't always have snow for Christmas, which surprises anyone outside of Canada, but it's usually at least cold out.
It's not cold out.
How not cold? I'm not sure that I've worn a winter jacket more than twice and I'm growing radishes. Outside. In the garden. And they're actually growing. This doesn't mean winter is going easy on us, it just means Old Man Winter is recovering from a bit of a bender and won't be making an appearance until January at which point he'll vomit enough cold and snow on us to last until April.
So the photos of the outside of my house at Christmas look as though they could have been taken at a Jamaican all inclusive resort this year. The only things missing are the drinks with umbrellas and the beach. And bikinis. And lounge chairs and lots of food and a misshapen man wandering around in a most unfortunate thong bathing suit.
Actually now that I look at the photos, really the only thing missing is snow.
Flanking the bottom of the photo are my two huge rosemary bushes which I'm hoping I can get to live through the winter outdoors somehow. I'm just 1 zone shy of them being hardy. Just above the rosemary you can see the beautifully distressed porch floor I've done. You'd almost think it was actually a mangled, peeling, porch instead of what it really is, which is obviously artistic genius.
The wreath was the cheapest, biggest natural wreath I could find (I think it was $19) which I dressed with a red velvet bow I made from Dollar Store ribbon and tails of gold ribbon added behind. I wanted classic Christmas.
If you have any old winter sports equipment now is the time to drag it out. Now is also the time to go to second hand stores or flea markets to find this stuff. The sled you may remember was hanging on the living room wall for Christmas last year. Now it's on the porch with my birch logs, a pyramid of styrofoam balls I glued together to look like snowballs and some extra greenery tied with the same ribbon that's on the wreath. An antique sled like this is normally around $150 but I found this one for way cheaper at a flea market. I can't remember how much it was but I bet if you read my post from last year I remembered how much it was then.
Yeah, a broom, cause it's December and I'm still sweeping my porch.
No snow doesn't mean no fires. A roaring fire and making chocolate chip cookies is my #1 wintertime hobby. Just ask my local fire department.
You can see the potting shed from my kitchen window so I like to put a few Christmasy things out there for me to stare at while I lean on the counter and wait for the dishes to do themselves. Last year I had some of my wood stacked there with fresh greenery on it. That's all I needed because everything was covered in snow and it looked beautiful last year.
This year I added some skis. I bought the set of skis at my local thrift store for around $6. I was going to paint them white but when I propped them against the potting shed they looked so great with the red bow that I just left them red. Maybe I'll paint them next year. Or maybe I'll have a live moose in my backyard next year instead. Who knows. At this rate I might be installing a pool with swim up bar at this time next year.
Other sports things you can pick up at flea markets or second hand stores for decorating outside are snowshoes (expensive though), old white figure skates, which would look GREAT hanging from a hook on a garage or front door or any wood sled. Oh! If you're going to put the skates out make sure they have some kind of blade protectors on them. You don't want to slide through a jugular while walking past them.
Those are the things I'd recommend you go and buy if you think your outdoor decorating is missing something. A sled, old figure skates, or snowshoes.
If you can't find any of those things for a good price you can set a chalkboard outside and literally draw a pair of skates or a sled on it. Chances are if you don't have enough money to pay for $6 used skis it's because you're a creative artistic type who doesn't get paid your worth, so you'll have no problem with the chalk drawing.
Hmm...maybe that is a regional thing. I know a lot of it comes from Pennsylvania. It is a stone paver much like yours. Mine gets all wonky with the freeze / thaw which means I probably need to pull them all up and improve the base that they rest on. Kinda makes me want to cry. Yours looks great all level & even. You've got that going for you so enjoy!
Looks like classic Christmas....I love it! We are hoping to ski in Canada after Christmas but looks like we might need to come up with plan B. It has been very mild here in Ohio too but we did see a few flakes today. Hey, is that a bluestone patio? If so, yours looks better than mine.
Hmm. I don't really know what bluestone is so I'm not sure, lol. It's square cut flagstone. ~ karen!
don't worry Karen, if the snow squall warning in effect for Southern Ontario doesn't get you this weekend it soon will and you will have to shovel, or use the sled or the skis to get out to the chickens. Have a great Christmas. and to all your readers too. I just love all the comments, and don't mention beavers or poutine or I will crack up all over again!
Mmm K. No poutine, no beaver. Got it. Will not mention either. ~ karen!
Your exterior looks beautiful! It is snowing on Vancouver Island, where I live, so now's the time to feel smug if you're inclined to such indulgences...but not as smug as me because I am presently in Maui...just choking on all the smugness over here.
Hah! That really cracked me up . . . you win the smugness prize!!! Oh, btw, Maui? I hate you.
I'm sorry. Or rather, I'm "sahree"...you know, cuz...I'm in 'Merica.
Hush your mouth about the snow young lady. We are packing up and moving to a tropical location to beat the snow and frigid air. You suckers can stay here and "pretend" to be such good Canadians and live the delusion without us. I use to love the snow but then, one year, I just didn't want to do it again. Not just snow but Christmas. Maybe it is because we have 5 kids and it has just become a marketing ploy. We try to tell the kids that it is not about what you get but what you give but to be perfectly honest, media tries to make you feel like a failure of a parent if the tree is not packed to the star with gifts. Depressing. Look out Panama....we are coming, and I look awful in a two piece. The pieces dont cover the right places.
Hey Janice (I'm one too, don't meet many these days) are you just vacationing IN or actually moving TO Panama?
Two piece? Hell, girl, get a bikini!! On vacay in the DR, many years ago when I was expressing concerns over my exposed flesh, my dear sweet husband looked at me and said, "Honey, you may not have the best body on the beach but you sure as hell don't have the worst!" I realized then that the young and older European women there didn't give a rat's ass about a perfect body. It was only the North Americans who cared. So now, I own 3 and enjoy my husband's reaction!! LOL
Hope your Christmas is everything you want it to be!
"The pieces dont cover the right places." HA! ~ karen!
No snow in Nova Scotia either! I really feel a moose is exactly what you need to finish the look. Although, if you are going to have a swim up bar I think flamingos might be more true to theme.
I'm such an idiot. You're totally right. ~ karen!
Ok...First of all...your place looks very nice all of the time...second....I don't want any damn snow...our last two Winters have been a freezing snowy nightmare...I am enjoying this weather thank you very much..third..you have my permission to keep any snow on your side of the border..and lastly...and I may have said this before..I don't want any damn snow...SNOW=LITTLE OLD CHUBBY LADIES FALL DOWN...a lot...What I'm really trying to say is Good Job Karen...
Gorgeous, Karen, but you know full well you will fall straight through your artistic genius if you don't check for rotting wood and paint your porch. Ask one who knows all about wood rot, termites, etc.
Love the front porch. We have birch logs and greenery on ours as well. Also have an antique sled, but last winter was a little hard on it, we had so much snow here in Nova Scotia, so it's still in the garage this year. I pot up my huge, 10-year old rosemary plant every fall and bring it into the garage. It lives on a south facing window, then in the spring it goes back outside in a big garden pot.
On your rosemary, would it help maybe to get a water jug (like for a water cooler), cut of the top, drill a hole to two in the bottom and place over the plants (kind of a mini greenhouse effect)? ? ? I live in Kentucky and did that for mine last year and they actually survived!
Also, a question on your greenery spray on the porch (above the fauxballs), what is on the wooded end (left) of that? It kind of looks like wooden whisks.
Anyway, lovely, as always.
Thanks.
I can't believe l am looking at the outside if your house, decorated beautifully and NO SNOW but then again, l have a wreath on my doir and it was 90 here yesterday, but come on my Canadian friend, l live the snow life vicariously thru you....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Really really pretty, Karen. Just curious - are you happy or sad that you don't have snow. Being from a place that never has snow, I wonder how people feel about it that live where it snows every winter. I imagine that it's a welcome sight at the beginning of winter, but not so much in April.
I can't imagine how you deal with it. I complain here all the time about having an 85° Christmas day, but truthfully, I wouldn't want to live where it snows.
Being from Louisiana, I obviously did not grow up with snow. A dear friend lives in Minnesota and I have visited her in all seasons. Snow is OK to visit. The worst is the melting time, that never ending drip...drip...drip. Not just one drip like a failing faucet, it's many drips that you can't shut off. My inner Stephen King comes to the surface and wants to be a woman with a hatchet that hacks on everything, even if it's people.
Happiness or sadness related to snow is very subjective. When I was gainfully employed and HAD to be at work in the morning come hell or high water or snow, in this case, getting up in what felt like the middle of the night to rev up the snow blower or shovel out the driveway is something I will never miss! Now, I can just laugh at it and climb back under the duvet and enjoy the beauty of it. That said, about mid-March when it's dirty and sloppy? meh . . . not so much.
I love your distressed porch flooring - it means that you have had family who are friends and friends who are family stopping by! Does your Rosemary completely die off or does it go dormant?
Omg, I have so many used skis. Even the Re-use at the dump doesn't want our old-school skis.
Beautiful decorating job Karen; I wish we had snow too...so I could use my new skis, lol.
Definitely the highlight of the morning thus far! I like the planter with the firewood and the curly willow-nice!
I think I'd prefer a bit of snow as this dreary grey wet month is seriously lacking in sunshine!
Being raised in Wisconsin, I just love and long for a shed like yours to look at from my window. Since it's Florida and my grandkids have never seen snow, they would look at the snow balls and ask why I glued styrofoam balls into a pyramid and what the pretty painted sticks were leaning on the shed. So I would have to settle for a flamingo with a red stocking cap by the back yard shed and twinkle lights and a candle in its window. Your sled is wonderful! My favorite of your decorations is always the shed. Thanks for this beautiful card from your house to mine. Merry Christmas!
Always inspirational to see what you're up to --- your decorations look great. Now, if it would only snow. Oh, and if you figure out the rosemary thing, let me know. We've debated building frames for ours and insulating them to see if they can winter over. Might not look super suave, but knowing you and if you undertook such a project, the frames would be artistic in themselves, or have something artistic perched atop!
Cheers and Merry Christmas to you!!!
Looks great! This gives a lot of great ideas.
(And I'm sorry - I think we got all your snow here in Winnipeg.)
Karen, so happy to have somehow discovered your great blog! Love your creativity and sense of humor and looking forward to delving into that treasure trove of past articles. Sure beats the hell out of teasing dust kittens out from under the bed or trying to teach the dog to walk backwards...
Hey Nina. Welcome! You've got a lot of catching up to do. Get reading. Quizzes take place on the last Thursday of every month. ~ karen!
Sharpening my crayons.
lovely, with or without snow!
I'm a relative newbie to the blog and don't know if this is answered elsewhere: where did you get your white mailbox? Looking for something like that for my redone front steps.
thanks!
I got it at a local store Eileen, but it's a fairly popular mailbox, I've seen it many places. I wish I knew the make of it for you but I'm afraid I don't. I bought the same one in black for my sister for Christmas. She *might* know the name of the brand. I'll ask. But I bet if you check Amazon, you'll be able to find it there. Just search white metal mailbox. ~ karen!
duh...that didn't occur to me!
Although I haven't found the same one yet with that long top flap, now the hunt is on!
thanks.