From the monthly archives:

December 2008

New Year — New Page

December 31, 2008

I’ve always thought of New Year’s as a hokey holiday — just some arbitrary date on a man made calendar. Then again, aren’t most holidays exactly that?

Still, who can resist the idea of a fresh slate, – a clean ledger page with empty columns to fill in?

Under champagne induced euphoria, we resolve to make ourselves and our [...]

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It looks like I am going to be sick for the final week of the year — just like the end of 2007. Christmas 2007 I started to feel a bit groggy and under-the-weather. By New Years Day, I had sweat-ed through all my PJ’s and changed the linens twice. I could hear the gaiety [...]

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A Tiny Townhome Christmas

December 24, 2008

Little bits of holiday cheer here and there in every room of the house makes for a wonderful environment.

My Norfolk pine lives in the corner of our master bedroom. This year, it’s decked out with small vintage silver ornaments.
A view of our dining area. It’s really not a dining ROOM. The wreath of tiny red birch [...]

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A Mantel Sans Greenery

December 22, 2008

This year, I donated the ugly gold-tipped garland we’ve had stored for 5 years. I used it once and hated it. I usually don’t like fake flora of any kind. Dried flowers? Absolutely. Plastic or silk? Not so much.
Through the lovely Garland Show & Tell hosted by Nesting Place, I saw a charming ribbon garland created [...]

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Der Belsnickel of Pennsylvania Dutch

December 18, 2008

Perhaps it’s my German and Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that draws me to these rather stern versions of St. Nick.

Whether a chocolate mold under a cloche …

or a detailed hand carving from a thick block of wood, I simply love the old world charm of him — the precurser to our modern jolly Santa Claus.
“Nicholas in furs” [...]

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O Tannenbaum

December 15, 2008

Our modest little table top tree, loaded with entirely too many ornaments — just the way hubby wanted it. Believe it or not, he didn’t even put all we had on the tannenbaum. There’s still a bin and a half full.
That’s what happens when ya downsize. We went from a 7 footer to this cute [...]

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The Back Door

December 11, 2008

Well, it’s really our garage entrance.
Let me explain.
We live in a townhouse. To get to our front door from the guest parking spots, one must trek a mile to the east, turn north, go up a wonky flight of steps, turn west, travel around two rows of homes, across a small bridge, down a few [...]

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