Greenery and good manners....

With the festive season just around the corner we are focusing on greening up our Humble Bungalow...

A simple wreath hangs upon the door.

I love to use natural accents when it comes to decorating for the holidays.

Scented green swags with fir boughs and pine cones that one can gather outdoors feels much more genuine than buying the plastic ones sold in stores.

Our arts and crafts bungalow lends itself to organic and natural elements.

From the wood walls and beams

to the granite fireplace

we live in an unassuming space

one that does not lend itself easily to shiny silver baubles and tinsel.

We all have our own personal tastes and I appreciate that we may disagree on certain topics...

 in our disagreements we need to be mindful of our manners

carefully monitoring how we conduct ourselves

there is no excuse for rudeness or bad behaviour.

The lobby of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel is looking dressed up for the holidays.

Mother loved seeing all the decorations on our lunch date this past week.

I dressed up for the luncheon.

I wore my black top with a grey boiled wool skirt, some textured tights and my Chelsea style boots.

Mother schooled us on manners from the time we were toddlers.

She insisted that we pay attention to our choice of words, our tone of voice and how we behaved, especially important when it came to our elders and when we were out in public.

We were expected to say please and thank you 

to listen politely

 to send thank you cards in the mail.

We were also sent to Charm School...

 I doubt that many youngsters are sent to charm or etiquette classes these days.

We teach children by modelling good behaviour and by comporting ourselves in a manner that is beyond reproach.

I wore a vintage Sherman rhinestone brooch the other day when I played bridge.

It was a grey rainy day and I craved a wee bit of sparkle.

The ladies that convene to play cards take care in their choice of clothes and wear pretty jewellery.

Dressing up has its rewards...it does elevate the spirit.

“I have always believed that fashion was not only to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence.” 

~  Yves Saint Laurent ~

“Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life.” 

~  Bill Cunningham ~

Stir frying oodles of veggies has become a bit of a habit

which helps keep my WW points within my daily allowance.

The scales are not reflecting my efforts as quickly as I would like but I am keeping my eye on the goals that I have set.

The WW cookbook giveaway contest from the previous post closes November 30th

 Good Luck.

I wish you a weekend filled with JOY and good things.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic...a new book giveaway by Jennifer L. Scott.

Jennifer Scott kindly sent me an advanced reading copy of her new book "Polish Your Poise."
I enjoyed reading her other two books "Lessons from Madame Chic "and "At Home with Madame Chic."
If you don't already know Jennifer, she writes the blog The Daily Connoisseur and has You Tube videos online. You can pop over and read her posts on her classic 10 item wardrobe...and she's recently been speaking about the tendency that some people have towards dressing too casually for events like weddings, the theatre and when dining out.

Jennifer is a very wise and talented young woman, married, with two young daughters.
She's busy taking care of her home and family, yet makes time to write for several hours each day...

I brewed a big pot of Lapsang Souchong tea and devoted a couple of relaxing afternoons to her book.
Her thoughts on poise reminded me of my upbringing...
I can recall the same advice being taught by my Mother, and similar thoughts echoed by the elegant and poised woman who led the Saturday afternoon Charm School that I attended!

I think our society has moved away from teaching these lessons...being polite and poised is never out of fashion.
The book would make a nice gift for a young woman just starting out in the workforce...
I can envision a mother giving a copy to her teenage daughter.

Manners, cultivating and developing personal style, being a good neighbour, dressing appropriately, how to handle social media, maintaining an air of mystery, and more topics are discussed in the book.

One thing that I took away from this book is that we have strayed away from the etiquette and manners that were an integral part of my 1950's and 1960's upbringing and that it's never too late to teach these values to the next generation.

Jennifer has graciously offered to send one of my readers a signed copy of her book.

If you are interested in this giveaway please leave a comment.

Please enter by October 30th at midnight PST.

Good luck and I hope that you have a very pleasant week!

Out with the old and in with the new...OOTD

I culled a few garments last week from our teeny tiny closet...
they were Tees that had pilled and were looking faded.
I hang most of my clothes to dry so pilling is not usually a problem but those Tees were quite cheap and I think they were worn so often and were layered with vests and sweaters perhaps that is why they were badly abraded.

I did not replace them as I have two long sleeved Tees still in the closet.
Instead I opted for one new top...and a scarf.

Lands' End tunic top in a black and white stripe.

I wore this to the Winter Harp Concert with black leggings and Mee Too ballet flats.

Lands' End did a great job matching the stripes when sewing this top.

I snapped this picture from the car when driving home from the concert...

(I was in the passenger seat)

the legislative buildings in Victoria are lit up for Christmas.

This patterned scarf folded in half ~ black, grey and creamy beige shades.

The fabric has a felted texture and was purchased from the Oak Bay Avenue Pharmasave.

It has no tag to say what the fabric content is or who or where it was made...

As it mixes and matches with almost everything in my closet it is going to get a LOT of wear...

it may even come with me to Paris.

I spy with my little eye something that is silver...

I found a carry on that meets the strict requirements of Air France...

an early Xmas gift to myself 

purchased at 60% off regular price AND I used my senior's discount!

It's good that it expands,

just in case I buy some things in Paris and need to check it on the flight home!

Mimi Thorisson author of the blog Manger has a cookbook out and it is full of fabulous French Country recipes.

This would make a great gift for the foodie on your Christmas list.

I have been drooling over her seasonal menus and cannot stop staring at the beautiful, sensual and sumptuous photographs in this book...

 artfully captured by her talented husband Oddur.

I whipped up a couple of loaves of fruit bread

read most of  "The House I Loved"...

I caught up on some much needed sleep...

Darling grand daughter Isla has been ill and my mind has not been able to completely turn off worrying about her.

She is on the mend thanks to antibiotics and I am looking forward to my "Grammy Day" this coming week.

I hope that Henry doesn't come down with the bug.

I was surprised when I recently got a thank you from Hermes in the mail.

I must admit that I am very impressed...

"Good Manners are Always in Fashion."

Must close for now 

as I need to get dinner organized.

Thank you for your comments and book suggestions...

until next time...

Be Well.

"Tis the season to be jolly...'tis folly to be stressed.

'Tis the season to be jolly...
try to keep that in mind while others are running around in a panic.

Lists make a huge difference for me when planning for Christmas gift giving and shopping.
I try to shop local in small stores near where we live.
For many of our friends I opt for consumable gifts...at our stage of life we have most things that we need and many of us are thinking about de-cluttering and downsizing to smaller homes and condos.

I also make a list of things that I need to do...
my current lists looks like this:

~ order turkey
~ write out Christmas cards
~ wrap gifts
~ pick a date for the tree decorating/pizza night
~ buy stamps
~ make a swag for our door
~ make rum balls
~ make chocolate bark
~ go shopping for grandchildren with lovely DIL

Things are looking festive and bright...

The Laurel Point Inn on the Harbour is all dressed up for the holidays.

Sun set and all is calm on the water.

My sister and I took Mom to see the annual decorated gingerbread house display at The Laurel point Inn last week.

It was well worth seeing as many amateur and professional bakers rolled up their sleeves and got very creative...

it was most impressive.

The only time that I ever tried my hand at making a gingerbread house it was a total disaster!

The house tilted sideways and the walls collapsed.

It tasted good...

Look at the attention to detail.

Many many hours went into these houses...

The Baggins residence was my favourite of all the entries...

There was a Dental themed entry with a toothbrush, floss and toothpaste.

a good reminder with all the sweets that are around at this time of year

There was a mouse house...

aren't these adorable?

There's even a Santa Mouse visiting the house!

Looking out at this beautiful scenery reminds me that we need to keep calm when so many people around us are showing signs of stress and becoming impatient and cranky.

I have been mindful of others and have made every effort to allow others to go first in line ups and have politely yielded to merging traffic.

I usually do these things but I feel that it is even more important to be patient and kind when there are crowds.

Take time out to refocus and relax.

Keep things simple.

Stay hydrated get a good nights sleep.

Walk in the fresh air and breathe deeply.

Stay focused on the positive...

don't be tempted to go into debt buying presents

live within your means

make some or all of your gifts

give a gift of your time

offer to babysit for a busy mom

visit an elderly relative or shut in

be kind to others 

 give to those less fortunate.

"Tis the season of giving after all.

Give yourself the gift of a stress free holiday.

Choose peace and sanity and savour the little things.

OOTD...simple at home style.

It's a slow mo day here in The Humble Bungalow just me and the cats.
The laundry pile is getting smaller, the silver is getting a polish and the kettle has been on at least 5 times today.

It feels good keeping things simple and sensible and not getting caught up in the rat race.
That's the best thing about retirement ~ time to go at a slower pace ~ my kind of luxury.

I can tell that there are some pretty stressed out folks out and about these days.

Like the fellow that drove right in front of me and took the parking spot that I had been waiting for...and had my turn indicator on signalling that is where I was intending to go as soon as the car in the spot backed out....

Or the elderly gentleman who deliberately budged right in front of me in the line up at the pharmacy to buy his lottery tickets!
I very nearly said something but thought why get all ruffled up over such a trivial thing?
Really people where are your manners?

Have you noticed how many people are rushing around and getting upset?
I have heard some pretty rude customers grumble at the check out clerks in the grocery store.
It's enough to make one cringe.
Mother always said "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all."

It would be so much friendlier if we could all keep our tempers in check and relax.
Are you carving out a bit of restorative time to nourish your spirit and soul?
Something soothing perhaps?

I took an extra few minutes in the shower and exfoliated using this yummy sugar scrub.

I found it at Shoppers Drug Mart for under $10.

It softens and has a lovely scent.

Mother, my sister and I walked the Esplanade in Oak Bay the other evening and this beautiful sunset graced the sky.

Amalfi vintage shoes...soo comfy.

OOTD

(excuse the grainy image as the lighting is really not great by the mirror)

Skinny jeans g21

Amalfi shoes ~ thrifted

Lands' End navy cashmere sweater ~ thrifted

Champion white top

My house "uniform" is basic and simple.

I have no idea how old these shoes are..

they remind me of the purple Ferragamo's I loved and had years ago, the very ones I wore holes in the soles!

I couldn't resist this orchid last weekend at the market.

I don't think of orchids when I think of Christmas, but my cats leave these alone.

 I think the value of cheerful blooms can never be underestimated.

"Simplicity in character, in manners, in style; in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity."

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~

Be kind to others and be gentle with yourself.

Hostess