Yearly Archives: 2014

I can’t believe how the years keep passing by.  I’m not sorry to see 2014 go, and the TV shows, including the news, keep recapping what happened in 2014. It’s enough to put anyone into a deep depression! I’ve been watching more of the Game Channel than I ever have…just to escape….LOL….It just seems the crazies, and thugs are taking over the world….Let’s hope 2015 is better…..All we can do is take one day at a time, and to make sure we aren’t contributing to the craziness and negativity that seems to be pervasive……Jac and I wish you all only the best! Good health for you your family and good friends, and remember to give your loved ones a big hug as often as possible….it’s great medicine!……..much Love………..Louis

A new appearance has just been requested and CONFIRMED! I will be on QVC this Sat. Jan. 3rd on the 8am Leah Williams Morning Show. I will have two items and one of them is a NEW LINEA LEISURE piece……….It’s a TUNIC in the COTTON KNIT/SPAN and it will come in FIVE colors. When I find out approx. what time I will be on I’ll let you know.

I’m hoping the answer to my question is NICE!, and Santa treated all of you very well. Santa brought me everything on my list plus a few extras and some surprises. One of the surprises was a new IRON! Wasn’t expecting one….didn’t ask for one, but I guess Santa thought I could use a new and improved version….LOL I guess my school training for tailoring, sewing,which I hate to d0, and ironing, which I don’t mind doing, paid off. Another surprise present was a beautiful TN. I’m a TN person and wear them all winter, when it’s cold, almost every day. I have many casual TN in cotton, but it’s hard to find a “dress” TN. I can’t wear wool or cashmere, too itchy or too hot, so it’s a problem. Jac surprised me and got me a beautiful TN. She wanted me to try it on right away….which I did. It felt great, fit great, and was a nice deep black. Finally, a beautiful TN that was the right weight and didn’t itch. When I took it off she told me to look at the label…….Have you guessed yet???…………It was the classic LINEA TN !! Needless to say I was very surprised, and had never thought that the Linea TN would be good for men….but it is exactly like other TNs I have….rib cuff and a rib bottom…..I have to admit I’m a plus size in Linea…LOL….So ladies if the men in your life aren’t over 5′ 10 and don’t have sleeve lengths longer that a 34, these will be perfect for them. No one would ever know they were made for women……they really are unisex…. Now that I know I can wear them….watch out plus ladies I’m your new competition!!!….LOL…..Jac also gave me tickets to three Broadway shows, so we will be celebrating Christmas for quite a while……..Our first show is this weekend….”The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”…..It’s supposed to be fabulous….will let you know……………………..

********This year I thought it might be fun to give you a special “sneak peek” into our home, and how we decorate for Christmas…..Over the years Jac and I have collected, made and received many Christmas decorations. With every new Christmas that comes….we gather the decorations from high and low…..open the boxes where they are carefully stored….and the memories come flooding back. Above, are pictures of the “Family Room” or as I like to call it…”The Gathering Room”, where family and friends gather for an evening by the fire with traditional Christmas music playing softly in the background.. Every Christmas we have two trees. The 10 foot tree in the Family room, and the smaller tree on the sun porch. This smaller tree we call “Jac’s Mother’s Tree”, because it is filled with her mother’s ornaments and lights. The lighthouse and ship ornaments were  purchased during a trip we all took together in Kennebunkport over 11 years ago….It’s always a little melancholy putting up this tree, but there are always lots of good memories too……It is our tradition to open a bottle of Port, light the fire, play Christmas music and decorate the tree. “Our Tree” is filled with ornaments we have collected, and there are many from some very “dear” friends. A few years back we had a catastrophe, and lost many ornaments….so if you look very closely…you will find ornaments that may be a little broken….we call them the survivors, and we felt they had a right to shine again….so proudly they hang from the tree. When my father was still with us….I would have him collect bags filled to the brim with pine cones. He had three magnificent pine trees on his property that produced the most beautiful cones. At a certain point I had to say “Dad…STOP….I have more pine cones than I know what to do with”. I only wish I had never stopped him and had him today collecting the pine cones for me. Jac and I made everything with those cones….wreaths and center pieces abound. On one of the tables I have them piled in a silver bowl. I had painted the tips of each cone white to look like snow. I have them all over the house grouped on book shelves and tables. My father is never far away….. This year we have added to our collection.  Jac fell in love with the Valerie Parr Hill small silver porcelain Christmas trees that light up, and we have them scattered, and grouped about the room. Everyone wants to know where we got them…… We really do enjoy ourselves, and when the decorating is all finished and the lights are a glow…..it is a beautiful and happy sight……Jac always says…..she feels like five gain……………………Merry Christmas everyone!……………..all our Love……….Jac, Louis and the girls

**************The Living Room is just off the Gathering Room at one end, and the Dining Room at the other. The floral slip covers on the couches and arm chairs were supposed to be for the summer only, but they looked so festive we leave them on all year, and just take them off to be cleaned. One year we spent a wonderful time in Amsterdam and traveled all over the Netherlands. Jac’s family is from Brugge, so it was a wonderful trip for us to take. We bought some lovely old delft Christmas balls and have them in a silver basket. Almost all of the other decorations in the room we made…all except the center piece on the bar table in front of the decanters…..and the Candy canes in the English porcelain cup. We purchased many of the center pieces, in all sizes, and took some apart to decorate the small trees on the bar, and elsewhere in the house. The large tree with the red birds on the coffee table we also made….actually there are 7 of them around the house…..there are my father’s pine cones again!. Jac did all of the needlepoint pillows and Jac’s mother crocheted the blanket on the couch. Her mother, Marianne, and I would take  trips to the yarn store, and  she and I would pick out the colors for the many blankets she made for us over the years. It was something that just the two of us did….many memories, many good times and many laughs. She is all over our home………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………