Holding Time and a Home Together

There is something about saying, 'We always do this,' which helps keep the years together... Tradition is a good gift intended to guard the best gifts.

~Edith Schaeffer
When I was a young bride way back in the Dark Ages, one of my friends read everything that she could get her hands on that Edith and her husband Frances Schaeffer wrote. They who founded L'Abri in 1955.

  Apparently, it was all a little too deep for me then because I didn't pay much attention. Janet would go on and on and on and I'd hmmmm...hmmmm...hmmm. Fast forward 30 years, nearly a decade ago, and another friend of mine was chatting away on her blog about the concepts that Edith Schaeffer taught. I began to pay a little more attention. That beautiful yellow book on my book shelf on the left was a gift from Brenda. You can still find Brenda chatting about these precious things. In fact, her most recent post is about living life on purpose, which brings to mind another quote of Edith's: We foolish mortals sometimes live through years not realizing how short life is, and that TODAY is your life.
I know that many of you have already joined Brenda in the discussion. I would so love to interest three young women I love in these things.

~after the tree~
I want to chat a little about why I bother to decorate my home when I am often the only one who sees it for days at a time. (And I sincerely hope that I can translate this to meal preparation going forward as well.) Am I not still myself? Still in need of beauty? Comfort? Proper nutrition? Of course!

 I never feel that my home looks as lovely as it does decorated for Christmas. What about your home? Do you think that way, too? I've been thinking about this a lot because I do not want to give up the beauty of my home just because I must pack Christmas decor away. This may mean keeping some lights going, some sparkle, some coziness, some unexpected delights that spark the senses.
A new Pinterest folder titled Winter Decor After Christmas was created for the task. You will find it here and then you can see the bloggers I have been copying. ☺
Let me share what I have been doing with some Edith quotes interspersed.

~before~

My great-great grandparents' anniversary trophy looked smashing with the red berries; it's looking subdued now. See it above in "after the tree."

It's still winter and I do decorate seasonally. (John used to say that it was because I had been a teacher. It may be. I surely hope that his last years here at this haven, which he built, were aesthetically pleasing for him.) I see that I forgot to pull those red berries from the books, but the fact of the matter is that there are lots of red berries out in the real world and they look so beautiful against the snow. This is where the twinkle of winter lights also comes in because the wreath above has some small battery operated lights on it and the birch candle holders that John made me do as well. I also kept out some trees from my Christmas village. I dragged in my childhood sled from the barn and put it to good use inside. Remember: this is what my real world looks like.
Speaking of real world...

New snow makes everything beautiful. The Christmas village has been put away. Needing some light, I placed my grandparents' wedding gift on display...the mail carrier on his route. 

There needs to be a homemaker exercising some measure of skill, imagination, creativity, desire to fulfill needs and give pleasure to others in the family. How precious a thing is the human family. Is it not worth some sacrifice in time, energy, safety, discomfort, work? Does anything come forth without work?

Happy to copy a dear blogging buddy with this bit of sparkle on my dining room light plus key ornaments (thank you, Abby) and a Blessing sign. Now that I see this photo, I'll be removing the sign. This decorating of the light amuses me because I did not decorate it for Christmas. 
The following series of pictures could be a discussion on cropping. I can't decide which I like best so am showing them all.

~wool blankets~

I am not terribly artful with color and pattern, but I enjoy trying. I do also enjoy the cozy factor. 

If you have been afraid that your love of beautiful flowers and the flickering flame of the candle is somehow less spiritual than living in starkness and ugliness, remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to His creation.

So tell me, what else might I do to add winter charm? I'll allow all those below the Mason-Dixon line a pass because I realize that seasonal decor is different depending on location. But for those of you who live in the land of the North...what say you?

It seems to me that whether it is recognized or not, there is a terrific frustration which increases in intensity and harmfulness as time goes on, when people are always daydreaming of the kind of place in which they would like to live, yet never making the place where they do live into anything artistically satisfying to them. Always to dream of a cottage by a brook while never doing anything to the stuffy house in the city is to waste creativity in this very basic area, and to hinder future creativity by not allowing it to grow and develop through use.

Amen!