Category Archives: finding inspiration

blogging, Creating Cozy in Winter Months, Fighting The Winter Blues, finding inspiration, hardware store, Hardware Store Life, Home, January, Life In Wilkes, old school hardware store, seaonal change, southern living, winter, Winter Photography

January Days

January 12, 2025 hardwarelifewife Leave a comment

The festivities of Christmas and New Year are complete. The decorations are boxed up for another year, and the cold, brisk winter weather looms ahead. Will we have snow to look forward to this month???

The answer is yes! Snow on January 10th, 2025!

January can be a bit of “let down” after the holidays. So how do we celebrate one of the all time coldest months of the year? January is like eating an elephant… you can’t tackle it at once, but you can manage it one bite at a time, as the old saying goes.. January, take it ONE day at a time!

Here’s to celebrating the long, cold, brisk, windy January days, one day at a time, breaking it down into manageable chunks, offering a bit of sunshine on an icy, bitter cold January Day. Have fun this January with a few trips and stops inside Wilkes County Hardware this January, warming by the old-fashioned wood stove. You never know what you might find that you need!

January Days

1st- New Year’s Day– a feast of cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and pork, and New Year’s Resolutions. Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to grab a new cast iron skillet this month!!

4th- National Spaghetti Day– make a big, heaping bowl of spaghetti today!

“Crocktober” Recipes Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

5th- National Bird Day– Winter is the perfect time to watch and enjoy the birds feeding in your yard. Stop by to pick up a new bird feeder, suet, or bird food

Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to pick up your winter suet, feeders, feed and more!

6th- Epiphany (3 Kings Day)– Celebrating the arrival of the Wise Men, many observe this as the official end of the Christmas season

9th- Static Electricity Day… no one likes this problem during the winter! Bring more humidity into your home, add lotion to hands to help fight it. Carry a coin with you or even a bolt 🔩, pocket knife…. You get the gist to reduce the risk.

These lotions are selling fast during the winter months at Wilkes County Hardware

10th- Houseplant Appreciation Day. Winter is the perfect time to enjoy those green plants!

11th- International Thank You Day- send a note of thanks to someone today!

12th- National Sunday Supper Day– Gather around the table and enjoy family time. Make it a weekly tradition in 2025.

Handcrafted by Keegan… a beautiful piece to add as a centerpiece of your Sunday Supper celebrations… Supper vs. Dinner

13th- Clean Off Your Desk Day– Time to tackle your desk, or any other surface areas that need to be cleaned! Stop by Wilkes County Hardware for some cleaning essentials.

Did you know that Wilkes County Hardware has a great selection of cleaning products???

15th- Hat Day– it’s definitely time for a new Wilkes County Hardware Hat today!

17th- Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day… Don’t give up! It takes time to create a habit (like a few months of consistent practice ) remember the phrase, eating an elephant one bite at a time…

19th- National Popcorn 🍿 Day- Go watch a movie today at our nearby Liberty Theater and eat the famous popcorn!

20th- Blue Monday/Take Walk Outdoors Day- it’s time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Check out the blog post for more ideas on how to beat the winter blues

23rd- National Pie Day- Make and eat your favorite pie

24th- National Peanut Butter Day- A lunch staple at Wilkes County Hardware for our staff… what’s your favorite way to eat peanut butter???

26th- Spouse Day- Do something special for your spouse today. Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to pick up something special for them today.

Old Fashioned Candy or picking up hardware essentials…

27th- Chocolate Cake Day- oh boy!

Baking essentials found inside Wilkes County Hardware!

29th- National Puzzle Day- sit down and do a puzzle with the family today

31st- Hot Chocolate Day- What a wonderful way to end the month! Roasting marshmallows for your steaming mug of hot chocolate!!! What could be better!

Need new mugs, try these beauties! Handmade mugs always in stock at Wilkes County Hardware!

blogging, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Memories, December, End of Year Reflection, finding inspiration, Foggy Morning, Hardware Store Life, Hometown Holidays, Life experiences, Life In Wilkes, memories, Natural World, photography favorites, seaonal change, southern living, winter, Winter Photography

December

December 31, 2024 hardwarelifewife Leave a comment

A brief dusting of snow began December 2024, making me long for a bit more.

December marks the beginnings of the winter season. Winter… a time of perseverance and optimism for spring will come.

December, Christmas is near.

Random Happenings

You never know what you will find in the middle of a grocery store parking lot!

Christmas at Home 2024

**Fresh Mistletoe for Christmas! Thanks to Kim Reid for the adventure!**

**New additions this year to my green plants to add a festive flare, pine cones and berries for the holiday season**

**Our Christmas clock is a family favorite**

This Christmas was the first year we put our inflatable back out in several years. Our sweet little neighbor has enjoyed it so much this year. Our original “Snowy” the polar bear was injured by heavy rain earlier this month. Santa was our quick find as a replacement.

**Cookie watching over her neighborhood**

Thank you to everyone who has followed along my year long photographic journey in 2024 exploring the everyday life of #thehardwarelife. I’m excited about new opportunities in 2025! Coming soon, the Favorites of 2024 revisited. Stay posted on the blog.

Wishing y’all a very happy New Year!

blogging, Fall, Fall photography, finding inspiration, Hardware Store Life, Home, Life In Wilkes, Natural World, NC Mountains, November, photography favorites, seaonal change, southern living, sunrise photography, Time change, Western North Carolina

November

December 3, 2024 hardwarelifewife Leave a comment

This November has been a month of contrasts. Warm weather marked the beginning of the month and ended the month with colder than normal temperatures.

I think you will see some definite contrast in some of the photos captured this month. The leaves are beginning to fade away as compared to the glorious autumn colors of last month’s photo gallery. November brings us a time to reflect on our blessings.

My joy this year has been found in finding Blessings in the simple things we have in our lives, like capturing a sunrise moment. Each day brings unique moments and experiences.

May you be blessed this holiday season with Thanksgiving in your heart each & every day. Happy Holidays!

First Fire of the season! About month later than usual.

**Glorious Beauty**: this old, majestic and mature tree is one of the last ones to lose leaves in our neighborhood.

**Golden Hour:** I must admit I’m not a fan of the time change but the Sunsets have been glorious at Wilkes County Hardware this month.

**Blooming Beauties** Hard to believe that flowers were still blooming in early November

**Jack Frost:** Heavy frosts set in finally in later November, the sun quickly melts it away

**Sunshine Seeker:** Joy enjoys a nap in the morning sun

**Hometown Holidays:** November kicks off the holiday season with Light Up Downtown.

Autumn, blogging, Blue Ridge Mountains, Fall, Fall photography, finding inspiration, Life In Wilkes, memories, Natural World, NC Mountains, October, photography favorites, retreat, seaonal change, southern living

October

November 4, 2024 hardwarelifewife Leave a comment

Morning fogs, and vibrant colors… the best way to introduce my photography finds for October. The colors of Autumn are majestic, melding together as a kaleidoscope for the camera lens.

Foggy Mornings

Northern Lights: Aurora Borealis

The unique colors are determined by the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, the altitude of the collision of the gases, and the amount of energy in the particles… different colors are created. Just a few pictures of what I witnessed during this rare capture this month.

Pink/purple: Produced by nitrogen particles

Green: One of the most common colors at the lowest levels of the atmosphere, interaction of oxygen molecules

Red: Oxygen molecules interact at a higher level in the atmosphere.

Hello Indy!

Waiting for my nephews band to arrive to begin their routine uniform pickup before their performance in Bands of America competition. They placed 5th out of 91 bands in this super regional competition!!! So very proud!!! Go Wando!!!

The Colors of Autumn

“Nature’s first green is gold. Her hardest hue to hold.” – Robert Frost

August, blogging, Dog Days of Summer, finding inspiration, flowers, Foggy Morning, gardening, Hardware Store Life, Home, journey in life, Life experiences, Life In Wilkes, memories, Natural World, photography favorites, rescue pups, southern living, Summer, Summer Photography, sunrise photography

August

September 1, 2024 hardwarelifewife 1 Comment

August… the sizzling summer heat lingers, foggy mornings equate to snowy days in the winter, rolling thunderstorms, and the quest for those cooler days and nights will slowly become our reality. August IS the “Sunday of Summer”. Once it arrives, it seems to go by quickly and a new month is upon you. Sharing a few of my everyday photo favorites to summarize a small portion of this “Sunday of Summer”, August 2024. I hope you will enjoy. Thanks for sharing my blog with friends and family and sending your comments to me. Looking forward to September!

Sky Watch

**Fog Hug…** August Mornings can bring fog and it is hanging in the trees tightly this morning

After The Storm

Tree Study

I love to photograph a good tree, so when the opportunity presents itself, I will stop and take a moment to take a few pictures. Sometimes they turn out pretty well, sometimes not so much. But, I have learned that multiple shots of the image can make all the difference. Here’s a few of my favorites from this month …

Hand building projects completed

Instant gratification isn’t the goal with hand building pottery. Slow and gradual progress is what you see when you begin with raw clay. The processes of creating with clay from shaping/making your piece, which could could take hours or even days… to the first bisque fire, then glazing, going through the kiln again… all take time but the end result is worth the wait! These pieces have been in the works for a while, glad to see them finally finished and grateful for an amazing teacher!!

**Bird Bath Complete!! The absolute largest piece made to date! A HUGE thank you to Kim Anderson Reid for her guidance and patience in making this large piece and excellent advice on how to glaze!**

**Aug-tober begins!** That’s right, I heard this phrase for the first time this month. I didn’t know it was an actual thing, but it is! All the fall feels in August! Longing for Autumn… well in the world of pottery, the processes of hand building takes a bit of time, and producing fall pieces begins in August and September.

A Pup Interlude

Our son has been traveling for work over the last month or so. When he’s gone from home for an extended period of time, I always try to send him a few pictures of his two favorite pups everyday. He really enjoys seeing them in all of their quirky little daily adventures. Here’s two captured moments from August.

The Greenway

Sweet Surprises and Finds

This next group of pictures are interesting finds from August… from trimming bushes and finding a little bird nest inside, to a long walk around the neighborhood at Mom and Dad’s house… you just never know what you will encounter!

Ahoy Mate!

The Hardware Life – A wife's journey into the hardware business