Preserving the Spirit of Christmas on December 12

 Yesterday was Gaudete Sunday, the beginning of the third week of Advent. While the main liturgical color for Advent is violet it switches to the color rose for Gaudete to express the joy of being midway through the season.

 Hunting through my Christmas boxes I was surprised by the number of rose pink items I have because pink is not really a favored color of mine.

 While I was hunting up the rose pink items my yard was having the final cleanup of the season. I realize you won't think this looks like much but after living with leaf debris for a number of weeks now I think my garden is quietly happy tonight to be clean and tidy.

 The nandinas in front have had their rose colored clothes on for a few weeks now.

 Pretty pink poinsettia.

Whether we call it Gaudete Sunday, Joy Sunday or Rose Sunday, it marks the midpoint of the season which will bring us to the joy of Christmas.

Preserving the Spirit of Christmas on December 10

For tonight we're going to look to the word "spirit" so I can use some recently inherited bottles gifted by a friend who was moving and couldn't include them in the shipment.

 Last week, the son who loves to bake and has done a lot of baking for others lately, wondered aloud if I would make him a cake. Hoping to find a recipe to use some of the hooch, in particular the Grand Marnier because there was more than one bottle, I decided to make an orange cake. As it turned out I didn't use the recipe with the GM glaze because I did not have the correct pan to make it in. Instead I improvised somewhat with the recipe I settled on replacing the raisins (it was a New Zealand recipe) with some of the remaining cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving.

 The orange theme must have settled in to my mind because I wondered about making a pomander or two. It has been a few years since I made one but I gathered the necessary ingredients - and then got distracted photographing them. Watch this space to see if I follow through with the plan!

 A random shot tossed in for interest. The trimmings from the re-cutting of the bases of the Christmas trees are good to use as props in the December photographs.

 Have you been good this year? Will Santa swallow the drink you leave out for him and drop an orange in the toe of your Christmas stocking? You surely won't be getting a lump of coal will you?

 Many different versions of my setups are taken and I can't always decide which one to use. So here is shot two of the orange cake...

And shot two of the orange for the Christmas stocking. We will be well preserved by the time it gets to December 25th at this rate!

Preserving the Spirit of Christmas on December 8

 Tonight we are singing The Carol of the Bells.

 In which we play the game of trying to remember which of the churches in our village have a bell tower. Hint, not as many as you might think. Finally, on our third stop it was a relief to find that Christ the King Lutheran Church does indeed have a bell tower.

 The next stop with a bell tower was not at a church but at an old schoolhouse. Here the challenge was to find a way to photograph the building that did not involve standing in the middle of the road. But, about to dash back to the other side of the road, this pretty front door with it's touch of Christmas cheer cried out to be noticed.

 And yes, there was a picture of the belltower that seemed reasonable to share.

Nothing to do with bells but a pleasing way to close out tonight's collection.

"Christmas is here,
Bringing good cheer,
To young and old,
Meek and the bold.

Ding dong ding dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling..."     excerpted from The Carol of the Bells

Preserving the Spirit of Christmas on December 6

Tonight let's focus on the Christmas tree.

 Over at the tree lot the trees quietly wait in piles based on their size.

 The tree wrangler cuts loose the cords ready for the Saturday sale day.

 The first customers of the day had been sitting in their car watching the minutes tick over until it was 10am and the lot was open for business. They quickly zeroed in on the perfect tree and then had it cut to specific length.

 The tree was loaded into their vehicle to allow for easy unloading once it arrived home. They were very happy customers who had driven many miles to get the right tree.

The Christmas tree is a substantial player in preserving the spirit of Christmas.

Preserving the Spirit of Christmas on December 4

 Bottling the tree.

 Tonight Santa and Mrs Claus arrived in our village, transported as usual on a vintage fire truck. Santa seems to be stifling a cough - there's an early case of 'flu running through town just now - or is he merely clearing his throat ready to respond to all those children with their whispered messages?

Upon the arrival of Santa our village Christmas Tree bursts into light.

Thus the spirit of Christmas is officially with us once again.

Preserving the Spirit of Christmas

Those who regularly read this blog know that I sometimes struggle with being able to speak in a way that is understood by those around me. We may speak the English language but there are many words that are used differently depending on where we are at the time we speak.

In my native New Zealand a couple of generations ago the kitchen enthusiast bottled fruit (and more) in times of plenty (I'm thinking of the delicious peaches) to be available in the months when fresh produce was much harder to come by. We called this kitchen art "preserving". Here in the USA, as I understand it, the same process is called canning.

Last year I set out on a very active blogging course in November, December and into the new year. For November I posted using the theme of Color Me November. For December it was the Trees of December. And in the opening months of 2016 I alternated with Winter White Wednesday and a specific color on the weekends until winter was officially declared "over".

Please humor me this year with a less ambitious plan. For the month of December I'm setting out to preserve the spirit of Christmas and will take liberal license to use the words "spirit"and "preserving" borrowing from the vernacular of the several countries I have lived in where English is the common language. In January? Who knows what it will be - why don't you offer up your suggestions.

Before I launch any further I want to include one last (??!) fall themed photo of my little white pumpkins. I had a lot of fun and creative moments with these this season.

Three little pumpkins preening.

Blurring the seasons.

I need to give credit to my friends Jill and Randy - when I went to their house a couple of weekends back they had paired a white pumpkin with a white poinsettia and I thought it was a brilliant combination. The variety of colors in poinsettias this year is amazing to me. You can expect to see more posts featuring these plants which are integral to the spirit of Christmas.

Oh, I forgot to add that the plan is to post every "even" date in December.

Giving Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving Day - a time when we can pause and think about what we are thankful for.

 Last Saturday I was thankful for the "flour flinging" that was going on in the kitchen when number 2 son was busy making pies to donate to the annual pie sale at our church. Pictured above is one of the two pumpkin pies cooked along with a pecan, a pineapple and an apple pie for a total of five pies.  He made the pies and I did the wrapping/presentation and then we drove over to church to deliver them. In the evening, once the kitchen had cooled down and been cleaned up I made cranberry, orange, coconut, pecan quick bread loaves and delivered them on Sunday morning as we arrived at church for the 10am service.

 On Saturday I was thankful for the timing of a phonecall from my neighbor. She wanted to alert me that her red maple tree was at peak of color and did I want to come take a photo? Thankfully I did go right on over and spend a half hour wandering round taking photographs because as I arrived back home a fierce wind sprang up that heralded the arrival of a cold front. Many leaves got blown off trees.

 Here is another shot of that red maple taken from the backside/interior of the tree looking out into the bright light. This one shows the brilliant color of the foliage really well.

 I am also hugely thankful for the efforts of number 1 son who has diligently raked, raked and raked some more, picked up the leaves and then dumped them in the big leaf pile out back.

 The oak leaves are a stunning brown this year.

 I'm also thankful that the new england aster plants did finally come into bloom. We had such a dry fall coming on the heels of a very hot summer and these plants had not come into flower when I thought they should.

 The nandina has good berries on it that the birds will be very thankful for in the winter.

 Nature has painted this nandina a very pretty shade. As I was out taking photos this morning I noticed a "leftover" from the painting crew who were here in August. The shrubs were much fuller then and I guess the painter did not realize he had dropped his brush.

 Wednesday of last week our small quilt group went to visit the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run. We have made and donated a number of quilts to this center to be given to the warriors who come for a retreat with up to 12 of their family members and friends. Opened last year this facility "provides our nation's recovering warriors with a cost-free respite opportunity away from the environment of their medical center. Our troops and their families are invited for a one-week "get-away" where everyone can relax, bond and enjoy quality time together." (words quoted directly from their promotional brochure). I was very impressed by what we saw and heard and thankful that we have groups like SOWW who are committed to demonstrating a tangible way that these servicemen and women can be helped in their recovery. Please go visit http://www.willingwarriors.org/ to find out more about this wonderful home away from home.

And I'm going to finish out as I began with another delicious pie (this one an apple pie) made for the pie sale.

Happy Thanksgiving to all - may you have the opportunity to share this day with family and friends and enjoy a delicious turkey dinner together. We will be giving thanks for the chance to gather round the table of a friendly neighbor and indulge in the yearly feast of roast turkey with all the trimmings.