Welcome to Tumbleweed Tidings, and Happy New Year! Today I am sharing my End of Month Musings, as well as looking forward to 2019 and what I hope, pray and predict that it will bring. So please enjoy reading as I share some photos from December 2018!

First, for the month of December…December is typically busy no matter how we cut it. The march to the manger should be a time of quiet reflection and anticipation, and we do enjoy a lot of that. But we also seem to feel this tension of too much to do and too little time. Even with an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I still found myself putting in some long days of decorating, card writing, shopping and wrapping. Even with help, it can seem overwhelming.

December this year was made extra chaotic due to an ongoing renovation in our living room and the addition of a new fireplace. I’ve blogged ad nauseum about this, so I’ll let the picture describe the final product. We are thrilled with the end result, so all is well.

Another thing that threw a little wrench in December that I’ve not talked about in this blog, is that I took on the staging/decorating of two new condos in Sandpoint, Idaho. I know, what was I thinking?? The end of November, the realtor contacted me and asked if I would have time to take this project on. I looked at my calendar, saw a free weekend two weeks away and said “Sure!” I know, what was I thinking??

In all fairness to the realtor, she would have waited until after the first of the year, but I was anxious to get them done. And in all fairness to me, these were small one bedroom units in a floorplan I had done for them before, so I was familiar with what would be needed. I started to write all about these units in this post and it ended up becoming a book, so I am going to save the staging story for a separate post next week. But suffice to say that they turned out very nice and the customer was pleased. Whew!

Christmas… We had a very merry Christmas this year, spread out over a few days filled with food, games and gift exchanges. My 87 year old mother Clarette was able to be with us this year, which was the greatest gift of all. She, Jim, and I attended the 10 pm Christmas Eve candlelight service together, where I served communion and we sang carols. Jim and I also enjoyed attending a few holiday parties this season, and hosted one ourselves between Christmas and New Year’s. I think the “between the holidays party” may become an annual event for us. The busy-ness of before Christmas is over, the house still looks nicely decorated, and everyone seemed so relaxed…all good ingredients for a fun get together.

The Future… To quote my favorite King George song from Hamilton, What Comes Next? I have a few predictions, hopes, and prayers for 2019. In the way of predictions, in the home décor world I see some changes afoot.

The color gray, which will remain an acceptable neutral, will not enjoy the frenzy it has over the past few years. Most grays can be cold and I am seeing more of a trend towards warmer creams. The color green will be making a comeback, I predict, but in shades of lighter green, or very dark moody shades.

Navy and the darker greens will no longer be used just as accent walls, but will find their way onto all four walls of dining, living, powder or bed rooms, making them accent rooms rather than just walls.

Subway tile, again always a classic, will make way for more of the hand-painted looking tiles that will, in many cases, go all the way to the ceiling to create a real focal point in kitchens.

Mid century modern will not be as cool as it has been since the arrival and departure of Mad Men, but some people with that style of home will favor it because it is appropriate for their architecture. Velvet, especially in furniture, will become extremely fashionable. I, for one, like this prediction as I really love velvet pillows for added luxe and softness.

Farmhouse style, so popular of late, will begin to fade, just as “country” did after it peaked in the early 80’s. (Let’s not even talk about my kitchen border with white geese marching around on a background of Wedgewood blue…) Especially with the departure of Fixer Upper, who I really credit with the whole farmhouse craze, I think we will see more tradition and historical layered looks, as well as Danish modern influenced interiors. With their second seasons coming up on HGTV, Home Town, which favors traditional, and Boise Boys, who favor more a modern/eclectic style, I think the pendulum is about to swing away from farmhouse. Unless, of course, you actually live on a farm, in a farmhouse. Then it makes perfect sense.

What comes next on a personal level is that we have a trip to California, Arizona and a Mexican Riviera cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. Jim won the cruise, if you can believe that, while we were on an Alaska cruise over a year ago. Lucky guy! Other than that, we expect our travel to be more scarce this year, due to Jim recently transitioning from working at home to taking a full time position at the Hanford Site for the next 4-12 months. While he enjoys the technical challenges and the opportunity to share his vast history and knowledge, getting up at 5:20 AM again has been a brutal adjustment. On a positive note, I am sure getting a lot more done each day by starting out that early!

I sat down over the past few days and transferred over all of the birthday’s, anniversaries, already scheduled appointments, and recurring club meetings to our 2019 calendar. Yes, I am “old school” in that I still like a paper calendar in my command central…the kitchen. Maybe someday I will become cool and keep everything on my phone, but that day is not here yet:) Anyway, I digress…

As I looked at the clean slate of days in the new calendar, compared to the cacophony of activity on the 2018 calendar as events filled our days and months, I couldn’t help but wonder how we will fill up the days in 2019. What we are hoping for is a little more white space. The white space on the calendar that allows us to do more of the things we enjoy. White space to read books, take walks, talk on the phone with family and friends, putz around in the garage, write blogs, and have coffee with friends. Having a busy, fulfilling life is wonderful, but sometimes the magic moments occur in the white space.

My hopes and prayers for 2019 are that our family members and friends will thrive and enjoy good health, that my mother will find relief from the neuropathy that has plagued her, and that the world can find a way to coexist in peace and prosperity. Is that asking too much? Probably, but I said they were hopes and a prayers, so anything is possible. It is also my desire to continue to provide meaningful content to this little blog; content that may in some small way, be able to inspire and brighten the lives of my followers. I thank each of you who have read, commented on, and shared the content with your friends in 2018. You are appreciated more than you know.

Good tidings and happy 2019 to you and yours,

Diane