Some Christmas Things

 Our neighbor's Christmas mailbox......................

 Catherine's handmade ornament.................................

Swag on the back porch.  I'm loving this new camera. 
O.K., so this one isn't a Christmas picture but you might like it anyway.

                                                       Blessings, Diane

Christmas 2011

 I'm hoping that Christmas was a wonderful day for you.  Ours was quiet, quiet's good.  It was full of lights, music, food, peace, beauty and the satisfaction of knowing that you've done your best to make it a good Christmas for others. 

 On Christmas Eve day we went over to see Mother at the care center.  She was tickled to see Leonard.  Usually I go over and spend time with her but Leonard is a special occasion.  He brought her some of her favorite treats and she was happy.  That evening him and I walked around the neighborhood and took pictures of the neighbor's Christmas lights.  We have lived on this street for 24 years and never have I seen it lit up like it was this year.  Everybody had some kind of lights and each was as individual as the people who lived there. 

And guess what...................I got a new camera!!!  This picture of Rascal is one of my trial shots.  My old one is a Canon PowerShot A550 and this one is a Canon PowerShot SX150IS.  From 7.1 mega pixels to 12x optical zoom!  There's no stopping me now!!                    Diane 

Merry Christmas to You

A Belsnickle and Six Tiny Reindeer

This little tiny red sleigh rests in my pink tree.  I didn't make it, it was found once on a trip to the thrift store.  I have to share it with you. 

You can see it's tiny....it's made out of one egg holder from an egg carton.  It's very old, the runners are made out of some kind of old silver pipe cleaners I think.  The little Belsnickle (Santa) just fits in it, both are very fragile.  I found a team of 6 tiny reindeer that are the same proportion to pull the sleigh through the pink Christmas haze.          Diane

Decking Out the Back Yard

Stars already hanging in the sanctuary............I was hoping that the weather would hold out long enough so I could hang stars from our Canadian Red Cherry tree and it did. 

 And apples hanging from the old pine tree for the birds.  Now we're really ready for Christmas.  

                                                                                                                       Diane 

Christmas Joy

                      This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.   - Taylor Caldwell

Sentiment and the Peanut Man

If you took away the sentiment I don't think I'd have any Christmas decorations left.  Everything means something.  This snowflake with the jewel in the middle was made by Mother probably 18 years ago.  It has a tiny music box inside and it still works.  When I press the center it plays a medly of Christmas songs.  Rascal hears the tiny sound and lifts his nose and "whisper howls".  He howls very, very quietly.  The crocheted snowflake laying on the branch is one of a dozen that Catherine made for me long ago, too.

The peanut man was made for me by my granddaughter Lindsay when she was small. 

I know your ornaments and decorations are sentimental, too.  That's what makes our Christmas trees so special, bringing back all those sweet memories every year.                   Diane

My Reason For Christmas

Late on a sleepy, star-spangled night, those angels peeled back the sky just like you would tear open a sparkling Christmas present. Then, with light and joy pouring out of Heaven like water through a broken dam, they began to shout and sing the message that baby Jesus had been born. The world had a Savior! The angels called it "Good News," and it was.
                                                                                             Larry Libby, Christmas Stories for the Heart


Diane

Christmas Control Room

My little art studio is a spare bedroom 9 x 12 square feet.  One corner is where I pay bills (we won't look at it - not very interesting)  Otherwise it contains my computer, sewing machine, printer, fabric, hodgepodges of collections of things to work with as well as my collection of boxes (???) and all kinds of favorite things. 

This time of year it becomes Christmas central.  Basically everything Christmas goes on here except possibly cooking.  I have fabric mixed up with my journals and packages stacked on my printer and sewing machine.  It gets worse, too.  But what a fun time of the year and it's so great to be creating things for those I love. 

Where do your Christmas preparations take place?               Diane

Packing Away

I was late getting things up this Christmas and late taking them down.  They're still scattered all over the house.  The lights were so beautiful though, I hated to take them down today.  Somehow the lights just seemed to give such hope and joy.   I sort them - this year into whites, pinks and nostalgic.  When I open them next Christmas I'll say to myself  "what was I thinking when I packed them like this?"  Happens every year.                                       Diane

Christmas

This has been a different Christmas.  I got Leonard out of the hospital at 1:00 today after a terrifying ordeal.    I wasn't sure what would await me at the hospital. Before I went to see him at the hospital I read my devotional for Christmas day. As I read, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men did exactly as they had been told.  Mary yielded herself to God; Joseph took her home as his wife; the shepherds went to Bethlehem to find the baby in a manger; and the wise men followed the star.  With no idea of the outcome, they all took the next step by faith in the Lord. .........but then as I read the next words jumped out at me - "how is it with us this Christmas?  Will we trust God and follow His leading even when we face uncertainty and overwhelming circumstances?  When you and I obey the Lord, the outcome is truly amazing."  With a peace from these words I headed to the hospital to wait with him for the doctor's dismissal. 

Just having him home is Christmas.  The gaily colored packages full of wonderful things from family and friends and the lovely ham made it even better.  Otherwise my most special gifts this year was the support system of my precious family and you.  You're more important to me than you can ever know.  And I hope you each had a most joyous Christmas.                    Diane 

Heartfelt Wishes

I wish that each and every one of you have a most joyous Christmas.  My gift to you is a prayer for peace, joy, and happiness. 
                                                Diane

Ta Da!!

Finally!  It took a while this year.  Leonard put up the lights and the tree and I got the decorating done today.  Now we have a Christmas house!                    Diane

Getting Back to "Normal"

I, too, am ready to start putting Christmas things away. Sorting them, packing away for next year. Each year when I do this I always wonder what they will find when I (hopefully) unpack them next Christmas. What will the world be like, what will our home be like. Many people open their Christmas decorations in a new home, I don't that that will happen. Whatever, it just feels good to put them away and put the house back together. In Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach she talks about the soul of a house. If my home has a soul I think it's like a very proper old lady. I think she is quite happy to have things back where they are supposed to be. Diane

Christmas Long Ago

Christmas Day to me is a conglomeration of all the ones which have been before.

The Christmas I was in the first grade my brother was born on Christmas Eve. Even though my sister, Jennie, and I were uprooted and shuffled off to Grandma and Grandpa's up the street we didn't care, all the better, and we got a baby brother, Mike, for Christmas.

Then there were the Christmas's when we watched the bubble lights, and the church programs where Jennie and I always ended up the angels even though it was a bit of a mistake in casting. The Christmas when Mother went on a snickerdoodle rampage and made hundreds (it seemed) of dozens of snickerdoodles! Christmas when my girls were growing up and how wonderful it was to have them with me, of me learning to put a bike together in the middle of the night, working at the flower shop until my legs felt like stubs, the girls and I making cookies, the year the cat kept knocking the tree down.

One of the sweetest memories of growing up was probably from the age of 6 to about 12. We didn't have much money and growing up we ate a lot of wild game - elk and deer. Grandpa saved the hides and then they were turned in for money to a company which dealt in things like that. For some unknown reason Jennie and I always thought that hide money was ours??????? I guess because Grandpa said it was and we rode down to the place with him to collect it. Grandpa split the money between us and we both ended up with about 7 or 8 dollars. We would spend the next day Christmas shopping at the dime store for EVERYONE. We bought things for our siblings, Mother and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, our uncle, our dogs, the neighbors, our friends. Then we'd come home and wrap everything. We really stretched those dollars and had so much fun.

This day was very quiet and I guess a good day to think about these things. Diane

My Christmas Card to You

Thirty years ago, ten years ago, even three years ago this thing we have would never have been. It's a miracle to me that at this time and place we have come together to form a blogging community which laughs with you, cries with you and supports you all the way. It occurred to me that there's no one to make you feel better when you hurt than a mother and we all are mothers to each other. I treasure each and every one of you.

On this blessed time of year I pray that each of you is constantly touched by God's love and grace. I pray that you will have the happiest of Christmases surrounded by the ones you hold most dear. For those of you who are traveling I pray for a safe trip back home. Merry Christmas!

Your friend, Diane

Now and Then

Here's my little cupboard now. I didn't decorate it much for Christmas this year. It's a bit of a catch-all for things that don't have a home right now. The little things in the brandy snifter were found in the flower beds, tortoiseshell comb, chandelier crystal, an old marble, things from the history of the house. The little squirrel dish catches loose change from Leonard's pockets which then goes to me! The little machine is the intercom between our house and his shop.

This is the way I decorated my little cupboard/cabinet last year. Every year is different. Even I don't know what it's going to look like next. Diane

Merry Little Christmas

We had a merry little Christmas today when my oldest daughter, Catherine, her husband and one of my granddaughters, Hannah spent the morning with us and had a Christmas dinner. It was great to see them and spend some precious time together.

They live in Billings and Hannah had to get back for her job which is only one of the things which keep this girl incredibly busy.

Like many of you my husband and I don't have one Christmas, we have it in stages. First when the packages are sent to the girls who live far away, this one, maybe a couple others, then the sacred and beautiful Christmas Eve. Diane

Getting Things Out

I moved everything in the house somewhere else today trying to find room for the Christmas tree. I don't know if you're like me or not but everything ends up in a terrible mess before I'm through...and I'm not sure that it's any better. Below is Rascal worrying about this situation.I found a lovely corner for the little pink tree and the pink lights made it all look like cotton candy.

Mr. Snowman plays a tune on his violin as all the animals dance around him. He's a gift from my husband. Diane

Laurie's Pink Ornament

Last year was the first that I participated in Deena's pink ornament swap http://deenasstory.blogspot.com/and this was the beautiful one I got from Lauriehttp://buttonsnlace.blogspot.com/. Her ornament will always be a tradition on my pink Christmas tree. She's going through a hard time right now from an injury to her shoulder. I offer up prayers for her whenever I look at her ornament and I'm reminded of her sweetness and generosity and creativity.

Diane

(If anyone can tell me how to add a link to my blog without the address showing I would really appreciate it.)