'til next year

How was your Christmas? Ours was good. Games, too much food, good company on Christmas Eve, some lovely gifts from Brian.

Quiet times by the fireplace were certainly appreciated, too.

I'm not in the mood to write much. I have some loved ones in the hospital right now and also - out of the blue - plantar fasciitis attacked my left foot and I'm in a lot of pain.

I've been slowly de-Christmasing my house and trying to put things back in order, but moving slow and taking lots of breaks. I left lights and greenery on my mantle for a warm, winter look. Not done tweaking, but this is good enough for now.

I'll just leave this here...

Thank you for reading my blog this year, sparse though it may be at times. Wishing you all love, peace, and good health for the New Year.
💖

popping in after christmas

A quick hello...

We were supposed to spend Christmas Eve with extended family, but that was cancelled due to a couple of people having Covid. Instead, Brian and I went to my aunt and uncle's house and we had a fun-loving time talking and snacking in the cozy family room next to the fire ~ where Dandy the Pug snuggled up next to Brian. We later moved upstairs to play board games around the dining room table.

On Christmas morning, I made my traditional breakfast casserole and we ate that along with almond kringle from a famous Danish bakery in Racine, WI. (Our local Trader Joe's carries it!) So much sugar and overeating at the holidays; back to our healthy eating as of January 1st.

We opened our gifts to each other and later we video-chatted with Tim and opened gifts that way, too. Would've been a million times better in person, of course, but grateful for this technology.

As always, missing our oldest son, Philip who passed away in 2009. This was our 14th Christmas without him.

How was your Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate in December)?
I know the holidays can be hard and perhaps not happy or joyful ~ for various reasons: Thinking of those loved ones who have passed away, old family hurts, missing out-of-state family or friends...the holidays can dredge up painful hurts. It's OK to acknowledge those feelings, too. Love and blessings to you all.

Hoping to writing an end-of-year post tomorrow.

christmas eve musings ~ and the impact of red

 Happy Christmas Eve to all my blogging friends!

My husband is working today, so it's been a quiet day at Comfy House.
I am finally feeling better since having a bad cold and had that cooped-up feeling.
So I put on my winter coat and went out for a walk.
It's a gray day and the dry, cold air made me cough a lot again, but it
felt good to breathe that fresh air and move this body.

When Brian gets home from work, the three of us will have our own little

Christmas celebration with hor's d'oeurves and opening presents as Brian has to
 work tomorrow, too! Yep, there's those places that are open 24/7.
 Doesn't matter if it's Christmas day...hospitals, nursing homes, police departments,
 and fire departments are all open.
 (I'm sure I forgot some professions.)

It will be a bittersweet Christmas morning with Brian being at work,

and no little ones to be waking us at the crack of dawn like they used to.
We miss our oldest son every day of the year (for those of you who don't know,
he passed away three years ago), but moreso on holidays.

Moving on...I've always loved touches of red in decor.
Red goes with practically any other color and can really add that something to a room.
Red is warm and positive; energizing and cheerful.

My bedroom desperately needs a makeover and is the next room that WILL be done,
but for now the color scheme is light blue and white.
I nearly forgot that I had a quilt with primary colors packed away and that the
one side had little red and white checks. I folded it lengthwise and placed it
at the foot of the bed, then added a holiday pillow with a red bird on it.
Much better!

And, remember I was looking for a white tablecloth to go under my Christmas runner?

I couldn't find one in my table's size. I remembered that I had a vintage tablecloth

that I picked up at a resale shop a few months ago and...

it had red in it, so why not?

The white and blue plates are my wedding china - Noritake Ireland, Brambury pattern.

The little reindeer plates - no markings on the back. I found them at Goodwill.

Here's to a peaceful, safe, and healthy Christmas from my house to yours.

xoxo