Thursday goings on . . .

 

 Something really special happens in December . . . little missives and cards from friends you have not seen in a while begin to push their way through the letter box, and we are treated to little glimpses into the lifes of people who while far away  in miles are never very far away in my heart,

With every Christmas Card opened and letter read I am taken back in time in my mind's eye, remembering with fondness days gone by and memories built together and shared.  It is fun to catch up with each other's lives and the years happenings . . . and to re-visit each other if only for a short moment in time.



I just love Christmas Cards and look forward to receiving them each year.   Some people abhor the newsy little letter that is included in some of them, but I adore them.  I sincerely love catching up with all the goings on.  Each year I think I am going to do one too, but then . . .  the time gets away from me, and I don't.  At one time I endeavored to put a handwritten note into each, but even that has gone by the wayside for me.   There are just not enough hours built into each day for me to be able to do all the things I want to do . . .

I am always really excited when I get a card which is a family photo card.  It's nice to see how families change and grow with the years, how big the children have gotten, etc.   My youngest son sent me one this year with himself, his partner Sara and their dog Baxter.  That is their family . . . it was comforting to see . . . maybe there will be a wedding?   I don't know, but it looks pretty positive to me.   Family Christmas Cards sound pretty settled to me.



When I worked at the Manor I always made a special handmade card each year for the people we worked for.   I would put a great deal of time into creating them.  She seemed to like them, at any rate.  They would get box loads of cards themselves.   Rich people's cards are different from other people's cards.   These are specially made and printed . . . engraved, with lined envelopes.  It would be my job every year to stand for hours and hours putting the photographs on the front of each one.  Hard work because they would have to line up exactly so . . . and when you are doing 2 or 3 hundred, that's a lot of lining up!  Every year the Christmas Card lists would be revised and revised again, and there were two separate lists.  One for North America and one for the UK.   Address labels would need to be changed if addresses changed, etc.  It was a real nightmare.

I love exchanging cards with the neighbors and the people at church as well.  It is nice to know that your neighbors think enough of you to give you a card this one time of the year and wish you well.   It's nice to send the same message back.   (It's also a great way of getting to know their names!)    At church they always put up a table and people place their cards onto it according to name.   Some piles are very tall, and others small, but normally there is at least one or two for each.  Some simply tack a card onto the bulletin board for the whole ward, and that is ok too.   It's the thought that counts.



The cards I love to send the most are the special ones to our loved ones.   I take great pains each year to pick out individual cards for these people.   They don't come in a box of all the sames . . . but are purchased only after deep thought and care, and one at a time.  Todd moans and groans at this exercise . . . but then again . . . what do men know about sentimentality?  There may be the odd exception to the rule, but for the most part men are not really all that bothered.

Their brains are actually wired differently.  It's true . . . I saw it explained on the telly the other day.  Women use the front part of their brains more . . . and are capable of using each side independantly of the other.   A man's brain looks like a bowl of spaghetti with no rhyme or reason to the strands . . . haphazardly crossing back and forth and jumbled up into a mass.  Men really are from Mars!



In any case Todd always likes the card I choose for him to send to his brother and family each year and that's a good thing.  He also always finds a really nice card for me, which means a lot.  He's thoughtful that way, when it comes to showing his appreciation for me, and my messy ways.   He had far too many years on his own before I came along.   Hamburgers for Christmas dinner and the like . . . I am grateful that he will never have to experience a Christmas alone ever again.  Not so long as I have breath in my body.

People get really creative in the way they display their Christmas Cards as well.  You can buy special hangers for them . . . shaped like trees and what not.  We like to string them on yarn which has been stretched along the top of the drapes here in the lounge.  There are normally two or three lines of them.   Todd enjoys counting them each year and announcing how many we have received.   I can tell that they mean a very great deal to him and that makes me happier than I can say.   Oh how I adore this wonderful man God has given to me.  May it always be so . . .



He's such a fun guy.   Puts up with all of my foibles and short comings . . . easy to get along with, with a great sense of humor, doesn't grumble too much about the things I drop him in.  Yes, I am blessed.

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

 ★˛˚˛*˛°.˛*.˛°˛.*★*Holly on your door
˛....*.。*.................... .˛* lights on your tree
˛. *.。*../♫.♫\*˛.* ˛........_Π_____.candles in your
....° . . .˛°./• '♫ ' •\.˛*./______/~＼*window . ˛*.
*'. *˛.............╬╬╬╬╬˛°.｜田田 ｜門｜╬╬╬╬╬*˚ .˛ *.*
★˛˚˛*˛°.˛*.˛°˛.*★*--- Christmas in your heart

"Gratitude is heaven itself."
~William Blake  


 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Cherry Clafoutis!  Gordon Ramsay's recipe.
It's good.

Have a wonderful Thursday!  (How did that happen???  The weeks are just flying by!)