A Southern Belle with Northern Roots/Junkflirt

 Merry Christmas!

 We had our Christmas Open house and as the crowd dwindled a few of us sat talking and remembering those simple days when we were young and one of the highlights of our Christmas pasts was the brown bag of peanuts and ribbon candy. Some got theirs from church functions, I always received mine when Santa came to the VA in our small town. I remember it being so cold, crisp and sunny with he raw wind having drifted snow into miniature mountains on the road. I shivered in the car watching snow snakes meander down the roadways clutching my brown bag  waiting to dig in! Snow snakes for those of you who may be unfamiliar are wisps of snow blown along that move in ways that mimic a snake on the ground, their presence usually means it is very cold out.



 So I would get home and begin to eat my peanuts, the bright fresh orange inside and the sometimes sticky and broken ribbon candy. So simple. I heard it said this month that bread and water can easily become tea and toast....something simple and easy can with such little effort become something special. I wonder what a child would do today if you gave them a bag of peanuts and some sticky candy.
 We didn't have cable tv, ipods or video games but we had ribbon candy and it was good.



 So we talked with gingerbread men listening in.
 and snowmen near by.......







 we ate our fill and then some!






 we had real life visions of sugar plumbs and candy canes.....





 and we filled every chair. Conversations of health...some better some not. Conversations of new grandbabies , upcoming weddings, and loved ones that were no longer with us.




 It was simple fun.
At the close when everyone had gone home our dear friend Donnie spoke with us. He wanted to get to know our daughters fiance, and so as the evening went on he transitioned from the normal chat to his marital advice.
Donnie lost his lovely Kathleen this year after 40 years. She was a joy and a dear friend, we miss her.
His eyes glistened and his smile grew as he spoke of her.......and he said his advice.....
Never tell a woman anything is wrong with her. Donnie would indeed call his wife or anyone else on inappropriate behavior or ungodly actions but he meant....she is your wife and never tell her something is wrong with HER.
Treat a woman like a queen and she will treat you like a king.  He said men make the mistake of thinking they should be treated as a king but the secret is to treat her like the queen, your queen and she will respond.
You must accrue points every day.  Every day do and say something nice, he thinks women work on a point system and you have to have enough good points built up in case you do something wrong.  That makes me laugh, perhaps he is right.
No one knew last Christmas Kathleen would not be here this year.
No one knows what next Christmas will bring.
So please...
 Make tea and toast out of your bread and water,
 and eat lots of ribbon candy
have your friends over, even if your house is a mess
and enjoy, relax and forgive.


















blessings and thanks for visiting

 A couple more vignettes to show you, Usually I am fairly satisfied with my Christmas decor however this year....it all seems to fall short. I have serious Pinterest envy! There are so many beautifully decorated homes.  Perhaps it is also having my son out of the home for the first Christmas and my daughter having signed a lease that will have her moving right after the holiday season that has me a little blue rather than red and white.



I did have a bit of Pinterest influence, working with the items on hand. I love all my old windows and seeing ornaments hang from them was a new touch this year.


bedspring candle holders.....perfect!
















I guess I will have a red, white and blue Christmas this year.
Merry Christmas

image via Pinterest

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.




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Christmas vignette. I love my old Coke tray even though all the lettering is gone. My grandpa worked for the Coke company for many years and there is something about the memory of crates of bottled Coke rolling down a conveyer belt that makes me smile. I went on his delivery route with him many times, driving dirt roads to small towns and filling the old bottle machines.  We would collect the old bottles and load them back into the truck and be on our way. I often would stay outside and ride up and down on the tommy lift, showing off to any local children.  I still don't mind showing off now and then....if only someone was impressed!






I also have a couple vintage Santas. I can remember them from my childhood, they were always out on a table somewhere. They are nothing that would catch my eye but because every year I open the box, I know they have been around as long as I remember, I just can't seem to part with them. Do you know anything about them? Do you have any similar? I think they may be chalk figures.








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Snowmen on the mantle usually means snow outside here in ND, but not this year. So far....nothing but a few flakes. Gladly for now...as winter gets very long in these parts, still I know Christmas just isn't the same without some of the white stuff around. I may regret saying but....let it snow!







Merry Christmas!


Joining
My uncommon Slice of Suburbia and
Table Top Tuesday


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Quick and easy cocoa snowmen...in a jar! I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and had to copy it!!


Cocoa Mix
4 c powdered milk
1 c non dairy powdered creamer
1 c sugar (adjust to taste or use Splenda), after mixing make a small cup to taste adjust as you like
1/2 c cocoa
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg
Place in zip lock bag and place in clean jar


marshmallow men
I used the Wilton food safe markers to draw faces on standard size and jumbo marshmallows.
Hint.....let your marshmallows dry a little by setting out, if they are real fresh the marker is harder to use and will grab and pull





 copycat of Pinterest pin of From Glitter to Gumdrops
I will have to make some cute labels next!!

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One of my favorite collections is my rusty hinges. There is something about the weight, stature and good ole rust that makes them classic. My first I found at a flea market for a mere dollar, I fell in love with it. This summer I came across of box of rusty gold for ten dollars and it was filled with more large hinges.


For Christmas they are forming their own tree forest.




Great other uses are cookbook stands, photo stands, towel hangers etc.



For now...hinge trees all dressed up for the holidays.


Folk Lifestyle

 Funky Junk
Table Top Tuesday
Show and Tell Friday












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 It seems blogger has an issue with posting my last blog, this exact thing has happened before, it shows up on my blog but not on blogger and it takes up the page without allowing other posts to show? hmmm
so Here is the link to the last post you may have missed.
Christmas Tree Tears?


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 Christmas Tree Tears.........
      fall like snow
  seeing change before me
a path unknown
a trail unblazed
the day comes
ready for it or not.




 wow! I was just going to post photos of the tree when i have suddenly become nostalgic. You see, today I am doing my son's laundry and helping him pack his room. He is moving out with a roommate tomorrow. He won't be far away....but....I am washing his laundry with my tears.

I look at the tree now and think not everyone will wake up in our house on Christmas morning. It will never be exactly the same.


 My daughter is preparing to set out on her own journey. She too is looking for an apartment, still in the same town and she announced yesterday she is engaged!  As of now they plan on a year and a half engagement. He is still in college and would like to be closer to finished. So begins her new journey filled with adventure and excitement. I suppose I will be packing and doing her last loads of laundry next month.





 I thought this day would come? No, to be honest you spend years knowing in the back of your mind it will, but never actually thinking about it until it lies at your threshold. You put up a Christmas tree without realizing the changes right in front of you.
My hopes and prayers of course are for my children to do well, to have happy lives and to visit often. I grew up spending as much time with my grandma as my mother, her house was always full of visitors. My aunts and uncles, cousins etc were always there, I love that a 50 year old child still walks in the back door and grabs a cookie. That is home.
 I can only hope that will continue in our home.


 So as little ones flee the nest leaving feathers behind, I will hold on the wings of Christ trusting HE will guide them and always bring them home.






 I will hold on to the little feed bag ornament my daughter (ahem) borrowed from a store when she was two. I will hold onto a winter coat for my son in case he comes by without one. I will hold onto memories of Christmas past with little feet  and noisy toys and I will cling to hopes of Christmas futures with new life, new little feet and great big hugs.  But today I will cry. I will do laundry with tears.  I will look at the tree and wonder...what will be next year?







 






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