Author: Lisa -Southern Patches

Hello everyone, my name is Lisa I am a southern girl born and raised in East Tennessee. I love discovering new places and things to do. I have a lot of favorites, shopping, traveling, knitting and photography are all at the top of my list. I am married with my fur babies my only children. This blog is actually named after my beloved basset hound Patches. She passed away a few years ago but will always have a huge part of my heart. Come with me and we will explore some wonderful places and discover some really fun things. Are you ready?

Choose Your Christmas

A few mornings ago I was listening to one of our local radio stations and the announcers were arguing about whether this Christmas was different. The first one said yes it is so different and my family and I really miss the usual get-togethers and services, parades, etc etc. The other announcer said no it’s not any different you just have to make it what it is. Choose your Christmas.

I had to think about that for a minute and I have to admit he is right. Yes we know things are different this year and whether or not you choose to let them affect you, things are different. But does that have to make us see things different? Not experience Christmas as we know it? NO!!!

Remember when the Grinch tried to steal Christmas from the Whos in Whoville? He thought he was so smart taking away their presents and food and decorations. But it didn’t stop the Whos because as the Grinch discovered, Christmas is in your heart. I am a Christian so I know that Jesus is my reason for the season and that’s all that matters to me and that can’t be changed. So all the other, the ribbons, and packages and bows and lights and tinsel will be what I choose to make it. Yes I will miss seeing some of my family members this year. Unbelievably so. But we will gather again and things will go on. I believe that Christmas lives in our hearts and as long as we have our belief and our faith it is what we make it. So I choose to make it one of the best Christmases ever.

I am not going to stop doing what I usually do every year. I decorated my Christmas tree and brought out my Santa collection. I have baked and done minimal shopping with a lot of it being online. I also made a lot of gifts this year and that was a lot of fun. We will have smaller family gatherings but we know that soon we will all be back together again.

***Mark and I collect ornaments from all of our trips this one was from Shakespeare’s Birthplace when we visited Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire England a few years ago.***

I don’t have a tree topper for my Christmas Tree I had been working on one but it wasn’t turning out the way I wanted. So far Kitty Kitty has left the tree alone. But the tree skirt is a different story, she has had that thing all over the house. If you look close in the upstairs window you can see the reflection of life sized Santa.

I have had my Santa collection for many years. I usually add to it every year. I especially like the old Santas like the one below. I bought him at an antique shop several years ago. I usually place them on this old sewing machine that we got from my husband’s grandmother. You can tell how old the machine is from all the marks and scratches. It still works!!!

This is my life sized Santa we have had him for more than twenty five years!!! Mark and I got him when we were first married. I can’t remember where we got him I think at Target in Knoxville. You can see that Kitty Kitty likes him too. He stands in my upstairs hallway window and it looks like he is looking out the window when you come down the driveway.

So have your Christmas, be safe and make it the best you possibly can. Call loved ones if you can’t see them, FaceTime or message them and enjoy every second. This is your life so choose your Christmas and have a wonderful time!!!!

And always remember

Love your day your way!!!

December Weekend

Happy Monday How was your weekend?

Last week here in East Tennessee started out really cold. We even had some snow on Monday night. At lunchtime on Monday I ran over to the Eye Doctor with my husband to help him pick out some new frames. I don’t know why he insists on having me there I have never told him I didn’t like anything he chose to wear, well except that one time he ran into our local bank wearing torn sweatpants. And they were not torn in a fashionable place like everyone wears now, if you get my drift. So his appointment was at noon and I went over to help pick out frames. And it snowed Monday night!!! It was a soft wet snow, the kind that is just perfect because it doesn’t stay on the roads. But the trees and bushes were beautiful it looked like a winter wonderland.

On Wednesday I had a day off. I have been trying to use some vacation days before the end of the year so I will be taking some random days here and there. I sort of like having these odd vacation days. Don’t get me wrong I would much rather be going on a vacation to somewhere warm or different. But with things the way they are now I will just stick close to home. I needed to have my car serviced it has been making a strange sound when I break or turn into a parking lot. Just a weird noise. So I called on Tuesday and was able to set up service for Wednesday morning at 8:00 AM. The dealership is about an hour from my house. When they asked if I would be dropping it off I said I had no one to pick me up. Mark had to work and I didn’t want anyone to drive that far to pick me up and then have to take me back. I told them I would be staying at the dealership. Remember the last time I went? I told you how I actually love being there doing nothing. I know this would drive some people crazy but it is not often that I just get to sit and not have anything to do. So I sat and I knitted and watched videos on my phone, and I addressed Christmas cards. A friend of mine shared some addresses of service men and women who would be unable to get home for Christmas. They found out at the last minute their ship would not be home for Christmas. My friend arranged a Christmas card send-out to all of those crewmen. I had eleven of the names so I spent some of my time at the dealership doing that. I tried to write a note in each one and let them know how much we all appreciate their service and tell them a little about what was going on in my hometown. My car was finally finished and I took off just in time to meet the sisters for our weekly Sister Lunch. After I got home I finished the day watching a movie with the fur babies. A good day off.

I ended the work week doing a pick- up at Walmart for groceries and taking things to my little mother in law at the Assisted Living Center.

Most of the weekend was pretty quiet. I did laundry and cleaned and I spent a little, actually more than I care to admit, time working on a jigsaw puzzle. This led me to the realization that life is also like a jigsaw puzzle. If you missed that last post you can check it out here. I also took a long walk and got some pictures. Why do weekends go by so fast???

***Backing up my driveway this is my view of the woods and my house.***

***Our canoe is out of commission for awhile***

***Scruffy loves taking walks. He never looks up lol.***

Have a wonderful week!!!!

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!

Life is like a Jigsaw Puzzle

Forrest Gump says, or his mama says, that life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you are going to get. I do agree with that. But I also believe that life is like a jigsaw puzzle.

I love working jigsaw puzzles. I have probably worked hundreds of them through the years. But the other night I was working one and I thought to myself, life is like a jigsaw puzzle and you have to put all the pieces together to see the full picture and it can take awhile. A lifetime to be honest.

You usually start working a puzzle by separating the outside pieces and then start working on the middle. You aren’t supposed to know what it will all look like until you get to the end. But as you place more and more pieces you will notice a picture taking shape. There will be missing pieces or pieces that don’t seem to fit anywhere until the very end. In the beginning it’s hard and it takes time to understand. As you progress the puzzle gets easier and easier to fit the pieces into place. You will see parts of the puzzle that didn’t seem to work and then they just do. ” Ahhhh I see now”.

If you could see the completed puzzle, without looking at the box, would it be as interesting, fun or as challenging as working through it and putting those pieces into place. No of course it wouldn’t.

I would also compare this to starting something new or breaking a bad habit. At first you are fumbling around, much like a new baby, and you aren’t sure what to do next. It’s hard it’s really hard. But as you progress and time goes by it gets easier to understand. It gets easier to do.

Just my thoughts on this Sunday morning when I have to remind myself that I am not supposed to know all the answers or know how to do something perfect in the beginning or even in the middle or ever.

Happy Sunday, Have a wonderful week!!!!

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!!

Cyber Shopping and The Weekly Smile

Happy Sunday friends. I was having coffee this morning and enjoying a quiet Sunday morning. If you were here we would chat about all the things that happened this week, Thanksgiving and all the prep work that went into it how it was different from last year and any shopping you may have done afterwards. Just the day to day flow of life. I like that idea. I wish we could do that right now. A fellow blogger often starts his posts like this and I just find it so welcoming.

The weather here has been cold in the mornings so you have to turn on the heat. And then by afternoon the temps are quite warm and you have to turn on the air. However we may have a winter mix by Tuesday morning and I say BRING IT ON!!! I am so ready for some cold weather. Don’t ask me if I feel the same way in a month it will probably be different.

My weekend so far has been great!! My sister and I didn’t get to do our Black Friday shopping as we had done for so many years. I chose to work because we have been so short staffed. So I worked on Friday but on Saturday my sister and I decided to have a Cyber Saturday shopping day. I went to her house and took my lap top and we trolled the internet for any Black Friday left over sales we could find. I found a few things but after a couple of hours we decided to head out and visit a couple of shops and grab something to eat. We didn’t go far just to Athens which is about fifteen minutes from us. We stopped at Hobby Lobby because I wanted to buy some yarn for some earrings I want to make. I can’t wait to show you those as soon as I get them finished. Then we went to Belk. I am not often a fan of Belk but I found some cute booties and a work satchel I had been looking for. Both of these were $19.99 still on the Black Friday sales. Came home and snuggled my Scruffy and everything is right with the world.

***I can’t wait to wear these. I am the queen of wearing black so I think these will go with everything.***

I’ve been looking for a satchel to carry to work. I needed something large enough to carry my MacBook, lunch, and my big camera that I have started using much more lately. Even if I don’t have it inside work with me I will have it the car if I need it.

This week has been so nice. I got to spend time cooking some of my favorite dishes and sharing them with my family. I spent Saturday with my sister Sandy and we always have the most fun even if we are doing nothing at all. Wonderful times I have had this week and that definitely made me smile.
What made you smile this week? I know there was something.

Have a wonderful week!!!!

I am joining the Weekly Smile at Tren’t World check it out if you get a chance and see what others had to smile about this week.