Happy Holidays

I am wishing for you the most joyous of days during this holiday season. May your hearts be filled with laughter and love and inspire you to keep the Christmas spirit all year long. I will be taking a break from blogging for a while to enjoy my family. I will be back in the new year. Merry Christmas.

CHRISTMAS IN THE KITCHEN

A few years ago when I told my husband that I wanted to redo the kitchen and paint the wall a burnt cinnamon color he was a little surprised. But as always he let me run with it and I have loved it ever since. The tree in the kitchen has all bronze ornaments.

Above the sink is a garland with shiny balls.



And more garland above the oven.
 
A little basket sits on the counter.


Near the kitchen is the piano all decorated up for the holiday.

FIVE ON FRIDAY

Today I attended a luncheon at my friend Frannie’s home. I can’t believe that I forgot my camera because the house was decorated so beautifully for Christmas. So I will try to describe the afternoon with words.

Five reasons to love visiting Frannie:

1. Frannie is by far the best hostess in the world. She is exuberant and always cheerful and it is obvious that she loves having company. She was dressed with a beautiful poinsettia sweater for the occasion with jingly earrings and a blingy bracelet.  She arranges everything with such grace that the afternoon flowed with good conversation and great food.  

2. Speaking of the food, we enjoyed such a delicious luncheon. First we chose our beverage and were served a white or black Christmas tea. We began our meal with a colorful jello salad. Homemade chicken noodle soup was just perfect for such a cold day and the egg salad croissant sandwiches made by her husband tasted so good. For dessert we had red velvet cake or pound cake.

3. The table was a delight. Frannie has a large dining room with a long table which was decked with a runner and matching placemats. The red napkins were in a variety of napkin rings in the shape of deer or crystal red and green berries. The china with its holly pattern was just perfect for the occasion and the centerpieces of Christmas balls and candles gave a wonderful ambience.

4. The house was bedecked with Christmas from the nutcracker collection in front of the fireplace to the trees with homemade needlepoint ornaments (made by Fran, of course). There were many trees each more festive than the last. It was hard to pick a favorite from the jewelry tree, the white tree in the kitchen, the living room tree, the large tree upstairs or the peacock tree in the dressing room. Everywhere you looked was filled with Santas, wreathes and angels Her beautiful home was shown in all its glory with her remarkable taste in decorations.

5. Friendship warmed the room as friends conversed and caught up on news around the table. At this holiday time it is important to connect with those you care about and Fran made this possible. Her love of people and her passion for entertaining was shown in all she did to make the afternoon special. We all received a beautiful musical ornament which we will treasure.

Are you hunkered down?

It looks like winter storm Draco is coming our way with snow in the forecast. We’ve had such a mild winter this year that it will be a novelty to even see snow. Just in case you’ve forgotten here are some pictures from past snows.

I couldn’t even see out the front window…that’s a lot of snow!

Some vintage Christmas wishes

Tis the season..

Gettin’ Ready

The guests are welcomed at the door
The gifts are piled upon the floor
The cook is making gingerbread
And all are waiting to be fed
The corn is popping almost done
Come and get it everyone!
A taffy pull is in full swing
Cheerful, merry voices ring
The stockings hang all in a row
Outside it has begun to snow
The younger tots have said their prayers
And now are fast asleep upstairs
But one sits by a candlestick to wait awhile for Old St. Nick
The older children laugh with glee and dance and caper 'round the tree
A train for Jack, a doll for Jill, a scarf for Anne and Gloves for Bill
Underneath the mistletoe Jane steals a kiss from her best beau!
Hot things to drink, good things to eat
For every child a special treat
The grown-up folks sit by the grate
The clock says that it's growing late
Everybody stops to spy the Christmas star up in the sky
The Christmas carols now begin
With everybody joining in
And all the doors are opened wide to welcome in the Christmastide!
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Maybe our Christmas won’t be exactly like this poem but there will be good eats, good conversation, and great family time. We are gettin’ ready to have a wonderful family Christmas.

Christmas Magic

Are we too grownup to feel a thrill
As we light the Christmas tree?
Are we immune to cookies,
Christmas cards and Christmas glee?

Are we too adult to "Ooh" and "Aah"
At the Christmas candle's glow?
Are we blasé about our gifts;
Do we shun the mistletoe?

Are we too mature for carols,
For merry or for jolly?
Do the decorations leave us cold,
The ornaments and holly?

Fat chance! We'll never grow too old
To love the Christmas magic.
A year without a Christmas
Would be boring, even tragic.

So bring it on! The candy canes,
The feasting and good cheer;
O Christmas, lovely Christmas,
You're the highlight of the year!

By Joanna Fuchs

COOKIE DAY

It’s a tradition at my house and I’m sure it’s one at yours too. The cookie making. Last year I did a marathon cookie making all in one day but this year just made two different kinds…peanut butter blossoms and date creams. But I’m also trying a new recipe for nut roll bread. Tomorrow I’ll make snowballs and maybe a few sugar cookies. There’s nothing like homemade cookies, yummmm.

Parenthood-the Tv show

Have you seen this show?  Parenthood? I never watched it before even though it had one of the Gilmore girls starring in it. I can’t believe I had missed this excellent show. Now I’m watching every episode from the beginning with Netflix. I have been obsessed with it. Every time I have a free hour the tv is on and I’m glued to it. It’s one of those shows that keeps getting better and better.
Here’s a little about the show.

Billed as a re-imagined and updated spin on the movie of the same name, the show follows several generations of the Braverman family. Sarah (Lauren Graham) kicks off the show by moving to Berkeley to be closer to the rest of the tribe. A single mother who isn’t exactly financially secure, the move offers stability (hopefully) for her two teen children. Sarah’s older brother, Adam (Peter Krause), is dealing with issues himself, because his “eccentric” son may have bigger problems than we thought, this apparently being the combo-spin on the kid who rammed walls with a bucket on his head and the one who was uber-tense.

Meanwhile, sister Julia (Erika Christensen) is the straight-laced Yin to Sarah’s easy-going Yang. A corporate attorney, Julia is having trouble coping with the tight-wire act that is having a successful career and being a mom. Especially when her adorable daughter looks to stay-at-home-dad for all those little “motherly” bits Julia wants to do.

We’ve also got younger brother Crosby, a commitment-phobe and generally slackerish sort, who can’t figure out what to do with the relationship he’s in. His life shoots to DEFCON 5 when his past shows up at his door, and he’s never going to be the same again.

Finally, patriarch Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) isn’t helping anyone with his over-the-top, everything’s-a-war attitude, and the response he’s most likely to get at any juncture is an eye-rolling, “Oh… come on, Dad,” as he pushes forward with his not-to-be-dismissed theories. After all, he raised four kids. And yet, it seems that there may be a great uncertainty hiding behind the bull that is Dad, and perhaps he is never more sure of himself than when he is really pretending to be sure of himself.

The show gets things right, and it’s good to know that Ron Howard mentions this, because it’s actually about parenthood. Don’t let that slide past you too quickly. Lauren Graham may play the central character (and I can’t imagine it without her), but it isn’t about her. It isn’t about this family either, though this is the one we’re using. It’s about parenthood. That simple and amazing transition of self-awareness that moves from “these are mine,” to “I am theirs,” parenthood (and no one involved with the show is responsible for this politically incorrect statement) is in fact the main part of personhood, and the staggering beauty of both adventures is that no one gets it right.

What is your favorite show?

Five on Friday

Here are five of my favorite photographs with quotes:

A new video

my ordinary day from Peg Karrasch on Vimeo.

Everyone could use a laugh now and then

Did you ever wonder if a sense of humor is an inherited trait? It seems that some families are born with a natural talent for seeing the funny side of life. They laugh a lot, tell jokes, and play pranks on each other all in good fun. They can make a simple trip to the supermarket sound like a comedy routine. They have the gift of gab and can hold their audience at attention as long as they can talk. They smile a lot, are funny, and we love to have them around because they raise the attitude of the room with their happiness and belly laughs. 
  Then there is the quieter families, the more serious. They find things funny in a simpler way, appreciating irony and the finer points of juxtaposition. It isn’t that funny things don’t happen to them, it’s just that they don’t go around telling everyone about them and laughing. Once in a rare while they have a laughing fit and it feels great but on a daily basis a smile is as big as it gets. They don’t want to hold center stage and will rarely tell a joke and never to a large audience. Maybe they will pass one on in an email or tell a close friend.
   Where do you fit? Are you the humorous family or the quieter one?

12.12.12

Wouldn’t you like to have just one day in the past recorded. It might have been just an ordinary day in your life. Nothing special. Just one of those days where you went about your daily business. We always take pictures at special occasions, when we are dressed up and at our best. But we don’t remember those regular times doing dishes or fixing dinner or reading. How I would have loved to have a picture of my mom standing at the stove getting dinner ready for the family, just having an ordinary conversation with me about my day. Our minutes are precious and don’t all have to be special.
  That is the theory behind Xanthe’s course that I’ve been taking. Just record a day. A regular, ordinary day. She has asked everyone to participate in recording in photos, videos, or journals what you were doing on 12/12/12.

In Xanthe’s words….

’m inviting you to make your own Time Capsule. Make it your way. That’s the beauty of it. We all have our own tale to tell… Through video, photos, writing. Whatever! Let’s use this historic day of 12.12.12 to focus on being present. Really be present in the moment, recognising and acknowledging our everyday lives and deciding what we want to remember. The beauty is, you’ll then have this day in your life to look back on

My day was ordinary with a few bits of extraordinary fun. I went to the eye doctor (ordinary) and a Kinzua Kuties Christmas luncheon. (extraordinary. Then I took my Sadie for a walk (ordinary) and played on the computer (ordinary). Now I’ll put it all together in a
movie/picture show with music. I’ll post it later.

The Little Ones

PLAYING WITH PIXLR

Today I discovered Pixlr, a free photo program. I love taking my photos and adding effects and quotes. Xanthe (my guru) says that you should not be afraid of putting yourself into your photos so I tried a few old photos of me.

Christmas Past

In 2007 we were at Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina.

 
IN 2008 we were in Bradford.

2009 found us at home but the kids came up in January.

2010 Everyone was here for Christmas


2011 We were in Boiling Springs for Christmas and went to Tennessee afterwards.