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My Christmas Outfit
This year my sis in law is hosting Christmas at her house as we have done it most years in the past. It is brunch style food and I will be making some crepes, some peanut butter chocolate bars and a pineapple pie. It is a relaxed atmosphere, enjoying each other’s company, food and kids opening presents. I usually end up getting hot in the house and the forecast temperature is a high of 68 so my Christmas outfit reflects the weather and laid back atmosphere. Since I don’t have any green or red tops, I went for a silver/grey theme for top to bottom. I am wearing an old…
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Hiking near the beach
Most of the places we go to the beach have wildlife refuges or state parks nearby. As we were looking for an outing and we love to hike, we came upon the Bon Secour Wildlife refuge. We chose one of the trails and hiked for about an hour or two at a slow pace. I love these trails because you see different types of flora and fauna, in this case mostly flora, many different cool plants! Isn’t deer moss really cool? It belongs to the lichen family and is very slow growing. It felt spongy to the touch. The brackish water gave the water a strange reddish tint. We were…
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Estuarium at Dauphin Island, AL
What is an estuarium? An estuarium is “a water passage where the tide meets a river current especially : an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river” (www.merriam-webster.com). While visiting Dauphin Island during our Thanksgiving vacation we visited the estuarium there which was a small aquarium focusing on animals and plants that live in the bay area. Before heading there, I checked for coupons for the admission fee and found discount tickets on Groupon which helped us save some money. We took the ferry from Fort Morgan to the island which was a first for all of us I think: it was fun to drive the car…
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December outfits
Today I wanted to share some of the outfits I have worn so far this month. After going a little crazy in November buying 4 to 5 sweaters and a few other items including my full price jeans (crazy by my thrifty standards), I decided to slow down knowing that I need to buy gifts for Christmas and wanting to get back to saving! I always underestimate how much I spend at Christmas and might write a recap about that spending later this week or next but today is the day for “Shop Mireille’s closet” in December. The only item purchased this month (and I will be strong and not…
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Our Christmas Decor
Let me preface by saying that our Christmas is not really anything fancy and extraordinary. I would describe it as minimal and homey. Most of it has been accumulated over the past few years and I usually add one or those things each year. Last Friday I shared my Nativity scenes so they will not be included in this post. I did decide that I would like to start collecting the pieces of the Willow Tree nativity over the next few years so I am hoping to see if it goes on sale after Christmas to buy my first pieces. The front door decor is simple and understated: a silver…
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Fort Gaines, Alabama
Across from Fort Morgan, on Dauphin Island is Fort Gaines. We spent half a day on Dauphin Island and decided to visit this fort too in order to compare it to Fort Morgan and also just because we like forts! Construction on Fort Gaines began in 1819. The project was afflicted with problems one of which was its cost and it wasn’t until 1853 that work really started and it was mostly completed by 1861. The fort was different for us visitors in that you could tell what the different areas and rooms had been used for. The museum had many different artifacts and there was also a room that…
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How many boots do you need?
I guess if we were talking about real necessity the need would be for one or two pairs of boots. But as many of us like to wear different boots with different outfits and as weather might require one boot over another, today I am sharing the boots in my closet. I have not included booties. I do not own any OTK boots and the only new pair this year is the black riding boots from Target. The others are at least a couple years old. I do love that boots usually stay in my closet for quite a while. Black riding boots These are the boots that I typically…
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Nativity Scenes
Today, I thought that I would share my Nativity scenes with you. I like to put them up at the same time as the rest of my Christmas decor so the boys remember the real reason for this time of celebration. Italy This is my oldest nativity scene. When my son was 16 months old, we traveled to Italy during the Christmas break to visit my younger brother who lived in Rome at the time. It was fun celebrating Christmas in Italy and we had many fun adventures. I found this small clay nativity scene in a village. The star came off last year and I glued it back on.…
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Fort Morgan, Alabama
Last year, when we traveled to Fort Morgan, we did not do much more than sit and play on the beach. This year we planned a few outings. One of my favorites turned out to be visiting Fort Morgan. Construction on Fort Morgan began in 1819 and took 15 years to complete! Sadly the labor for this project was slaves as the government made a slave lease contract with owners in the region. The longest period of military occupation at the fort was during the Coat Artillery era from 1898 to 1923. The fort was also used during WWII as an ordnance depot. While this fort is not as well…
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Beach vacation outfits
Well, we are back from our vacation at the beach! We had a wonderful time at the beach and I will be sharing a couple of our excursions over the next couple of Wednesdays. Please keep my nephew’s healing in your prayers as we had a little incident near the end of our trip. We ended up adding a day to our trip to be near the hospital and visit him there before returning home. We divided our time at the beach between playing on the beach and going on a few outings. I had planned for a relaxed wardrobe consisting of mostly light sweatshirts and some layers for early…