Friday, December 20, 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS...










On this first day of winter and throughout the holiday season...






...may you enjoy health, happiness, warmth and home...and make unforgettable memories with your family and friends.






We will be leaving right after our Christmas celebration for San Diego and will return in February.






MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR...


...from all of us at Gold Country Cottage.






Tuesday, December 17, 2013

THE ALPHABET'S CHRISTMAS TREE...









The Alphabet a meeting held
As Christmas time drew near,
And voted each a gift to bring
To please the children dear.






"They try so hard," the letters said,
"To learn us by our names;
We'll give them presents, everyone,
Of candy, balls, and games."






So Christmas eve they one and all
Came, bringing in high glee
Their presents large and presents small
To hand upon the tree.






A brought an apple, round and red,
And B, a bouncing ball;
While C a bag of candy gave-
Enough to feed them all.





D carried in his arms a doll
With shining, golden hair,
And E, a cotton elephant
Came bringing with great care.





F had a fan from far Japan,
And G a funny game;
H boldly rode a hobby-horse,
A racer of great fame.





I held an inkstand in his hand,
"A useful thing," he said;
J waved on high a jumping-jack,
All painted black and red.





K thought a kite the proper thing;
A lamb L held aloft;
M's present was a little muff
Of fur so warm and soft!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   

Let's take a brief interlude here to bring you up close and personal with one of our cast of characters.





Remember the beautiful doll that D carried in his arms?  She looks pretty good for being over 100 years old, don't you think?





She once belonged to my Dad's sister and she has weathered many a storm over these past 100 years, and like all of us who are growing older, she tried to play up her best attributes and make allowances for the flaws that she feels are beginning to show.





How she accomplishes this is, not with creams or any type of new age potions, but, simply, by wearing a bonnet, because you see...





...in 1989, while living in the bay area, we endured a 7.6 earthquake.  There was a lot of damage from falling objects in our home.  In the dining room there was a plate rail encircling the room with many antique dishes that we had collected over the years.  When the earthquake hit, this beautiful doll, who had survived, I'm sure, many a turmoil up to that point, was sitting in her buggy, the one she still sits in today, under that plate rail.

As the dishes came down, one by one, some landed on her head and split it open.  I was able to salvage some larger pieces and glued them back, but she is destined to go through the rest of her life wearing a bonnet.






Now, back to the Alphabet's Christmas Tree...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




N proudly bore a Noah's Ark,
Filled up with creatures queer;
O felt that yellow oranges
Would bring the best of cheer.





"A purse," said P "will look so well
Up there on the tree",
Q bought a quilt for dolly's crib-
A thoughtful Q was he.





R gave a pretty ruby ring
With sparkling deep-red glow;
S dragged along a brand-new sled
To coast upon the snow.





Loudly upon a trumpet blew
The valiant letter T;
U held a strange umbrella up,
Unfurled for all to see.





A dainty vase V's gift appeared,
Of crystal glass so clear;
"A whip," said lively W,
"Is handy to have near."





But X's present was so large
He sent it by express,
And what was in it no one knew,
Although they tried to guess.





Y had a gaily painted yacht
With every part complete;
Z bore a zither, "which" he said,
"Would furnish music sweet."





How merrily the children dance
Around the tree next day;
While safe within the primer all
The little letters lay!

Diantha W. Horne
St. Nicholas, January 1906






I apologize to whomever remembers some of these repeated pictures from last year. Some pictures are new and I came across this little children's poem in an old book. I hope you all enjoy it.


...Judy...

Thank you, Sandi, at Rose Chintz Cottage for featuring my little white truck on your post from last week. I am honored to be among the beautiful features that you chose.


I am sharing this little bit of Christmas with the following parties:



















Thursday, December 12, 2013

COTTAGE CHRISTMAS VIGNETTES...








My Christmas decorating is done...
Such as it is...
and I will show it to you only using as little words as possible.





We did not put up a main tree this year.  We did, however, put up a small one in the guest bedroom, which you can see again here, and we did something different this year in the kitchen.  I love it and will be doing it again in the years to come.




We picked up this little tin tub in an antique store.  Right away I knew I wanted to use it to hold a kitchen Christmas tree.  

At the time, I hadn't seen one used for this purpose, but, of course, since then I have seen many on Pinterest and on blogs, particularly in regards to farm house decorating.  I still think it is an original idea whose time has come.











I have a small collection of vintage cookie cutters and toy kitchen implements so that is what I used to decorate the tree.  I didn't want to wait until I went to the store to buy ribbon so I used what I had.  Not the prettiest choice but the red works well in the kitchen and I, hopefully, will get to the store sometime between now and next Christmas!





The rest of the decorating is done in vignettes which, I'm sorry to say, were short lived.  Remember I didn't want a lot to put away before our trip, but I just couldn't help myself from doing something...





...and Buddy thinks "something" was going just a little too far!

So here we go as promised...

...more pictures, less words...















One of the candle holders I changed into mercury glass by using Krylon's Looking Glass spray paint.





"Then sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king."

Eliza Cook
















What appears to be shutters, with a hanging wreath and candle, is actually a photograph on canvas with a battery inside that makes the candle glow.











"One small candle may light a thousand."

William Bradford










So, there you have it...





...from soup...





...to nuts.


I'm having so much fun living vicariously through all of you beautiful people and your beautiful Christmas decorating posts.

...Judy...




I could say my 5 year old daughter wrote on the blackboard, IF I had a 5 year old daughter, which I don't, so I guess it's just practice, practice, practice.



I'm sharing today with: