Today I’m going to talk about a book and about a family story. The book made a real impact on me, and it cleared the way for me to memorialize a family story without keeping the artifact. That’s what this book is all about.
Click into photo to connect to my Amazon Associates link.
Nine days until Christmas! I’m hustling and bustling now that I’ve got my wheels back after my surgery. What about you?
We started collecting Dickens Village houses and accessories many years ago. My mom had a village and my sister-in-law had a village. It was a perfect gift that went on giving year after year — until we all ran out of room. We got each other themed houses based on our jobs and hobbies. We were not slaves to Department 56, and supplemented our collections with resin figures rather than the porcelain ones that break. Over the years in different houses and different communities, it wasn’t Christmas until our Dickens Village went up. Continue reading!
Do you have the ubiquitous giant mirror over your sideboard? I see large mirrors used over and over again in home decor, and they are usually over the sideboard, over the couch, or over the fireplace. We have one over the sideboard and one over the piano, and at Christmas time they need to be decorated.
I have not been happy with the lighting situation on my grapevine wreath that hangs in front of the mirror over my sideboard, and I haven’t been too thrilled with the decor I’ve slapped on over the years. I decided this year to be more intentional about creating a vignette with the mirror and wreath.
Where does one go to get inspiration? Why Google images, of course, and then on to Pinterest. At first I thought I’d do something traditional with the party at the bottom, like this.
Click into photo to see the Pinterest entry
14 Days until Christmas finds me back at the table creating a new tablescape. This week, we’re linking up to Cuisine Kathleen for a tablescaping challenge.The Challenge from Cuisine Kathleen: You must show us your inspiration picture from a magazine or internet, and then show us how you copied it.
The Inspiration: from Veranda magazine (November-December 2013) — wait for it.
Veranda magazine cover November-December 2013
No, this is not the inspiration, although I absolutely love the centerpiece with the amaryllis blossoms.
This is my inspiration — statuary with natural elements, back-grounded by wintry snow and recreated on my table as the Naturally Art Nouveau Tablescape.
Photo of statuary decorated for Christmas from Veranda magazine, November-December 2013.
When I first saw this photo, I knew that I had elements of this look to create a beautiful tablescape for Kathleen’s challenge. The inspiration photo screamed Art Nouveau, and I had just the pieces to bring the naturalistic style to life. Art Nouveau is an international philosophy of design that was very popular from 1890 to 1910. It was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants, but also in curved lines. Designers created art that was intended to harmonize with the natural environment. Continue reading
15 days until Christmas, and we’re making progress. How are you doing?Over the last two weeks I have made two recipes from Damaris Phillips’s new show on the Food Network, entitled Southern At Heart. And they were both fabulous.
I’m going to be perfectly frank here; I was not convinced about Damaris when she won Food Network Star this year. Although I liked loved her unfiltered personality, I wasn’t sure that she had what it takes to join Alton, Giada, Ree, or even Guy (not my favorite) on her own show.
She has proven me wrong.
I like everything about the show. I like how she starts by visiting a local Louisville purveyor to get her special ingredient. I like the guys who have signed on to be taught to cook a special meal for their sweethearts. I like her sass and I like her recipes.
Recipes are where it’s at in the rundown to Christmas.
What is usable and what is not? If you are going to try something new that’s out of your traditional rut, where do you want to go?
Beer Mac and Cheese. Click into photo for recipe.
We made the Beer Cheese and Mac and her Curry Cauliflower and Rice casserole in the last two weeks, and they were both winners in the empty nest. I highly recommend that you consider these recipes for your Christmas entertaining. Both have unexpected ingredients that take a familiar recipe to the next level, and that’s why I recommend them.
On the Christmas countdown tally sheet, we’ve ticked off some items. We set up the three new pillow top mattress sets in anticipation of the Christmas Gathering of the Clan, bought a paper towel holder (isn’t it always the mundane things that drive you crazy when people are working in your kitchen?), and talked to the visiting English chef/daughter’s boyfriend about the menu. He says he can make naan bread from scratch. Really??? I’m pretty sure I would buy it from my local Indian market — we live in Chicagoland and we are fortunate that there are actually Indian markets that are likely to be open on Christmas day, but I’m willing to let him do whatever he wants. That’s what I promised, a no-drama mama Christmas. 🙂
How are you doing on your preparations? Do you have your gifts purchased? I’m almost done with that as well; thank goodness for online shopping! Thanks for stopping by to see how Music Man and I are getting ready for Christmas in our empty nest.
Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
17 days until Christmas! Did you have a busy weekend? We sure did here in our empty nest — music, shopping, decorating galore! That’s when a good crockpot recipe is just the thing, and today I’m sharing one of the best.When your days are so busy that you don’t have time to cook, and when you need a potluck dish for a crowd, Calico Baked Beans are sure to be a hit. I shared this special crockpot recipe for entertaining a crowd last year. Please click here for the best hearty bean and meat stew that you will encounter all season!
Click into photo for the recipe.
We were so busy decorating that I didn’t get time to take any good photos for this week’s posts, but I intend to remedy that soon. I snapped a few for Facebook, but we have some wonderful things to share with you WHEN they are totally finished and photographed. Thanks for joining us for 25 Days of Christmas in the Empty Nest.
Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
18 Days til Christmas! What’s going on in your neck of the woods? We’re busy ordering things online for our Christmas celebration, and that includes Christmas crackers.Did you think I was crazy for ordering crackers online? I know, you can buy just about any gourmet foodstuff online these days, but those aren’t the crackers I’m talking about.
Because we are having British Christmas and we are a musical family, I ordered Concerto Christmas Crackers
Family togetherness, music, and silly crowns to wear on Christmas Day. What more could you and your family want?
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Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
20 Days til Christmas — but who’s counting? Well, that would be me and many of you, I’m guessing.Sometimes the most surprising items give us the most inspiration when planning tablescapes, and that happened to me this year. While going through the last of my mother’s things, I ran across a scarf that she treasured and wore during the Christmas season. Its Victorian motifs were the springboards for today’s Over the River and Through the Wood tablescape.
Growing up, my family often sang in the car, and I remember rousing choruses of Over the River and Through the Wood during the Thanksgiving season. Of course, we always said woods — who knew that it was singular? First published in 1844, the actual title is The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day, written by Lydia Maria Child and celebrates visiting her grandfather on Thanksgiving Day. Continue reading
Let’s revisit last year’s post about fixing up my Advent calendar — with footnotesOne of the things that I wanted to do in retirement was to get out all my Christmas stuff and reorganize it. I also wanted to move it from its storage spot in the basement crawlspace to the garage (1) where I could access it on my timetable rather than waiting for Music Man to drag it out for me. I used to think that I had more stuff than most people, but recently several different friends posted photos on Facebook of their stacks of Christmas storage boxes. One friend said she brought 22 boxes from her storage unit, which took several trips in her car. I don’t feel so bad now. Apparently I’m not a Christmas hoarder, even if my basement says otherwise.
When I got out our Advent calendar this year, I took a quick photo with my phone of it hanging in my bathroom on the first day of December. In recent years, this seems to be the most convenient and obvious place for it, as I am reminded every morning to change the ornament on it. At my advanced age, I need every reminder I can get.
My sister-in-law made Advent calendars for family members many years ago — maybe as many as 30 years and I treasure her generous spirit and the family tradition honored by the calendar. I’ve been getting out that Advent calendar every year and doing the countdown with my kids, but I always wanted to change one little thing about it. It was designed to use very thin gold cording to hold the ornaments on the nails, but over the years they got tangled and it wasn’t easy to pop those little puppies off and on the nails.
So—- I decided to do a little project that I’ve been contemplating for “several” years, and by “several” I probably mean ten years.
I felt that the calendar would work better with rings to replace the cords so that the ornaments dangle cleanly and are easy to take on and off. I’ve purchased those rings at least three times over the past few years, but never did the repairs. THIS YEAR, my first year of retirement, it was time to actually do this instead of talking about it.
Yet, things can never be easy, can they?
When I went to find my duffel bag full of jewelry findings and tools, it was nowhere to be seen. I had decided to use a split ring and needed my special split-ring pliers, so I ended up buying another tool. I think that’s probably my third set of those particular pliers, but who’s counting? Then while I was standing in line, I saw these beautiful red rings that would set off the red trim on the calendar. Just had to have them, so into the bag they went.
When I got home, I found that the little holes in the ornaments were too small for the red rings. I begged Music Man to pull out the drill for me and he also found a small piece of wood that I could drill against. I made each hole a little bigger, threaded the red ring through it, and then realized I didn’t need the split-ring pliers at all since I was putting the whole thing together with simple needle-nose pliers.
Am I boring you yet?
If you’re not a crafter, these stupid little details can’t be very interesting, but for those of us who are crafters, it’s important to know in advance what one needs to do the job. Obviously, I didn’t think this through very well.
The project turned out well, and although it can’t quite be termed a metamorphosis, I did finish a planned project. Now I think I need to decorate it some more — maybe a thin inner border of beads or something. I’ll have to see what’s on sale at the store. 🙂 (2)
Yet the story remains a continuing saga of stupid actions.
Somehow, I lost the chuck for the drill. (3) The one that is designed to fit perfectly into the handle. We’ve looked everywhere and cannot find it. I can sense Music Man’s annoyance under his helpful searching for the tool, but it’s just nowhere to be found.
Perhaps it’s in my missing jewelry duffel bag and I’m being punished by my Elf on the Shelf. (4)
Footnotes
(1) Although we got a lot done this year in the garage clean-out job, my Christmas stuff is unlikely to go the garage just yet. Insert sad face here.
(2) Maybe I’ll trim it up and maybe I won’t. It’s hard to go to the craft store when I’m not allowed to drive yet.
(3) The chuck for the drill was still missing when I used it somewhat recently. But I think it’s found again.
(4) The duffel bag is definitely found, but still has a cute red necklace in it that I really should finish putting together sooner than later so that I can wear it for Christmas events. And I cannot bring myself to buy an Elf on the Shelf.
I hope that you will follow along on our journey as Music Man and I prepare for Christmas in the Empty Nest. We’re glad you decided to visit with us today!
Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
I’m making lists — but I’m taking it one better and making a Christmas binder.
I have some friends in my life who laugh at my list-making. I also have some friends who laugh at my penchant for putting important papers in sheet protectors and then collecting them in ring binders.
Laugh all you want, nay-sayers, because at Christmas time everyone needs to make a list and keep it safe.
I do this by creating a Christmas binder. I have thousands of sheet protectors left over from purging my school files, and although I gave away about one hundred binders to friends and to charity organizations, I still have a few left. Yeah, laugh all you want; I’ll be the one that’s organized and have all my Bed Bath and Beyond coupons with me when I go to the store.
Since we can’t have an undressed view binder, I needed to make a cover for my Christmas gem. First I went to a web site featuring Christmas backgrounds called freechristmaswallpapers.net — this was totally random, but had what I wanted. Exactly. I am having British Christmas, remember?
I saved the file to my computer, but it was the wrong size — it was landscape rather than portrait. I opened it in picmonkey.com (my go-to free photo editing site), and chose the resize button in the cropping menu. The resizing window shows you how many pixels your photo is, and in this case, I just reversed the sizes. It didn’t affect the photo perspective enough to worry about. Then I went to the text editor and added the title, as well as my name and phone number (in small print) in case I leave the binder somewhere.
Now that I look at that telephone booth, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to fit into it, but who cares? At Christmas, it’s the thought that counts.
It’s only December 2, and already my binder holds the recipe for my Christmas Eve cocktail from Nan at Silver Magpies, and an inspiration for a beautiful floating centerpiece for my Christmas table. I’ve a got a section for those all-important receipts, and one for coupons. I’ve got the gift lists, of course, and my personal lists of to-dos for me and honey-dos for Music Man. All in one place and easy to find with the bright cover on the binder. It’s a win-win, and maybe you want to try it for yourself!
I hope that you will follow along on our journey as Music Man and I prepare for Christmas in the Empty Nest. We’re glad you decided to visit with us today!
Got my bags, got my reservations,
Spent each dime I could afford.
Like a child in wild anticipation,
I long to hear that, “All aboard!”
Music and lyrics by Bud Green, Les Brown and Ben Homer (1944)
