Christmas 2021

Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.

My son may have felt that that was my story as I explained to him just last week why I was sitting in the dark without turning on my Christmas tree lights. After a bit more conversation between us, he looked at me intently and asked, "Mom, are you all right?"

No, I really was not. Two years of this covid scare + a year of this joke of a president=one grumpy, annoyed woman. I needed Christmas in the worst way.

Early in December, this arrangement arrived from LL Bean courtesy of Laurel. It smelled so fresh and Christmasy. I used the ribbon Mary gave me to wind through it and called it good. 

Then, for the first time, I purchased an amaryllis bulb and was pleasantly surprised when it actually bloomed and is about to bloom again.

There were a few ice storms this month and a couple of snowstorms. Snow fell gently most of Christmas day.

Since I did not feel like decorating the tree, I used candy canes and Christmas cards to fill it out. 

The overstuffed chair holding Christmas gifts needing to be wrapped. The poinsettia was a gift from the Garden Center because I spent too much money there.

 

The poinsettia, the amaryllis ready to bloom again and a lovely lap quilt gift from a dear friend.

My grandsons Jake and Sam had chairs to sit in on Christmas Day. Now that they are adult sized, they appreciate those kinds of things. I hope Sam wasn't watching a spider. 

Michelle and Adam tend to gifts with only a box of fir tips behind them. I remember the year I had the crockpot behind them and it snapped and crackled all afternoon.

At day's end, I wanted to document how tall Sam has become so used Aunt Laurel as a comparison.

Laurel gave me this pretty Christmas card with a message that doesn't fit me at all, but makes me wish that it did. 

Now that Christmas has arrived, I am perfectly willing to let it continue right through January 6. I am slow to the party, but once it starts, I am all warmed up and ready to enjoy the season. I must remember this. 

Love,

Vee

Remembering Christmas 2020

 Prompts desperately needed! Thanks to Joyce at This Side of the Pond for providing them. 

1. Tell us about your favorite moment or share one of the bright spots from the year we're leaving behind. 

Thinking about 2020 gives me a headache. Sure, there were a few good days—precious few, and far between. Christmas was the highlight. 

2. What do you wish you'd known at the start of 2020? Elaborate. 

Difficult to answer. I would not have wanted to know one thing about 2020. It was the kind of year that was best unrolled one day at a time. Knowing anything in advance, I may have lived under the bed. 

3. Best book you read this year? If you did not read any books this year, what's the best thing you ate all year? We've all eaten, right? 

I enjoyed reading my Gladys Taber books. I didn't try anything new in culinary delights. 

4. The Pantone Colors of the year for 2021 are ultimate gray and illuminating yellow (a bright shade)...are you a fan? Would we find either of these colors in your home or wardrobe? 

I might be; You might. 

5. If you were/are making a list of 21 things to do/accomplish in 2021 what is one thing that would be on it? 

Death Cleaning/Decluttering...the entire house needs it from basement to attic and the garage could use more, as well.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

    Emmanuel making his first gingerbread house

Anneke's First Christmas

Kirsten, Anneke, and Raccoon

Emmanuel likes to clean

Reminds me of David Engledow and Alice Bee

Adam. Sam, Jake wrapping gifts for their mom on Christmas Eve

Beautiful Laurel...say, what would that app do for me?

Ahhh well, moving right along. ツ

The House

Thanks to Joyce, whom I am linking to, though not participating. 

Thanks for reading. 

Happy 2021!

Love, 

Vee

Comfort and Joy

Hi there! How's the Sparkling going? ッ

Some days are better than others, right? I am so glad that The Lord remains unchanging no matter what is going on with me.

First of all, I want to thank all those who commented and those who sent emails (without commenting on the actual post) regarding the What's the Point post. We should certainly be respectful of differing opinions and get along. I have heard of several teachers within the last few weeks who took it upon themselves to tell their classrooms of young children "the truth" as they saw it. Not good. Not at all good. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

As I wandered over to my laptop, I thought that this might be my last post before Christmas. I'll just whisper that because I might get the inclination to post again. I never really know, but just in case, I'm wishing you the joy of a true Christmas. I hope that you celebrate, make merry, feast, and delight in the love of family and friends. Spread the joy all over the place, too, while you're at it!

I have a few links to share today and a few pics of my decorating and baking and what not...

Here's that tree I mentioned last time all decked out with every ornament I can find in the house. Most years, I don't bother to open every Christmas box; this year, I did. 

While I'm chatting about Christmas trees, my friend Mona from The Hidden Art of Homemaking blog and Instagram has the most enchanting tree. She used all her Shiny Brite collection and created a delight. You can find her post right 🎄here🎄. Think of all the hours that it took her! I love it!

More decorating in a bit... 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

I have actually been baking some in recent days. I made apple hand pies for John's sister Judy earlier in the week. I am not supposed to be eating hand pies, but they looked and smelled so good that I ate the imperfect looking one because it had no sugar and no calories. ッ

"That is a blatant lie" you say. Yes, well, I am quite capable of that. Why just today at the Transfer Station while recycling my old egg boxes, a gentleman who works there said that lots of folks who raise chickens appreciate the cartons. Yes, I said blithely, "My niece raises chickens."

"Oh, how many chickens does she have?" 

"Twenty-two," I responded. 

< insert *thud* >

I am sure that this will come as quite a shock to my niece who may not even have two. Why did I say that?! I didn't have time to think about it. Perhaps I am in need of drama. Anyway, I may have to tell that man that I am a liar, but I thought perhaps if I told you...

Okay, where was I?

Oh, yes, John's sister Mary came for lunch on Wednesday and we had a chicken casserole. I made her an acorn squash boat with butter and maple syrup. (You can't make me eat squash.) For dessert we had a molten lava chocolate cake with peppermint stick ice cream. Delicious. After all that, we went Christmas shopping. 

Yesterday, Sis arrived and we had a cookie baking day. We made many of those recipes that our mom would have made back in the day. We were hoping that they'd taste just the same; they didn't. Nevertheless, we had a fun day. If you're on Instagram, you may have seen that story.

One thing I learned all over again was that we need to read a recipe all the way through before we assume that we know what we are doing. Ahem.

So today I made sure to get reacquainted with my cookie press. I remember the first time I used this gizmo, John had to gently take it from my hands and get acquainted with it himself. Then he explained it to me. I found it that complicated. One of those discs up there is almost destroyed because of that episode. Apparently, I had put it in upside down.

I did better today even though you can tell by looking closely that things were not perfect. There are sprinkles everywhere and I do mean everywhere.

This is the recipe I used today.

Cookie Press Shortbread

1 cup butter (room temperature)
½ cup conf sugar
¼  tsp vanilla (I used an entire tsp)
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and use favorite discs to create your cookies. Bake at 275°F for 20 to 30 minutes or until edges are lightly brown.

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Have you finished your shopping? I almost have and I must say that I found my blogging friends' online shops most helpful. I can't show everything, but in a moment of weakness, I had a Merry Christmas to me moment.

This sweet camera bag was created by the incomparable 
🎄Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose🎄 and purchased through her shop, which you can find listed in her top bar at the blog. I did not order the sweet little bag filled with teas, but Stephanie was very generous. I do love that Buttermint tea from Twinings.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 

So here we are back at decorating again. Mary, John's sister and not the Mary depicted, had mentioned that she needed some grass for her Nativity scene. When a package arrived with all of this straw-like packing material, I put it to good use and saved some for her, too. (It's that big ball of straw right behind the shepherd boy.)

I am using a lot of battery operated light strings with the "seed" lights. I haven't quite figured them out because the Nativity lights come on when I least expect them. I was up in the night and there they were burning in all their Shekinah glory. ☺It was rather pleasant, almost as if I had caught the animals speaking at midnight on Christmas Eve. 

I always said that I would never have curtains in this dining room window. 

 The Pella windows have inner blinds, alas, the center blind failed and Pella no longer services them. While I decide what to do about that, I ordered these lace panels. I decided that 🎄Brenda's beautiful lace curtains🎄 had influenced me.

It has been wonderful to see so many sacred classic Christmas Carol phrases being used in decor. Joanna Gaines has famously used "A Thrill of Hope." All of this caused me to ponder what I would share with folks if I were in a position to share. This is it: Comfort and Joy.* May they be yours today and every day!

*(Copied from a lovely graphic at Pinterest)

What's the Point?!

Warning: If you still hear the bell, you might not want to read this post.

~*~

My grandson Jakob was visiting me a few weeks ago. I asked him nonchalantly what he might like for Christmas. I was not prepared for his response.

"Christmas!  What's the point?!"

There was a fair amount of heat and his hands were helping punctuate each comment with sharp gesticulations.

I was both taken aback and amused.

When I could get a word in edgewise, I asked a few more pertinent questions and discovered, beyond the obvious, the following:

*Jake had learned last year when he was ten that there is no Santa.

*He felt betrayed by his parents who had "lied" to him all these years.

*He felt like a fool for believing all these years when he knew very well that the entire story was "ridiculous." He'd known the truth since he was six.

*He was worried about what further important information his parents might be withholding.

In addition, he made insightful, pertinent comments such as that he had been thanking Santa all these years when he should have been thanking his parents.  He wondered why parents would do such a thing as lie about Santa.

Finally, when he was pretty much winded with his commentary, I suggested that perhaps parents encouraged such beliefs because they wanted their children to experience the wonder of Christmas. I told him this story of my own:

When your daddy was a little boy only about four years old, he told me that he loved Jesus all year long, but at Christmastime, he loved Santa best. I decided that that was not a good thing and so I told him and your auntie all about the real Santa, a far more fascinating story by the way. They did not react well. They cried and cried. I wished that I had done what my sister did for she never mentioned Santa Claus; he was just not a part of their Christmas story. (I might have done what she did if I had had an older sister to learn by as she had. ☺)

Now you, Jake, have been taught about Santa and have learned that it is not all quite true. Which way would you have preferred? Never to believe as your cousins Kirsten and Keanne, to have been taught and learn the truth early like your dad and your aunt or as you did? I could tell that he was thinking it over, but he did not share his thoughts.

He was still worried that Christmas had lost its sparkle. (In fact, his mom decorated for Christmas just last weekend and his home looks like Better Homes and Gardens, but he is showing no interest.)

At last, I got to the crux of the matter. Christmas is about the fact that Jesus was willing to be born in human form and come to this earth as a little baby in Bethlehem.. He was the only baby born to die. Humanity desperately needed Him. We need Him today and every day. The joy of Christmas is not Santa; the joy of Christmas is Jesus Himself. I shared that I still get a special thrill at Christmas and Santa has not been a part of my life since long decades ago. I urged Jakob to think about things differently and to celebrate for all the right reasons.

Perhaps one day, I'll share with him that the economy of the entire world is literally based upon the "birthday" of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate on December 25. I find it infinitely fascinating that Jesus is holding this old world together. These are points that can not be refuted. Look it up! For that reason alone, I shall celebrate Christmas! And there's more so much more.

When my son arrived that day to fetch his son, I mentioned the conversation that Jakob and I had been having. My son grinned wryly and said, "Yes, Jake is holding a grudge." ツ

On Thanksgiving Day, Jake commented that the trees around here were getting smaller and smaller. Whatever could have given him that idea?

Jake took a look at my Tag Book...I can tell!

Yesterday, when I put up the new 7.5 foot tree, I began to wonder what in the world I had been thinking...

Now I know.

I was thinking about Jakob. It's time to ❇️sparkle❇️

P.S. For further reading on the Christmas discussion, visit Brenda *Here.* It'll be a blessing!

Christmas Hodge Podge

Joyce at This Side of the Pond suggests, tongue in cheek, that we might not have anything to do four days before Christmas. I figure that since she was willing to come up with questions, I could, at least, provide some answers. This is the final Hodge Podge of 2016.

❈1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list? 

Too much, from wrapping to baking. I may have the cleaning done if I can keep up with it. It is with joy that I report that the fridge is spotless! ☺

❈2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter? 

Its beauty. Certainly not its chill nor its cost.

This morning, I was out the door by eight to do some grocery shopping. I thought the air felt odd, still, and very cold. I backed out the drive and then looked up to see the thermometer on the garage. Couldn't quite make the temperature out, even with squinting, so drove back in to take a closer look.  It was -12°F. That's when it is so cold that the tires feel like Fred Flinstone's on the highway. 

❈3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not.

No, I am not elaborating. I have no time for elaborating. I still feel awkward in social situations.  

❈4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016?

 I learned all over again that God has this, whatever this is. I have only to yield it to Him. He will take care of me and lead me along.

❈5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings? 

No, I do not care for fried shrimp. I like my shrimp well disguised. I have probably given this recipe before, but it's Christmas and I'm feeling generous. This is my favorite way to eat shrimp and, yes, it makes the holiday A list.

-a package of Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix

-a tin of East Point tiny shrimp

-a package of cream cheese

-a container of sour cream

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature and combine with sour cream. (I use my mixer. A blender can also be used. Do not over mix unless you don't like those little bits of cream cheese that I like so much.) Add 3/4 of Italian salad dressing mix packet. (That's all I can handle; the recipe calls for the entire packet.) Mix well. Rinse and drain shrimp right in the can.(Hoping that you understand that direction.) Then carefully fold drained shrimp into mixture. Chill and serve with potato chips, crackers or even veggies.

If you have a good dip recipe to share, feel free! (I love dip. Way too much. This might belong on question 3. )

❈6. What sound lulls you to sleep? 

Oddly enough, the laundry going in the dungeon laundry room just below my bed lulls me to sleep quite well.

❈7. What one word best describes your 2016? 

Loss

Faithfulness 

as in Great is Thy Faithfulness

❈8. Insert your own random thought here.

Well I cannot leave it there. While there has been loss and change and sorrow, there has also been love, faith, hope, and even joy. Many things will change in this life, but we look to Him Who Changes not.

My blogging friends have been among my many blessings. You have prayed me through. Don't stop now!

⛸ ⛸ ⛸ 

Pictured are some pretty gifts of Christmas from Deanna and Deborah and Abby. Deanna sent the handpainted Noel ornament, Abby sent the Advent calendar ornaments, and Deborah sent the gift of teas and a poinsettia hanky that I am using as a napkin. Ahhhh...it was a sweet little Christmas tea.
Thank you for reading today. Many blessings...

Thursday Last

I feel like the White Rabbit just before he disappeared down the rabbit hole lamenting all the while I'm late, I'm late, for a terribly important date.  That many of us are feeling similarly is a sign of the season. It, whatever "it" is will all get done I keep telling myself...it always does.  

One of the many things I am late about is this very post. So where were we? Ahhh, yes, Thursday last. I was saying that I was excited about the day, but did not share why because it is not always wise to share on a public blog that one will be away from home. Lots of us do, though, but perhaps some have a German Shepherd, a house sitter or nosy neighbors. I have none of those.

Earlier in the week, I had requested from my darling daughter a gift of her time and she had readily agreed asking me what I'd most like to do. (Laurel is a very busy woman with a full-time job and is also a full-time student so this was a big gift from her.) I replied that I wanted to see Abby. Well Laurel made it happen! 

Plans were made and so, on an overcast Thursday morning, we struck off. Destination: Moody's Diner, Waldoboro, Maine (at Abby's suggestion). We found her and her husband Bill waiting for us in a cozy, quiet corner tucked in the back. We spent a very pleasurable hour and more chatting and enjoying the iconic fare...Moody's is famous don'tcha know. (I am still chuckling over a story Abby told on her pastor husband that could be in one of those "God Has a Sense of Humor" books. Perhaps you can get her to share it on her blog, but only if Bill can handle it again. 😇)

Afterward, we visited Moody's Gift Shop and managed a bit of Christmas shopping. We gals were taken with a rack of cute gloves and each of us purchased a pair. This will become important in a bit. 

~Abby's Purchases~

It was just so good to see Abby and Bill again. This makes our 4th visit and I hope that there will be more once winter is past. Abby is so good at putting up with my nonsense. What nonsense you ask? Well, like forgetting the hour and putting in an urgent text request for photos that didn't even make the blog until today. Little stuff like that. 😏

You see, we did not take any photos. Zero, zip, nada. No photos of delicious hamburgers, sweet potato fries or fried eggs. No photos of steaming mugs of coffee. No desserts. No smiling faces or cute selfies. Sigh. I asked Abby what kind of bloggers we were anyway! Obviously, not the kind who take pictures.

So, in an effort to prove that we all were actually there together, I asked Abby to send a photo of her gloves and I'd share a photo of my gloves. I resisted the urge to ask Laurel to share a photo of her gloves because she pushes back against such silliness, unlike Abby who is longsuffering and tolerant. Shortly after sending my photo, Abby texted requesting that I rethink my photo as it looked as if I had missing fingers. LOL! Retake? I don't think so. Who knew that Abby was going to be a glove model stickler? 

~missing fingers and a mug for my dad who loves Moodys~

[Abby, have you worn your gloves beyond photo taking? They are soooo warm and comfortable...soft, soft, soft. They were perfect in yesterday's arctic blast.]

~Abby models her glove...now that's how you do it!~

Alas, we bid our goodbyes. Bill tried to sneak off without a hug, which I did not allow you'll be happy to know. There was a brief exchange of gifts and I am sharing one of mine next time. (Camera battery dead as a doornail.)

Feel free to split off if this post is growing too long. If? If? I hear you saying. 

Laurel and I visited another iconic Maine store called Hussey's General Store in Windsor where Laurel dropped a couple hundred buckaroonies just like that. (My sister bought her wedding gown there many moons ago.) Watching other people spend money is so satisfying to me and almost as good as if I had done so myself. I did buy a hat there for myself. I am spending way too much money this year on gifts for me. I have never done this before. Never!  I did consider making this purchase for my sister, but better sense prevailed.

Oh and mine is not a "what happens at Nana's house never happened" either. I have no intention of giving the grandsons free license to misbehave...I have higher standards for them than that!

~a capitol building Monet~

Laurel and I wound up our day shopping in Augusta, which happens to be the capital of Maine, and eating, yet again, at Pat's Pizza. I do love a thin, yummy crust.

↑When we got back into the car after eating, Laurel noticed this driver in the car beside us staring at her. She took a photo with her iPhone and he turned away. So funny as each time she put down the phone, he stared at us, and each time she picked it up, he turned away. We were tired and could have played at that game for some time. Poor Pup. 

~not Christmas music, but good music~

Then home with music in snow squalls. It was just a lovely day with my darling daughter who did all the driving. A total win~win for me.

How wonderful the ways that God gifts us with friends and family who make each day a little brighter and better. 
Thanks for reading today. You deserve a medal!