Waiting for Festive Energy

Hi Winter People (and my sweet Down Under friends, too!) Didn't Gladys Taber say winter people where the best kind of people?  I forget why at the moment, but be assured that it's a good thing to be a winter person.  As I was looking through my photos, I found LOTS of flowers and not so many other wintry things.  

Millie gave me the toadstool below.  It's so squishy and friendly, isn't it?  Are toadstools Christmas-y?  Hmmmm.  Gnomes sort of are.  I moved lots of my gnomes to the basement because I put toadstool stickers on the walls to cover up the areas that are in need of paint.  It's very Pom Pom-ish down there now. 

I don't have that excitement that makes decking the halls go fast and stay fun.  I keep waiting for it to kick in, but other than opening the boxes and thinking, "Aw, that's cute!" I have not sprung into action and made festive progress.  I will! Guess what?  The local granddaughters are going to read Little Women, too.  We'll have two December book club meetings and eat Little Women type food.  So far I have only found a few things that would be tasty for this endeavor.  One is mac and cheese (the March sisters ate it!) and ginger bread. I'll take photos and tell you of our activities and games.

Do you want to fill orange outsides with cloves again?  I do like stabbing them with a skinny knitting needle and bedecking them with LOTS of cloves.  I'll probably only do one.

Aren't these little flower ladies lovely?  See little Noah in the background?  Aw!  Forgive my dried up thumb (not pretty) but I am not a manicure person and I'm hard on my hands in the winter (sort of a compulsive hand washer - yikes).

Sweet Gumbo Lily made this for me years ago and I love it so, so, so much!  She also told me of a YouTube channel that you would all love. It's here if you want to click over: A Sweet Video

Today Bill was so nice.  He took the weed wacker to the remains of the flower beds and made them all tidy.  Next spring I shall be grateful again.  This year, the sunflowers ran wild and got on my nerves.  Next year, even though it's hard, I am going to pull up new shoots of cosmos and sunflowers because they wear out their welcome.

This is the first Sunday in Advent and they don't really acknowledge it at the church I've been going to.  They just aren't "high church" at all and that's okay, but I LOVE the celebration of Advent and I'm definitely doing it up big here.  I have a special journal for it, some great guidebooks, all the Little Women watching, listening and READING, a tea Advent calendar AND a lot of Advent knitting (a very pretty scarf that I shall show you soon).

We're going to a play tonight but tomorrow I hope to wake up feeling jazzy and festive so I can commence with the decorating.  

Oh, my turkey stuffing was not good.  I put apples and a bit of cinnamon in it and it did not go unnoticed.  They were very "thumbs down" about it.  My gravy wasn't my best either.  I sort of felt like maybe I'm past my turkey preparation prime, but my mom said, "Some years are like that." I think she's right.  I'll try stuffing again (no apples) soon.  I do make good cookies, so I shall make sure I bake all the kinds I like very soon.  I bought a big tin of cookies at Trader Joe's (why?) and ate 6 instead of lunch today.  (eye roll)

Well, let's get started.  I want my December to be holy and sweet, with candles and reading and prayers.  Stay tuned, sweet visitors.  xo
 

A Little Little Women Plan

Hello and happy almost Thanksgiving in the USA.  I bought our fat turkey days ago and it is thawing in the fridge.  My biggest worry this year is the stuffing.  Here's why - I don't really like stuffing so it's hard for me to taste test. I'm giving Christie's mom's recipe a try. She puts apples, onions, celery in with the bread cubes and uses a lot of chicken broth to moisten.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  I'll use the electric turkey roaster again.  First, I'll brown the bird in the oven, so it isn't pale.  I still need to run to the store for sage and cranberries.  Last year the grocery store was sort of a dry and sad spot.  It was as if the powers that be (big corporate bosses) didn't TRY to bring good cheer in the grocery store.  They didn't even decorate outside. This year is improved, but I think some of the decision makers are very afraid of offending some people, so they end up offending everyone.  Know what I mean?  It's grim. Remember when I was teaching and I felt the oppressive "no no no" concerning Christmas?  That was sad, too.  But... sad NO MORE!  I have so many fun December plans. 

Did I show you my sticky birds?  I ordered them from Etsy. I absolutely love sticking things on our walls. I printed the framed birds off of the web.  

I have lots of Advent materials.  I have a sweet journal with an old winter scene on the front.  I have Ruth Chou Simon's Advent book. I have our son Brad's Advent devotional. I have even more and I want to work with all of them.  But, I also want to have a Little Women Advent.  Right now I'm listening to the soundtrack of the most recent film and it's lovely just like the Little Women before it.  I ordered a Little Women cookbook, a Little Women knitting book, and a cute new copy of the novel.  Does it sound fun?

I've been praying for focus and I think the Little Women theme will be fun, sweet, innocent and playful.  I'll be free from some of my responsibilities soon, so I can dabble in the March sisters' world and enjoy thinking about Marmee and Orchard House. 

How are YOU?  Do you have any specific holiday plans?  Are you up and excited or dragging your feet?  Thank you for stopping in,  Sweetie Pie.