Tuesday 4 ~ Hello December

 Well, "Hello December" is our theme for this week's Tuesday 4 meme. So before I get into it, I need to do the calendar  roll call for December! I already shared one them last night HERE.  But I know you are all waiting to see the rest of them, right?  LOL.  So here we go:

Here's the John Sloane Country Seasons Calendar for December:

I just love all the details in this picture...trees for sale, the lit lantern, the horse ready to carry the man and his packages and Christmas tree back home.  The title is "Satisfied Customer", and he does look very pleased indeed. I would be too if I could shop at such a place...wouldn't you? Although it looks like it would be a chilly ride back home!

But not as chilly as it would be to live in one of these cabins!  Yikes! I do hope that snow doesn't fall off the roof on top of someone! I'm not sure that anyone is actually staying in these cabins right now...what do you think? It sure looks like a very bleak and cold place!  We were freezing here this morning in Florida at 34 degrees! And even though I have lived in the wintry north where there was a lot of snow and mountains, I was younger then, and I really don't think I would want to do that again at this stage in life!

But if I did live there, I might have to try and make some of this "Chocolate Mint Coffee", although I don't drink coffee, so maybe just a chocolate mint cocoa would be better! LOL.

This is the Susan Branch calendar...always something cute and fun. And yes, I guess the "Elves make their own magic."  They are such fun and mysterious little creatures, aren't they?  

Ah, now this is more my style! This is the Teapot Calendar for December...a child's Christmas tea set, with a gingerbread house and a teddy bear...looks like a happy little scene for the child in me...

Here's my little tea set that belonged to my grandmother! It is very similar in style to the one above, except that it is plain and not decorated for Christmas...and that little red-headed girl is having "Breakfast with Teddy" (that is the actual title on the card).  I've saved that little picture for years, because she reminds me of myself as a little girl.

Yes, Alice, "It's always tea-time." We just have to have a little imagination!

And now that we've gotten the calendar roll-call out of the way, let's move on to the Tuesday 4 for today and see what's happening there!

Hello December!

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and you may be looking forward to Chanukah and Christmas both of which are December 25th. Chanukah is the day the temple, which had been desecrated was rededicated and the huge light within was restored to earth! That light represented the presence of God on earth with man. Also winter begins in just a couple of weeks....


1. Do you have plans for the coming holidays?

As of right now, we do not have any particular plans for the Christmas holidays, except for our traditional Christmas activities with the church and family and friends. We do not plan to go anywhere special that we know of at this time.

2.What foods do you look forward to during these upcoming holidays?

We really haven't discussed what we will be having for  Christmas dinner yet.  Last year we had lasagna, (and we had some extra special friends here with us to enjoy that meal together)Click here for last year's celebration, and that actually will answer some of these questions!  This year, because Christmas is in the middle of the week, and the kids' work schedules are not quite as flexible as before, we may have a very scaled down Christmas day with just the immediate family here...and we still haven't discussed what we want to eat.  I do hope our son Scott will have time to bake some cookies. I really would like some of my Grandma Mursch's Sand Tarts again, but that takes a lot of time, and I don't know if he will have time to do it and I don't know if I want to tackle it alone. It's more fun with someone helping you! Maybe I can get Rose to help me, but she's working full time again, and putting in a lot of long hours, so I doubt she'll have any spare time. She did help me one year with this. You can read about that HERE. (and also see the recipe!) We'll see what develops.

3.Are there traditions for the holidays that you look forward to each year? Also, how do you spend the days ahead of the holidays.. shopping? Cooking? Listening to Music> Hallmark movies? Do tell!!!  

See the link above about the cookies.  Regarding the days ahead of the holidays, yes, shopping (but I do NOT enjoy that part of it. I am NOT a good shopper and it is always a difficult task for me.) Cooking? I like to bake cookies, but prefer to have someone else enjoy that tradition with me! 

Listening to music?  Yes, hubby and I both love to listen to Handel's Messiah during the Christmas holidays, as well as other classical Christmas music by Mozart and others. I enjoy regular Christmas carols and Christian Christmas music.  I also participate in our church Christmas cantata each year, and that takes a lot of practice and preparation.  We will present the cantata in the Sunday morning service before Christmas.  We also participate in a special Candlelight service at a neighboring church, where our choir sings some Christmas music along with other choirs. It's always a very special night! Also our Women in Faith group at our church always has a lovely Christmas luncheon that I look forward to attending and hopefully my DIL Rose will be able to go again this year.  Here is a LINK to all of these things from last year.  

As far as movies, we watch a few special Christmas movies throughout the season.  My favorite one is "The Bishop's Wife" (the original one with Loretta Young and Cary Grant). But we also enjoy the fun ones like A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, etc. 

4. What advice can you give for making the holidays memorable and bright?

Try to pace yourself and don't overdo it. Get plenty of rest! Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season. All the other activities, although noble and fun and important, should never take away from or supersede spending time celebrating the Birthday of the King, Jesus Christ our Lord! That's why I love that our church celebrates the Advent season with the lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath each week, and sharing the Christmas story through the reading of God's Word.  It helps me to prepare my heart for welcoming the Christ-child into my heart and life anew and fresh each year...celebrating Him coming to earth to save us from our sins.  There are links on the right side margin of my blog for all aspects of the Advent season. If you want to know more about Advent.

Matthew 1:21 NKJV

21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Okay, now let's go see what others are doing during this most wonderful time of the year! Click HERE to join the fun!  Thank you, Annie, for another year full of fun and interesting Tuesday 4 posts.  You have carried on this tradition from our dear departed Toni Taddeo very lovingly and nobly.  I know Toni would be very very pleased.

Friday Foto Friends~ It's December!!

Happy December 1st, 2023!  Can we believe that December is finally here? I know, for some it has seemed like a very long year...but for many of us, we can't figure out where all the time has gone. The year has just flown by, even with all of its ups and downs, goods and bads...(is that a word?)...There may be a few happy to see the year coming to an end.  But let us enjoy this month first...

I'm sure many of you have already put up your Christmas tree...I wonder how many still go out and cut a real tree...or do you purchase a live tree from a lot somewhere...or I expect the majority of us have artificial trees that we have to pull out of storage and put back together...with or without lights attached already?    

John Sloane "Country Seasons" 2023 Calendar for December

Some of my fondest memories are of when our little family went out to find "the perfect tree".  When we lived up north we often went out in the freezing weather and snow...like those sweet children above (but without the draft horses and big wagon, sadly...I would have loved that!)...and my hubby and children patiently waited on me to find that perfect tree. Every side, up and down, had to be inspected for bare spaces and proper fullness, the right height and perfect shape.  It was a toe and nose numbing experience...but once the right tree was finally found we cut it down and dragged it back to our car and tied it on top and away we went...hoping it would actually fit inside the house!

This fuzzy picture below is an example of one of those special Christmas trees...That tree you see standing in the background behind my hubby and our three sons on Christmas morning in Ohio many years ago...that tree was originally about 20 feet tall, and we cut off the top 10 feet of it for our tree! We had 10' tall ceilings in that old house, and I was determined to find a tree to reach the top even if we had to cut down a whole big tree, which we did...probably much to the chagrin of the tree owner...but he actually didn't mind and was happy for us to have it.  You can see it helped make our Christmas merry and bright!

If you want to hear the whole story of that Christmas, you can read about it HERE, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".

Here's a link to a more recent search for the "perfect Christmas Tree"

And another link to see that tree actually in the house...it's a happy ending...LOL.

So December also is the beginning of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Advent of our Lord.  It's not just about Christmas trees and gifts and shopping and baking and all of the "fun stuff", but it's about the most special gift ever...the "Gift" of God's "only begotten Son", sent to us with love from God the Father.

And that perfect gift was sent to us so that we might have peace...

Yes, in the world we do have much tribulation, but we can be of good cheer, because Christ has overcome the world, and through Him we too are overcomers! Praise God for this amazing gift...free to all who will accept it.

I continue on with the pictures from my December calendars...this one is on the Teapot Calendar:

I wonder how often we have felt "relieved by a summons to tea"...or dinner or a call to come away from whatever we are doing that may or may not be so pleasant to come to that which gives us a time of rest and refreshment.  I know that during the busy times of this month it might be a nice idea to take some breaks and enjoy a little tea time either by yourself or with a friend...it can certainly refresh our spirits and help us keep things in perspective...

I haven't done much decorating yet, but here's what I've managed so far...

I love this little "Recipe for a Happy Christmas"~

I love those happy thoughts, don't you?

And what a thought provoking "thought for the day" this is:

I like this idea...yes, we need to laugh often and sweetly...and "radiate widely your pleasure and health."

I think that goes along nicely with the idea of the verse I shared recently 

"The Joy of the Lord is your strength."  Nehemiah 8:10.

When we know the Lord His joy bubbles up from within us and radiates out to everyone we meet.

That should be our goal for this season of "comfort and joy".  

God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's pow'r When we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy In Bethlehem, in Jewry This blessed Babe was born And laid within a manger Upon this blessed morn The which His Mother Mary Did nothing take in scorn Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy From God our Heavenly Father A blessed Angel came, And unto certain Shepherds Brought tidings of the same, How that in Bethlehem was born The Son of God by name. Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy

 Have a blessed December/Advent/Preparation for the Advent of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!

Friday Foto Friends: December Already!

Well, and just like that, here it is December already!

I know some of us are still scratching our heads and wondering how that happened so quickly?

I know for some it may have seemed like a really long year, and for others...well, perhaps we'd just wish for a little more time.  But I have found that no matter how much time I have, there just never seems to be enough time to do all the things I wish I could do. 

So, anyway, as we turn the pages of our calendars over to December, this is the first one I see:

And I am awestruck by this painting by John Sloane on his Country Seasons calendar. Do you see what the caption says?  "Waiting for the Shepherd".  John Sloane's paintings don't usually have any kind of religious theme, and perhaps I am reading more into this one than was intended. But this speaks volumes to me. It is significant that,  especially at Christmas, the sheep are waiting and watching for the "Shepherd" to appear, outside of a church...Now many folks see the Pastor of the church as a shepherd for his flock of parishioners, and that would be an accurate description.  But in this case, I believe the sheep are waiting for the TRUE Shepherd, Jesus Christ, to appear.  

This is just one passage in the Bible about Jesus, the "Good Shepherd",  There are many others, but we'll stick with this one for now:

John 10:11-18 NKJV

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 

12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 

13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 

15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 

16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Yes, as we await the Shepherd this Christmas, we are watching for the true Shepherd, Jesus Christ, Who came to save us all from sin and death and all of the enemies of our soul.  May we truly be waiting and watching for our Shepherd to appear this Christmas....

So moving along...I really haven't taken any real photos this week. I haven't been anywhere but here at home and, oh, I went back to the Doctor the other morning since I was still battling a cough and then the sinuses were getting worse instead of better. Again, of course, they have to give you a Covid test before they will let you inside the door of the Dr.'s office...you have to wait outside in your car and they will come and test you and then you have to wait until it's clear and then you can come inside. Thankfully my test was negative again, but the nurse said it was positive for the flu. And so the Dr. gave me a round of antibiotics, said I have a sinus infection, told me to keep taking the mucinex stuff, and come back in a week if I'm not better.  And so little by little I am getting better. I do intend to go into Dixie Cottage this morning and try again. Hopefully I can make it today.

I'm drinking a big cup of hot tea now. This time of year I like to use my Thomas Kinkade mugs, especially the one with the church on it. I guess I am just partial to churches, especially at Christmas time...

Oh, and little by little different scenes are popping out around the house. Still waiting for the weekend to put up our tree, etc., but I had this stuff packed away inside the house so out it came...

Back to the calendars:

This lovely teapot has a painting of Venus and Cupid! Really? For Christmas? Well, anyway...

I do like what this quote says:

And then we move on to the Thomas Kinkade calendar, which has chosen verses that sum up what Christmas is really all about very nicely, with his painting of the Holiday at Central Park:

Amen! Jesus, that Babe in the Manger is not only the Good Shepherd, but He is our Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace!!

Yes, He is the Good Shepherd that we should be waiting and watching for every day...because He is coming again...and it may be sooner than we think!

Oh, before I go, if you were reading my last post HERE the other day, you will have noticed a picture of my husband's cousin who passed away last weekend, and also a picture of his lovely wife Joy.  Well, if you ever follow along and read any of the comments from other blogging readers, you might have read a string of conversation between me and one of our blogging friends, Debby, from her blog, "From My House".  Debby, who lives way out in northern California, thought that our cousin's wife Joy looked like someone she'd known many years ago in Texas, whose name was also Joy.  I wrote back and told her that this Joy used to live in Texas many years ago, before she married our cousin. I told her Joy's previous name, and it turns out she is the same person that Debby knew and actually worked with so many years ago! It's a small world out here in blogland!! Well, Debby doesn't know this yet, but I did send Joy a message and told her about Debby recognizing her from so many years ago, and Joy said that she also remembers Debby, and that she was, and I quote: "such a sweet smart lady and a great business woman. That is amazing! What a coincidence! I read her blog that you sent."  And so there you see, you just never know who you will discover or rediscover here in blogland! This was so cool. I live in Florida, Debby lives in CA., and Joy now lives in Georgia, but used to live in Texas and then moved to Mississippi when she married our cousin, and then they retired to GA.  I'd say it's definitely "A Small World After All!"  

Okay, I think that's all I have to say today. Thank you for your kind words of condolence on the passing of our cousin "Sonny".  We do plan to go up to GA. in January for the Celebration of his life.  Our kids Benton and Rose also plan to go with us, which means someone will have to mind the store for a few days, but that is already being worked out, so we are very thankful for that. God works everything together for our good when we put our trust in Him...

Have a blessed and wonderful December/Advent weekend.

Remember to keep watching and waiting for our Good Shepherd to appear!

Tuesday 4: December Arrives

 December Arrives...

Hello and welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 kept in her memory . We give you 4 things to think about each week and hope it spurs you to blog, connect with fellow bloggers and just stop and reflect!

December is a month filled with religious significance for so many. Christmas(Dec 24-25) and Chanukah(Nov 28-Dec 6). Christians speak of the light coming into the world at Christmas and

Chanukah is the festival of lights when the light was returned to the newly cleansed temple in Jerusalem. So they have a common connection: the light of God in the world.

Let's talk about December and what it has in store for you....

1. How much importance do you place on December holidays? Do you plan and prepare? Is that part of  "Twas the night before Christmas..."the fun for you or would you rather dispense with it?

Christmas is the highlight of the year in so many ways. Although for Christians, Easter is actually the more important Holy day, but without Christmas there would be no Easter.  Jesus, "Emmanuel",  God in the flesh, The Light of the World, came to earth as a baby to live and love and show us the way to heaven...through His perfect sacrifice of Himself on the cross to save us from our sins.

This beautiful "Cradle to the Cross" is in the narthex of our church. The white space at the bottom is actually a cradle, where the "baby Jesus" will be placed on Christmas eve.  I love this beautiful arrangement, and am very pleased to say that my son Benton built the cross that is being used in this display.  

So to answer more of the above question, yes, Christmas is a very special time for our family. Do I plan and prepare? Well...I've been busy the past few days decorating our home. We haven't put up the tree yet, but I am trying to get everything else done first and then we will bring in the tree and decorate it. Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing so far.  This is still a work in progress. 

I think what I love most about the Christmas season are all the lights. Yes, Jesus IS the Light of the World, and that is why we use so many lights to light up our homes and celebrate His birth.  Here's a few examples:

We start with this little grapevine tree on the front porch that I made a few years ago from our own wild grapevines we cut in the woods near our house. That was quite a job, but I sure love this little tree!

We don't do a big outdoor lights display...just enough to let people know we do celebrate Christmas here!

Also, the first thing we did was put out in the front yard this nativity scene and this little Christmas tree that my son built a few years ago. 

Next comes the indoor nativity

 and the Christmas dolls on the buffet...

Then in the kitchen there is the little grapevine Tea Cup Tree:

And then there's the little cabin:

And the other little cabin with the skating pond:

Oh, and let's not forget all our little friends over at Pamela's Victorian Cottage!  (you can click the link for last year's story from here)

They are busily getting everything ready for Christmas too!

There's a lot of other activity going on around the house, but we'll save something for later. Besides, I know "Lily Grace" is going to have some stories to tell soon too, as this is her first Christmas and she is really getting more and more excited every day as she sees all this activity. But we'll save her story for later.

So, I think you can tell by all of this that we do have a lot of fun with Christmas...

2. Food is a big part of the holiday season. Which foods and treats do you most look forward to having?  

One usual tradition is the baking of cookies, primarily my Grandma Mursch's Sand Tarts. Here is a link to tell you more about that.  Of course we enjoy all kinds of cookies, nut breads, pies, candy, you name it, we'll enjoy it if it's there to eat!  

3. It is a season for family, friends, guests and giving. Would you write a bit about how it all comes together for you in December?

Yes, we love to get together with our family and close friends at Christmas. Usually we just have our immediate family together on Christmas day, but then we try to get together with our extended "Florida family" at some time during the holidays for dinner and to exchange gifts, etc.  Although in recent years we have started doing a "white elephant gift exchange" with our extended family, where everyone brings a wrapped gift and then we draw numbers and pick a gift, etc., It is a lot of fun, and no one has to actually buy a gift, which is a gift in itself for those of us who are on fixed incomes and tight budgets.

We also have our traditional special church activities...our ladies' group has a luncheon and gift exchange, and also our choir puts on a Christmas Cantata (musical). I sing in the choir, so that is always a big event that we spend a lot of extra time practicing for.

4. Life changes and traditions alter due to those changes. Has anything changed for you and if so how? If not, would you mind sharing your traditions with us?

Primarily things changed a lot for us as our own parents passed on and we no longer had their homes to gather in for our family holidays.  That was a huge difference for us, and it has taken some time for each of us to adjust to the fact that now we are the older members of the family, and if we want to get together with our siblings and their families, we need to make the extra effort to make it happen.  "Mom and Dad" are no longer here to bring us all together.  And then also for our immediate family,  when our middle son Matthew passed away in 2014, holidays became even more significant to us because we realized just how quickly things can change...and we should not take anything or anyone for granted.  Celebrate with your loved ones as often as you possibly can...make the extra effort, go the extra mile...because once a significant member of your family passes on, there will always be that empty place at your table and in your heart.  

I hope this answers all the questions above!  Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season!   From our house to yours:

Thank you to Annie of Cottage by the Sea for organizing this Tuesday 4 meme each week. You are all welcome to join in over at Tuesday 4 and add you name to the list of participants. It's a great way to make some new friends too!