A Haven for Vee

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Not Up to Much

Puttering away here at my wee haven. Christmas is coming! Packages arrive daily; sometimes it's a challenge to keep them wrangled. It is a lot easier than it was years ago now that we have tracking and all. There's something fun about watching an item make its way across the country. I did take advantage of some of those Cyber Monday prices. This year, I am unable to shop until I drop so I am grateful for online shopping. 

The Christmas tree went up the week before Thanksgiving, though no decorating until the day after. I am still fiddling with it. It is the same tree that I had last year, moved to a different location than last year. Some folks have a spot that lends itself year after year to the tree...like a bay window. I like changing it up a little and have four spots to use on some sort of rotational schedule.

Here I am yabbering on about Christmas when I have not yet documented Thanksgiving.

My daughter and I enjoyed Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband, my nieces, Joel, and Little E. We had the added excitement of a gender reveal because Little E will become a big brother in April. The reveal was in the form of a chocolate cream pie with pink inside. Yes, a girl! This will be the first girl in the family in 35 years so I think it is time.

One of the joys of the day was reading to the soon to be big brother. He has a book that he dearly loves titled How to Babysit a Grandpa. I had to chuckle when he kissed the Grandpa when it was suggested that giving Grandpa a kiss would be a good idea. I think that this means that my sister's husband has become a wonderful grandfather for her grand just as John did for my grands. It is a joy to see.


When nap time came, Little E settled down in a nest of coats on his grandparents' bed. He looked so cozy. 







It was lovely to sit here on the end of my sister's kitchen while she and her husband were busy getting dinner on the table. Everyone should have a sitting area and fireplace in the kitchen!


I took no photos of the beautiful Thanksgiving table, but I did get this one with the clearing of said table not quite complete. ☺I'm mean like that.

Now that I have learned that my sister has no china...she is getting back the set that belonged to our maternal grandmother. It has a lot of pieces, but not many plates. She'll have to supplement. Currently, it's all over my dining room table, but it will be packed up tomorrow and sent along.


My tree is not quite "there" yet. Nothing new or unusual with it. Its charm is that it represents my entire life. I have read so many bloggers describing this very phenomenon. Putting up the tree on a yearly basis is like a wander down Memory Lane.



A wreath on the door and I am done with outside decorating. Laurel referred to my little attic tree in the garage as "ghostlike." Well I never! Good thing that only my Instagram friends  have had to see it.

Hope that all is coming along beautifully in your corner. If anything interesting happens, I'll be back. Thank you for stopping by! 





27 comments:

  1. My work-around for reading comments since I am away from the blog. Have a blessed day, everybody!

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  2. So nice to see your new post pop up on my sidebar as I sit here scrolling along with cup of coffee in hand. First of all, what a beautiful header you have created. Reminds me a bit of an advent calendar with each square revealing a meaningful moment in the Christmas season. It sounds like you are making good progress with your preparations. I think it would be nice to have different choices for tree placement. Kind of like the fresh perspective one gets when moving the furniture around. I enjoyed your documentation of Thanksgiving. How exciting to have a baby girl on the horizon. How sweet it must have been to observe little E's story time. I hope that one was documented on video. Would surely bring a smile for years to come, not to mention make Grandpa feel especially loved. Chuckling about Laurel's thoughts on your attic tree. I thought it looked charming.

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  3. Congratulations to all on the new baby coming :) I love pulling out my Christmas ornaments, because yes for me it's a trip down memory lane going through them all. Sounds like you had a wonderful thanksgiving.

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  4. Oh oh oh....I LOVE your new banner! Now I would like to try to make one of those! lol Look what you started! And I love your beautiful tree and all the ornaments that are special to you AND the lights of course! I'm so happy to have extra sparkly lights around my house now that it gets dark so early! Sweet hugs!

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  5. You are up to quite a lot, I think! Your Thanksgiving sounded wonderful and I love hearing about the reading of the How to Babysit a Grandpa book and the sweet kiss. How wonderful to have a girl coming to your family after 35 years! Oh, my. And I loved your header with so many pieces to ponder. And your tree....I have to get a move on with my decorating, though Andy helped me replace my Thanksgiving plates with my Christmas plates. It is all much more low key than it was once.

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  6. Your Christmas banner is so pretty and your tree is lovely! Your Thanksgiving sounded wonderful and I too am waiting for gifts to arrive so I can wrap them and send then out again and pay twice for shipping! LOL!

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  7. Vee, there is the fabulous REPLACEMENTS Ltd. in Greensboro, NC where you/your sis would probably find plates in your china pattern - they have everything imaginable! I have done the tour of what has become an amazing business now known worldwide - started by just one terrific guy who happened to like collecting plates!
    Go to the website - an interesting story.
    https://www.replacements.com/

    How lovely as little girl will be arriving - 35 years is a long time for a family to await - all those boys will love her so much too.

    Glad you are managing so well dear. I fear my comments haven't been working lately so hope this one arrives!
    Did you get a lot of snow this week?
    Mary x

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  8. Fun to be there for the gender reveal! Your tree and door look very festive. Sending love and prayers to you. xo

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  9. I finally was able to bring in the Christmas Rubbermaid containers from the garage yesterday. The tree was put up and decorated but it is still in the tweaking process. I have to live with it a few days to finally get it right.

    Later today, I plan to put out the rest of the decorations. I have sent a lot to charity that I knew none of my kids would want so it is easier to decorate now.

    I must say, the thought of having such a cozy place in the kitchen has me desiring a fireplace. I wonder if we can put in a request for our Heavenly homes? ;)

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  10. I love your tree! Hope this finds you feeling good and Merry these days dear Vee. My daughters helped me the weekend before Thanksgiving decorate for Christmas and I was so happy they did! Takes me all day girl to do what it used to take me three hours to do! Hugs and blessings to you. Cindy

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  11. Your tree looks beautiful, Vee, and yes, it is a trip down memory lane. Your sister's fireplace and place to sit is indeed a cozy spot. How exciting to finally get a baby girl in the family after 35 years. How sweet to give your sister the china. I gave my daughter my pretty set, and ordered her two plates from Ebay to add to it, which she will get for Christmas. Hope all is well with you....xxoo

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  12. How fun to have a little girl arriving! I think your tree is beautiful. I would love to have a sitting area with a fireplace in my kitchen!

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  13. How sweet of you to pack up all that china for your sister. She's very blessed indeed.

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  14. Lovely post, Vee, and that header is simply gorgeous! As someone mentioned above, it's a bit like an Advent calendar. So many sweet surprises to see in the different squares.

    Your tree looks beautiful and I wouldn't change a thing unless, of course, you want to.

    Your sister's fireplace is so nice and I am glad you could warm yourself by it on Thanksgiving day.

    I personally think your tree in the attic window is just lovely and wish I had a similar window in which to place a lighted tree.

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  15. Vee, your tree looks "there" to me. I so agree a Christmas tree is a walk down memory lane. We have ours up after having to buy lights for our "pre-lit" tree--ugh! We are decorating it as soon as Samuel returns from class this afternoon.
    Your Thanksgiving sounds wonderful at your sister's home. How wonderful to have a fireplace in the kitchen. I'm sure she is happy you are giving her pieces of family china.

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  16. Oh how nice a baby girl on the way!! : )
    Your tree looks beautiful.
    I bet your sister will sure appreciate the china!

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  17. I was hoping to see that attic tree over the garage!!! It can't possibly be ghost-like! I think of that space as a secret get-a-way where a person can think and pray and read and nap. A cosy retreat.

    We have a copy of how to Babysit a Grandma and the Grandpa version too. I consider them to be very instructive so I know what will please my grands when they visit.

    Lovely post. As you always do.

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  18. Wow! First girl in 35 years, that is epic! Your sister's home looks so comfortable. How wonderful to have a place to send those dishes where they are needed and will be used. My kids will probably have a lot of trips to the local thrift stores when it comes time to disperse my stuff! LOL. We are traveling across the mountains tomorrow and then on to Canada on Saturday for our annual MGCC Christmas get together. It will be the best food I've had since our last gathering. No decorating until we get back on Monday. We hope to snag a mystery tree on our way back, too. Need to hop to it and pack for our trip. Blessings on you and yours!

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  19. It's always lovely to see a post from you in my feed. We move our tree around from year to year, too, but we only have 3 places to choose from! Yes indeed, memories crowd my mind when I pull out all the decorations. We don't have our tree up yet - but there are other Christmas decorations out. I'm slow this year and I'm okay with that. We get a real tree and don't want all the needles on the carpet before Christmas ever arrives.

    Your sister will greatly appreciate those dishes. I like mixing and matching old and new.

    Have a good weekend, Vee. How are you feeling these days, besides the lack of spunk?

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  20. This was a fun post Vee....and, I adore your header! Have a lovely weekend!

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  21. I love online shopping but it has been crazy keeping track of everything. There have also been packages stolen in our neighborhood so I'm extra careful watching for the deliveries. I still have to decorated yet. I keep getting sidetracked! Your Thanksgiving sounds very nice and I put that book in my cart. Our grandson is best buddies with his grandpa. I'm going to give it to them for Christmas. Your sister's house looks wonderful.

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  22. So, I dong have Instagram and cant view your tree in the attic, don't suppose you would show a photo of it? smiles

    Our living/family room and dining are all together, its a small room, not as large as your sisters and we don't have a fireplace either. Nonetheless, its cozy. I agree, putting up the tree just brings back memories, some good and some not.

    Keeping you in prayer my friend. smiles

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    1. DONG????Where did that come from? LOLOLOLOL DON'T not DONG. lolololol

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  23. Hi Vee - I love your Christmas decorations. Like you, decorating our tree is a trip down memory lane. We have had some of our ornaments since we were newlyweds - about 40 years. We don't have room to put all of our decorations on the tree any more, plus we have downsized to a smaller tree. Nice pictures. Have a great week!

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  24. I am here revisiting! I don’t know why the comment I left days ago isn’t showing up.....
    It’s always a gift to see glimpses of your home and decorations.....
    Love you, Vee!

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  25. It sounds like you had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving with your sis's family...and what great news that a new little girl is on the way! I can relate to the excitement about a little girl joining a family of boys! Your tree is beautiful, as it always is...and I am missing mine this year...only have room for the Charlie Brown tree Aaron got me! I pray to are feeling well and apologize for not checking in as I should. I really need to get my act together and keep up with my blogging! Hugs!

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