Winding down the year

The final days of each year seem to signal the end of yet another chapter in one's life history... It's always so hard to believe that another year has flown by so quickly, isn't it? We end the year on such a busy note with the preparation for Thanksgiving in late November right into the excitement and bustling days of the Christmas season. I have to admit, I'm truly looking forward to the peace and quiet that a new year brings--how about you? 

Our Christmas was nice, but not quite the "whole family together" time that I had pictured. My middle son came down with some sort of stomach flu and neither he nor his girlfriend were here on Christmas morning. The hardest part of his illness for him? Having to miss out on our traditional once-a-year homemade cinnamon rolls (you can find the recipe right here)! Oh, we saved a couple for him, but it wasn't quite the same as sitting down for  Christmas brunch with the whole family. We also saved his presents and the ones he had given all of us and opened them two days later when he felt well enough to come over again. Unbelievably, not a single one of the rest of us got sick!

Another odd thing about Christmas this year was the weather... it was such a warm and rainy week! We did get a bit of sunshine on Christmas Day itself, but that was it. And the temperature... it was 60° here in western Pennsylvania--the eighth warmest Christmas on record! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually missing snow right now.

As the end of this year draws near, I have a number of folks I'd like to thank--there are just so many kind and caring fellow stitchers out there! I enjoyed opening each gift and card so much and  want to share what I received for Christmas this year...

From June in England: a beautifully stitched card, a sweet Tralala chart, some finishing accessories and a Christmas towel. Thank you, my friend!

 

From Manuela in Germany: the cutest little snowman card, a pretty-in-pink hexie mug rug, and two floss tags. Thank you, my friend!

From Cindy C. (cindycstitches on Instagram): a beautifully stitched ornament featuring Santa and his deer. Thank you, my friend!

From Stasi in Virginia: an adorable (and very appropriately named!) ornament. This is a design by Mani di Donna. Thank you, my friend!

From Vickie in Wisconsin: a charming little star ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Claire in Canada (blackberryhill1 on Instagram): The most darling woolen strawberry adorned with a sweet angel and a Santa Claus floss holder. Thank you, my friend!

From Robin in Virginia: a beautifully stitched Silver Bells ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Cindy in Tennessee (cindyderosa on Instagram): a lovely blue bird ornament. Thank you, my friend!

From Martina and Gabi in Germany: sweetly stitched cards which I plan on making into ornaments. Thank you, my friends!

From Nathalie in France: some pretty pastel ribbons, lip balm, and incense. Thank you, my friend!

What a lucky stitcher I am, wouldn't you agree? And thank you, too, for the lovely Christmas cards I received from many of you... Sandy P., Marilyn, Tricia, Barb R., Karen Y., Lee, and Kim H. I do love receiving a real Christmas card in my mailbox even though that tradition seems to be fading away these days. Just call me old-fashioned! 

As Christmas draws closer, I move my newest dozen ornaments from the garland going up my stairs to our tree and replace them with stitched ornaments I've received from so many of you throughout the years. These will stay up until the new year. 

My garland now bears many, many ornaments sent from stitching friends over the years.

Both sides are covered with so many wonderful gifts!

Here are the six lovely new ornaments I received this year.

The saga of Mister B and the elf... Do you all remember the photo of the little mechanized elf I showed you in my last post? For those of you who missed it, here is the impish fellow once again...

The little elf was met with a lot of suspicion by Mister B!

I was sure that my 3-year-old grandson would love him. Wrong! He was quite wary of him and  simply stared at him with wide-eyes for quite a while. At first he refused to go near him, telling me, "he looks dangerous!" He slowly got up his nerve to draw closer and proudly told me, "I touched his hat!" And, after being told many times that the elf's saw wasn't going to hurt him (that it was actually made of wood), he finally got up his nerve to touch it. Watching the whole scenario develop over a few days time was so cute. He was very proud when he and the elf finally became "friends!"

Mister B's not quite sure if that elf is to be trusted or not!

It was such fun watching Mister B discover each one of my Christmas decorations--the Nativity Set, the little tree on my kitchen table, the Christmas lights shining around the house and in our neighborhood...

Helping to rearrange Nonna's little Christmas village

As always food (well... sweets to be exact!) was a big part of our holiday. I ended up making my grandmother's homemade caramels, slowly stirring them for nearly 2 1/2 hours. Oh, they were delicious--so smooth and buttery! My husband nicely wrapped each one in wax paper--the part of making these goodies that I really don't enjoy.

Gram B's yummy homemade caramels--a Christmas tradition

I've been asked for this recipe many times, so I thought some of you might like to try making them for yourself. Just make sure to have a good candy thermometer and lots of patience!

A very special family recipe

 

Of course, Christmas cookies were also on hand and below are some of our favorites. 

I sure went through a lot of butter in my baking this year!

We spent an afternoon decorating gingerbread  cookies a few days after Christmas. What fun to watch my grandson with some of his "creative" decorating style (read that: dumping a lot of sprinkles on to each and every cookie!). And, of course, those were his favorite ones to eat, too!

The more sprinkles, the better!

I could go on and on posting photos of our Christmas, but I'll  leave you with this last one.

Christmas morning with Mister B!

So, that's a wrap on 2023... it was a quiet year for us. I have to say I'm relieved after the ups and downs of the previous few years. We do hope to travel more in the coming year... We realize we aren't getting any younger and know that, one of these days, traveling will be out of the question. Do you have any plans for your coming year? Whatever they may be, I hope your new year is filled with much love and laughter, good health, and happy days. Try to enjoy the simple things in life... often they bring the most joy, don't you agree? Thank you, one and all for taking the time to read my little blog, leave a friendly word or two, and inspire me with all of your stitching. I'll see you next year! Bye for now...

Wishing you all the best life has to offer in the New Year!

A Christmas Like No Other...

Merry almost Christmas, my friends! Well, we did it--we've nearly made it to Christmas in this very difficult year... It will certainly be a Christmas unlike any the world has ever seen. So many changes and lives lost over this past year. This was supposed to be the year my 5-month-old grandson would spend his very first Christmas with us. But, of course, Covid took care of those plans--we just have to look ahead and hope he and his parents will be here for Christmas in 2021. 

But, I already got one of the best presents I could ask for--an early Christmas present so to speak. My youngest son, whom I had not seen in nearly a year (since he visited last Christmas!) is home!!! YAY!!! He took two Covid tests, four days apart, and he's been isolating so we feel safe having him home with us for five days. I have to admit I started jumping up and down when he walked through the door yesterday morning and ran over and gave him the biggest hug ever. I still can't quite believe I hadn't seen him in a year (especially given the fact that he lives only a four hour drive away). That's just the way this crazy year has gone...

Because of the uncertainty of the past nine months, I think traditions have become more important than ever. And one thing that remains constant year after year, is my Christmas tree--same old tree, just a dozen new ornaments added to it. 

2020 Christmas Tree

 

I feel like most of you have seen my tree many times (and are probably a bit tired of it!), but I know I have many new readers here who may be seeing it for the first time. Here are some close-ups... I sure wish I could sit down and share each individual ornament with you, but if you read back through my blog for the past 12 years, you will find details on each and every one. 

My taste in ornament stitching is quite eclectic...

I stitch everything from cute and happy to more traditional ornaments.

 

And just look outside the sunroom door... we're having a white Christmas for the first time in many years!

Lots of Santas and snowmen!

I love simply sitting in the sunroom and reading by the tree at this time of year.

Many of my favorite tiny ornaments decorate the top of the tree.

The tree takes on a whole new look at night time.

It's hard to capture them at night, but the ornaments sparkle and shine as they reflect the Christmas lights--so very pretty!

And then there is the reflection in all the windows and doors of our sunroom. Isn't it lovely?

One last look... day into night.

QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME!

I have had many questions about my cross stitch Christmas tree through the years and so I thought I'd share them, along with my answers today. Let me know if there is something else you are wondering about (in your comments) and I'll be happy to answer your questions... 

 1. Is your tree real or artificial? We always used to purchase real trees, but when my middle son's allergies got so bad about 20 years ago, we went to an artificial tree. And, believe it or not we've had the  same tree ever since!

    2. How tall is your tree? It's almost 8 feet tall. I sometimes wish it was even taller as our sunroom has a cathedral ceiling that would nicely accommodate it.

    3. How many cross stitch ornaments are on your tree? I counted them last year and there were 155, so this year, with the 12 new ones, the total is 167.

    4. Do you have a favorite ornament? I have several and I've shared four of them in the photo above. I still think the little Five Golden Rings angels by Cottage Garden Samplings are at the top of the list, though. 

    5. Did you stitch all the ornaments on your tree? Yes, all were stitched by me. I used to put those given to me by stitching friends on it, too, but it simply got too crowded. I now put my friends' ornaments on the mantle and on the garland going up my stairway. 

    6. How long did it take to stitch all of these? Although there are a few that I stitched back in the early 80s when I first began cross stitching, all but half a dozen or so have been stitched since I began blogging in 2009. 

    7. What will you do when you run out of room? Well, I have always said I wouldn't get another tree at my age, but I am seriously thinking of getting a thin flocked white tree to display my black ornaments. They really don't show up well on our green tree and at night, they take on a bit of a "black hole" look!

    8. How long do you think you'll keep up your "ornament a month" stitching? As long as my eyes hold up! In all honesty, I just take it year by year and I'm sure one of these days I simply won't feel like stitching ornaments any longer.

    9. Big or small--which are your favorites? For my entire life, I've loved tiny things. My family often makes fun of me because I remind them of our one grandmother who loved "tiny, darling, cunning, sweet" types of things. And that is me... The smaller the ornament, the more I like it! That's why I stitch so many of my ornaments "over one" or on 40 ct. linen. 

    10. What will happen to all of your ornaments some day? (Or as my oldest son once said, "Mom, what are you going to do with all these things?") Hmmm... it is my biggest hope that my sons and their families will divide most of them up and use them on their own trees some day. If not, I suppose they'll end up at a thrift shop after I'm gone--and that makes me very sad...

Stitching an ornament a month... I've had many people say they would love to stitch an ornament a month like I do. My advice--just go for it! If you don't complete all twelve, that's fine; at least you'll have a few new ones for your tree by the time December rolls around. It definitely gives me a wonderful feeling of accomplishment having done this each year for over a decade. It doesn't take that much time and yet, the reward is great. I'd love to have you join me in 2021... anyone up for the challenge?

Giveaway winner... There were quite a few of you who wanted to win the Santa chart that I offered in my last post. Sure wish I had more than one, but the winner's name drawn from the hat is...

AMARA (in Germany)

Congratulations, Amara!

Thanks to all who participated and please keep your eyes on this spot--I'll be offering more charts in the future. Amara, please send me your mailing address and I will get this in the mail sometime next week--congratulations!

I hope each of you who celebrates can capture the joy and magic of this Christmas season, even while we endure lockdowns and quarantines, cancelled plans, and missed loved ones. It's not easy sometimes, but look to the future and also to the past; to those special memories of Christmases spent with loved ones long ago.

To honor my relatives, I baked only old family recipes this year for my cookie baking.  At the top of the photo are my dear mother's Date Bars, on the right are my maternal grandmother's Coconut Macaroons, the bottom cookies are my mother-in-law's Almond Thumbprints, next to them are my paternal grandmother's Orange Drop Frosted cookies (my personal favorite!), and the little green trees and red bells are my mother-in-law's Caramel Butter Spritz cookies. Every recipe brought back memories of special Christmas gatherings filled with love and laughter. I'll be missing my mom (and my dad, of course) ever so much this year, but I'll also be smiling at the wonderful memories that I will forever carry in my heart. 

Thank you all for stopping in today. A big thank you to those of you who take the time to leave a comment--that means a lot to me! Merry Christmas to each of you--I look forward to hearing all about your Christmases next week. Bye for now...

 

Wishing you much peace and joy!