Christmas In My Heart.....

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.  Charles Dickens

Merry, Merry, Greetings My Friends!

I hope this post finds you still imbued with the Christmas spirit, and your heart still filled with the melody of the season.

I confess I have fallen hopelessly behind in blogging, with no rational hope of catching up.  I have tried to visit you all, although sometimes without time for a comment....But I have wrapped your Christmas wishes about me like a shawl and they have warmed my spirit and my heart.

 I have struggled a bit this year finding that joy and spirit that in other years so eagerly and readily overtook me....It has been a strange year in many regards. "Strange," at times, in an awkward and unwelcome way, and at others, in an amazing and heart-warming way. And at this holiday time, more than ever, I was touched with kindnesses that truly filled my heart.

One of these many kindnesses arrived a few short days before Christmas....when I was running woefully short of "merry." A HUGE box was delivered to my doorstep from someone I've only relatively recently met, but I could swear one of my multiple personalities and her just might be twins from different mothers....dear, sweet, Shirlee from Farmhouse Ponderings.  Inside was my very own Christmas:

Can you believe it? And what amazing gifts were inside those wonderfully wrapped packages.....

Some of Shirlee's handmade beeswax ornaments - scented with spiced berry and dusted with a fragrant spice mixture....each one different:

These darling little prim candles on clothes pegs:

Little saltbox tart warmers (smelling of yummy cranberry) in the sweetest little ditty bag:

A Swan Creek candle (Spiced Oatmeal Cookies scent...YUMM):

A sweet little prim flicker candle with pan and "fixins'":

An adorable little painted sled:

And, yup, there's more.....

I LOVE this "Silver Bells" pillow (that has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs, and when I was living in Spain and couldn't come home for Christmas, my little brother tape recorded it and sent it to me....):

Gifts that would melt any Grinch's heart....but there was still one more, very special gift.....handmade by Shirlee....don't know how or why, but it was the one I opened last:

 

A wonderful, wonderful, "Gone Sledding" pinkeep that Shirlee stitched...and finished with her sweet little chenille trim finish....LOVE it!! :o)))

It truly took me the better part of an hour to open each gift, wipe up the drool, coddle it, and then repeat, and repeat, and repeat.  At the end of the time, I sat there, surrounded by pretty papers, amazing gifts, with my favorite Christmas songs playing on shuffle, and a thought that kept circling my brain....Why? WHY had she done this?  After all, I didn't really even know her THAT well or that long....But then, I thought of Shirlee's huge heart, and I thought of all the other incredible gifts I had just recently received from the holiday hearts of Lil Raggedy Angie, Robin from The Primitive Hutch, Karen from My Colonial Home, Tricia from Hillcrest Home Prims, Pam from basketsnprims, Mary from Prairie Homeplace, and the ever-gifting Mrs. Parker from Parker's Paradise, to name a few (and that's NOT even mentioning any of the very many and amazingly wonderful and generous giveaway gifts I've been blessed to win); and like Ebeneezer, who awoke to find Christmas in his heart, or perhaps the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes that day, I knew why. And it covered all my cold parts in a warm blanket of Christmas.

Thank you, my dearest Shirlee.....I love each and every gift - it's as though a true and well-known friend chose each and every one.  There's more than a little bit of angel in you.

   

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Too mushy?

Ok....I'll move right along here....

Being the behind kind of gal I am these days, I'm also once again behind in paying my propers....(for those of you not schooled in that parlance, that means saying "thank you....")

A few weeks ago, Tonya (better known as "The Farmer's Wyfe") from Pumpkin Pie Painter had a contest of sorts for anyone who could guess the book that she chose for her Farmer to read when they were dating.

Well, I didn't guess correctly, but I was actually a winner in her "consolation" drawing and the eve before Christmas eve, a wonderful package was delivered to my door.....

Containing...

...this amazing birdhouse gourd ornament made by Tonya:

 (Wish my photo were better - it's truly beautiful....the leaves are dimensional, the painting detail is gorgeous and there's wonderful glittery highlights....)

And....this sweet little musical ornament: 

And this GORGEOUS scarf!!!

You would not believe how soft it is...and, it happens to match my coat perfectly:

How cool is that???

Thank you SO MUCH Tonya! Each and every one of your gifts is truly special to me and each has filled my heart with joy. (Let me tell you, you have some AMAZING consolation gifts....yes...I'm more than consoled!!) 

If you have time, visit Tonya at Pumpkin Pie Painter .  She not only has an incredible talent for crafting and painting, but for the written word as well. She just recently posted an amazing story regarding the gift of a doll....and if it doesn't melt your heart, you're channeling the Grinch even more than I was....

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So....that's been this Crow's Christmas.....

We had a very quiet and understated holiday and it was good in its way.

For those who have asked (and to whom I have not been very responsive), thank you for your inquiries about my son. He is doing well and getting about. Unfortunately, the surgery apparently didn't correct the issue, as his knee is continuing to dislocate. His therapist has been trying to contact the surgeon, but with the holidays, these attempts have been futile. We have a follow-up appointment on January 4th and will know more then.

As for me, I'm brushing up on the theories of jurisprudence, equitable maxims, alternative dispute resolution, the protocols of APP citations, and other fun things.

Wishing you magic and joy and the hope of a new year.....