I’m interrupting this week’s Ten on Tuesday to take a moment to share some of what I consider some of the ‘everyday goodness’ in my life right now –

ABC Magazine Holder – First up is this little [?] CAST IRON magazine holder we found at an antique store a few weeks back. It was black with gold letters at the time. Just a quick taping and spray of bright red paint highlights the ABCs so much better for me. It’s now on the hearth, holding magazines, newspapers to be re-visited, and favorite books. Love the graphic font of the ABCs...

Canned Delights – We’ve mastered the art of preserving the earth’s goodness through the Power of The Water Bath. Back in the summer we canned [, and canned, and canned] FROG jam and scuppernong jelly. This week we’ve, well, Craig [– while I was decorating] put up a ton of his signature BBQ sauce and also a few half-pints of Maw Maw’s Bread and Butter Pickles. [I was in charge of the labeling…]

A Clean Attic – We’re blessed to have a walk-in attic [doorway is in the playroom] and I love having lots of room for storage. There’s baby stuff in there [some clothes, wooden puzzles, books, and little tyke toys,] some extra furniture [a futon, a table, a baby bed, chairs, and the old school desk that sat in Maw Maw’s house forever,] LOTS of scrapbook stuff leftover from the monthly kit days, the boys’ old school work, and lots and lots of seasonal stuff – loosely organized in categories of: Christmas / Winter, Fall, and Spring / Summer. But the curse of having a walk-in attic is that stuff gets pushed in it whenever there’s a little too much clutter in the house [boxes, furniture, craft / hobby supplies, and extra gifts to be given.] So, once a year I do a little attic cleaning and sorting and organizing. You may not be able to see a huge improvement, but it feels good to this OCD soul of mine – all straightened up, and, most importantly it’s only after it’s done that I can get to the Christmas stuff to decorate…lol

Lollipops – I’ve had some giant lollipop molds for over twenty years now, and we still enjoy making them! Getting that first whiff of the flavoring being added to the hot syrup is every bit as overwhelming and intoxicating now as it was then. Our favorite flavors? Spearmint, [YUM!] and fruity flavors. Delish. Looking forward to makings some over the holidays...

A snuff jar I found at another antique shop – filled with spiced tea mix and on its way to my sister with this photo of our gr-parents. [Weeelll, maybe the photo is being delivered separately...] Oh how I wanted to fill it with the sugar-cocoa mixture we used to eat and pretend was snuff. haHAha [We drank from many 'o these at our gr-parent’s house.] Happy Birthday!

Christmas Decorations - It does take a little time to pull it all out and set it up - but, oh I love to see a little magic in the house at this time of year. We put up a tree in the living room, a little hallway fiber-optic tree, a small 'kitchen' tree, and the boys tree [with Auburn stuff, soccer and drums all over it] up in the playroom. The stockings [hand-knit by my mother-in-law] go up on the mantle, plus nativity sets in most every room. And this year I pulled together this little set of art to go on the old dresser we use as a side board in our dining area. [I'm thinking a string of battery operated lights will be the finishing touch... and yes, that's a tea bag ornament - to the left - we got at Celestial Seasonings last year.]

And lastly, the Duck Crossing – after the ‘hot donut now’ run a week or so ago, we sat and enjoyed them at the duck pond downtown while watching these geese wander back and forth [and back and forth again] across the road – And I couldn’t resist having a little holiday fun with them – Merry Christmas Everyone!