All Things Nice . . .

  

(source)

 

How lovely are the sentiments

Contained in Christmas cards,

As well as dear heart-warming scenes,

Of snowy trees and yards,

They never change so very much

But who would want it so,

For Christmas seems to just belong

To cedar trees and snow.

The greetings on a Christmas Card,

Are precious as a gem,

Because old neighbors and old friends

Send us their love in them --

Warming our hearts with loving words,

Making us know that they

Are thinking of dear by-gone times,

Upon this Christmas day.

A holly wreath . . . a little church,

A lovely lighted door,

Some carol singers in the street,

The windows of a store,

All these are part of Christmas time,

Like cake and mistletoe,

Because a card arrived today,

And sort of told me so.

~Edna Jacques, Christmas Cards

The Golden Road, 1953 

Hello everyone and Happy After Christmas. I trust and hope that you all have had a lovely few days filled with all of the people and thigs that you love. We really had a White Christmas here. It started snowing on Christmas Day and snowed the whole day through.  Lovely big white flakes.  Very pretty to look at.  I managed to get over to Cindy's alright, which was good. I went over about noonish.

Things were in full swing. The chicken was ready to go into the oven and Cindy had everything sorted.  We exchanged gifts. It was lovely to have dad with us for another year. I love my dad so much. Being able to spend these years with him has meant everything to me.

When Cindy and I were children, one our favorite gifts that we had ever gotten was this set of German rubber dolls.  Small, only about 3 inches tall, with clothes that were more or less glued onto their bodies. Oh how we loved those little dols. They came in a set of 6 or so I believe.  In any case, I had been looking and looking for some of those dolls, with the idea in mind that I would give them to Cindy for Christmas. I was lucky enough to find this set of four a few months back on Etsy and I purchased them.  The hardest thing I ever did was to wait to tell her about them.  I am always so excited when I get a gift for someone, that I can hardly wait to give it to them. I did manage to wait, however and the greatest gift for me was the look on her face when she opened my gift and saw what was inside. That just brought me so much joy, you cannot imagine. I had been able to give her a memory! I think that was my favorite part of the day! 

We had a really lovely dinner with a beautifully roasted chicken, potatoes, stuffing, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, gravy and some lovely baked goodies for dessert.  Cindy had made her raw date squares, and we all just love them so much.  Dan's tree was beautiful. It was just a lovely day altogether.

It had snowed quite a bit by the time I went to go home so Cindy drove me home and then brought my card back to hers until Boxing Day.   

 

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Everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow, and the snow was still falling. No roads had been plowed yet, but we made it here safely due to Cindy's great driving skills.

The funniest thing happened. We pulled into my driveway and first thing I noticed was my Gingerbread Man Swag that I had bought from my cousin's wife was gone. I said to Cindy . . . "I don't believe it!  Somebody actually stole my door decoration! What kind of ingrate does something like that on Christmas Day!!  And not only that, they left an old wreath in its place!"  And she was like, "WOW, the world really IS full of some nasty people!"

She kept trying to open the garage door with the garage door remote in the car, but it wasn't working.  Funny thing was though, the garage door of the next-door neighbors kept opening and closing.

Finally, the penny dropped.

We were not at my house at all. We were at Sheila's. We laughed and laughed at how stupid we were. We backed out and then drove into my drive and of course my Gingerbread Man Swag was still there. And the garage door was opening, and we just sat in the car and laughed at ourselves.

I have no idea what Sheila must have thought about some kooks showing up in her yard and then leaving.

It was the perfect end to the perfect day.  My heart was full of joy.  

 

(source)

Yesterday was a lovely day as well. Cindy brought my car back while Dan went to pick up Eileen and Tim and bring them over and then Cindy and Dan went back in their car to their place. Cindy and I were still laughing over the night before. I think that will bring a laugh to our hearts forever now.  A sweet memory.

Anyways, Eileen and Tim were here. Tim was wearing a nice Festive jumper and Eileen was wearing one of the shirts I had given her. I was able to give Tim his Birthday card and gift and to give them their Christmas Card and gift. I had just gotten them a gift card for Walmart so they could go and get something they wanted together.  They were happy with that. My friend Jacquie arrived and we just had a really nice time together.  

I had roasted a ham, and we had scalloped potatoes, baked beans, squash, turnip, peas and carrots and I had chicken for Tim and Jacquie.  For dessert my sister had sent me home with some of her date squares so we enjoyed them and some mince pies.  I sent Eileen and Tim home with the leftover veggies and some ham.  Eileen was all excited to make sweet and sour ham with it. 

We just had a lovely day together and I think Jacquie really enjoyed herself as well. Or at least she seemed to. It was great.

Now today my son Anthony is arriving with my two angel Grandsons, Gabriel and Luke.  Anne is staying back home with the cat. I will miss seeing her of course. But it will be nice to see Anthony and the boys.  The perfect ending to the perfect Christmas.

 

(source)

And how our thoughts start to turn towards the beginning of a new year.  My calendars are ready to go up.  I always get myself a Susan Branch one, and I usually get one for Cindy as well, but this year I got her a Maude Lewis one.  I thought it would speak to the artist in her and that perhaps she could frame some of the paintings at the end of the year.  I think she really liked it. 

I wonder what the new year will bring to each of us. Fresh pages to write upon. Hopefully good things. Peace. Joy. Good health.  Oh, there will be challenges also, but God willing we will each have the strength to rise above and overcome them. What will be will be. We cannot change the past. We cannot see the future. We must hope for the best and hang in there. Capture all the joy in the now that we can find and treasure it for what it is.

I probably won't be on here while my son is here as there will be people sleeping here in the living room and I won't be wanting to disturb them early in the morning. So don't worry if you do not hear from me for a few days.  I'll be back when the dust settles and they have left to go home. In the meantime, I will be enjoying their company for however long they are here.

I do hope that you all have had some lovely days and that all is well in your little corner of the world.

A thought to carry with you . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*There is nothing like staying home

for real comfort. ~Jane Austin

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 

I have nothing new to share with you today so I am sharing my Creamy Ham Fettuccini Casserole recipe from 2023.  You might have some leftover ham (like me) that you are wanting to use up and this is a really delicious way to do so!

I hope your Christmas or whatever you celebrated was lovely and that you are still basking in the afterglow of its joy.  Don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿

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And I do too!