A Chatty Post From A Yule Fool

First off, family news:  Howard's Dad, recently hospitalized,
is home now and doing well; we are grateful for this,
and for all the warm good thoughts, prayers, and wishes from you.  

It's Christmas; the ornament wreath is hung in the Powder Room!

In other family news, Alida and Josh arrive at That Old House
on Wednesday next, to celebrate Christmas with us.
This absolutely delights me; we have not seen them since they left here after their wedding in June.
But it also makes me feel badly for Josh's family in California.
Why can't we all live in one place, piled on top of one another?

But it will be lovely to have all three of our young'uns with us at Christmas.

See how happy I look?

Should I do something different with my hair, do you think?

Alida has asked me what her Dad would like for Christmas.

Why are men so hard to buy for?

Or is it that we just don't want to buy what they really want?  :-)

Dear Daughter Anne,

If you take a look at this picture:

you will see that I need a new red candle.

Love, Mama

The backstory:  When Anne was very young, she gave me a red candle for Christmas,

so I would have something to put in this Swedish candleholder. 

She was extraordinarily proud of this gift, for it had been carefully chosen

with singleminded concentration and care.

Each year, she checked that the candle was in place at Christmastime.

Over the years, the candle bent, then finally broke, and I secretly replaced it with a new one.

She found out about my sleight-of-hand years later, and after that 

I decided that the candles in this candleholder will only ever be replaced by Annie herself.

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How sentimental do you get at Christmas?

If I'm not careful, I can melt into a puddle of nostalgic goo.

December 1989: Anne (L, 2-1/2) and Alida (3-1/2), in the dresses
I'd made for them for Thanksgiving that year.
This was right after Alida's nursery school Christmas pageant.
They are on an old oak Mission settee that is now in the Pink Room.
Typically, Anne looks thoughtful; Alida looks about to speak.

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Ritual.

What are your "firsts" at this time of the year?  What has to get done before anything else?

I hang the ornament wreath in the Powder Room, and decorate the feather tree for the kitchen:

Feather trees were probably the first faux Christmas trees, and migrated to the USA with

German immigrants in the late 1800s.  This one was a gift to me from my sister-in-law Doris

(I don't count our husbands in on this one, as this was definitely a girl-to-girl type gift).

It is from the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.  I went slightly bonkers buying wee little ornaments

for it, before realizing that if I kept adding ornaments, my feather tree would pretty much collapse.

Looking at it, though, I think it may need a few more . . . . 

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This year, I'm going to actually do some baking.

Just remind me not to eat any of it, OK?

My sister, and maybe my niece Mary, and I are planning a Baking Day for next week.

We've talked about this every year for several years; I vote that it's time to actually do it, don't you agree?

Peggy has my Mom's old cookie cutters.  Santa Boots and Christmas trees, here we come!

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Plaster Santa is out of his storage box.

If you think he looks like he's been in a terrible street fight,

it's because this old guy is older than I am,

and believe you me (as Grandma used to say), that's pretty old.

I rescued him a few years ago from my parents' garage, and nothing brings back

memories of my childhood Christmases like this St. Nick, chips and all.

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And then, there's Mary.

As we journey through Advent, preparing our homes and -- much more importantly -- ourselves

for the joyous celebration of the Gift of Jesus, I often think of Mary.

When I was expecting Alida, and, like Mary, great with child at Christmas,

I thought of what it was like for her.  Childbearing is no picnic under the best of circumstances.

But in possibly the worst circumstances I can imagine,

 Mary gave birth to the Light of the World.

What a very odd and wonderful way for a Saviour King to announce himself,

with the cry of a newborn, in the poorest of places.

My favorite line in the Christmas Story comes from Luke, Chapter 2, Verse 19,

in the beautiful words of the King James translation, after the shepherds visit and praise the infant Jesus:

". . . Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Such a Mother thing to do.

By the way, I was expecting Anne the following Christmas . . . but I didn't know it!

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 And now, adieu.

Mr. Dion DiPoochy is asking for some attention, and he shall get it.  -- Cass

Link Parties!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

Feathered Nest Friday makes its home at French Country Cottage.  Click here!

The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays.  Click here!

It's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground.  Click here!

Honey at 2805 is hosting a Christmas Tree Party today.  Click here!

It is part of the big Bloggers'  Block Party group of Link Parties.