Christmas Fair Day

Today is going to be a good day. I have declared it to be so; therefore, I'm expecting nothing but good. Many of the area churches working in harmony with one another (for a delightful change) are hosting a Christmas Fair. My mother and I are starting off before nine and we plan to hit every single one of them from the Gift Shoppe Open House in the center of town to the Congregational Church, up to Our Lady of Ransom, and then over to see what the Methodists are up to; finally, away over to the next town to visit with The Poland House. I'll be certain to share more later.

Edited to add: It's later and time for some pretty pictures because this is my pretty blog or I'm going to turn it back into my pretty blog. (Thanks for the term, M-N!) Everything or nearly everything I said above is a lie. If I had known at the time, I wouldn't have told such tall tales, but I truly believed it. Anyway, we went to the only two available Christmas fairs today...the Methodists and the Down-Town Gift Shoppe.

Now those Methodists were hanging out in their basement all huddled together against the cold. I guess that they were being frugal and had not turned up the heat very much...and it's cold today! We're expecting some snow tonight. Nevertheless, they were certainly warm in welcoming everyone in. We signed up for a raffle on a beautifully displayed gift basket. Take my word for it, it was scrumptious.

My mother found her little nylon scrubbies that she uses on teflon pans and such and some of those ubiquitous dishcloths that everyone is making these days (I intensely dislike them because of their thickness, but others are very fond of them indeed, including my mother.) Then my mom found a cross-stitch kit that said "free" on it. When she put it in her bag, a very nice lady came over and asked if she could help. Then it dawned on Mother that the lady thought that she had stolen it. Sure enough! That mom of mine. Haha! Anyway, that all got cleared up and off we went to the food table.

Mother found a pecan pie and some delicious fudge. We ate the fudge before I could take a picture...sorry. But here's the pecan pie. Yes, delicious, even if I do hate a store-bought crust. I'm such a pie crust snob.



Then we meandered our way back to town where we were unable to find a parking space at the Gift Shoppe. Every year, the owner has an Open House and opens her family's living area above the store. It is beautifully decorated for the holidays and is filled with the aromas of mulled cider and brownies fresh from the oven. It's a great combination on a chilly day!

This is my mother's stash of little gifts to tie on packages and a card for my niece a new home-owner. The snowman is her gift to herself since she has a collection. I think he's darling.

Me? I was a very good girl and decided not to spend too much. I bought a package of seasoning...bacon and cheddar...to make into a dip. I love dips at holiday times.
Oh, and I bought a little Christmas memory book that family and friends can write in at Christmastime and then the little book hangs on the tree as an ornament. I'm definitely going to have my family do this for me this year since this will be the last Christmas that we're all together like this.

Next year, things will even be different at the Gift Shoppe since they'll be moving across the street into their new old building. Both buildings were once hotels back when my town was booming...let's see, that would have been 120 years ago or more. :) Anyway, here's a pic. Doesn't this look like a November day if you've ever seen one?