Merry *belated* Christmas

OR... am I just super early for next year??  Hey, let's go with that!  ;) 

Our decorations stay up a while.  It takes me way too long to get everything festive around here, so I don't want to deal with packing it all away until sometime next month.  After weeks of shopping (although a good amount of it was done online), wrapping, baking, errands, etc. it's nice for the pressure to be off now.  And, since I was absolutely sobbing a few times over Christmas weekend for assorted reasons, these are now a few welcomed down days with moments of quiet enjoyment. 

Our Christmas Eve tradition for many years has been to have family over.  It's my favorite day of the year (or at least is tied with my birthday) so the gathering is special.   We have a gift exchange, and dinner is buffet style.  Last year, we had to adjust our plans a bit because of Covid and wanting to minimize risk.  A smaller gathering, we wore masks, and sent food home with our daughter/family rather than all eating together.  This year, we had planned to have everyone over for dinner/gifts... but then 4 people in our family got the virus right before Christmas.  So Plan B went into effect again.  It really was alright and we made the most of it.  Ron and I dropped the gifts off outside at our daughter's house, then came back home and our son-in-law called us on Facetime so we could watch each other opening everything.  Different for us, but fun.  Many families probably already do that for those who live far away from each other.   Later that night, his sister/bil brought their grand dog over and we visited out back.  I put a Christmas tablecloth on the patio coffee table, Ron plugged in an old lamp he had in the shed for extra light, we put out crackers and cheese, and had drinks while the dogs were running around the yard.  If it was any indication of what winter camping might be like, it wasn't going to be a new activity for me... but it was nice enough for an hour.  Weather hasn't been too crazy cold here yet.  

Here come the photos....

We try to get to Philadelphia for Christmas Village each year. 

We enjoy a bit of Christmas spirit in the city, but mainly go to get our yearly special ornaments (painted in the Ukraine), and a gift or two.  These were the ones I chose.

In Dilworth Plaza we saw an interesting Grinch.  He wouldn't look at you until you put a tip in his container.....

And then he gave you a big Grinchy greeting with photo opp.   

Ron usually puts all the strands of lights on our trees.  While I am particular about having clear lights, and making sure they are somewhat evenly placed... that wasn't what he was so frustrated with.  It just seems that every year we put lights away that were working, and then somewhere between one Christmas and the next, some of them decide to not light.  Maddening!

So to give him a little break, I did the lights on the bedroom tree...and went with pink decor this time.  It's usually red/gold. 

I put the lights on this tree in the kitchen.  I don't even remember ever having a tree in the kitchen, but wanted one this time.  

Most of the balls on this tree were from our previous visits to Christmas Village. 

My aromatherapy bowl needed a new diffuser, maybe last year, but it's working wonderfully again and I plug it in a lot! 

These large mugs of hot chocolate with whipped cream were a very enjoyable treat!

For quite a few years now, we try to watch 'A Christmas Carol' sometime during the season.  The version with Patrick Stewart and Joel Grey is our favorite.

One of my gifts from Ron was a lava lamp.  Cool, huh!?

Luna got her winter jacket before Christmas. 

With all the plants on the porch, I couldn't let them be without something festive! 

Grinch might look mean, but I think he secretly likes all the holiday happenings. 

I forgot to get a picture with ALL the gifts under and around the tree.  I found Grinch wrapping paper!! 

I baked a lot of cookies!  And there was an old bottle of cheap champagne in the fridge and I wondered if it was still any good.  It was.  No cookies were burnt as I sampled the bubbly. ;)

Lovely Luna got her own stocking with treats and toys inside.

 

I take a LOT of baths so the tub area gets quite needy.  Because it's hard enough for me to get in and out of my R&R space these days... we'll talk about my hip and additional hurties some other time... the chore of cleaning it belongs to Ron.  It's an old bathroom... maybe we should talk remodel soon?  Well, for now, he goes in with some muscle, unscrews all the jets, etc. and makes it nice again.  Where's my lavender salt soak??  I'm ready!

 

 

THIS!  I love our bedroom.  It's been red for many years.   Actually, it's an apricot color underneath and then a red glaze sponged on top, so it doesn't look this dark except at night.   I think fairy lights are wonderful and have them around the house.  The ones on this wall are battery operated and will blink or fade, etc.  I keep them on regular glow and have been leaving them on all night.

These are a fan favorite, butter cookies!   Just a little different than my aunt used to make (I don't roll dough into a log and coat with almonds) but the basic ingredients are the same. 

Chocolate crinkles.  Mmm!

We're not Buddhists, I just happen to have various Buddhas around the house.  This one was from a vendor at Christmas Village years ago.  Last year I put a Santa hat on it, this year some white silk poinsettias to go with the others in the dining room.  Usually one tree has a Buddha ornament on it, too.

 

 

 I had them counted at one point, but forget now how many trees are on this display. 

 

Facetime on the Eve!

One of the gifts we gave our granddaughter was a Baby Yoda light.  It changes color.

Our son and his fiance came for dinner the day after Christmas.  We don't usually set a formal table, and this one isn't really formal or fancy... but was the first time we used some of Ron's parents' china.  They had a large set, mostly for Thanksgiving dinners, but could no longer use many of their things after moving to assisted living so we took it but it's been on shelves upstairs ever since.  It felt bittersweet, but I'm glad we used it.  And will hopefully use it again sometime soon.  

It hasn't been one of the very best holiday seasons we've experienced.  There's been sadness, sickness, and death, but I guess that's every year really for many families.  We try to remember some good past memories, make a few new ones, and take it day to day as necessary.  This has been my view a few mornings this week.  My son gifted me a fragrant dried lavender/oak candle and the glow/scent is lovely.  The little things are big things!

May you all have much love, joy, and peace surrounding you in the new year!!!  
~Mary xoxo