Merry Christmas!

I’ll be absent much of the next week or so.

Holiday Homes Tour 2011

Welcome!

Jen on the Edge is hosting her 4th annual Holiday Homes Tour,  and I agreed to participate because I needed something else to do this week it sounded like fun.  It actually starts on Wednesday morning, but if you came in the morning you wouldn’t get to see all the lights on the house… so here I am, posting on Tuesday night.

If you come to my house around Christmas, you might be lucky enough to nibble a Christmas cookie but I can almost guarantee that you will be offered a piece of Stollen with your coffee or tea.

This year I’m making plenty of Stollen, savory “peppy pecans”, cranberry-orange bread, gingerbread men, Gram’s sugar cookies with red sugar sprinkles, gingersnaps, spritz butter cookies, almond-apricot biscotti, and these tartlettes…

Yes, those are Reese’s peanut butter cups inside cookie dough. Yes, they are tremendously rich and delicious.  No, they are not on my eating plan. Yes, I will be having a few anyway.

Since I haven’t finished all of my baking yet, a few of these pictures (like the ones above) are from prior years.

The baking isn’t yet completed but the tree is up and decorated!

swinging angel

 

This sweet angel swinging from a snowflake is a Hallmark ornament from my childhood.  She makes me smile.  😀

This little piggy goes "Wii Wii Wii"

Over here to the right, this little piggy was a gift from Gary. My family & I have visited him at his studio and he kindly included it in one of my orders.  I’m happy to say that I have many examples of his  beautiful and whimsical creations. Bowls and mugs and other wonders await you here!  (That is his Etsy site, but his blog is also a great way to see what is coming out of the kiln next — plus you get to see Penny the dog and Spike the cat.)

I don’t have a decorating plan, except the hope that the decorations actually make it out of the boxes and bins and put on display in December. Our tree has a mish-mash of ornaments from young children’s craft projects to delicate spun glass, from a crystal angel to a smiling pottery pig, from Germany to the American Southwest.

The stockings are not hung by the chimney with care because that would tempt the cat. We lay them out in front of the fireplace on Christmas eve.  Mine was made by my grandmother when I was a baby. The boys have quilted stockings in denim blue colored fabric that a friend made for them (unfortunately, I can’t show you those because –TMI– their names are also on their stockings). At my house, Santa fills your stocking regardless of your age. This year, my beloved MIL and FIL will be with us. I’m going to have to come up with stockings for them, as I don’t think they have their own… it may just be a couple of big socks, but they will get a stocking.

Wishing you very happy holidays, whichever ones you & your family celebrate!

Holiday Lights

Meanwhile, back at the Conservatory…

I had a bit of a challenge photographing the exquisitely lit greenhouses.

Still, it was easier to take these photos than it has been to get a photograph of all 4 of my boys looking nice in front of our Christmas tree. If I succeed in that endeavor, I’ll share the picture with you.

May this week — with the shortest days and longest nights of the entire year — be filled with light.

A penny for your [thankful] thoughts

Everywhere I look this week, I find myself overwhelmed by blessings.

Since moving back to our home state, we have enjoyed spending time with extended family.

While I am behind in holiday preparations, I refuse to be dragged under by stress.

Last Friday night, SuperDad’s parents stayed with us and attended a basketball game (one grandson played b-ball, another played in the pep band). They left in the morning and in the afternoon, we drove 2 hours through the fog to the older boys’ university to see them (and Rapunzel) in a drive-through living nativity. We were complimented on our camel by the same shady characters* who tried to sell us a donkey.  I think it was the first time I’d ever seen the baby Jesus with a pacifier in his mouth.  It’s also the first time we’ve seen MusicMan and Rapunzel since they announced their engagement.

On Saturday night, we stayed out at the old farmhouse. SuperDad’s cousin has turned it into a B&B, making improvements while still keeping much of the original charm. The kitchen looks much the same and I could almost feel Gram there.

Tomorrow (Friday) MM and EB are coming home for Christmas break. We have a whirlwind of activities planned, all revolving around spending time with extended family. Rapunzel will be joining us a few days after Christmas for the remainder of their holiday vacation.

I’ll be pretty busy in the next few weeks, focusing on spending time with family… and baking… and crafting… and relaxing — although that relaxing will have to wait until I get some rather important tasks completed!

What are you thankful for today?

How do you focus on blessings instead of holiday stress?

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*I know they were shady because our “camel” is still missing a grill from the deer incident. While it is certainly a reliable camel, it’s no longer a fine-lookin’ camel. On the plus side, you can tell it is ours from a block away!

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MTM: Winter Warmth at the Conservatory

I’m taking you back to the park for My Town Monday, but I don’t think you’ll mind too much.   😀

Come out of the cold and into the Conservatory!

They’ve been readying the place for the past few weeks, getting into the holiday spirit.

Strings of lights have been carefully wound around sturdy stems while other lights have been clipped into bundles that will resemble blooms when the cord is plugged into the electrical socket.

The conservatory is being decorated with over 30,000 lights along with poinsettias, mums, and more.

Of course, the flowers that live in the Conservatory year-’round will still be there, too.

Merry and Bright

I wonder as I wander…

When I go hiking, I am engaging my heart, mind, body, and soul.

I try to see everything through new eyes.

I compose poetry while I walk.

I ponder.

The colors of Christmas must have been inspired by nature.

Friday 5: peeks of pink

Something to whet your appetite for Monday

After all, don’t we need a little something to look forward to when it comes to Mondays?

Have a great weekend!

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Thanks to Aunt Snow over at  Doves Today, I’ve been inspired to join in PINK SATURDAY, hosted by Beverly at the blog “How Sweet the Sound”.
Let the color pink inspire you!
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About that hike on Wednesday…

1.    Hiking in December around here means that I dress in layers and complete the ensemble with a fleece headband, knit hatscarf (it’s a 2-in-1), and thick mangloves.

2.   In other words, I look like a blue Michelin man despite having lost quite a bit of weight since mid-July. (click on pic to embiggen)

3.  Unlike the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Michelin man, I can crouch down into an impressive squat… you know, you’re out hiking for a few hours and you’ve been looking at water, then you stop and it’s cold… and there’s a big tree on the hillside to hide behind. It’s best to keep a low profile so you don’t moon any unsuspecting hikers.

4. When getting close to nature (see #3), it’s best to have your supplies handy BEFORE you squat. Otherwise, you will have… um… finished, but with your pants around your ankles, madly checking your pockets for tissues and then leaning a bit sideways and forward to search deeper in those coat pockets… and basically losing your precarious balancing act on the hillside to a force of nature called gravity.
So while I’m very grateful for deep layers of pine needles that most certainly softened my somersault (no tumbling mat required), there was an additional white-tailed deer dear seen off the path yesterday.

5.  Totally changing the subject here:
I’ve been slowly dragging Christmas decorations out of strange places (because moving is awesome for mixing up your belongings) and getting ready for Jen’s Holiday Homes Tour on December 19th.  Have you signed up? 

She walks in beauty

Misty finger trail
reaching up or reaching down [it matters not]
on this winter morn

Footsteps on the forest floor
padding, crackling, crunching

chirping, calling, flying
Birds send out a warning

Young bucks hold motionless
then bound away, white tails waving
like flags on a battlefield
but there is no surrender

Giant sentinels guard the border
between forest and marsh

By the river today

delicate flower
wearing sparkles in her hair
waiting for sunshine