Not Feeling It...

  Once again, Christmastime is upon us and I am just not feeling it.  This has been a particularly hard couple of weeks for me so the exhaustion is fraying the nerves.  I want rest not the hustle and bustle of holidays.  Then again, this hustle and bustle will not last and I shall then wish it was here again.  The brain is never satisfied!  It is to be an unusually quiet holiday season around the Bayou, this year as, once again, Mark has to be away and the grandlittles cannot come from the island.  Son and I will putter about the place and hope that Darling Daughter can take off of work at the senior care center long enough to share at least Christmas Day with us.  The effort of decorating seems almost pointless but I am going through the motions.  Hopefully, my mood will brighten once I start poking bits of "Christmas" in every nook and cranny of the Little Bayou House.

  This morning, I spent my time putting ornaments on the tree.  The tree stands in the middle of the room so can be viewed from all sides.  This gives me the opportunity to sit and admire the beauty from different angles but, also, makes each misplaced light stand out like a sore thumb.  I have been rearranging lights and ornaments all day.  In fact, I think I have spent more time "fixing" the tree than actually decorating it.

  For the past ten years or so, the "theme" has been a country Christmas but, since "farmhouse" everything has caught on with a rage, I had to be a bit different.  The tree is now decorated with ornaments from "Christmases Past" which suits me fine.  I am old. Why not have old decorations?  In fact, it sort of suits the living room since the entire thing is filled with "old".  Old furniture, old clocks, old lamps, old me...we all fit.  

  By the time I complete the Little Bayou House's transformation to Christmas, my spirits will have lifted and things will be easier.  The peace of the season will settle around the Bayou and make the old brain thankful for what is here even though I shall miss what is not.  

I Can't Pack Them!

  After Ms. Ez died, my heart was broken.  It took a long while before I could even consider getting another dog.  I did not want to "replace" her.   Well, along came Mr. PJ.  We have settled in quite nicely and it seems as if this was supposed to be.  When I lost Ms. Ez, my sweet niece, Eva, painted a picture of Ms. Ez on a Christmas ornament.  It has fast become one of my favorites and stays out all year.  Each time I see that darling face looking at me, I have to smile.  Eva knows how to touch the heart with her gifts.

  This year, she brought two ornaments.  One representing Ms. Put, the Bayou Queen.  We lost her after nigh on twenty-two years of her being in the family.  The old cat's body just could not fight any longer.  The ornament, again, tugged at the heart strings.  The other ornament is of Mr. PJ, the newest critter to call the Bayou home.  When they were younger, he and Ms. Ez were best friends and later, when Ms.Put was so ill, PJ befriended her.  Eva thought I might like to have his picture hanging next to Ms. Ez. and Ms. Put.  Now, the three sweet friends' portraits hang on the post in the living room.  The "Christmas" ornaments are now everyday decor and I can enjoy them year round.

  I know it is a lot to ask but I am in hopes that next year, Ms. Nycto's portrait will be added to my collection.  Eva has so much talent and I am always honored to have a bit of her artwork in my home.  The Little Bayou House sure looks better with all of her pieces hanging on the walls.  

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Christmas on the Bayou was quieter than usual this year. My daughter and son-in-law were not able to come home and my son and daughter-in-law should arrive late this evening. I am not used to having such a laid back holiday..the hustle and bustle was more like a slow crawl. The stockings were not hung by the chimney with care, they stayed in a box on the table. There was no rushing down the stairs to see if Santa came..no wrapping paper flying about..no squeals of delight. Perhaps I just missed seeing Christmas through the eyes of little children or perhaps it really is that I just got a late start. Whatever it was, it was too quiet. I was told that maybe a "slow" holiday is good now and again..nah, I like the busy, busy, "run-around-crazy" type Christmases! I think I will start tomorrow to make sure next year there is a full blown "old-fashioned" Christmas on the Bayou. Maybe a party! A party with caroling, ornament exchange and eggnog!

My youngest son and I have started a tradition of making game boards as gifts and this year was not different. In the past, we made chess boards and Chinese checker boards. This year, we crafted Mancala boards. This is a game from Africa that involves moving forty-eight "stones" about the board. My son made the boards and I did the painting and created boxes to hold the game "stones". I am hoping those receiving them, appreciate the fact that neither he nor I have any knowledge of woodworking! It was all experimentation on making cuts and fitting the pieces together. I told him that for next year, we need to start a tad earlier like maybe..NOW!

A very special friend sent me a gift today that I just think is so beautiful that I had to share it. I sort of challenged this young lady to exchange homemade ornaments with me instead of buying gifts. This challenge was given a few years back when she had one child..she now has three..her adorable little boy and a set of twins, boy and girl. I feel a bit guilty that she still feels the need to make the ornaments but I must admit that each year, I can hardly wait to see what she creates. This year, the ornaments are incredible! They have a very "home" feel to them. She took blocks of wood, attached scrapbook paper to them and then embossed them with inspiration words. The timing could not have been better..like I said, I have felt like Scrooge lately and these small ornaments boosted the spirits tremendously. Thank you, Toni! I love these!

Merry Christmas..........a party!..caroling!..eggnog!....hmmmmm....maybe we could also..............and to all, a good night!

Family Heirlooms

Last Christmas, I had asked only for ornaments as gifts. I figured that I had way too much stuff already crammed into the little Bayou House, there was no need to fill it to overflowing with more things. My daughter and (future) son-in-law complied with this and did indeed give me ornaments. I was and still am elated over this fact. When asking for them, I had made the comment that the ornament should relate to the person giving it and not be some random bauble that is simply plucked from the shelf of the nearest department store. Well, being the most crafty people that they are, they made my gifts. Only they took it a bit further..instead of just making two ornaments that represented themselves, they crafted ornaments for each member of the family.

The first ornament represented my daughter. She loves coffee! (Almost as much as me!) So she covered a styrofoam ball with coffee themed fabric. After completing this she cut out names of places from around the world as she also loves travel. (Much more than me!) These were pinned in place on the ornament. A ribbon was added for hanging and there you have it! An ornament representing my daughter..only I think I would have added a tiara in there somewhere..I think she should be a princess!

Then came her sweetheart's ornament. He loves to dance and actually teaches ballroom dancing. I must admit that I am in awe of his ability in this especially since I cannot. Anyway, for his ornament..a disco ball! Silver sequined fabric with black felt cutouts of "DANCE" and of a disco dancer. How appropriate! A ribbon hanger and the disco ball glitters on the tree!

My oldest son is in the Army and has gone through Airborne training. For the ornament representing him, they draped a stryofoam ball with fabric and added ribbons to simulate a parachute. A tiny Army man toy was then attached to the ribbons. This was so perfect! I have to say I think it was quite ingenious to use the plastic Army man and to make the parachute.

My daughter-in-law was represented with bright flowers and many colors. She is such a lovely young lady and always brings so many smiles to each of us that I fully understand why they chose to do hers in this way. Like this ornament she always brightens our day so much. I have no other ornament on my tree quite like this one and I think that is perfect since I truly believe there could be no match to my sweet daughter-in-law! (I think this one needed a tiara, too! Another princess!)

Then came time to do something to represent my youngest son. My daughter said she had a tough time coming up with something as her younger brother. After much thought, she covered a ball in black fabric and tied it with red ribbons. Now some will wonder what this is all about..but I say it is positively perfect. His favorite colors are black and red but the simplicity of the ornament says more about him than the colors. He is quite the minimalist and this is evident in my daughter's choice of design. Again perfection!

To describe her father, they chose to use a different medium. Instead of the styrofoam ball, a fishing bobber came into play. A cord was creatively wrapped on the float and then tiny weights or sinkers were added to the ends. This is so ideal since her dad loves to fish! (This could have also been the one to represent me!) I love this one..the ingenuity behind this one is awesome! I am so tempted now to do an entire tree in fishing gear and shells.

Lastly, mine. Here they pondered what to do and I am sure it was no easy task. They chose to go "home-spun" to represent me. A Christmas tree was sewn together out of scraps of fabric and then wooden buttons were sewn in place of baubles. I absolutely love this one! It makes me smile. When I think about it, I suppose I really am "home-spun" and the wooden buttons are representative of my sort of "earthiness" (which is defined as "unadorned and simple in style"). Yep..pretty much says it all! (No tiara needed!)

I love these ornaments and the fact that my daughter and son-in-law took the time to make them. I hope that they will continue this trend for they both are very creative.

Treasures!

Over Thanksgiving Holidays, my daughter raided my Christmas decorations. This is her first Christmas since getting married and she and her husband had no decorations of their own. They do now! Reluctant to take any she thought might be special to me and afraid that she might take too many, I had to coerce her into filling her box. She did not understand that I thought this was great! I have way too many ornaments and decorations in general. The closet is overflowing with Santas, reindeer, glass balls, garland and trees. I have boxes of bought decorations, boxes of handmade decorations and boxes of hand-me-down decorations. So many so. that it is overwhelming. I do decorate the entire house and sometimes (when time allows) the yard. Darling Daughter was concerned that she might deplete my stash, I suppose. Ha! Fat chance of that ever happening! Over and over again, she voiced her concerns. "Are you sure, Mom?" "I don't want to take something that you are going to use." "Maybe I should not take all of these." Oh, my goodness! This went on until my dear sister called to graciously invite us to her house. Dear Sister informed Darling Daughter of a very apt truism..if she took some of my decorations that would give me the opportunity to buy more! I would have to replenish my stock and this way I would not feel guilty about making the purchase! Truer words were never spoken! I do not go shopping..I rarely leave the Bayou..but.....when the need arises! Today, it was necessary for me to leave here and make the dreaded trip to pay bills. Not a fun thing at all, but at least this time I could peek in at the Christmas goodies! There were so many beautiful, gleaming ornaments! The reds..the greens..the golds! Ever since a dear cousin gave me one special ornament, I have always wanted to do one tree in only those colors! I wanted to "build" a tree around that single Santa! And there were MY ornaments! I knew I should not..after all, since my daughter took a few boxes maybe the remaining decorations would actually fit in the closet now. But these were so bright and pretty! I picked up one and held it..surely that would not hurt. See..no harm done..I placed the ornament back on the rack. "Oh, look!" I could not help but pick up another! And then I noticed the lady next to me was doing the same thing. Yes, she was trying not to buy any either..we both knew how this was going to end. I told her about my red, green and gold tree! She told me that she wanted one with sugarplums and candy canes. We both smiled..and piled our prizes in the shopping carts! I came home with my treasures! Tomorrow, another tree will be put up in my house! This one trimmed out in red, green and gold! Thank you, Daughter!

Christmas on an extreme budget!

I was thinking about Christmas time and all of the expense that is incurred needlessly. Gift-giving has become so insanely rampant that we tend to get far too many people gifts. Is it really necessary to buy presents for your neighbor's brother's girlfriend? Or for the mailman's niece? Yes, those are exaggerations but I think you get my point. Don't get me wrong here, I am not adverse to giving.. not at all.. I just think there is a bit of overkill during this season. I do realize it is called the "Season of Giving" and we should all be a bit more generous all year long but enough is enough. This stuff has gotten out of hand! In our family alone, it seemed that each year the cost of the gift-giving was getting more and more exorbitant. It had to stop. A few years ago, I issued a challenge.. one dollar or less gifts! This did not apply to immediate family members but to grown brothers and sisters.. aunts and uncles ..nieces and nephews ..etc. I told them to "be creative", "think outside the box" or more importantly "don't go to department stores and malls!" There were the usual gripes and groans that it could not be done ..that you could not get a gift for one dollar or less that would be sufficient. I stood by my challenge! By Christmas it seemed that almost everyone wanted to participate.. even immediate family members. We were all in the "spirit" of things.. all creating gifts. And smiling! That year and every year since, I have received some incredible gifts. This entire group of family members did well adhering to the dare. They were creative ..not only in the choice of gifts but in making the present itself. Those who baked, made cookies, breads and other goodies. One niece that sewed made pot holders from scrap fabric and others crocheted scarves from remnant yarn leftover from other projects. My sweet daughter and her darling husband (fiance at the time) made the cutest ornaments that smell like cinnamon! My dear sister gave me a wall decoration made from a piece of wood she found on their property. To her it looked like a pheasant so she mounted it on a board and stained it.. gorgeous! One of my favorite gifts came from a precious niece's family. Her son came up with the idea of birdfeeders made from pine cones. Their property had plenty of huge cones begging to be used for a project. They smeared peanut butter on the cone and rolled it in birdseed. Before I hear.. "The peanut butter would cost more than a dollar! And the birdseed cost, too!" ..true. But they used old peanut butter that was donated to them after Katrina and bought the bag of birdseed at the local dollar store. Considering how many this made, each was well under the set price! And the birds loved them! This same family had a blast making the feeders. They worked together, had a wonderful time and created great gifts. Isn't that more or less what we should be doing during the holidays? Spending more time together in our homes and less time frantically trying to find the perfect (expensive) gift in a store crowded with irritable people rushing around trying to find the same. Hopefully, this one dollar or less thing will become a tradition that sticks around for a while. It does require a bit of thought, but the love is behind each gift. I think everyone had a lot of fun making the gifts and I know when the time came for them to be handed out there were masses of giggling and hilarious explanations of the thought behind each. It seems that this challenge was a success!