We Need a Little Christmas Right This Very Minute!!!

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Seems that I have been "in absentia" from blogland again. In fact, I've been "in absentia" long enough that I've started getting SOSes from several of you wondering if I'm still alive and well.

I am.

I'm afraid I've just gotten my little life into a very regular and very boring (as far as blog fodder goes) rut. When that happens, I find myself avoiding making a post rather than settling for a ho-hum-who-wants-to-read-THAT one.

But today - - - ho-hum or not - I'm posting so you, my dear bloggy friends, can stop worrying over me.


With Christmas just around the corner, I have tried to bring a modicum of holiday cheer to the old place.

I used to spend several days on the Christmasizing process. However, as I've gotten OLD I've learned a trick or two about putting out a few larger items which evoke the holiday spirit without all the hours I used to spend to achieve the same effect.

Take this (above) genuine antique chamber pot sporting "the holly and the ivy" which are of course actually fake pine and artificial red berry thingies.

But - - - I like it - - - it says "Merry Christmas" to me each time I pass.


My nutcrackers are also good holiday greeters. Here's the "king of them all" standing guard at the front door.


If you look under my antique dressing-table-turned-buffet, you will see - - -

A whole covey of them.

I tossed a Christmas print afghan and an angel pillow on the love seat to give it that little Noel touch.


I just love this washstand that Sister Pam passed down to me when she moved to Florida and didn't think it would blend with her Sunshine State decor.

The white bowl and pitcher live here year round - - - but a little more of the faux "holly and ivy" with a pair of red candles "spruces" it right up!!! Pun definitely intended.


Speaking of the faux "holly and ivy" - - - another strand with a string of lights intertwined through its boughs gives the top of the entertainment center a little "Je ne sais quoi."

I'm especially fond of the spray of cranberries which rise above the whole thing like rooster spike hair on the crown of a baby's head.

Remember - - - "this here's" cranberry country!


Some of my "touches of Christmas" have a very sentimental value - - - if precious little monetary worth. Take this crystal pedestal bowl for example.


The bowl itself was a wedding present way back in the mid 70's. The small glass ornaments in the bowl were among the Christmas decorations Fisherhubby and I bought to decorate our very first matrimonial tree 37 years ago. That first tree sported a string of lights, these tiny red spun glass ornaments, and tinsel. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Of course - - - 37 Christmasses ago they were bright red. The years have faded them to a lovely crackled pink. You'll have that.

The Christmas Critters have come out to play!!!

These are my very FAVORITE kind of critters.

No litter box.

No hair left behind on the furniture.

No smelly food dishes.

No critter spew-ups.

(name that movie - "If you're going to spew, spew in this!)

And of course we have the traditional Christmas Moose.

What, you DON'T have a Christmas Moose???? You don't think a moose is traditional???

Well, go figure.


Early in our marriage we only had one nativity. It was a cheap "one-sided," all one piece, plastic creche which had been given to me in the Christmas gift exchange when I was in elementary school. I don't even know what happened to it.

But when our children came along, we purchased the nativity set pictured above.

It is still my favorite, though two more have now joined it in our holiday entourage.

This one was a gift from my Father-in-Law and his wife, Robin.

This Willow Tree nativity was a gift from my dad the first Christmas after mom went to Heaven. I believe she helped him pick it out before she departed this world.


Since our floor space is very limited in this duplex (which we LOVE, BTW- - - the duplex, not the lack of floor space) this little wooden candle holder table tree is the only tree I put up.

It also has sentimental value to me as I ordered it from a catalog 20+ years ago.

I didn't really miss a big TREE last year - - - but I did SORELY miss the lights.

So, my brain had a storm the other day, and here is what I put up instead of a tree:


A prelit wreath on the patio doors with two more soldiers standing guard at its base.


I decorated the wreath with the bow I tied for the TOP of our former 9 foot tree and a collection of ornaments that evoke various strains of nostalgia for me.


And best of all - - - - it has the tiny white Christmas lights that I love so much!!!

I don't know if I'll do another Christmas blog post or not - - - but just in case - - - let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends, but most of all I hope you remember He Who is the Reason for the Season.

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