Finally!!

After many delays, the tree finally arrived...and, of course, there is a tale to tell but first, let's go into the family room-finally-now that it is as complete as it is going to get.

This year I went ahead and added the Santas that I made from beeswax many, many years ago. I thought they looked cute with more bottle brush tress and I haven't had them out for awhile. It's kind of like seeing old friends.

I still love this Santa that I made way back when women's magazines shared patterns for so many things.

Both of the Nutcracker pillows on the couch were gifts given to serve as reminders of the many, many times we took all of our grand daughters to see the ballet and then on to a special evening downtown. We would still be doing it if the school that put on our favorite production was still doing it. It was a lovely tradition that we were sorry to see stop. I also just heard that our favorite horse and carriage rides around the square are no longer happening this year-have I told you how much I dislike change? Lol

So now the unveiling of my first ever faux tree. I am not going to say that this isn't going to take some getting used to. As you know, I don't like change and I have never had a faux tree so this was a high hurdle for me to overcome. But, it just seemed to be the right time. Since I couldn't find one locally that "fit the bill", I had to order online and if you know me, you know that this is not my favorite thing to do. I like to see, feel, etc. what I am buying before I buy it but....and so began the tree saga of 2023. There is almost always a story with my life events and this was no exception. The delivery date changed 5 times and then went to "pending" with no date available for 2 days but, while I was out of town it finally got delivered.

By the time I got home it was well after 8 and we had had a super busy day so I left the opening until Saturday morning. Yikes!!! All of the things I hoped it would not be, it is! It took me 3 hours to "fluff"-I am actually still tweaking that but that is just my OCD self. I finally decided that there was NO way I could get all of the gaps filled in-as it appears to be in the picture from the site where it was ordered-and, honestly, real trees have their share of gaps as well, so I'm learning to accept it with all of its flaws.

I will never love it as much as a real tree-I definitely miss the smell-but, it just makes the most sense for where I am in life at this point. Of course, there is no way I will be able to cram it back in the box it came in and it weighs 51 pounds so I probably won't be able to put it up on the top garage shelf that I had planned on but, that will be a question for a later date-one dilemma at a time. Lol

I am really glad that I went with 7.5' and 60" diameter. As one of my grand children said, "it actually looks just like the trees you always get". And she is right. If you stand far enough away, tilt your head just right and squint your eyes...Lol

In any case, now I need to move on to the rest of the holiday-like getting my cookies baked, buying and wrapping presents, etc.

Throwing in just a few pictures from our traditional Christmas trip to Eustis and Mt. Dora. Jen, Presley and I had so much fun and actually got a fair amount of shopping done as well. And, of course, it doesn't hurt that both of these small towns get decked out like a Hallmark movie...so much fun!

I think there is only a bit of the tour left but it will have to wait a few days as this is looking like a busy, fun week. Tomorrow an old friend is coming for the day and then I also have a hair appointment and some errands for Tuesday and then a luncheon at daughter #3's on Wednesday. She thought it would be fun to have two of her high school friends and their moms along with me and herself for a reunion kind of day. The girls were close when younger and that meant we moms were friends as well but, as life will do, we only occasionally see each other these days so it should be fun to have a chance to catch up. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Wellllll!

 I am back but I am still right in the midst of another one of my "if you give a mouse" episodes. I'm not really sure how I get into these situations but in it I am! More about that later but for now, why don't we head into the kitchen and see how it is decked out this year?

I'm loving my new "Magnolia" tea towel that my brother and sister-in-law brought me from their visit to Waco and the Silos. 

I went ahead and put my cookie and candy molds back out this year along with my pot holder made by my sister-in-law and plates made by my daughters and grand children. I love that old carpenter's box. I also added a few bottle brush trees to the tray that holds the oils, etc.

 The sleigh on the window sill is an antique given to me by my mom. She wasn't really into antique hunting-at least not that I knew of-but she seemed to find me something special each year just because she knew how much old Christmas things mean to me. The sleigh is pretty roughly made-definitely not something done by a skilled wood worker but I love it. And, it is just the right size to hold one of my favorite Santas. The small Santa and bag on the shelf are salt and pepper shakers and another antique gift from her.

 

I still love those small Santa drawings that I bought wholesale years ago when I was involved in a small country store. My friends and I would go to wholesale shows and buy the things we liked...sometimes some of them even made it into the shop...but mostly, into our homes. Lol

The tree plate on the left was a wedding gift 58 years ago. I got married 2 days after Christmas and this is probably one of the only wedding gifts that still survive-other than silver. Because of this gift, I took to giving a Christmas item as wedding gifts for others over the years. I remember the people that gave that to us every year that I take it out and I hope that the recipients of my gifts are thinking about me as well!

And there you have the kitchen for this year. Not sure when I will be back. I am in the middle of my "mouse" chaos. Since the rooms were all emptied for the carpet cleaning and the drapes were down for cleaning as well, I decided that before I moved any of the furniture back, I needed to clean everything else as well. I am in the middle of putting clean sheets on all of the beds, washing all of the throws, blankets and throw pillows as well as "beating" and plumping all of the furniture cushions. I figured this was the best time to get it done. And, of course, the furniture is all going back and I'm trying to de-clutter some of the stuff going back into it all! Every bone in my body hurts-even ones I didn't know I had! If you are ever going to come visit me, do it now because I am pretty sure my house won't be quite this clean for a long time to come! I am trying to get it all done today as my first faux tree-sob-is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. But, I haven't received an update on the delivery since the day it was shipped so we shall see! Fingers crossed I will be decorating it soon-and that it sort of resembles a tree! Lol

Off I go to rehang the drapes, etc., etc. Stay safe and stay tuned!

Best Laid Plans

So much for the best laid plans! But, I'll get to that later...let's jump over the kitchen and into the dining room today-you'll see why later as well.

Here is the first place you'll see the candy canes I made a few years ago. I don't know why, but I love these things. Actually, I think you saw one tucked into the Santa mailbox and there is another in a small LR arrangement that I didn't show...and you will see more later. Even though I made so many, I'm kind of wishing I had made more because they just look cute tucked into so many different things.

Here is another place I am missing my fresh greenery. I used to have a lot behind the nativity set and more in an urn on the side board. So far I'm coping better than I thought I would. Lol The two stars that you see were both gifts from my cousin-the top wood one is made with buttons found in our Nana's button box and the smaller one by the nativity is felted

I did the side board a little differently this year-I wanted to incorporate some of my silver. Both the bowl and pitcher were wedding gifts and the silver candle sticks were my mom's and the pewter ones are mine purchased many years ago. I haven't used my silver much because I always thought I needed to have it polished-and that was a job I didn't love. Now, I lean much more to the tarnished look-I love that it shows its years-much like me. Lol

If you are REALLY, REALLY observant, you may have already noticed the abundance of candle rings this year even in just these first two rooms I have shown you. I bought some of them to cut up for use as small greenery for other projects when I couldn't find any others that I liked and then, because I still can't seem to squeeze out time for said projects, I became obsessed with using them. Of course, most of them had openings too large for where they were going so I had to get busy and jerry-rig some bases so they would stop sliding down but I think I figured it out!

And, that is the dining room. You may wonder why I skipped over the kitchen to this room but, in full disclosure, I promised you I would show you what I was anticipating my house would look like-and oh boy was I right. This is what it looked like a mere 24 hours ago and here it is now.

And the living room...

After I emptied all of the furniture in the 4 bedrooms, daughter #3 and my grand children ran by to help me move out the heavier pieces of furniture. And then my daughter, the designer says, "Mom, you really should get rid of all of this furniture. Just look how huge the rooms look with it out!". Yeah right...might not be a bad idea but then where is all of this "stuff" supposed to go? I do think I will try to simplify before I put everything back where it came from but honestly, my life seems to go by Murphy's Law. Truly, if I get rid of something that I have had and haven't used for years today, I will fall in love with a new decor or craft idea tomorrow that uses EXACTLY what I just got rid of. I know that statement is hard to believe but I can't tell you how many times it has happened to me!!

The rooms do look huge now...the other 2 aren't completely cleaned out yet because I need to function in them until tomorrow morning!

Of course, once I got this far I realized that the curtains will be a pain and they really could use a refresh as well so I took them down and they're already in the washer. Now I am off to vacuum the rooms and then go around and clean where the carpet meets the wall and all of the baseboards. And so, so much for my best laid plans of giving my aching back a bit of a break today...and one more reason why I am feeling definitely more behind this year than ever-not to mention that my tree delivery has now been changed the fifth time! I just might be decorating like the good old days-on Christmas Eve!

I am hoping that while I am "stuck" in my uncarpeted, safe family room tomorrow while the rest of the house is abuzz, I can maybe get some Christmas cards addressed and a few lists-like cookies, Christmas dinner, and such-put together. I haven't actually bought the first gift this year but now that my grandchildren are all older, cash has become the gift of choice-along with their annual Christmas ornament...so, not a lot of shopping involved. And then, we have started doing a White Elephant with everyone included. That one might be a bit trickier as we go from age 14 to age 76 and I would like it to actually be something that the majority would like/use and won't just be thrown away so I guess I will set off for that little adventure later this week.

So, I am off. Not sure when I'll be back because putting this house back together might involve some effort and then I am off to Eustis and Mt. Dora for a day with daughter #3 and grand daughter #5. A fairly new tradition for us but one that Presley loves so, any time a grandchild wants to spend time with her mom and Nana, we're only too happy to oblige. Stay safe and stay tuned.