It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

all around the cabin.  O wait. That isn't how the song goes? 

Well, it is here.

A little Christmas tour for you.

We have no snow. It has snowed twice this season, weeks ago, and there is zero snow on the ground. Last weekend I was outside in short sleeves working in the yard. The house I left in Texas has had more snow in December than I have had here in Colorado.

But while it may not feel like Christmas outside, it still looks like it inside.

There are Christmas trees:

Tall and narrow covered with cabin-y ornaments and icicles.

Flat and metal. 

I love this milagro tree. 

It stays up year round some years. 

But at Christmas it has the glass ornaments added on.

And nativity scenes:

 The three kids painted this one 16 years ago. 

(Making them 8, 4 and 2!)

It's my favorite. 

Love the evil angel with red eyes and the little green monster. 

And this one from my mama and Mexico.

While I was trimming wood for the outdoor fireplace I cut 

a few rounds for display. 

I really need a band saw. I miss having one. 

The three wise men are celebrating in front of the empty libation bottles. 

Aren't these guys great? 

There are Santas from my childhood:

This big Santa was made by my aunt when I was about 8 years old. 

Amazed he's still around four houses and 50+ years later.

The Santa bank on the shelf is just about as old. 

As is the the book next to him. 

Goodness, I gave away/sold a gazillion books but there are some I just couldn't part with.

The kids' books were the hardest. There's another large bookshelf's worth upstairs. 

And yes, those are my high school yearbooks in the middle. 

Another Santa from my childhood, against 

one of the kid Christmas books and 

some Mexican pottery, literature and brass. 

My life in a nutshell.
Bookshelves can tell you a lot about a person, don't you think?

A reindeer pillow resting on my most favorite purchase this year. 

Bought that leather chair for $30 and a store credit at the consignment store. 

(And many thanks to my sister in law for keeping me supplied with fabulous winter pillows!)

Hoping I can keep the fern alive through the winter. 

The dry heat isn't that good for it. 

Isn't this a cozy scene?  Fire in the pellet stove. Hallmark Christmas movie on the TV. "Naughty" stockings hanging by the door. And another one of those great needlepointed pillows on the big comfy chair.

This is where you'll find me most nights. 

(Those windows are getting replaced sometime soon.

And curtains. There will be curtains.)

Even the outdoors is trying. No snow but a little greenery.

Kaiser, the bear, tries to hold onto his greenery. 

The deer keep coming up on the porch and pulling it out of his hands.

Fish and deer sporting greenery and ornaments 

on the side porch. 

(Ignore the fact that the wall needs painting. 

This Spring...)

Even the cow's skull over the front dooor is trying to get into the spirit.

There were even cookies baking. Except while they were cooling on the  counter, someone decided to eat some. Actually, lots of them. So I'll have to bake some more. 

(Not mentioning names but C-A-R-L-O-S comes to mind....)

This was two full cooling trays of cookies. 

Bad dog. 

Hope you are also enjoying the holidays and are surrounded by love and the spirit of the season. 

Karma, Milagros and Me

Karma, Miracles and Me....


Last Friday I was in a mood.  You know. A "woe is me" mood.   Needed things I couldn't find, wanted things I couldn't have. Maybe a little overwhelmed. Hohoho and the Christmas spirit. All that jazz.

In an attempt to put myself in a cheerier mood I drove through McDonald's for an iced tea and paid for the car behind me, too. A random act of kindness. Wasn't sure if it was going to make me feel better, but even if it didn't, I felt like it might bring some good karma.  You never know.

But I was still in a mood driving home.

And then! Milagros. Miracles.

 

These are milagro charms.

For real.

There was a huge box on the back porch from my friend Cathy and inside was a Christmas tree. And for the tree- milagros.
Milagro means miracle. It also means a little charm used as religious offerings, mostly in Latin American countries.
So little milagro charms hung all over this wonderful little tree.  It was beautiful and special and completely and totally unexpected. It was such a treat it made me cry. In a good way.

Karma?

Saturday morning I woke to this email:

"It was great to meet you last weekend at the market in Denver! Congratulations!  You won the pair of earrings!  Just let me know where to send them and I'll get them in the mail. Thank you!!"

Now I enter little give-aways online all the time. I'll stick my name in a jar if there is something I'd like to win.  But do I ever win? Do you? 
I don't.   
But the week before in Denver I wrote my name on a slip of paper and Lo! and Behold! I won some earrings. Fabulous earrings at that. 

Very fun earrings from Aaron Sault Jewelry.

Check out his work. 

Original. Organic. Very cool.

Karma? 

Sunday was my birthday.

I woke up to *snow*.  The first snow of December. 

A dusting of snow.

And the link to the video if you can't see it here. 

I worked, by choice. Why not? I like working.

It was a bit slow but one of the regulars came in and we chatted and I mentioned it was my birthday.
When he left, he said he might stop back by later, before we closed, but that's not unusual. Some people come in twice a day.

And ten minutes to closing here comes this nice gentleman back in the front door with a big box under his arm. It looked like a toy box.  
And he announced "Here is your birthday concert. These guys are going to serenade you. Unfortunately they don't know Happy Birthday but they do know lots of Christmas songs."

Isn't this adorable?

The Birthday Concert

And if, by chance, you can't see this video, click here.

Sorry it's a little blurry.

Totally made me smile.


I came home to presents and cards and flowers and lots of little treats.

Then Bunny and her friend boy took me to dinner. And the restaurant staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me in a wonderfully embarrassing way. (Thank goodness it was early and the restaurant was pretty empty.)

Absolutely a wonderful birthday from start to finish.


So was it all just coincidence?
A milagro?
Karma?

Who knows?
Who cares?

But just in case, I think I'll stick with those random acts of kindness.


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And a poem, given to me by my friend Cherrilla one Christmas probably 37 years ago.
Apparently I've been prone to these moods for a while.
It's copyrighted 1907 but it still holds true some days.

Nobody Cares For Me

I'm just as mad as I can be

For nobody cares for me.

I slapped the cat and banged the dog 

And they don't care for me.

I stubbed my toe on a great hard rock

And jammed my thumb in the door.

But nobody seemed to see

For nobody cares for me. 

Written by M.T. Sheahan.

Sums up those moods pretty nicely.

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I'm traveling at the end of the week.

On Sunday night, the Winter Solstice, there will be a little party so I can see some neighbor friends.
That's No. 31: Have a Solstice Party.

And then there will be Christmas and family and more travel.

Posting may be random. 

But I'm thinking about all of you. 

Merry Christmas.