5 thing Friday - basket, front door, weather, Burnet, desk

I found these cute Santa baskets at Dollar Tree and bought a couple.

I think they are the perfect container for homemade cookies to give as gifts.  I've got one put together for my mother that will have pecans, gingersnaps, and coffee. She's pretty hard to buy for and doesn't really need anything, so treats it is.

My Christmas decorating stalled out front when I couldn't get the front door painted.  I'm either not here to do it, or on call, or its raining.  So I hung a garland up, stuck some Dollar Tree berry sprays in and called it done.  You know, there's a lot of pressure this time of year to get it all done, and I'm here to say:  YOU CAN'T.

 December in Central Texas is mostly beautiful.  Even when it rains, at least we aren't getting ice.

 At Westcave Cellars weekend before last we enjoyed the most beautiful afternoon - sipping wine, smelling wood smoke, listening to a guy play guitar.

It was their December pick-up party and we had such a nice time!  The owner served snack trays with chunks of smoked pork tenderloin, a cab sav reduction sauce, spinach and parmesan baked on French bread slices, and double chocolate brownies.  We settled back with our bottle of cab franc and our snacks - SO GOOD.

The front of one of the antique stores in Burnet features a giant frame to pose in.  Everything is so cute and quaint and festive!  I think it will be a culture shock for us to be there someday - such a small town - but in time we will love the slower pace and friendlier nature.  And Burnet is slowly being revitalized, so growth may well happen.

Along with our dying washer, the printer/fax also kicked the bucket.  Since we liked that particular model we just bought another like it - plus we had a fair amount of money in cartridges. I spent Tuesday morning finding a space for it in the kitchen next to the cookbooks and since originally it was going to live under my desk, I thought: tra la!  I can leave my desk as is!  So I spent some time cleaning up around it, hiding the cords, sweeping under it, emptying the trash and file basket...I love my tiny office nook.  Maybe when Firstborn moves out (yet again) I will carve out a real office space, but for now, this is sweet.