It's December!!!

Yes, it's the first day of December, and also time for the montly calendar roll-call! So here we go!

Oh, I love this scene from the John Sloane's Country Season calendar...doesn't it just make you want to be right there helping them carry in the big beautiful fresh Christmas tree that they just cut out in the woods?  And can't you imagine that mother standing at the door to welcome them has prepared some hot cocoa and cookies for them to enjoy once they come inside and take their snowy boots and jackets off?  I can just feel the warmth and welcome flowing out from the windows and doors...happy times are coming!! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Maybe she has a pot of tea brewing for the adults...and look at those lovely little tasty meat pies...I bet those taste mighty good on a frosty day...

Tea time...I didn't use a saucer, but here's my breakfast tea this morning...using the Thomas Kinkade mug with the beautiful little white church in the village...my favorite for the Christmas season:

And speaking of Thomas Kinkade, here's his December calendar beautiful painting...another warm and welcoming home...and the message goes along with Advent...yes, we are now looking for "that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ..." to return in His second Advent to redeem us all...Oh! What a wonderful Christmas that would be...to finally see Jesus face to face and feel His warm embrace...

And to see all of this:

This picture is on the calendar in my bathroom...a beautiful scene to wake up to each morning...

And then I just saw this on Facebook this morning, and it really spoke to me...it's on a site called "Restful", and one of my old childhood friends had posted it on her page. I didn't see an author of the quote, but it really seemed to speak to me today...

(Picture from the Internet)

"There comes a quiet season in life

where you stop trying to impress everyone

and start trying to be at peace.

You stop rushing.

You stop forcing.

You stop explaining yourself to people who were never truly listening.

You learn that slow mornings are not laziness —

they’re healing.

And early evenings are not boredom —

they’re peace you spent decades earning.

Growing older isn’t about fading.

It’s about finally seeing clearly.

You start noticing the softness in things you used to overlook:

• the way sunlight warms the kitchen tiles

• the comfort of a familiar chair

• the peace of breathing slowly

• the joy of doing nothing but existing

You no longer need loud rooms or big circles.

A few real people — or even just your own company — is more than enough.

And somewhere between all the birthdays and all the heartbreaks,

you gain a quiet kind of wisdom:

The kind that isn’t loud,

isn’t showy,

isn’t trying to prove anything.

Just… lived.

You realize you’ve survived every single day you thought you couldn’t.

You’ve learned more from silence than applause.

You’ve grown softer, not weaker.

Kinder, not smaller.

Wiser, not tired.

And maybe — just maybe —

this is what beauty truly looks like:

A life that learned to bloom slowly.

A heart that stayed gentle in a sharp world.

A soul that finally understands its own worth.

Growing older isn’t a burden.

It’s a blessing hidden inside ordinary days.

A gift you only recognize once you’ve carried enough years

to understand what really matters."

 (copied from "Restful" on Facebook)

I guess it spoke to me because I've been so very tired this past weekend, and a bit under the weather after the hustle and bustle of last week's Thanksgiving festivities at our house. I ended up having to stay at home from church yesterday, missing the beautiful first Sunday of Advent and also a 5th Sunday potluck dinner after church...but my tummy would not allow me to even think about participating in another big dinner!  Oh my!  But I am much better this morning, and trying to get myself back in gear to get started on this journey of Advent and preparing my heart and my home for Christmas...

Because...'Tis the Season...

The Susan Branch calendar always has some fun food for thought...

And some words of wisdom as well...

Amen!

So I did manage to put away the Thanksgiving decor and begin to slowly put out some Christmas color and delights...

The little church has changed now from being the pumpkin patch to the place where the carolers are getting ready to sing...

"Joy to the World...Let Heaven and Nature Sing!"

Oh, here's my own little picture of "bringing home the tree"...but we haven't brought out our tree just yet...that is yet to come...

But things are getting ready for a "Christmas tea"...just you and me...

We can pretend we are in this little log cabin out in the snowy woods...

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?   Here in Florida...a girl can only dream. LOL.

I did manage to set up the grapevine tree on the front porch so we can have some lights shining in the darkness...

Telling the neighborhood the Good News!  

Not a full moon, but a bright half moon was shining down upon us as we lit up the night with the Good News that Christmas is coming...

Here's a song I've never heard before, but I love it...

A Star in the Night

A fitting end for this post today.

Happy Advent...Merry Christmas season beginning now!!