With the Barretts – Adventure Near & Far

Direct Your Attention for a Happy Holiday Adventure!

Holiday Adventures With the Barretts

Season’s Greetings! It Really is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Sure, things get kind of crazy this time of year.

But the power of a thing is determined by the attention you give it. By directing your attention, you can make your Holiday Adventure a happy one.

You can choose to focus on the rampant commercialism, the hordes of people pushing and clawing, the insane drivers, and the general chaos.

Child wide-eyed and open mouth with wonder — Awe and Joy

Or you can give your attention to the peace, joy, and wonder of the season.

As the old year fades and the new one brightens on the horizon, beauty is a bit closer to the surface.

At no other time of year do so many people make an effort to share loveliness – with lights and greenery and decorations that sparkle and music and smiles and good wishes. And cookies.

Timber Frame Homes – A Guest Post from Hamillcreek.com

Tyler, who writes for Hamillcreek.com, reached out to WiththeBarretts about sharing a post lauding timber frame home construction. We’re pleased for the opportunity to share his work – and to feature the Hamill Creek site. Go check it out – it’s well worth the visit.

Here is Tyler’s article:

Timber Frame Home Designs – Eternally Beautiful Homes

Timber frame homes are making a huge comeback all over the world. Modern technology has ensured that several flaws which were inherent with timber construction have now been addressed, making this a viable alternative to block construction today. Continue reading “Timber Frame Homes – A Guest Post from Hamillcreek.com”

Happy Thanksgiving from With the Barretts

A day to focus on those people and times that bring you happiness – the things for which you are grateful.

A day to share, if not in person, then at least in spirit.

From pizza and tea (it doesn’t have to be turkey and dressing)

to quiet contemplation of gratitude

to breaking bread with loved ones in elegant style

the Barretts wish you peace and joy and a multitude of reasons to be grateful – today and always.

Dan & Debra

8 Things to Do in Sitges, Spain from AlltheRooms – With a Bit of Lagniappe from WiththeBarretts

I received an email from the lovely folks over at AlltheRooms. They had seen our post about Springtime in Seville (which you can find here) and wondered if we were familiar with Sitges, Spain. It so happens that we are.

A charming, beautiful seaside town just south of Barcelona, Sitges really should be on your itinerary for travel in Spain.

The AlltheRooms blog put together a post about The Top 8 Things to Do in Sitges, a couple of which I confess were new to me. I didn’t know that they did up Carnaval in Sitges, for instance. And I wish we had known about Museu de Cau Ferrat when we were there. House museums are our favorite, and we would have paid it a visit, for sure. I guess we’ll just have to go back.

So, go check out The Top 8 Things to Do in Sitges on the AlltheRooms blog.

Then, come along With the Barretts for a bit of Sitges lagniappe: Continue reading “8 Things to Do in Sitges, Spain from AlltheRooms – With a Bit of Lagniappe from WiththeBarretts”

A Photo Journey Along a Trail of Portuguese Tiles

One of the first thing you notice in Portugal, whether you’re in Lisbon or the Algarve or anywhere else in this wonderful country, is the tile work. While not necessarily unique to Portugal, the extent to which the Portuguese use tile as an integral feature of their architecture is, at least in our experience, unmatched. Today’s post is a photo journey along a trail of Portuguese tiles (not too many words but LOTS of pictures – the way Debra likes it!). We’re so glad you’ve decided to join us!

The cladding shown on this building is typical, reflecting an attitude of “Why paint when you can tile?” Continue reading “A Photo Journey Along a Trail of Portuguese Tiles”

Rheinfall in Switzerland – Travel Lagniappe

Lao Tzu was dead-on when he said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” So, when during an atypical (for the Barretts, anyway) driving trip in Europe we saw some signs for Rheinfall in Switzerland (which, by the way, is the largest waterfall in Europe, according to both the Wikipedia site and the Swiss site dedicated to the falls), we decided to check it out.

At the risk of rendering the rest of the post somewhat anticlimactic, let’s go ahead and take a look at the massive rush of water:

There’s more, so don’t go away just yet. Continue reading “Rheinfall in Switzerland – Travel Lagniappe”