Christmas

     Christmas lasts a long time in my house. We have always left up our Christmas things until after January 6th, which is Epiphany. I enjoy seeing the decorations. One year, I actually left everything up until April. That year, a lot was going on. Things were so busy that there was no real time to take anything down or put anything away. It was kind of fun, actually. This year, my decorations went up early. I started before Thanksgiving, which is something that I have never done before. I always take at least a week to get everything out and up. This year, I did it all in one day! Actually, there were a few things that were still waiting to find a place! They never did find it, though, HA!  

     I took pictures last year, but they didn't get shown. So, I am going to try to put some on here this year. I started writing this entry when they were all still up. Since then, I have taken everything down and put all of the items into their respective bins. Don't ask if the bins are put away, because they are not! At least everything is down and other things are put back into place. 

     My pictures do not look very clear on the blog, but I wanted to share them anyway

     The first picture is of the mantle. This year, I actually took down all of the things that are normally on there, and I only have Christmas items displayed. 

    There is a new addition to my Willow Tree Nativity set. I found Zampognaro, a shepherd with bagpipes. So, he is a nice addition to the scene. I left my dried Jasmine flowers on the corner of the mantle. They look much better in person!

     I was also able to purchase a new tree. It is a slim, 7 foot tree. My older one was wider, and it was always hitting things as it turned around. I have a revolving tree stand that I just love. It is nice to be able to see the whole tree, as it spins around and around, rather than just seeing one side! I have to fold up my curtain, though, or it will get caught in the tree and go around and around with the tree. Then when it gets totally wrapped around, the tree stops!

      I have these traditional, European Santas that were given to me by my Daddy. He loved to find things like these Santas. I love them! My musical Christmas snow globes are also on my little server buffet.

     I have a small, glass nativity that I bought a long time ago. It came with a small mirror to go underneath the pieces. That mirror broke a long time ago. I also have two small nativities that are carved out of wood and a small, Precious Moments nativity. One of my big, musical snow globes is also a Nativity scene.

     I also put my advent wreath on the mantle. I lit it throughout the season of Advent, however I did not leave the flames going for very long at a time. The old, plaster walls are not really conducive to candles! 

      The New Year came in without any fuss or bother, so that was nice. Our weather has gone crazy, so it was very warm for a New Year's day. It felt like spring or summer, really. The air conditioner actually had to be used for a while, in order to get the stuffiness out of here! Since then, we have winter one day and summer another day. So far this year, though, everything is going well. The best part about the new year is that I do not have to go to work! I am still enjoying my second year of retirement, and I am still learning the art of slowing down. I enjoy my peaceful time just doing what I want to do when I want to do it! 

     Take it easy, be safe, be careful, and have a GREAT DAY!!

     

     

The Art of Slowing Down

Moving slowly is not something that I can normally accomplish. I am learning, though. After being in the teaching profession for over thirty years, I was used to running, rushing, and doing everything at a very quick pace - at home and at work. I am now in my second year of retirement, and I am doing a little better about not rushing so much. I am finally being able to sit down sometimes when I eat. Well, breakfast is usually a little relaxed. Lunch is still up in the air. At that time of the day, the rushing is mostly in full force. I normally fix a sandwich and eat while moving through the house. I am not sure why, though. Daily household chores that were done in a running mode are now slowed down to a slow jog. It is hard to realize that I actually have time to do things around here without rushing. I was used to doing everything in one day, usually on Saturday morning, in between writing lesson plans. Now, I can do things a little bit every day. Even a trip to the grocery store can now be slower paced. I enjoy walking up and down each aisle looking at things. The past two weeks have been spent getting ready for Christmas. I bought a new tree at Hobby Lobby and got it put up. Then this weekend, all of my decorations were brought down from the attic. It has taken all week to get the things out and put up around the living room. I am not finished, yet, but everything is out and ready to be put somewhere. Getting started before Thanksgiving is not something that I have ever done before. I am moving slowly at this activity. There were years when I only had one day to get it all done! That would wear me out! Luckily, I cleaned out all of my tote boxes last year and threw away all of the old broken pieces and things that were not really in good condition. So, I didn't have to go through all of that stuff this year. That saved a lot of time. I still try to ride my bike every day, weather permitting. My cousin and I go pretty far sometimes. We rode over 7 miles the other day. It was really cold and windy that day, but we made it! We have found some pecan trees on our ride, so we pick up nice pecans sometimes. We see lemon trees and orange trees some places, too. We also found a grapefruit tree on our ride. This yard also has a big pecan tree. One day, the lady of that house told us that we could get as many grapefruit and pecans as we wanted. She was raking up a lot of pecans that day. The guy across the street from her has a pecan tree, too, and he told us that we could also get pecans from his tree. Pecans are very expensive in the stores, so it is nice to be able to get some fresh ones on our ride. I have two pecan trees at my house, too. This year is the first year that they are big enough and ripe enough to eat! YES! Once I get things more organized around this house, I will be able to slow down even more. After so many years of teaching, I have accumulated tons of books and supplies. The house is pretty much overrun with those items. Once I have the time to get through all of those things and get them out of here, then things will be easier to organize. I do not want to throw away all of those things. Maybe I can find some organization that might be able to use them. A lot of money has been spent over the years to purchase my teaching supplies. I just do not want to throw it all away. Speaking of moving slowly, this post has been slow in getting written. I started it a few weeks ago. Each time that I start writing, I feel as though I get off of the topic. I probably did that today, too, but I am going to try to finish writing it. The weather today is supposed to be rather cold - well cold for Savannah! We do not have snow or anything like that, but the temperature is supposed to be in the 30's. Hopefully, I will get out a bit today and get a few things that I need. Do you ever go to the store and buy all sorts of things, get home, and realize that you forgot the one or two things that you actually went to buy? HA! I do that a lot! So, I will go out today and try to remember the one thing at Publix that I needed for banana pudding, and then something else at another store. So, slowing down is nice. It is so nice that I actually make more than one trip to get things that I need! HA! Is that the art of slowing down, or is that the reality of getting older and being forgetful?? Whichever it is, I can handle actually having the time to return to places to get what I need. Take it easy today, and have a great day!!

My Little Barista

My little 6 year old granddaughter surprised me the other day. I was at my daughter's house one morning to take their little dog home to them. I had been keeping him while they were out of town. My granddaughter stepped up to the coffee maker and proceeded to make her mom a cup of coffee. She was very businesslike. She got the perfect cup, turned on the coffee maker, got the K-cup, and pushed the correct button for the size of coffee that her mom wanted to have. Then, she got the cream and sugar. She very precisely measured out the correct amount of sugar, poured in the right amount of cream, stirred it all up, and took it to her mom. Then ever so professionally she asked, "Grandma, would you like me to make you a cup of coffee? I can make tea, too." I just about fell over! She was just too, too cute! I told her that I already had my coffee for the day. She seemed disappointed, so I asked her if she had any decaffinated tea. She did, so I let her make me a perfect cup of hot tea! She was very happy! My tea tasted very good, too!! So, I now have my very own, personal barista!!

Friendships

This week, I had the opportunity to visit with two of my friends. In today's world, that type of visit hasn't been happening. Friday, I drove down to the beach to see my friend from Tennessee. She and her husband came down to Tybee for a week. I haven't seen them in about two years. We took a nice, long walk on the beach and caught up with our families and just enjoyed being together. A few years ago when they came down, one of our hurricanes made it so they had to turn right around and go back to Tennessee. So we didn't get to visit. Yesteterday, I was able to visit with another friend whom I haven't seen since before the quarantine. She came by my house, and we just sat and talked together for a good little while. These two visits might seem plain and simple, but they were very important to me. Having friends is important, and having true , close friendships is even better!

Morning bike rides, Bible study at the lake, and Reading on the beach

Early morning bike rides are the best. Riding in the morning gives me a great start to my day. I actually went to the beach one day this week and just sat there for a couple of hours reading a short story. I haven't been to the beach all summer. Uh oh...It is September, not summer! oh well... Sometimes in the afternoon, I take a car ride over to the city lake and read my Bible study books. I just sit in the car, open all of the windows, enjoy the breeze, and read. There is a calming feeling about sitting there and studying. These things may not seem very exciting, but these small activities help to keep me grounded.

Jasmine all around

Jasmine is so pretty with its delicate white blossoms hanging over fences and in trees. The beautiful scent of the jasmine flowers is just awesome. This year, there are many beautiful little jasmine vines hanging over my back fence and on my garage. Each year, I have seen these vines all over the neighborhood, but they have never been in my yard. This year, I have a lot of jasmine. Each morning, I bring some inside to make the living room have a bit of outside beauty, not to mention a sweet, soft aroma. The flowers do not last too long inside, but they are pretty just the same. Sometimes, they will dry in the vase. Then, I can have a nice dried arrangement for another time. Jasmine, jasmine all around...I am glad that some finally came around! Each day now, I am going outside and bringing in fresh jasmine to put in the vase on my lighthouse table.

This picture is of the jasmine that is all over the side fence.

In this picture, you can see the jasmine going up over the top of the fence.

Jasmine loves to climb trees! It is just beautiful!!

I need to hurry up and get more jasmine to bring inside, because it is starting to go away. I hope that more will come back, after this first batch is gone. It is so pretty! Have a great day!

Old Movies, Toll house Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Bewitched

This weekend, I found a really fun movie. It is called "Fitzwilly", and it stars Dick Van Dyke. Actually, there are a lot of famous actors in this film. I call it a mild mannered Oceans 11 movie, because the characters do a lot of smooth cons. They do not hurt anyone with the cons, though. Dick Van Dyke is a butler to an older lady who thinks she is still a millionaire. Actually, she is penniless. So, her loving staff  "pull off" numerous cons and thefts to keep her living in the manner to which she has been accustomed. The movie is really good. You must pay careful attention to what is going on, or you might miss things! 

Today, I found an old Fred Astaire movie called "Royal Wedding". The movie is about a brother and sister dance team who get a performance job in London, which just so happens to be taking place at the same time as a royal wedding. This movie is also the one in which Fred Astaire has the famous scene where he dances with a hat stand. There is also a famous scene where he dances on the walls and the ceiling. His dances are awesome. I read that he was such a good dancer, that he had to continually find younger and younger female partners to keep up with him! He was 52 years old in this movie, and he moved like a youngster. Jane Powell was in this movie, playing his sister. She was around 22 years old at the time. So, she was 22 and played the dance partner sister of a 52 year old. HA! I kept thinking that she and her voice seemed familiar. Then, I realized that she is the actress who played in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. That movie is one of our all-time family favorites! As I always do when watching movies, I started using the computer to research all of the actors. I knew who some of the people were, but I did not recognize the woman who played the love interest of Fred Astaire. When I looked up the movie, I found out that her name was Sarah Churchill. She was a famous British dancer/actress. Guess who her father was!! If you guessed Winston Churchill, then you are correct. How about that!

Cookie dough - I bought some Toll House Cookie dough (in a roll) a couple of weeks ago, and it went away very quickly. Then, I could only find the kind that is in a package that is divided into little squares. Well let me tell you this. The square dough is not as good as the dough in a big roll! I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought FOUR rolls. Can you believe it! So, I made a batch last night and another batch today. I am on a cookie kick, I suppose. The dough tastes really good, though - especially raw! haha

After one of my YouTube flosstube videos stopped today, there was an icon for the pilot episode of Bewitched. I am not sure why this tv episode showed up in the middle of a bunch of cross stitch videos, but I clicked on it anyway. It was so funny. This show is the one where the two meet, court, and marry. Endora is introduced in this one, as well. Also, Darrin's old girlfriend is in this episode and tries to make Samantha look bad. Uh oh...that was not a good thing to do! HA! Samantha taught her a lesson or two really fast! hahahaha

Movies and television shows in the present age are just not as good as the old ones. Maybe that is why so many movies these days are just remakes of old movies! The writers nowadays cannot write decent movies, and the producers cannot find any decent movies to make!! HAHA!

Have a great night, and watch some good, old fashioned, feel good movies!!