Monday List:
Get the trees out and decorate them.
Check.
I added this little tree to the den. I bought it last year when I had to spend the holiday season in Hartford.
The lights are from Target and are battery operated. Since we actually had some AA batteries on hand (that never happens) I was able to use them.
The ornaments on both trees are vintage; mostly Shiny Brites. When Don came home in the afternoon, the trees were up and the lights were glowing and we admired the trees while eating molasses cookies that I had just made.
That was the other item on my To Do list. Making the cookies.
Oh, and wash the sheets. Check.
I love turning on the tree lights when we get up in the morning. It makes for gentle and lovely way to start the day, slowly sipping coffee while looking at the tree.
The expected snow for today has turned into rain.
This arrived yesterday:
Love the cover art.
I bid on an earlier auction for a copy of The Clue in the Diary, but lost out, which was fine as the price went higher than I was willing to pay. The next day, I looked at eBay and there was a new listing for a ridiculously low price and it was Buy Now. So I did. It was printed during WWII and there’s a message on the title page:
This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED.
Only three more to collect in this limited series of Nancy Drew books with dust cover art by Russell H. Tandy: The Hidden Staircase, The Clue in the Old Album, and The Ghost of Blackwood Hall. I’ll get them, eventually. I know exactly how the cover art should look and, since there are only three more to get, I’m taking my time so I can extend the pleasure of the search.
Happy Tuesday.
I love the newest Nancy! Those covers are true works of art. Oh little trees with shining lights make me so happy! Off to a luncheon today!
Have fun, Linda!
I thought those were Shiny Brite ornaments. They are ones I remember my parents and grandparents always having on the trees. Did you ever have the huge ones? I think some of them were as big as my head!
I love the book cover!
Hope you both have a lovely day!
No, we never had the big ones. Have a good day, Debbie!
Pretty white trees…love the glow! I decided less is more this year…pops of red, and candlelight are my nods to the season. I don’t need a lot of glitter and stuff…I need calm and peace in my life. Our tree will go up today…must fluff, then decorate tomorrow with lots of family ornaments…that part is really enjoyable. Enjoy your trees…any more snow yet? ;)
We were supposed to have snow today, but we have rain instead.
I am tending toward the smaller trees placed in different rooms in the house instead of the one big tree. Then, we can enjoy the soft glow wherever we are in our home. This morning I had the crazy idea of leaving them up through winter. It is very dark and cold for a long time in Minnesota. Am I nuts?
No, not at all! I’ve thought the same thing!
My podiatrist’s assistant keeps a small white Christmas tree up year ’round in the office. It looks very woodland for being white and shows a lot of ‘bark’. She takes it thru Valentine’s with hearts, Easter with eggs, summer with seashells, and then gets into a whole theme for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The patients (me included) really enjoy it. It has soft-white (clear) light strings, not the LEDS which are (for me) too bright. Takes away the sterility of the exam room; calming. Looks really nice on an overcast day when the world outside the windows is gray. It’s particularly beautiful when she has a sort of generic winter’s theme with the white of the tree, the beige bark, little brown birds clipped to the branches, the twinkle of the lights; very restful and quiet although she even jazzes it up for Mardi Gras, too. I always look forward to seeing the tree on my appointments.
I don’t like the LEDs either. Too bright and a harsh white.
Enjoyed seeing your small trees, Claudia. We bought small swirl trees that light up for our outside decorations. The second year after my husband died, my older daughter decided she wanted holiday lights on the house again, so every year since, she climbs the ladder and strings lights. This year, she wanted more, hence the little trees that now line the walkway to the house and some are interspersed among the plants in the front yard. I’m happy she has taken on with relish what was my husband’s job. However, with three curious rambunctious cats who enjoy chasing each other all over and up and down, we can’t have trees in the house…..that would create too many ways to cause chaos.
It would be hard for me if I couldn’t have a tree, Wendy. Even a little white one!
I love the vintage illustrations. they can invoke an instant feeling that nothing else quite does.
I have a friend who has kept and collected old vintage magazines. wonderful! she puts pictures from them on her blog every now and then and the comments are many and positive! it just makes everyone feel good apparently. in this fast paced modern robotic world… it’s a token to grace and beautiful simplicity. you will NOT believe this because I love cozy mysteries now
but I have never even read a single Nancy Drew! go figure! maybe it’s time!
It’s time!
How exciting to be so close to your “Nancy” goal! So what will the total number be? And yes, the thrill of the hunt is half the fun, for sure. I’m the same way with baskets, except there is no final number here. Almost wish there was – would cut down a lot on the search time. But it seems I’m ALWAYS looking at new baskets. Well, more baskets anyway. Almost none of them are new. I like the oldies when I can get them. Rapidly running out of space and uses however. That may bring an end to the search [but probably not]. Only an end to the BUYING. I think I’ll ALWAYS be looking! LOL. Enjoy those beautiful little trees. With all the lights off except for the tree, it’s Magic Time. Peace.
#Resist
I will have 26 of them. The last one that Russell H. Tandy illustrated was #26 – The Clue of the Leaning Chimney.
I love the hunt. It’s the best, isn’t it?
I love shiny brites and I love little trees…it’s nice that Don shows appreciation for the things you do…an important part of a good marriage…At only 3more Nancy Drews to go…I think you have found them in great time Claudia!
Don is great that way. He’s always appreciative.
That sweet white tree is wonderful!! At night, when the lights are dim or off, doesn’t it truly seem to slow you down, allow you to breathe, and surround you with a sense of peace? We all need that so badly right now. Enjoy those moments!
Glad you didn’t get the snow. They were telling us we were to get some, but now it sounds like it is going up towards Door County. Yay! Hope your Tuesday was lovely!!
Yes. It is somehow grounding and magical at the same time.
That white tree is beautiful and those ornaments and lights just ad to the beauty. We have our tree up but it is not decorated yet. We still purchase a live one.Congratulations on getting another Nancy Drew.
Marilyn
Enjoy your tree, Marilyn!
Your little trees are so pretty. We’re doing this year without a tree. It’s very unlike us, but I think we’ve maybe had one or two other years without a tree in our fifty-one together. Maybe next year I’ll be more in the mood, but for now, I’ll enjoy yours. Oh, and congratulations on another Nancy Drew find. It’s a great illustration!
I think it’s important to do what feels right on any given Christmas. We always had a large real tree. Wouldn’t think of anything else. But the last couple of years, these little trees have been perfect.
Nancy was a great companion for me when I was a young reader. Your collection is special with the original art work. I loved her 1930s/40s frocks! And I’m so glad you put up your tiny trees. I’ve had some tree issues the last few years, but I’ve found that some kind of lighted tree is essential to my experience of the holiday. This year the nice cheap little narrow faux grecian urn hallway tree proved too delicious for one of my cats and fearing it would poison her, I had it up for a little over 12 hours. :-(. Tomorrow FedEx is supposed to bring a small real plant of some kind redecorated with battery pack lights which I hope will not be as attractive to her. Like you and Don, except I do it in the evenings, I turn off all the lights except the tree and gaze at it with the cats around me and good old carols on the CD player. I take my glasses off (I’m nearsighted) for the extra glow effect. It’s lovely how you and Don find agreement on the small but powerful moments and totems of life. Thanks for sharing them with us!
Just like I used to make myself squint when looking at the tree. Thanks, Nora!
beautiful trees and glad you found another nancy drew book!
kathy in iowa
Thank you, Kathy!
Very cool Nancy Drew. And your trees are just lovely, Claudia. I think you need a kitchen apron for Christmas; you’re turning into Baker Extraordinaire. I don’t think I’ve ever had a molasses cookie. I can’t quite capture what they must taste like!
I have several aprons, Vicki! And I almost always forget to wear one. I’ve always baked. I was baking bread in college. When we first moved East, I baked a lot, but I stopped for several years because it was fattening. It still is, but I want to bake for Don (and me) this holiday season. And I’ve also been wanting to replicate some of my grandmother’s recipes.
And you have the wonderful Stella to assist you in your efforts! Bake away, bake on, bake til the cows come home! I think we’ve all talked enough about the molasses cookies that maybe at your convenience you could put up the recipe for us?!! PS: I have my grandmother’s and my mom’s aprons. Even one Grandma made for me when I was a tiny little thing, in the kitchen, helping her make cinnamon rolls and cookies. She died when I was still so young but, oh boy, do I treasure the memories I do have of her. Don’t you just love aprons? I do, I do. I love the rickrack on some of them. So vintage and retro. Of course, whole books are written on the subject of aprons!
I’ll try to remember to pass the recipe along to you guys. It’s from a book I’ve had for several years.