Christmas — Page 46

Permission Granted

December 13, 2015 at 9:51 am by Claudia

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Just because I wanted to.

I call this “Eggcups on Parade.” I’ve taken the same kind of picture of the eggcups that are lined up on the mantel upstairs in the studio.

They’re sort of jaunty, aren’t they?

It’s a very low-key weekend here. No Christmas decorations yet and I am perfectly comfortable with that. Because of the ankle, I haven’t even ventured out on the porch to hang the lights, but I’ll do that soon, because I love seeing the lights at night and we tend to keep them up and lit long after Christmas.

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On the coffee table and at the ready: my morning Peet’s French Roast, the card that Cathy included when she sent that wonderful pottery, a reference book on Roseville Pottery, the book I am going to start – Susan Hill’s The Various Haunts of Men – as soon as I finish the one I’m reading on the Kindle, and my reading glasses.

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This is the book I’m reading on the Kindle – it’s an eGalley of a book that will be coming out here in the States in January. It’s already a bestseller in Europe. I’ll review it soon, but I can say that it’s an absolutely charming read, all about the power of books in a small town in Iowa.

I have to work on a scarf order today, as well. And it looks like we’re in for some rain.

Low-key and pressure-free are just fine with me. Just as I felt a few years back when Don was working away from home on Christmas and I decorated with only the small white tree and a wreath or two, I’m experiencing that same ‘liberated’ feeling. There can be too much pressure to create a certain level of holiday celebration. We see that on television, in the stores, and certainly here in blogland. But for many, the holidays are hard to get through for any number of reasons.

Obviously, it’s hard for me this year. So I’m giving myself permission to just be this year. To quietly celebrate with Don and Scout, and to feel no pressure to do what is ‘expected’ at Christmas.

What a lovely, calming feeling it is.

Happy Sunday.

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When Do You Start Decorating?

December 1, 2015 at 8:37 am by Claudia

12-1 insidethecabinet

A late afternoon peek into the china cabinet in the den.

That teeny little dog belonged to my grandmother, my dad’s mom. I never met her, as she died before I was born. Last year, my cousin Eileen sent it to me. My favorite aunt, her mom, had always had it on display and when she died, Eileen inherited it. Since I don’t really have much from my dad’s side of the family, this is a beautiful treasure I will always cherish.

Elsewhere in the photo: McCoy, my china pattern by Edwin Knowles way in the back, a piece of my great-grandmother’s Havilland china and a hand painted sugar bowl from France.

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Some of my Roseville. The edge of a framed picture of Riley and Scout in the back, along with a lovely piece of hand-painted china from France.

If my dreams could come true, I’d have a bigger house with lots of wall space for more cupboards filled with china and pottery. And room to hang a slew of Maxfield Parrish prints. And a fireplace. And a downstairs bedroom. And a mudroom – oh, how I long for a mudroom! Even if the only thing I could get out of the dream was a mudroom, I’d be happy.

It’s a rainy day here and I find myself not reading a lot of blogs because everything is about Christmas and Christmas home tours. This has nothing to do with the grief I’m feeling. No, I feel this way every year. Way too much Christmas, way too soon. We just finished Thanksgiving and, frankly, I need a little breathing space before catapulting into the Christmas season. When the line between holidays blurs, it reminds me of suburban sprawl, where a suburb morphs into another suburb which morphs into another suburb and no one can tell which is which.

Anyway, if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know my rule. No decorating until the second week of December. Even though we will be pulling back on the decorating this year, we will have the small white tree in the living room and we’ll hang the lights out on the porch and we’ll hang a wreath. But not until sometime next week.

I talk about this every year because I’m sure that some of us begin to decorate at about the same time our parents used to decorate. Mine never decorated early – always mid-month. And my dad’s family, influenced by my grandmother’s German roots, didn’t put up their tree until Christmas Eve. We didn’t do that, but Dad used to talk about putting up the tree and decorating and singing carols on Christmas Eve. I can see the appeal and I know many people who still do that.

The stores start selling all things Christmas earlier and earlier each year. Home Decor bloggers feel the pressure to have everything up and picture perfect by the day after Thanksgiving. Surely that must take some of the joy out of the season? Maybe it doesn’t and if so, great. But here’s my question: why do these posts have to be so early in the season? Is it due to competing tours? The pressure to be the first tour that’s up and running? Or maybe simple scheduling requirements? I don’t know.

Anyway, I can’t look at any Christmas home tours on November 30th. Or even the first week of December. I’m in the no-decorating-this-early zone.

What are your thoughts? If you celebrate Christmas, when do you start to decorate? Do you jump in the day after Thanksgiving? Do you wait a bit? I’m curious. I know all of you have your traditions. Some of you might be decorating this very minute!

Happy Tuesday.

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Glowing

January 15, 2015 at 8:18 am by Claudia

January 13th – the day we took the Christmas Tree down.

We were ready. But we were also sad. Are sad. We miss it.

There’s something about that final step, isn’t there? For those of us in the midst of the ‘bleak midwinter’ it means all the celebrating, lights and sparkle are over for another year and we’re faced with gray skies, snow, ice, and treacherous roads. Somehow all of that is more bearable with a pretty Christmas Tree glimmering and shimmering in the den. Its piney scent, by the way, was as strong as ever.

Once I decide to take it down, I’m very efficient. Ornaments off and packed away immediately. Lights down. Tree out the front door (Don takes it up to the woods to provide shelter for the birds.) Vacuum comes out, needles (which are everywhere) are vacuumed up.

Everything back in place.

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You’ll notice we’ve moved the Parrish to this wall. It was hanging over the music cabinet but there’s no lamp there and this particular print looks so beautiful in the lamplight. So we’ve switched it out with the Lost Lamb print that used to hang here. So far, it’s working.

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The Necco Snowglobe always stays on display for the winter. One year, I kept it up through the summer. I figured it might help provide some ‘cool’ in the midst of the humidity of August.

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Here’s the corner’s early morning look. See? Lamplight. Glowing Maxfield Parrish.

This kind of photo is a no-no in the blogging/photo world, you know. No artificial light. All natural light. And that’s usually what I go for. But every once in a while it’s nice to break the rules in order to tell a story. And this story is about a corner of the den, lamplight, a snow globe, and Maxfield Parrish.

And a missing Christmas Tree.

The outdoor lights are still up on the porch. I turn them on every night.

Imagine driving down a dark country road in the bleak midwinter. You’re tired. You’ve had a long day. You’re driving somewhat cautiously (hopefully) because deer can appear without warning. Maybe it’s slushy out there. Maybe it’s a bit icy. And you see, up ahead, the glow of lights on a porch, lights that swoop from railing to railing; white, sparkling lights that provide a momentary beacon to guide you on your way.

It just might put a smile on your face.

Happy Thursday.

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When Do You Start Decorating?

Glowing

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