Have a very Merry Christmas and keep dreaming creatively...

Christmas is almost here. If you’re in the northern climate like me you’ll see snow blanketing everything that was lush and green, except the Christmas tree you’ve managed to get into your house and decorate brightly. Days are busy getting everything prepared, braving the traffic, choosing gifts that won’t end up “re-gifted” but express something of what you share with that person. Many gatherings beckon and everyone is happy to get indoors to thaw the chill out of their bones. In the evening as you cozy up to a warm fire and as friends drop by memories are refreshed and new ones made over some hot cocoa or apple cider. These are many of the same friends who drop over for a glass of ice-tea in the summer time and enjoy your back yard. Often you dream together of marvelous vacations, cruises, trips that may be far out of your reach financially. But… now is a great opportunity to enhance and “bring home” some of these dreams. How about helping each other create special “oasis” places in each other’s yard? Is it the tropics you yearn for? An indoor/outdoor plant with large leaves or tall grasses could give much enjoyment year round. Or dressing up the picnic table with new brightly colored table cloths, napkins and some of the new splashy plastic dishes? Gift cards for these kinds of items are also a great idea because cashing in on them after Christmas can give double the value with all the sales going on. There are also many attractive accent pieces out there to dress up a get away in your own back yard. Choose items that delight you and your friends. Do they like butterflies? Planter pots? Animal shapes? Frogs by the pond? Or a new lounger to stretch out on as soon as the first warm rays make their appearance? Perhaps different lanterns in all shapes and sizes. Vacations are for taking us out of the ordinary demands of life – your back yard can do the same and much more inexpensively. If you work on it little by little, get rid of the clutter and replace it with items of beauty and appeal, making room to entertain in a very relaxed, yet tasteful way, then every day can hold a couple of hours of “vacation” for you in the spring, summer and fall. And in the winter long hours can be spent preparing new items such as colorful cushions, checking seed catalogues or picking up bargains that will enhance your special outdoor space.

Before this year is up, why not to treat yourself to at least one new piece of wood furniture while it’s on sale, a bench, chair or bistro set in lovely scented western red cedar, or the ever popular teak (a wood which with “benign neglect” turns a lovely silver gray with time). You’ll be able to enjoy this with your friends for years to come. Check them out the links to our stores “Outdoor Cedars” and “Teaks n More” are over to the right.
Have a very merry Christmas and keep dreaming creatively… may 2008 see many of your dreams come true!