Two Days After Christmas

This is the view out my diningroom window as I'm writing this blog post.

Yes, we got some snow here in the devil's playground!  It's typical central Kentucky snow ... God opening up His talcum powder can & shaking it a bit over the grass ... but snow is snow   : )   It looked quite lovely falling from the sky yesterday.  We had rain on Christmas Day.

I have been reading a lot of posts where people are saying they can't believe Christmas is over.  That's the theme ... Christmas is over.  It saddens me to see Christmas trees lying out on the curb for trash pickup the day after Christmas.  I cannot fathom un-trimming my tree & taking down my decorations so quickly.  My good friend Robin did a post on her blog yesterday & it brought back so many memories for me.  Christmas decorations were never sold or displayed until after Thanksgiving & they were not put up in our homes until, at the earliest, 2 weeks before Christmas.  Those 2 weeks were spent giving the house a good cleaning; unpacking treasured decorations & enjoying the memories each would bring; trimming the tree; writing & receiving cards; watching Christmas specials on television; listening to Christmas music; getting together with relatives to bake dozens & dozens of cookies which would be shared with neighbors, service people (like the mailman, the milkman, the dry cleaner, etc), & others; going shopping; & wrapping gifts.  My father, who used to be a cook & baker in the Merchant Marine,  always made a huge batch of nut horns which were out of this world!  On Christmas Eve he would go down to the local beverage distributor & bring home a case ... a whole case! ... of pop.  All different flavors! I remember my favorite was always black cherry & it was a special treat enjoyed only at Christmastime.  To this very day I buy myself a 6-pack of black cherry pop every Christmas   : )   My mother would be in the kitchen baking a ham, cooking kielbasa & sauerkraut, & making potato salad. Neighbors, friends, & a few relatives often came by on Christmas Eve to drop off gifts or just visit.  I was always able to open one gift on Christmas Eve & it was always a new pair of flannel pajamas with a pair of furry slippers.  I'd take my bath, put those on, & head to bed early so I would not be awake when Santa came by.  On Christmas day there were lots of gifts to open & lots of good things to eat & of course Christmas mass (I grew up in a catholic household). Aunts & uncles would come by to visit.  The days after Christmas would be spent visiting those aunts & uncles in their homes.  As Robin said in her post, everyone would show you the gifts they received.  They were not bragging or boasting, merely showing you their blessings.  You were never envious or upset that they may have received more or better things than you did.  You were happy for them!  Everyone was happy.  Everyone smiled.  Christmas lasted for 2 more weeks, until the Feast of the 3 Kings on January 6. That's when the tree came down & the decorations were put away for another year.  It was always a sad time.

John & I had a lovely Christmas this year despite the big lead balloon nightmare hanging over my head.  I managed to do way more baking & cooking than I thought I would. The decorations were minimal but that was a very nice change.  Isn't "SIMPLIFY" the motto of the primitive lifestyle?  Simplifying at Christmastime helps you relax & remember the real meaning of the day.  

Here are a few photos of our Christmas. This first one is my bear with his stocking.

And yes, believe it or not, here is a photo of me with my stocking   : )

Sophie always gets to open her present first.

It was a new little mousie for her to chase around the house   : )

I was, as usual, spoiled by Santa Bear.  I am lucky to have a husband who not only enjoys buying Christmas gifts for me but wrapping them as well!  He has a real knack for & gets a lot of joy out of making each package special.  Below is an example.  On this package he added a little snow shovel ornament & a snowman wall box that has a few small wrapped gifts inside   : )   

I can now share a few more photos with you of stitched gifts & exchanges sent & received. Do you remember me telling you about my metallic floss experience a while back?  I was given the name of someone in an exchange & she indicated that a Victorian theme & a blue/silver theme were among her favorite Christmas decorating themes.  With the help of one of my followers (I'm am embarrassed to say that I don't remember who that was) I found this design to stitch for her.  I hope she liked it.  It's a design which appeared in the JCS ornament preview issue back in 2008.  It was, of course, beautifully & perfectly finished by Myra   : )  

This was a beautiful gift to me from Carol ... my first Prairie Schooler design!  

Angela & I did a private ornament exchange & we decided to exchange LHN ornaments. Angela stitched me this absolutely gorgeous ornament, LHN's Bringing Home the Tree design.  For Angela I stitched LHN's Tree Farm design ... finished by Myra of course  : )

And here are 2 ornaments I stitched which I was not able to show you until the recipients opened them   : )   These ornaments were stitched for Edgar & Rico (note the initials). They are a BBD design which appeared in the JCS Ornaments 2008 issue.   I finished these myself   : ) 

With all the Christmas stitching I did this year you would think I'd be ready to take a break & stitch something else, but that's not going to happen   : )   I'm thinking of a little challenge I might give myself in the new year regarding Christmas ornaments.  I'll let you know if I decide to do that   : )   I had intended to start Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow yesterday.  I've had the chart for a while but not the necessities to go with it. For Christmas I asked Santa Bear for the suggested silk floss & bless his heart, it was inside one of my packages.  I neglected to ask for the fabric though ... lol!  As a result, yesterday went by without a new start ... but I'm hoping to find one today.  Heaven knows I have a lot to choose from   : )   

I'd like to take this time to welcome my new followers who arrived recently.  I'm very glad that you visited my blog & decided to add it to your reading list   : )   I'd also like to thank everyone who has been praying for me concerning the nightmare that came into my life 2 weeks before Christmas.  It's still here ... I have no idea when it will go away ... but your prayers are helping me deal with it & I thank you for them with all my heart.  I wish there were stronger words to use to tell you how much I appreciate your prayers but I cannot think of any.  I do ask that you continue to keep me in your prayers.  We most likely will be in this together for the long haul.  Your prayers mean everything to me.  

The new year will soon be upon us!  Are you making plans?  I'll talk about mine in the next post or two ... whenever I decide what they will be   : )   For now I wish you all very merry days after Christmas!