Words of Christmas Past

Besides the biblical story of Christmas, we are also familiar with wonderful fictional Christmas story books and poems. Two favorites immediately come to mind. Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" penned in 1843, and Clement Clarke Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" ("A Visit From St. Nicholas") written in 1822.

Dicken's wrote.........."I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it."
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C.D.
December 1843

Meanwhile, prior to Clement Clark's poem, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeer! Now the poem has become a worldwide favorite and is traditionally read on Christmas Eve.

My favorite has to be Dylan Thomas reading his 1955 Welsh classic, "A Child's Christmas in Wales". I've been listening to this tape in my car for the past couple of weeks - I play it over and over, enjoying it more each time. His colorful, hilarious description of the chilly Welsh holidays with children's games and feasting adults, brings back similar memories of many a childhood Christmas in England.

The story ends with these wonderful words.........

Looking through my bedroom window, out into the moonlight and the unending smoke-colored snow, I could see the lights in the windows of all the other houses on our hill and hear the music rising from them up the long, steady falling night. I turned the gas down, I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept.

A few days ago I found these and was delighted! Tiny blank notebooks waiting for words to be written..................

.................."in the bleak midwinter"

................................"it came upon the midnight clear"

.............................................."hark, the herald angels sing"

............................................................."the first Noel"

Perhaps a new Christmas story can be penned, a lilting poem or carol written. We need more of these old fashioned reminders of what Christmas is all about.

Christmas Smiles

The faces of Christmas are everywhere. As I walk briskly through the shops for those last minute items, I look at faces. Some are serious, even sad, happily most have a smile or even a grin. They sip on little complimentary cups of hot coffee, or frozen mocha chocolate mint cream something or others ~ I was handed one in a bookshop yesterday. Who makes up those fancy drink names ~ the same people who come up with the colors for lipsticks? Who buys those full size drinks which cost the same as a half pound of great coffee beans that will last 'til New Year? Oh well, it's Christmas, and despite the fragile economy, somehow we all find ways to celebrate the season be it a pricey holiday drink, or giving a few dollars to buy a toy for a needy child ~ I like the last one best.

These little faces around my home aren't really smiling, more like thinking, pondering, wondering and dreaming. They make me smile though because Christmas requires cherubs, angels, old Santas, even fairies, to bring the magic home.

Sail on silver moon.......

Did you peer at the moon over the weekend? It was huge, low and so silvery bright you could see all the craters clearly with a pair of regular binoculars. If you had a telescope the view must have been awesome.

Our four year old neighbor stood in the cold with us ~ we let her look through the binoculars and told her that men had walked there. She looked at us in disbelief.

We still look and feel the same amazement.

Silver moon glow above the garden ~ Friday, December 12, 2008

Christmas Memories

Sometimes we just have too much on our plate.

Caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, we let the true meaning of Christmas slip into the background until a sudden jolt brings us to our senses. The commercial aspect of this holiday has jaded us in modern times. It didn't happen this year, last year, or in the past five years. It crept in surreptitiously many, many years ago, gradually pervading society around the mid-1950's I would say.

In England, and most of Europe, the years following WWII were lean and Christmas continued to be somewhat sparse when it came to decoration and gifting. Those were the years of my childhood, and what a wonderful childhood it was!

The little tree, always a live one as there was no such thing as faux anything back then, was picked out a couple of days before the 25th. and carried home on the local bus as my parents never could afford to own a car. It stood proudly on a table decorated with our handmade ornaments and real candles which were only lit briefly under close supervision! Long, brightly colored 'paper chains' which we made by gluing strips together, hung from the hanging light fixture to each corner of the living room, and sprays of holly with brilliant red berries, picked from the nearby hedgerows, were tucked behind the oval mirror over the fireplace and pictures around the walls. And that was about it! Any extra money was spent on good food for the Christmas Day dinner, a couple of boxes of good chocolates, and a few bottles of cheer to welcome any and all who stopped by for some Christmas spirit.

Of course my Mother always made the Christmas Cake. It was baked in mid-November and 'fed' with a little brandy or rum over several weeks until it was time to roll on the thick layer of almond paste followed by the white icing forked up to set like drifts of snow. By Christmas Eve it was decorated. Tiny bottle brush fir trees, a snowman, a sled holding Father Christmas, and a sprig of holly, transformed it into a scene representing the white Winter wonderland which we all hoped for at Christmas.........but which usually didn't happen in our mild South coast climate. Yes, the English fruitcake baked by one's Mum, was always fabulous!

I hope your childhood Christmas memories, swirling like snowflakes through the mind at this special season, are happy ones, and that this year you will have fun sharing them with your family and friends.

Sometimes, perhaps always, simple things are best.

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All images taken recently at SuzAnna's Antiques, Raleigh, NC.

Christmas Pink Saturday

As I look around the house at my Christmas treasures I don't see much PINK.

However, there is a glorious old European looking Saint Nicholas who refuses to wear red Father Christmas robes....................so I'll share him with you on this Pink Saturday!

O0ops, almost missed this touch of pink. Pretty pink velvet roses adorn a garland wrapped around my cherub on the dining room table.

Same old guy.................he refuses to stay in one place very long, likes to view Christmas in the cottage from different angles.

How's your decorating going? Bet you're all done, sitting back,

and truly loving it now all the work is completed!

Enjoy Pink Saturday and be sure to visit Beverly our hostess

at How Sweet The Sound to see a lot more Christmas Pink.

Just one ornament............

This was the year I said "no more ornaments." The decision to simplify ~ remember all I learned in France in October ~ made me decide not to unpack many from other years as we are not having an indoor tree. If you are still a sweet young thing, you've no clue as to how Christmas ornaments have a tendency to multiply..........very quickly! By the time you become a grandparent your entire home can be a repository for Christmas stuff! The secret is to have a yard sale as part of your New Year celebration or, better still, donate them to a charity shop, as many of us refuse to do a yard sale on a sub-zero Saturday morning in January. Otherwise, the only remaining option is to run to Target for a pickup truck full of those green plastic 'ornament storage' boxes which then take up your entire attic or basement.

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A quick trip to the mall this past weekend had me stop in my tracks when I spied a Christmas Shop. There's probably one in a mall near you too. Inside.................yes, I just begged a minute to pop inside.............was every imaginable ornament ever made. Nice thing was they were categorized such as Disney, Birds, Fairies, Snowmen etc., making it easy to just look at what you enjoy collecting.

Of course I don't really collect chandeliers............yet! I have one in the dining room, one in the 'Paris guest room', and a little one in the Potting Shed - hanging there because the electrician refused to hang it in a bathroom............apparently it's "against code" if reachable when one stands dripping wet on the rim of the tub, and we all do that, don't we!!? I would have those beautiful glittery prisms dangling in every room if dh would agree to dump the ugly ceiling fans.

So I broke the vow of 'no new ornaments' this year. You have to agree it's really lovely. Even dh knew this mini chandelier wouldn't require taking down a ceiling fan ~ guess that's why he treated me to it, thanks dear.

I hung this miniature beauty around the cottage, loving how it brightened up each place. Near a dark wood door it glowed.......................reflected in a vintage oval mirror it sparkled.


Hanging from my old French frame and glass glitter sign in the Paris bedroom, it made me think of the Opera Garnier and a certain phantom!


Tonight it's hanging beneath the real dining room chandelier. The porch lights are on, 'snowflakes' are at the window........................and as the rain pours down the little chandelier helps light up the room.

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Did you buy new ornaments this year? If so, which one is your favorite?

Sights & Sounds of Christmas

No matter what you wish for at Christmas, nothing can beat the simple sights and sounds around one's home.

Hang your wish list in a prominent place!

Listen to traditional carols and Christmas songs, remembering the long ago learned words, and join in..............................

..................or blow loud horns and trumpets of joy.

Pull Christmas crackers, jumping when they snap! Traditionally enjoyed by British revelers before digging in to Christmas dinner so they can wear the silly paper hats inside.......how we love them and are glad they are now available in the USA.

Burn candles brightly. They light up the evening as it draws in early, casting shadows around the rooms. The romance of gentle candlelight.

Perfume your home with Nature's scents. Long lasting rosemary is perfect and can be trained into simple topiaries.

Unwrap your Christmas treasures to hang from a tree, dangle from a hook, rest on a pretty china plate.

Stand by your window, looking out into the crisp world. Wait for the first big flakes......wish for them to stick and turn the dreary Winter garden into a holiday wonderland.


.......Wish upon a star.......