River House Diary

 It was a very quiet Thanksgiving. Normally, my youngest brother and his wife come up from northern Alabama as she likes to spend Christmas with her mother. However, the surge in COVID cases kept them at home. And my sister-in-law, who lives locally, had to work all day. So it was just Pete and I. We tried a Jennie O Oven Ready Boneless Turkey Breast , which came out great. The rest of our meal consisted of tried and true favorites. Pineapple-Cottage Cheese Salad (one of Mom's classics) Seasoned Green Beans Sour Cream Potatoes with Cheese Grapevine Kentucky Buttermilk Biscuits

It was a long wait for the window treatment for the hall bath as the material was a real splurge. It's hand printed from Galbraith & Paul -- the Lotus pattern in an Aqua colorway. We had them made to open top down as the neighbor's house is quite close. Hall bath window treatment; personal collection

We purchased this signed and numbered print from a gallery in the historic district of New Bern while we were still living in New York. We finally got it framed and I love how it turned out. The frame with the weathered white and silver gilt splotches reminds me of oyster shells. How perfect! It now hangs in our powder room, or half bath. Aww Shucks! in the half bath; personal collection

 We got our large Derek McCrea watercolor back from the framers and hung it between the French doors in the great room. I think it will look great with a small chest underneath. I just need to find the right one. Art in the great room; personal collection

 You may recall from our tour of the foyer , that we hung the large herons we purchased in Myrtle Beach in 2002 on either side of the entry into our den. The mats were olive green and cream and didn't really work in the new house. So we had the pieces re-matted and were so surprised at how much more the white heron popped; before it had been kind of invisible. Re-matted herons in the foyer; personal collection

The nightstands and bed for our rear bedroom were delivered today. The nightstands are the Del Sol Bedside Table from Tommy Bahama's Bali Hai collection. They look terrific with the Mahogany Swirl chest from David Francis, which we love but has been discontinued. The upholstered bed is the Carmine bed from Eastern Accents , covered in Blick Denim .  New nightstands and bed for the rear bedroom; personal collection

 I've purchased two watercolors by Derek McCrea already, but I really loved this one entitled Waves Seascape Painting. I think it will go well in our great room between the French doors. An original watercolor by Derek McCrea