Good-bye Glitter ~

Good-bye glitter...

 

good-bye glitz...

good-bye sparkle.

 

Good-bye until next year. My, the house looks so bare!

 

Why is it so much fun to put up all of the Holiday decorations and so sad to take them down? The only one having fun is Miss Twiggley who thinks the round ornaments are balls to bat around, but at least she left them all alone when they were on the tree.

 

 

Merry Christmas ~

 

 

 

 

It Must almost be Christmas Eve

 

 

It must almost be Christmas Eve because...

the baking has begun;

 

 

 

The little Rudolph figure is in his spot;

 

the sugar plum tree is ready;

 

most of the packages are wrapped and the crackers are ready to put out for Christmas Eve dinner.

 

All of the Santa's are waiting for lift off;

 

the nutcrackers are tuning up;

 

and the garden tree in the entry is alight to greet guests!

 

The countdown for the holiday has begun and for some unbelievable reason, Miss Twiggley has left  all of the decorations alone ~ even the lace tree skirt in the front room!

 

Merry Christmas

 

Tree Skirt ~

I really wanted to make one of those wonderful ruffled tree skirts a la Miss Mustardseed this Christmas, but I ran out of time. So...

 

 

 



...as a stop-gap I pulled out some of my old lace curtains: drapped and layed them and came up with this.

My motto is: never throw away anything lace! You never know when it will come in handy.

 

 I rather like how it looks. And, I have decided that the time to make a new tree skirt is probably in the summer and not in those very busy weeks leading up to Christmas.

 

But for this year this will suffice. So far Miss Twiggley, amazingly enough, has left it all alone!

 

~ Merry Christmas ~

 

 

 

This post has been linked to: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

 , http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.com/, http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Un Petit-Déjeuner de Noël ~

 

A few days ago I invited six of the nicest people over for a holiday breakfast.

 

 It gave me the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe from Pinterest for a Christmas brunch casserole

 

Source: mydailymoment.com via Adrienne on Pinterest

 Potatoes, onions, mushrooms, bacon and cheese ~ doesn't this sound good, and an added plus: it can be made the day before and slipped in the oven an hour before serving.

 

I served it with fruit, scrambled eggs, and Merk's coffeecake (someday I will share this delicious recipe).

A fun and yummy way to enjoy this wonderful season: Christmas music, a fire in the fireplace, twinkling lights, decorations, good food and great conversation with wonderful friends; what could be better!

  Merry Christmas

Silver For Christmas ~

I love using silver to decorate for the holidays, it gives flare, adds to the glimmer and the shine...and  gives me a chance to take it out of the cupboards and use it. Last year I made this vignette in the china cabinet ~ all of my Santa's are there this year.

 

But across the room by the sink I have the perfect place. I really wanted to hang this silver tray and I wandered all over trying to find a spot, but it it just too big so instead I put it on a stand... 

...on one side of the ledge under the window above my sink.

 

 I added some fruit...

 

...greenery, sparkles, and candles. 

 

 Voila! Something festive and pretty to look at while I wash the dishes!



 

 Thank you for visiting.

 

 

Merry Christmas

This post has been linked to: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

 

 

A Reason to Smile ~ Snowmen

I had finished decorating the house for the holidays and was starting to put all of the containers away when I happened upon the one with all of my snowmen. I haven't put them out for a while and they looked so cute I couldn't stand it. I decided that they would add a festive note to my bedroom...

 

 

 

so here they are!

 

All different sizes and shapes...

 

some are riding on sleds...

and some are going skiing...

 

and some are happy just looking cute.

 

 Now every time I go in this room I have to smile.

 

Thank you for visiting, I hope you have lots of things to smile about during this glorious season.

 

This post has been linked to: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

 

Hooray!

 

 

 

 Hooray! I am finished. I put the out the final ornament, and like always when the house is decorated for the holidays I feel that I can start having fun and most of that fun is holiday entertaining...there is just something about all of the lights, glitter, and joy of the season than make it a special time to share your home with family and friends. I have a couple of new recipes to try and then some of the old: Christmas wouldn't be Christmas at Rose Arbors without beef stroganoff, minestrone soup...and Monkey Rolls of course.

 

Unfortunately as you can see my little helper is worn out ~ Until she gets rested up I think I will be cooking alone!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting. I hope that you are having lots of fun in this holiday season.

Maybe I could use a short nap too! 

 

Where to begin ~

 

 

 

I had the loveliest Thanksgiving and the next day my Sister came to spend the week with me, so all Christmas decorating was put on hold while we had fun: Shopping, movies, museums and eating out, plus lots of visiting and laughing!

 

Yesterday after I took her to the airport I came home, put away all of the fall decor, and lugged up the containers of Christmas decorations from the basement I wondered...just where to begin.

 

 

 

 

With Miss Twiggley still in her kitten stage I have decided that this will be the Christmas that, less is more. But I have so many cute things and in order to decide what to use everything had to come out.

 

 

 Now what should I go with....hummm, Santas, sparkly garlands? Definitely my Merry Christmas sign in the kitchen window

...and this magnolia garland looks great on the mantle...

 

 A candy shop always is fun in the kitchen and a good excuse to use cloches...

 

A little sled full of packages would be great in the entry hall...but where could I put all of the snowmen, they are very cute too and what says Christmas better than Santas.

 

 It would be a shame not to hang this wreath in the family room...and so it goes. But I still don't quite know where to begin!

 

Thank you for visiting. I hope that your holiday decorating is going well...perhaps unlike me you are already done!

 

 

 

Traditions ~

 

 

Thanksgiving dinner is at Rose Arbors, everyone will be here: my children and grandchildren.  Last Thanksgiving my oldest grandson Samuel was away with the marines, but this year he is home, back at college and will be joining us ~ what a joy it will be to see them all together gathered around the table to celebrate this feast of thankfulness and plently.

 

 

 

As I began to prepare the food today I thought of the iconic dishes we will be eating and how this is a dinner that doesn't allow for many diviations. Oh sure, it is fun to try a new recipe or two but the menu largely remains the same. And one of those dishes that would be missed is the very trite, but really yummy Green Bean Casserole. The first time I ever ate it was at my then future mother-in-law's house, the remarable Lola Philp: cook extrodinaire, artist, seamstress, with inexhaustible enery and a zest for living.  Many of these traits were passed on to her son who became my wonderful husband and partner in life. Since then, I cannot remember a Thanksgiving dinner without this dish, and I have always served it in a pyrex cassorole given to me one Christmas by the self same mother-in-law. 

 

As I gathered together the ingrediants, it came to me that food is much more than simple nourishment but also envokes memories of the people we sit down to eat with, past and present and how these simple acts make up the traditions that bind us and enrich our lives.

 

 

So I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends, emjoying old traditions and creating new ones.

 

Bon Appetite!