Sunday Afternoon Tea

Merry Christmas!

I wasn't sure I was going to write a Sunday Afternoon Tea post as Christmas Day resides on Sunday this year.  However, I have been pondering and well... you know how that goes.

Although there were a few times this Advent season that I was really depressed (and aren't we all from time to time?), I actually had a lovely Christmas time.  I am so glad I decorated and read my favorite Christmas books and listened to the music of the Season and watched some Christmas movies (serious and absolutely dorky) and made that decision to embrace everything I love about Christmas.

Even if what I love most (the people) are not with me.  Well, except hubby, of course. But there were friends, including many of you, who ministered to me and offered your friendship... and helped me find that joy.

The most important part of Christmas after all, is the fact Jesus is always with me.  How can I know Christianity is real?  Because I know the Person... the Christ... the Messiah.  I don't doubt Him any more than I would doubt the existence of a friend I've only met through exchanging letters or e-mails.  Peace is a Person.

I was recently involved in some kind of busy work (I think it was washing dishes in the hot, sudsy water with Mrs. Meyers Iowa Pine scent) when the thought suddenly came to me that Jesus has been with me during past Christmas seasons in two different ways... one as anchor and the other as plumb line.

During the seasons of Advent when the storms of circumstances were such that I thought I couldn't stand, when the winds of adversity almost blew me over... it was Jesus the Anchor who held me sturdy and provided strength.  While my thoughts were on the Baby... the one who had been that Child was my Strength.

Then there were the various Christmas seasons when all was so good I was practically giddy with excitement.  The lights seemed brighter and the music more lovely and people were all nice... even in line at the stores.

It was during those seasons of Advent when Jesus was my plumb line... keeping me steady and looking toward Due North, reminding me the season was about Him and not a jolly elf or baking Christmas cookies or the sparkle of a Christmas tree.

Most of my Advent seasons have found me in the middle of the bell shaped curve (sorry, I am surrounded by statisticians).  They were my Goldilocks seasons when my circumstances were neither too hot nor too cold but "just right".   Christmas was just... good.

How amazing that 2,000 years after His birth, death, and resurrection... He remains the central focus of our history... His story.  Jesus divided history and our calendar... Before Christ or Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord).

That's why Christmas is my favorite time of year... when it seems Heaven is closer to Earth.

May you all have a delightful Christmas and I'll see you next Sunday... "God willing and the creek don't rise".

Merry Christmas

I think my Christmas preparations are complete.  I know there is not a lot to do when Christmas dinner will be just the two of us but I am fixing a traditional meal (with lots of leftovers) while on a budget so I've gone to a few different stores for specials.  (We decided to keep the day with just the two of us and watch a favorite movie after the Christmas dinner.)

I texted both of my kids at the last grocery store that I was in sticker shock, it truly does seem the prices have doubled (Stephanie feels the same... that her Christmas dinner and baking seems like it costs twice what it did last year).  I am so glad that I know God provides every need and throws in some desires met here and there.

I had to smile at the remarks about my sofa in yesterday's post.  That sofa was purchased when we moved into this house specifically for this living room.  It was the second time we shopped for a living room sofa that we ended up getting something entirely different than we originally had planned.  The first time was in the 1990s for a previous living room.

We knew we wanted a sleeper sofa and we did get that.  We knew it had to be high quality, I am married to someone with a Master's Degree in furniture engineering.  But the color and style was completely different than planned.

In the showroom, we found ourselves leaving the sofa that was much what we had planned for the room and coming back to this one.  It looked much like one would fine in a refined "old time" men's study (the color is even called tobacco!).

Since I had to use the flash, the entire room looks more white than it really is (the color of the walls is taupe).  We decided to purchase that particular sofa and it ended up being perfect.   It is my favorite place in the house to curl up with a book or watch a DVD.

Yesterday I received a package from Amazon via UPS that made me laugh.  For it was an exercise DVD and I knew who had to send it, only my daughter would send me such a gift.  Anyone else would be certain I'd take offense.  It's one of those walking DVDs (with "Christian" music) and I'm looking forward to trying it.

She and I had been talking about ways I could exercise as the county roads are too narrow for safely walking.  I've been gaining weight just a pound or two at a time but it's beginning to add up (and I really am resembling the Pillsbury Dough Boy around the middle)... and it will help my blood sugar levels.

Speaking of Amazon... thank you all very much who ordered through the Amazon widget.  That, too, has added up (although I'm happy about that accumulation) and I look forward to receiving the credit in February.  Credit received each month was earned two months previously in case there are any returns.

I will be back on Sunday and then I'm taking five or six days off from not only blogging but I must take a partial internet break.  I am way behind on returning e-mails and I must sort through the stack of papers and other "stuff" which has accumulated to find the Recommendations List (about twenty-five pages of print outs).  That is a priority come the new year.

I'll also be spending time in prayer and pondering the Word from Him and the word for next year.  I think I know what it will be already.  Okay, I thought of it and then I lost the thought.  Most of you over forty know exactly what I mean.  ;)

Thank you all for your friendship, the unexpected part of blogging.  I remember reading on Susan Branch's blog (yes Grace, I do LOVE Susan!) what it felt like when she received her first letter from a reader.  She didn't realize when she "wrote" her first cookbook that it would bring with it those kinds of friendships.

While this blog is on a much, much smaller level... I am blessed by YOU.

Merry Christmas!

Kitties and tea kettles

Maine Coon kitties love cold weather, they were born to it.  However, it does seem to make them (and me) lethargic. 

She normally sits up and looks out the window.  She's often looking out when one of us is gone from the house.  But these days she is laying down and looking out.

She tells me it is easier that way to keep track of her domain.  I say she has a bad case of winter lethargic...

I stopped by Goodwill while I was running errands yesterday and found a few goodies.  Including... something wonderful.  Just when I was losing faith in the ability to find anything outstanding at Goodwill (good stuff but not outstanding), I came across this...

A Le Cruset' tea kettle very much like the one I uh... burnt up a long time ago.  The reason why every tea kettle since then has had a whistle.  It looks like it has only been used a few times.  I love it!

My husband doesn't have the memory he used to but when he saw the tea kettle, he said it looks just like the one I melted.  I guess destroying such an expensive tea kettle sticks in his brain.  This one cost me just a few dollars.

Someday I hope to replace my ancient Le Cruset' dutch oven (one can only wish they'd find one of THOSE while thrifting).

Living in a special season

The snowmen on the left have found themselves all over the house each Christmas.  They were hand painted by my dear friend, BB.

Christmas has been quiet this year and I must admit, I almost let myself get way too depressed.  However, friends and family (and many of YOU) helped cheer me up.

Very soon the season of Advent will be behind us and I have been embracing the Beauty all around.  Yes, it was well worth the time and effort and energy to do a little "spiritual warfare through decorating".  :)

I will miss waking up each morning and turning on the lights of the tree.

Everything gets a little touch of red at this time of year.  Okay... all other eleven months, too, but at Christmas I have an excuse for the excessive use of the color red.

Christmas gives one an excuse to live in a fairy tale for a few weeks.  No matter what is going on in our world at the moment, we... who hold the Christ of Christmas in our hearts... know we all eventually live Happily Ever After.

Some more Christmas pictures

The vintage bottle tree was moved to the kitchen window ledge.

Last week I did some decorating "switching around" and a little Christmas crafting with items I already had on hand.

Some items I have in the kitchen all year provided a Christmas-y touch, like the vintage cookie cutters.  Others had a little Holiday tweaking.

The vintage molds were first given a layer of rock salt (like used in ice cream machines... you can use Kosher salt) then a layer of Christmas sprinkles.  I set one of the peppermint tea lights in each.  I received a package as a Christmas gift from a sweet friend a couple years ago.  I only used them at Christmas so I had some left.  Even though they are small, they smell wonderful!!!

Don't they sparkle when lit?  Everything came from items I already had so they cost nothing but a few minutes of time.  I saw something similar done with dry green split peas and then two or three fresh raspberries, too.  That would be cute!

I saw something similar to this on a blog and wondered why I hadn't thought of doing the same at Christmas.  It's really a Holiday variation on a candle I've seen on emergency preparedness sights (easy to keep the items on hand and make in a power loss).

One simply takes a jelly size canning jar, put a layer of rock salt or Kosher salt on the bottom, set a tea light inside it, and then place a canning lid ring on it.  I happened to have one with poinsettias left over from a gift received years ago so this makes it even more Christmas-y.

The one I saw online had a ribbon around it and I think a tiny bell added to the ribbon.  Since the ring I used had a Holiday theme, I left it as is.  You would be surprised how much light it gives off and regular tea lights are cheap.

I've shown you the milk bottle that I keep salt in all year to look like milk.  The peppermint sticks were bought on clearance last year.  I love the simplicity and the natural kitchen theme the milk bottle brings to the party.

The two tiny Bonne Maman jelly jars have been sitting empty in my yellow pantry (they are so cute, I knew I'd find a purpose for them) so I filled them with Christmas sprinkles and such and just set them on the old Cuisinart.

I decided not to make Christmas yo-yos right now, instead I'm going to start working on them with fabrics I'll use all year.  The best time for me to make Christmas sewing projects is in July and August when it is so hot outside.  I did this when I made items to sell at craft fairs in Iowa, I just put Christmas music on to get in the Holiday mood. :)

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Silent night, Holy Night

All is calm, all is bright...

Two different Christmas seasons, twelve years apart... my Mary years.  Two seasons of Advent holding a newborn close and thinking of the teenage virgin who said "yes" to God.  How could one who holds Christ in their heart not think of Mary as they looked into the face of one so new?

My first such season, I found myself holding my daughter and watching her after she had gone back to sleep.  Rocking her by the lights of the Christmas tree, touching newborn fingers and toes and running my fingers over tiny ears... and thanking God that this time we came home with a baby to hold after the heartbreak of a premature birth the previous year.

Twelve years later I was once again astonished by the little one I held, the surprise baby... the boy that made our family complete.  I'd been told I probably could not have any more children but here he was.  I'd always sensed there was someone missing from the table and that Christmas I once again counted tiny toes and fingers and smiled at wisps of red hair.

It is good that I know I will never understand God, my finite mind cannot comprehend the Infinite Creator choosing to grow inside the body of a young woman.  One who belonged in a palace instead came in a manger surrounded by His own creation.

The angels could have announced His coming to Kings and Queens but instead it was chosen they would appear before the lowliest and most humble of the time... the shepherds at work guarding the sheep.  From the very beginning He showed us He came for the least, the little, the last, and the lost.

What could Mary have thought when she held her infant son?  Born in a time of trouble when all around them was the uncertainty of Roman occupation.  The Bread which would be broken for us now born in the town named "House of Bread"... Bethlehem.

Both of those Christmas seasons I would read my Bible with the Christmas lights reflected in a corner of the room, thinking of the first Christmas and Mary.  Wondering if she had any idea what was ahead.  Pondering the changes in her life after saying "Yes" to God. 

I'm certain there would always be whispers and unbelievers and a reputation ruined in the eyes of friends and relatives.  I once read the statement that the only human on earth who knew it was a virgin birth was Mary.  With certainty Elizabeth must have believed and been a friend to Mary.  Joseph believed but not at first.

I pondered on the very young mother and what it was like as she raised her Son.  Did she play tag with Him and sing Him songs and tell Him stories of times past?  Did Joseph show Him how to use a chisel and a hammer?  Did Joseph read from the Torah... the words to the Word?

There are many people I've met in the Bible with whom I would love to sit and talk over delicious tea (for I'm certain the tea of Heaven will be delightful).  Mary is near the top of that list.  I wonder if she would share how it was to be chosen the mother of the Lamb of God... or will she continue to ponder those things in her heart?

Snow, reading, and TV specials

It looks like Christmas here with snow falling on the trees and the red barn across the road.  Snow is a rare sight this year, it has been a rather muddy Season.  Christopher reminded me that last year we had heavy snow and ice the week of finals.

I'd planned to run a couple errands today but instead I'm staying home where it is warm and cozy.  There is nothing which needed to be done today that can't wait until Monday.  After the busy-ness of last week, a day of reading and watching a little TV sounds lovely.

There are some very good Christmas specials on various channels, including The Pioneer Woman's Christmas special on The Food Network (I just love Ree!) and the NRB Channel is showing the Christmas episodes of The Joy of Music.  I'm not a big fan of organ music, however, I have enjoyed that show through the years.  My favorites being the two Christmas episodes and the one they taped at L'Abri in Switzerland a few years ago.

But there are also books still to read!  Last night I perused through one of my favorite "books about books", Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys Hunt.  Since it first came out, this book has introduce me to some authors who would have otherwise been off my radar... like Barbara Pym ( a few have asked me if I have read her books, yes... very good!).

Anyway, when I read through it again last night, I kept thinking of that saying, "So many books... so little time".  Sigh...  But before I can read or watch or anything else, there are dishes soaking in the kitchen sink, and a load of laundry waiting for the washer, not to mention humans and a kitty needing to eat.  Such necessary gotta do's continue even this time of year.

Sparkle

I have been listening to In the Bleak Midwinter and enjoying the sparkle from the tree.  I think Heaven is going to sparkle.

Even more bookshelves...

We have had a couple days of cold December rains, the kind of wet that just cuts through you even when you are inside with bread baking and tripping over a kitty determined to sleep in the middle of the floor.  Today the rain is to end and the temperatures plummet.

Christopher will be staying here tonight so I've promised both the guys homemade chicken soup.  I am so glad I defrosted a whole chicken a few days ago.  It now resides in a hot oven, sitting on a bed of frozen onions, celery, and carrots (a good thing to have frozen as I am out of fresh celery and carrots).

After an hour in the oven, it will all be transferred to the stock pot on its' way to become a healthy meal after the sun sets.  I can hardly wait...  In the meantime, I am going to attempt to get caught up with e-mails today in between laundry and other necessary items on the gotta do list.

As promised, here are a few more peeks into my bookshelves... this time the living room (sorry for the flash!).  My two large bookshelves there used to reside on corresponding sides of a fireplace in a former home.  Now they are rather overpowering in the small living room but that is okay... decorating with books is always welcome here.

The blue books are my collection of Anne Morrow Lindbergh diaries, which I plan to re-read this winter.

Carolee, you are in between Colson and Friedman!

 

My books are not exactly in perfect order but for the most part... there is a pattern.  Sometimes they are mixed up just due to the size of book a shelf can hold.  I hope this incomplete glimpse into the living room shelves is fun for you!  I love seeing people's bookshelves.

Notes:
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking.

While my books have been collected since I was a teenager, many of them were purchased at library sales for a dollar or less.  A few were found third party through Amazon for very inexpensive prices (like the Anne Morrow Lindbergh diaries).

Some older books were gifts from friends who knew I'd take very good care of them.  I love old books.

More Bookshelves

I finished reading Henrietta's House yesterday evening with the above ball of fur stretched out on my legs.  What a delightful little fantasy-fairy tale book with the beloved people from A City of Bells.  I hope you can find it at your library!  Today I return to my annual re-reading of Karon's Shepherd's Abiding.  (By the way, the rope you see on the floor is Victoria's "toy".)

I noticed some of the books yesterday did not show up very well so I took close ups of those shelves this morning.  Unfortunately, if I wait for good light it may be July so all pictures must be taken with a flash.

Some of my favorite books...

Now, how did the lovely Sarah's book end up with my Alexandra?  I will always keep that book, it has the loveliest note written inside... just for me... by my precious young friend!  The Frugal Luxuries books are autographed by my friend (the author) Tracey... a friend met first in books and then through blogging.  :)

Favorite tea and gardening books all jumbled together.

I don't have any of Sally's books here as I gave them all away to people I thought would love them.  But she would be here, too.

Below are some of my favorite cookbooks to take out and read on a snowy afternoon.

I can't tell you how many times I've perused Where Women Cook Celebrate.  :)

Written by Mother and then Daughter... wonderful books for those of us who enjoy Amish recipes.

I've had these two books for years and still enjoy reading through them.

More recipe books, just a few among many collected over the years...

Tomorrow... more pictures of bookshelves.

Note:  I've found both cooking and decorating books at great prices third party on Amazon and at Tuesday Morning.