Nesting

I am well and truly in the 'nesting' phase of winter.

Is it even decent to allow the days to just roll on by, without a sense of accomplishment, or the tick of a list.

The Christmas decorations are taken down at least, although I tend to leave the table decorated for a few more weeks of color.

 

 

There are whispers of the "S" word  in the grapevine, so I'll leave the winter dishes in place.

 

 

 

The house looks so bare without all the Christmas excess, it's funny how you get used to all the baubles and lights.
It's a candle-lighting, book-reading, tea-drinking kind of night.
Enjoy yours !

Done And Dusted

So Yuletide has passed.
The Christmas tree ornaments and decorations now packed away in their boxes for another year.
Pine needles and tinsel vacuumed yet again, although it's usually an ongoing chore for several weeks.
It's funny how quickly we get used to all the Christmas excess, festive colors, baubles and bubbles ,and greenery, and once they are removed the house feels so incredibly bare.

We are braced for an Arctic blast of extremely cold temperatures, down in the single digits no less, and as if to let us know that Mother Nature can be a fickle friend, a dusting of snow blanketed the fields this morning.

I wanted to share a sweet little Christmas card we recieved from a loved-one.
It made us smile.
Oliver cat, and Tom Tilly, what could have been more perfect !

 

 

Hope you all stay warm and cozy inside, the Nesting Season is upon us.

Winter Days

The recipe books are once again sitting snugly on their shelves, instead of being strewn about the kitchen counter tops.
It's a ritual I go through every holiday, drag out the recipe books, and yet make the same tried amd tested dishes as the year before.
Tradition prevails.

We're having a blast of Arctic weather blow through today, the coldest in many years.

It's a rare occasion when the temperatures drop into the single digits.
I'm leaving the tartan tablecloth in place for a little while longer, the colors warm and inviting, giving dull Winter days, a much needed splash of vibrancy.

 

 

 

The Christmas ornaments will be packed away in the morning, marking the end of Yuletide.

I tend to stick to old traditions of leaving the decorations in place for the twelve days of Christmas, just as my parents and grandparents did in England.

It's the perfect weather on a late blustery winter afternoon for indulging in lots of tea, and enjoying a shortbread biscuit or two.

 

"Come along inside... We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place."

~ Kenneth Grahame, "The Wind in the Willows"

Let The Merriment Begin

We've had the strangest warm weather the past few days.

Here it is, the middle of December and the temperature reached a balmy 70 degrees today, folks were running around town, in shorts and flip-flops !

This afternoon, I accomplished a little inside decorating.
Our tree is an Alpine Tree, tall and skinny, and doesn't require any furniture to be moved around.
The mantle is  finished, except for a few dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks.

 

The silver is polished

The Christmas crackers await eager hands

On the porch, the old wooden sleds have been decorated with boughs of fresh Cedar.
The birds have decided to make it their nightly roost.
'Tis the season for sharing...

Making A Start

I've decided to go minimal on the Christmas decorating this year, at least that's my intentions.
I do seem to have trouble knowing where to stop, once I've started.

For many years, I would hang twinkly faerie lights from every eave of the house, every tree in the yard, even the bird houses would get a mini-set of twinkle.
I would be the crazy neighbor, hanging lights from the porch long after dark, whilst the rest of the world snuggled inside.

I'm going green, please wish me luck !