Christmas Doings at our Home

Christmas is nearly here! The month of December is nearly over. We are about to turn the calendar page to 2017. And my blog image is still stuck in autumn. 

In late-October, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and started on a treatment plan. Instead of blogging in the evenings, I needed to heed what my body was telling me and rest and attempt to release the tension wracking my body. You see, hearing what it's saying is easy. Knowing what I ought to do is easy. But heeding what my body is saying is the hard part. But I'm getting better at it. And my sweet family has been a big help, enabling me to still enjoy the holiday season and rest when I need to do so.

In quick highlights, here's a glimpse at the Christmas doings in our family...

In early December, we drove north to spend a day with Max and take a plate of Christmas treats to the Coasties on his boat. Posing here before one of the many lobster trap Christmas trees that highlight the town greens of coastal Maine towns.

We fetched our Christmas tree from our local cut-your-own, family-run business, which is down a narrow, bumpy, dirt road. And the family offers their maple syrup for purchase with your Christmas tree. Love it! 

Decking the halls tops my list of favorite things to do at Christmas time! This year, I used these beautiful metal wreaths (an antique store find) mixed in with the ribbons on the stair garland.

My favorite new vignette this year though was this tray on the front entry table. Super simple! Quick instructions: take one large, silver tray and add clear glass cylinder candle holders and multiple mercury glass candle holders, add tea lights and various height white candles, fill in the gaps with mirrored and ivory-colored ornaments. Light and watch the magic happen...the ohhs and ahhhs!

The family room decked out for Christmas.

I've been having fun playing with the tabletop contents of the sofa table this year, with the intention being to provide interesting things for the grandkids to look at and/or touch. Top row, left to right: a glittery lamb under a cloche and on a majolica plate (to remind us that Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God), an antique basket full of mercury glass acorns and pinecones (because the real variety abound on our property), baby Jesus in a manger, a stack of antique Dickens Christmas books. Bottom row, left to right: a stack of coffee table Christmas books, a clove-studded orange in a pewter porridger, a book entitled An American Christmas, a book of Christmas poetry with a magnifying glass, and an antique crockery bowl filled with walnuts for cracking and eating.

My shop did fabulously this season, and I am immensely grateful for all my wonderful customers! Thank YOU!

We had our annual Christmas party. I felt well enough to bake cookies, but hired someone to clean my house for the first time in my life. Oh my. That is strange, and kind of wonderful! Those are cookies lined up as far as the eye can see.

Hubby and I are ready for the party!

It has been a delightfully snowy December! We don't always have snow before Christmas, so I'm really happy about this! Our front door on a snowy morning.

Lots of snow means lots of snow blowing! And lots of shoveling! But there's no shoveling for me this year. It's my season to just provide the hot coffee afterwards.

A gorgeous scene from rural New Hampshire as the storm moved out that evening.

The grandkids came over this week for a fun morning of candy making!

And now the presents are wrapped and under the tree! Max is home for Christmas! Everyone is spending Christmas at our home this year, and we are rejoicing at that!

A very blessed Christmas from our family to yours!