I’m sneaking in a quick post just to wish you a very merry happy Christmas!
Every year I am in complete denial about Christmas arriving. I fight it, I almost dread it.
Sometimes it seems like so much work, especially for the mothers and wives that seem to be the ones that cause Christmas to “happen” in our homes.
Life gets crazy, and we start to feel that if everything isn’t just right, isn’t just 100% perfect, isn’t completely done it is somehow our fault.
You know what? Done or not, Christmas comes anyway – no matter if we wish we had more time.
Year after year, we have done less and less to prepare for this holiday, focusing more on each other than on decorations, weeks worth of baking, and stuff.
And I have found Christmas is much sweeter the more simple we make it.
"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." — Dale Evans
Soft ginger cookies from the recipes tab at the top of the blog.
On one of my great grandmother’s china plates.
It’s been kind of rainy up here on the mountain. If I lived in Ireland, we would refer to this weather as being “soft.” And I find it so peaceful and relaxing because there is no pull to go out and do do do –the weather dictates that we stay inside and enjoy each other,
There was some time for the boys and Jenny to head out on 4 wheelers, coming back muddy, damp and exhilarated.
I mended a hat!
The Hubster’s velco on his hat had stopped sticking, and using the treadle made a quick job of a bunch of thick layers, going through them like butter. The presser foot lifted high enough to fit the bulk easily. There was no motor to jam and bog down. In 1 minute, the hat was fixed. That is the only machine time that has happened. Singer 15-88 with Indian Star decals.
I baked a few family favorites, way more than enough for 5 people.
Our Christmas eve was spent cuddled up on couches beneath quilts watching episodes of “Planet Earth.” leaving us amazed at the gorgeous scenery, beautiful animals and phenomenal photography, and feeling blessed for all this world has to show us from every corner.
View from my hoop!
There was another quiet finish while spending time with family:
Pumpkins on the rail
A foggy, misty mountain behind.
Gifts have been exchanged. Dinner prep is under way.
Our menu:
- Smoked turkey & stuffing
- Scalloped hash brown potatoes (Jeff’s favorite)
- Baked candied yams (Dave’s favorite)
- Green bean casserole (Jason’s favorite)
- Cranberry sauce
- Rolls
- Pumpkin pie
There was to be a green lettuce salad, but it was discovered yesterday that the lettuce was left in the fridge at home. Too bad. There is enough food to have way too many leftovers as it is.
So stinking cute!
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
Have Yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light!
Antique Lady of the Lake variation quilt found in Ohio.
Have a lovely day making memories with those you love!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Merry Christmas Bonnie & Family. Hope yours brings you Peace, Love, Joy & Good Health. Hope the coming New Year brings wonderful things your way. Mary K. In Wa.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Bonnie. Thank you so much for all you do. Have a wonderful, blessed day!!! Debra Broyles
ReplyDeleteI like your attitude and philosophy about Christmas prep. I adopted a similar strategy several years ago while I was still working. Christmas shopping became minimal; handmade items and money for my cash strapped grown offspring. Cookie baking if I felt like it (this year I did and made a dozen varieties - a huge tray of cookies is my offering at our family Christmas dinner). Christmas cards for local friends finally went out Thursday. Out-of-town folks will get theirs later this week after I write up my Christmas letter. This idea I got from a friend whose company is closed from Christmas Eve until the day after New Years Day and she figured that week was a good time for a busy mom to send out cards. No tree or other inside decorations this year although some years I put out my snow globes or Santa collection. Laser light for outside took two minutes to stick in the ground and plug in; wreath on the door. Now for some spiked egg nog. Merry Christmas, Bonnie. I am so happy to have you in my quilting life.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! So happy you have your whole family with you!❤ enjoy the moments, peace and contentment ❤ May God Bless you with a safe ans very happy New Year! ❤
ReplyDeleteNoticed that you had a very short period that resulted in a coma. Hope it's a typo! All my best, always!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you and yours, including my favorite, Sadie, for a blessed Christmas and a peaceful and healthy new year.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to think of a good use for very tiny half square triangles. No urgency, just need a good idea.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thank you for sharing your talent and your life with all of us. Wishing you a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year :)
ReplyDeleteWe're having pretty much the same weather here in
ReplyDeletesouthern Illinois, dreary and rainy--a good day to stay in and visit with family. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas with a new year filled with blessings!
Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing with us!
ReplyDeletesao in Midlothian, VA
Merry Christmas to all your family. So glad that you could all be together today. Give Sadie a big hug for me. That you for all that you do for all of us quilters. May 2017 bring to happiness, health, wealth, and safe travels. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteThink I need to start checking my spelling before "sending" LOL
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and yours too. Have just driven son home and it was a lovely day. Daughter is with her in-laws so we will have her company for the New Year instead. I too dread Christmas but I think it's more to do with the dark days - as soon as the winter solstice arrives I go whoohoo summer's coming and I cheer up whatever the weather!
ReplyDeleteTo everyone else I hope you have a lovely time too.
Er was Bonnie sending us all a moonie!!! And a cute little one it was too.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Bonnie and all the Quiltvillians.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you've seen this before, Bonnie....this has been the trend of my giving in the last several years...
ReplyDelete“For the Man Who Hated Christmas”
by Nancy W. Gavin
It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas–oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it–overspending… the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma—the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.
It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids – all kids – and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition–one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.
You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the envelope.
Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.
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ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Bonnie! Snuggling with your family is the best gift of all!!
ReplyDeleteIt rained like crazy today here in NE Nebraska. It NEVER rains on Christmas Day! A blizzard, maybe, but NEVER rain. The older people around here don't remember it ever raining on Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteThis year our family dinner will be soup from Costco (suggested by a daughter-in-law) after a day of sledding and skeet shooting. great day!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Bonnie! Hope you and your family had a wonderful, relaxing holiday. I am looking forward to the coming week's break from work and spending time with you via Quilt Cam. :)
ReplyDeleteKim in Kansas
Merry Christmas to you all.. I see you have made everyone's favourite food. What is your favourite food?
ReplyDeleteLove the pumkin quilt.
A very Merry Christmas to all! Could we please have the recipe
ReplyDeletefor the Scalloped Hash Brown Potatoes? Thank you!
The story from Janis brought a tear to my eye. So sweet, and what a great idea! Bonnie, that is one beautiful sewing machine!
ReplyDeleteChristmas greetings and blessings from Adelaide, South Australia. We made a world record of the hottest Christmas Day capital city at 41.3C degrees, which is a smidge over 106F degrees! It was going to be hot anyway, so at least we got a record out of it! And time spent with family is always precious, whatever the weather. It is now Boxing Day here, much cooler, and a great day for recovery at a much slower place, with even a little creative sewing time this afternoon. Pauline
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Bonnie and Family!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you do for the quilting community.
I love the Singer you were stitching Dave's Hat on. I also love the quilt in your hoop.
I am glad you have had a somewhat restful weekend.
Donna
Kasilof, AK
Janis's story brought a tear to my eye as well! I am so glad everyone had a wonderful Christmas, I hope Sadie got lots of new toys, I know our little pup did.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a very Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMerry, Merry Christmas, Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your year with us. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteOur Christmas was going to be a very simple one. My 2 year old great nephew was diagnosed with ALM leukemia in August and the doctors told us that he would be in the hospital until mid February and would have to undergo 4 rounds of chemo treatment. Everytime they told us Parker "might" (be very sick, take long to recuperate between rounds, etc), Parker defied them. Time after time the doctors expressed their disbelief at what he had done. When he underwent the fourth round, they told us that this would be the worst one for him and that it would delay his release until February. We made a decision that we would hold Christmas until he came home, whenever it happened. Well, Christmas eve our Christmas gift arrived him wrapped in little orange tennis shoes and a Love Your Melon hat! What an unexpected gift and everything any of us could want.
ReplyDeleteParker has his own army with lots of people who stood by our family and prayed for him daily. NEVER, EVER forget the power of prayer!! And Christmas? That will happen this weekend.
Diannia in Iowa