Just a quick post to wish you a *happy new year* full of champagne kisses! (P.S. Drop a couple red currants in your bubbly and watch them dance ~ hee!)
Sigh...it's over! It all goes by so quickly. I hope your holiday was as lovely as mine. Lots of snow, lots of laughter, twinkling lights, and goodies under the tree. I have missed blogging though, and look forward to posting more in the next few days. Cheers for now...
The presents are wrapped, the cards are written, and I am finally off to join my family. Wishes to all of you for a peaceful and lovely holiday ~ from me (and cousin Harold!!).
Yesterday I had the thrill of attending the annual holiday open house at the White House. The theme this year was "Holiday in the National Parks" ~ with lovely natural-themed decorations. Simple evergreens decorated with bright red cardinals and soft nests. Golden pine cones and glittering leaves tied up with lime green bows. 33 trees, 232 wreaths, and 862 feet of garland ~ and as you can imagine it smells divine. I took a million photographs, but it is just so hard to capture the elegance of it all. Here's a little peek...
The pochoir endpaper from a 1920s pattern book book ~ and the sky (with ginko branches) on the way to work this morning.
(top image: endpaper from Jean Saudé's Traité d'enluminure d'art au pochoir, 1925, New York Public Library Digital Library)
Dressing for holiday parties is always such an issue for me. It's cold and I want to be warm. I also want room to expand while eating all those goodies. So, black pants and a ___? Too bad I can't raid the storerooms at the V&A ~ love this silk jacket. 
Finally ~ at last ~ my holiday book list! Just a few things to inspire the mind or delight the eye:
This is one of my recent finds from Maine. It is not inscribed, but it is probably from the area. Do you see the ghost?!
A friend just sent this to me in response to yesterday's post ~ I love seeing what you all come up with! A fresco from Augustus' palace in Rome (see more here). Thank you GP ~ xx!
These two lovelies are putting me in the mood for the holidays! Other wintery inspirations:
(images, top: Charles Francis Annesley Voysey, wallpaper or textile design, 1891; and bottom: William Morris, Bird and Anemone, furnishing fabric, 1881, both Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
Went for a walk at lunch time ~ and loved the wisteria ~ elegant in every season. The soundtrack for my wanders ~ A Winter Garden.
A little Greco-Roman inspiration from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love this color! Also love port2port's holiday book list. What fun! Will try to get my own book list together in the next couple days. I like looking at other people's bookshelves ~ don't you?
One of my holiday rituals is an annual trip to Strosnider's Hardware in Bethesda for paperwhite bulbs (KW ~ I miss you!). Strosnider's is one of those old-fashioned hardware stores, which carries everything from wrenches to wrapping paper (and all sorts of things you didn't know you needed, but can't live without). Anyway, what I love is that the paperwhite bulbs are loose in a large wooden crate, and you have to count out however many you want and put them in a paper bag. Usually I go right after Thanksgiving, but this year I didn't make it there until this past weekend, and I was seriously scraping the bottom of the crate. But I got my usual dozen ~ soon to be planted in a random assortment of vintage bulb dishes. This photo is from the farmers' market yesterday ~ a sneak peek at what I have to look forward to! Funny, these little holiday rituals...would love to know some of yours!
A Kodak "round" ~ early 20th century ~ photograph of a store window. What I love most about this image is the mundane subject and direct composition. Completely odd, and just a little experimental. I found it so long ago that I can't remember where (!!).
I have been thinking about new needlepoint designs, and find myself drawn to simple geometric patterns. Am so inspired by the simplicity of these two pieces ~ top: an Anni Albers fabric, and bottom: a detail from an 18th-century sampler.
(images, top: Anni Albers, Untitled, n.d., The Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation; and bottom: Gerarda Gerritsen, Sampler, embroidery on cotton, 1963, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, T.186-1921) 
It snowed this morning ~ a little. Like a dusting of powdered sugar. More expected later!
I am finally stitching again. This is a sneak peek at a needlepoint canvas I designed (and started working on) ages ago ~ part of a series of three. I have the hardest time finding interesting canvases, so decided to make my own. Inspiration? Anni Albers, whose wonderful textile work is so much about color and design.
The leaves are all but gone, but the pears are still clinging to the branches of the tree in my parents' yard, looking an awful lot like nature's Christmas ornaments.
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