City Views, Country Dreams

Good morning from New York on the shortest day of the year.

The past few weeks have been filled with a mixture of required days at my workplace, visits to various parts of the city to take care of various Christmas-related matters, visits with friends, card and gift making, and a bit of baking.  I do sleep very soundly.

The Union Square farmers market has been showing off lots of greenery and colorful plants.  The scent from those trees is very pleasant and adds to the spirit of the season.

I've brought home a white cyclamen, a deep pink Christmas cactus, a tiny pink flowered kalanchoe, and a bunch of red berried branches.  I mights still bring home some greenery before the 25th.

There's really not enough room in my apartment for an actual tree, so I've been enjoying just seeing all the trees on offer around the city.  Sidewalk stands can easily be found by looking for large inflated Santas or snowmen.  The following photographs were taken on a very warm, overcast, foggy day.  Can you see the tree salesman in his Santa's hat?

I thought those of you who saw my Halloween post might enjoy seeing how West 69th Street looks now.  It's a quieter time than October.

Some of these houses do have lights that transform the look of the decorations after sundown.

This is a very subdued look welcoming folks to this brownstone's front doorway.

I do like all these wreaths.

I usually begin my annual painting of Christmas teacup cards mid-October, but this year other demands upon my time delayed my painting until mid-November.  Santa's workshop was in session!

The cards are painted on watercolor blocks, then the quartets are cut apart, and messages added.  Every card is just a little different from the rest.

Some of my inspiration for this year's cards came from a painting of Chervil found in my newly acquired copy of The Concise British Flora in Color.  I splashed my own colors around the picture.

I'll echo the handwritten message on the card here...HAPPY CHRISTMAS!  Thank you all for your visits and comments during 2015.  I'm now looking forward to a New Year filled with lots more blogging adventures with you all.