River House Diary

The two watercolors I purchased from Derek McCrea were hung above the bed in the rear guest bedroom. The Tybee Shrimp Boats are on the left and the Cape San Blas Florida piece is on the right. Things would have been a lot easier if we'd hung them before the bed was delivered. Art above the bed in the guest bedroom; personal collection

 We finally got around to making the bed in the rear guest bedroom. We live in hope the country will achieve herd immunity through the new vaccines becoming available and we can visit with all our friends and family we've been missing. The bedding is from Eastern Accents Penelope collection -- a nice cheat to choose coordinated fabrics instead of stressing over so many individual choices. Bedding for the guest bedroom; personal collection

 My sister-in-law works in the produce department of our local grocery store. A few days after Thanksgiving, she texted me and asked if we wanted a large, fresh turkey that would have to be frozen immediately if we wanted to use it for Christmas dinner. Of course, we did! And it was large -- 22 pounds! Wrestling with that turkey required my husband's help on Christmas Day. Our menu: Pineapple-Cottage Cheese Salad (one of Mom's classics) Chef Jean Pierre's Roasted Turkey  (be sure to watch the how-to video ) Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon and Honey Onion and Dill New Potatoes Walnut Vegetable Medley Grapevine, Kentucky Buttermilk Biscuits Fresh Apple Cake We had a wonderful meal with plenty of leftovers to send home with my brother and sister-in-law. (They are part of our COVID isolation pod.) The only problem with this menu was many of the side dishes that were cooked on the stovetop required attention at the same time. This is when sisters-in-law come in very handy!

 It may be the smallest piece of art we own but it has special meaning. It's a ink and watercolor painting of Jamaicans on a raft. It reminds me of a rafting trip my cousin, Joyce, and I took down the Rio Grande river in the same country. We plied our pilot with Red Stripe beer purchased from vendors wading in the river and listened to him talk about the pilots' efforts to unionize. Small watercolor of Jamaican rafters Joyce and I rafting down the Rio Grande river in 1984 We lost Joyce in September of this year, which makes this small piece of art even more special.

 The pillow situation has finally been resolved. I've written about it several times. Pillow Puzzles Pillow Puzzles Continue Pillow Puzzles Solved ... Finally! But it wasn't easy. In the second post, I found the discontinued Pottery Barn pillow I needed on BLINQ. However, when the insert finally arrived and I went to put the pillow cover on it, I discovered the cover was defective; no zipper. A day later Pottery Barn sent me an email that linked to their Romilly pillow cover asking if I was still interested in it. When I clicked on the link from the email, I learned the pillow was back in stock; so I quickly ordered one. The next problem was the lumbar pillow. I did buy the discontinued Ballard Designs fabric on eBay, but the work room made the pillow up in the wrong size. When they delivered the guest bedroom drapes , they delivered lumbar pillow take 2. And it was perfect. Sofa and throw pillows in the great room; personal collection

 The window treatments for the sliding glass door in the rear guest room were installed today. They stack on the right so they don't get caught up in the door when it is being opened or closed and they are fully blackout lined because the room faces northeast and gets a lot of early morning sun. The fabric is Eastern Accents Penelope Powder Blue  -- an embroidered fabric. I am such a sucker for embroidery! New guest bedroom draperies; personal collection

 All of our art that we've been collecting for a gallery wall in our great room has finally arrived or been framed. It took all afternoon to hang everything after figuring out the arrangement, but it sure adds a terrific pop of color to the room. Gallery art wall in the great room; personal collection