~December So Far~

 Yes, indeed- this is exactly how December is making me feel!!

The advent garland was hung and filled December 1st . . .

And then ever so slowly the house was festooned . . .
in the livingroom, with a boxwood wreath, paper whites, wonky advent garland and sleeping kitty . . .

and in the kitchen, with more paper whites, and my brand new (early) birthday gift: this awesome shelf from World Market! Thank you, Grammie! :)

I bought this wooden village five or so years ago and bleached the bottle brush trees turning them from a bright emerald green to a more subdued green and golden-white. One of my favorite things!

The decorating continued off the kitchen to the basement entry. . .

Getting to go by this little house all lit up just gives me oodles of joy :) And I go up and down those basement stairs A LOT.

Also in the nook, hanging from my bird hook is one of my most treasured Christmas items- this stocking was my grandfather's from when he was a little boy . . . and then it was mine all the way through my childhood. It's grown so thin and threadbare that I chose not to use it for either of my boys, but instead I display it every year. It has little nursery rhyme scenes all stitched up with blue thread, tied with a red ribbon and some very old jingle bells. <LOVE> 
The snowflake was a gift from our Belgian friend. He knows I have a weakness for blue and white Wedgwood. ;)

And in the diningroom more Christmas abounds . . .

The picture below is the one and only I had time to take on the evening of our annual Caroling Party . . . we worked frantically non-stop all day long to get everything ready- but we think it turned out well despite the crazy. Lots of hot buttered rum does that. ;) 

Our tree was put in a corner by the hall . . .

I was really happy with how it turned out this year . . . we used 1,000 brand new white lights and only the white, silver, clear or gold ornaments in our collection. I say was happy because two days later and those lights suddenly stopped working. Yep- nothing but real life here.

Speaking of real life- there is way more than Christmas in our December . . . I've been kept on my toes with bad cats. . .

school concerts and events, lots of ebay orders (yay!) and lots of birthdays . . . so far my grandfather's- this feltie squirrel is for him...

and the Husband's- the Oldest made him breakfast and I baked him a cake . . .

and then next up is my own birthday and finally my brother-in-law's. So December so far is like every December . . . very, very full. :)
And it won't be too much longer until I can do this . . . !

Happy Holiday everyone!

~Cousins 'n Cookies~

Lucky me!

My sweet niece and her mommy came to visit last weekend. It's been a whole eighteen months since I last saw her so having her here was like an early Christmas gift.

So what do you do with three cousins on a rainy, cold December afternoon?

Bake Christmas cookies, of course!

And decorate them carefully once they've cooled . . .

so after dinner we can eat them.

Topped off with a warm fire and some cozy Christmas story reading, the simplest visits are always the best.

Cheers!

~Little Christmas House~

 The lights have been hung 'round the eaves . . .

The wreath is on the door . . .

And there's a snowman 'round the corner of my little Christmas house.

Snow lays on the ground, on the trees and lumps into the window boxes while I peek out between the shutters to marvel at the 

all-white world around me.

When I climb up to the attic I can look out to see for miles. Far away, a bit to the west and down in the valley I can see another house.

My son's house.

He built it when he was just eight years old . . . and it's been proved well made over these years. It lies in a drift on the valley floor, snug and solid and I can just make out his blue lights on his tree out front.

Lovely to have him so close for visits hearth side.

 Tomorrow he can bring his mom some more logs for her fire if the day is fine. I'll be baking cookies in anticipation.

And now it's time to heat the milk, put out the cat, and brave the cold bed sheets. Night comes so early in December.

Goodnight, son.

Goodnight little Christmas house.

Cheers!

~ Ahhh, December ~

December around here is very slowly making itself known. My Christmas decorating can be likened to a home improvement project- 90% prep work, 10% finishing/fun and always more time needed to get it done then you would imagine. And money of course . . .

except for this year. At this point Husband has been unemployed for ten months so this is the year we aren't doing presents! Believe it or not, I am super relieved. Don't misunderstand- I LOVE giving gifts . . . really, really love it and I am already missing getting a stocking together for my mom and kids, etc . . . BUT, this year I have been given the gift of simplicity. All the time I usually spend making for loved ones, wrapping, planning- shopping- instead I get to do the projects for myself I never end up having time for . . . like a snowflake garland I've had on the brain for three Christmases now, and maybe this will be the year I actually finish the little vintage Christmas shadow box I started like 5 years ago. I always dream of cookie baking time with my kiddos and making my own tree garland. THIS will be the year!

And, obviously, there is no money for enhancing any Christmas decorating, so I will only be using whatever I have on hand- and again- not a problem! My mind has been spinning like a little top with all sorts of "I could use this for that" sort of thinking, and the only thing stopping me from full-on Christmas decorating insanity is... the prep work.

Yup- I am a pre-Christmas cleaner. Full on, baby. As you can see, I even get down to the chandelier 'crystals'. Not a decoration- not a thread of tinsel- comes up from the basement until the living/dining areas are gleaming.

Oh, and I have a little bit of sliver to polish, too.

So, the tree remains in the garage, the lights in their storage bin (half of which I'm sure won't even light up) and Windex and Wright's Silver Cream are my bff's- at least for the moment.

Come on- someone tell me I'm not the only one . . . please!

. . . Dust the halls with the Swiffer dust pad! fa la la la laaa la la la la

. . . Gleaming silver makes me feel glad! fa la la la laaa la la la la

. . . Donning now rubber gloves and comet! fa la la la la la la la la 

. . . Just in case the cats do vomit! fa la la la laaa la la la la

Cheers!