Happy Christmastide

Not only two posts within a week of each other, but three posts in a month.

Shocking, I know.

It is, however, Christmastide after all .... something that is rarely observed in recent decades and all but forgotten.

Recent generations rush to get Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving and, in many cases, rush to pack them up the day after Christmas.

But, in my world, Christmas Day is just the beginning...the beginning of Christmastide.

Christmastide (also known as Christide or Twelvetide) is the 12-day period beginning December 25th and ending January 5th.  (Start singing - in your head please - The Twelve Days of Christmas.) 

While it is, technically, a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches, it was also, historically, a period of hospitality and celebration with Christmas Day being Day One.

There were religious services, yes, but it was also a secular matter as well with parties and feasts, gift-giving and general merry-making.

Perhaps due to my father's strong evangelical Lutheran background, our family followed the old ways growing up.

Our tree was not put up until Christmas Eve (or Christmas "Adam" - the day before Christmas Eve) and gifts were opened on Christmas Eve after the evening Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Day was a morning church service and then a more formal dinner.

And then...then the round robins began.

We would visit my great grandmother and great aunts on my father's side, then all the aunts and uncles on my mother's side, and a few close family friends - and they, in turn, would come to visit us. 

Each day saw a new visit or new visitors.

Those days are long gone, but I still think of Christmas as a season rather than a day and I (stubbornly) refuse to give in to the notion that Christmas is over and done with on the 25th. 

My decorations and lights will stay up for several weeks yet and, yes, on occasion, I will listen to Christmas music or indulge in a favorite Christmas movie.

I also continue with a few Christmas projects.

This year, I finally pinned and laced "Merry Olde Christmas," a design by Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm which I stitched two years ago.

I finished it in this metal ornament frame because it was on hand.

Jury's still out on whether it will stay there but, for now, I'm calling it done.

I also stitched and finished a new seasonal insert for my hanging clock:

This is called "November Ornament" (I think?) and is a free design from Birgit Tolman of The Wishing Thorn.

I had wanted to do a Santa for it but haven't settled on a design that will work well with the dimensions of the clock case.

I also finished hooking my Stag rug - a pattern by Lori Rippey of Primitives by Lori.

It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finish hooking it, and I am not thrilled with my color plan/wool choices.  I suspect Mummy D. was expecting a photo of the completely finished rug but it has been commandeered by Liza Bean and has not even made it through the steaming process.

I also treated myself to a Christmas read.

This book was outside of my typical genres but a fellow blogger (who no longer blogs unfortunately) recommended it to me. 

Her recommendation turned out to be a beautiful gift.

Ms. Silva imaginatively recreates the inspiration behind Dickens' beloved A Christmas Carol.  Although fiction, Silva seems to channel Dickens himself and uncannily recreates 19th-century London and the streets Dickens perambulated during the six-week period of the writing of his famous tale. (Well, not that I would actually know what 19th-century London or the streets of London looked like but, in my head I think I do. 😉).

Whimsical and charming - and utterly believable...I definitely recommend for a heart-warming holiday read.

And, finally, for "Sissy"...because you asked.

I hope 2025 brings renewal, sees your hopes fulfilled, and makes your heart glad.

Merry Christmas...

Wherever this day finds you on your life's journey, my wish for you is that your day was filled with warmth, your night filled with light, and your heart filled with a bit of Christmas magic.

Diddling

 No... Not that kind of diddling.

I mean the aimless, unproductive, kind of diddling.

It's been almost a month since my last post, and it is only 10 days until Christmas and I... well, I am wholly and completely unprepared for it.

I've gotten a bit of decorating done. Not as much as I used to do by far, but definitely more than the past several years. Other than that, though, nothing much in the way of shopping, wrapping, baking, preparing.  😳

{Vintage Christmas ornaments on my mantel.  How I wish they were all vintage/antique Kugels but, alas, Lauren has all of those.}

Procrastination is a curse I am most familiar with.

I could post daily about things I have left undone.

Finding things I've done to post about takes a considerable bit more effort.

There are just so many squirrels to chase and rabbit holes waiting for me to fall into.

 So what have I been doing? 

Like I said, decorating. 

I haven't changed things up much so you've seen most everything before.  But I don't think I have posted these before.  

I got them last year on a (rare) antiquing jaunt with the hooker down the road.

Of course, when I first saw them, I immediately thought "Santa and Mrs. Claus!"

But actually, they aren't.

They are The Contented Man and The Old Woman of Capri.

Two vintage prints of works done by two different artists at two different times.

The Contented Man was painted by the Italian artist, Eduardo Forlenza (1864-1931).  The Old Woman of Capri was painted by Sydney Bell (1888 - 1964).

Prints of the paintings became popular as a pair, and they were commonly given as wedding/housewarming gift in the 1950's. (Hence, they are actually quite easy to find.)

My prints are in rough shape - and I paid far more for them than I should have - but I found them quirky and fun.

And I like quirky and fun.

As for the rabbit holes and squirrels, I've been making spun cotton candy canes.

Tedious, yes...but addicting.

...and kringles...

I haven't stitched at all as I've been having some hand issues, but I did get this little tuck finished...finally.

I think I finished stitching it 2 years ago...and just now have it completely done. 

Yikes.

{Love & Joy by Heartstring Samplery.  Stitched on 36ct "Tea Set" by Graham Cracker Fabrics.}

It has been a month of gloom here in Nod so true colors are difficult to catch in photos, but it is stitched in WDW Tarragon - a beautiful green and one of my favorites.

And, I have been wreath wrestling....

It is larger and heavier than it may appear in this photo and, no matter what type of hanging mechanism I've tried, it will not stay on my glass storm door (and I don't have any other place for it).

I cannot use the over the door hanger as my door has a "lip" at the top to open and close the glass and screen.

At this point it has lost so many greens, berries and pinecones I could probably   make another smaller wreath.

As of today:  Wreath 7; Crow 0.

So, as you can see, if one diddles, one ends up with diddly squat.

I have some rustic artisan carrot bread proofing that needs shaping, another rise, and baking, so the diddling continues.

I hope all is well with each of you. I know I owe a few of you a reply to messages. I promise I will get there....