The Decor Retires, but the Spirit Remains

Well, the trees come down this weekend, the pinecones get packed away, and soon our tiny house will feel just a bit larger with all the "extras" now put to rest for another year.

If only I could find a way to rest as comfortably as the decor does. If my heart would just rest easier in knowing that over the next months, all will be well, and I don't have to know every minute of every day what will happen next. 

But as I take down the trimmings, many of them are dried and crispy...I realize, I am ready to move on to the next season as well. And yet, there is a little something about these  pine sprigs, berries, and twigs that leave me to believe that having them around helped the Christmas spirit come alive for us in our little abode. Nothing fancy, mind you. Fairly humble. Nothing too sparkly, showy, or even top-notch greenery. Last-pickens if you will. Not the top shelf greenery...too expensive for my little budget. 

Even the pinecones were gathered next to a very noisy street, next to an intersection, gas fumes and all, and tossed into my paper sack. But I still admired them as I walked home and stuck my head into the paper sack and took a good whiff and smelled the sap and pine. I live in the city...lots of ambulances, sirens, buses, pedestrians, old people walking, and horns honking. But for some reason, sniffing my fresh pinecones seemed to make it all silent during my chilly walk home.

So, before 2012 gets underway, and since we now have our first real snow...I thought I would share a few photos of our little season in our small homestead, here in the city. I am looking outside now and snow is gently falling and so quiet. 

I slowly came about with a theme of simply "dinner with meaning" for my Christmas dinner party. It wasn't planned, but as I put things out, I realized that I only cared to put things out that really meant things to me. I had bought some new items, but ended up not using them. I did buy the glasses, but I bought them while on a trip with some gal pals. I needed some little chairs to squeeze everyone in, but I got them from a friend. Everything else I used for dinner, I either already owned, or made.

Our space for dinner was very small. 9 x 6 to be exact. I measured it for those of you who might feel you can't do much with a tiny space. And it was tight, we had nine people total for dinner. 

Enjoy the photos below of our quiet homestead. That is what I am calling it now. Right in the middle of the city, that is what we have in a way: a homestead. That will be another post as to why we are slowly becoming "homesteaders."

But for now, enjoy the Spirit that remains since the decor has retired.

Honoring my father with this vignette filled with his pipe, WWII dog tag and Knights of Columbus pin

Christmas morning....early sunrise light coming in.

FIRST light of day coming in....very soothing.

Salt and Pepper shakers borrowed from a beloved friend...a table isn't complete unless you borrow something.

I constructed this tree from a fabricated "stick" and tied natural eucalyptus  branches on it.

Rusty barrel rings and simple eucalyptus leaves with pinecones hang  in windows.

We don't have a dining room. This window seat is the best place we have. An old board from the garage and $15 chairs.

The cabinet I painted black this past summer...Barber husband loved it after all!

Giving each a guest a box of homemade goodies. 

Simple wrapping with twine feels French.

The little chip is a reminder of how well-loved this piece is...it is meant to be used.

Pinecone I found at noisy, busy intersection that now sits quietly, flocked, in my crazed cup.

My beloved tureen. I collect only very old iron stone tureens.

Simple, rusty barrel ring  (found at Three French Hens market) with tarnished salt shakers. 

My handsome father during WWII in Rome, Italy. His photo is behind the cloche. He was modest and wouldn't want to be out front, being shown off. I think he looks like Clark Gable. 

Perfect mirror found at Three French Hens market, topped with leftover sprigs and pinecone.

My silver ladle and gift of silverware, near our table...

My father would had loved this dinner...smoked ham, black-eyed peas, french bread,  cream of mushroom soup...the bottom silver tray was a gift he gave my mother.

Left over sprigs and tiny candles on my "one arm" silver tray is my center piece.

Time to turn on the tree lights. Guest will arrive soon.

My German table runner, with American glasses, English butter knives, and Swedish books in center. An international affair.  This German runner means a lot to me. I bought while living in Europe and I had very little money then.

I think whether it is Christmas or not, it is the spirit of hospitality that really matters. There are so many books, TV shows, and articles on how to entertain...but I don't really see that many on the spirit of hospitality. I sort of feel like a person who solely entertains, is wanting to impress her guests and needs to feel important for her creative efforts. And a person who has the hospitality spirit, hopes her guests feel invited and hopes to make them feel important. It is my hope that I am striving to always be hospitable, no matter the size of my home, budget, or simplicity of the meal. I don't think I could really entertain with those limitations anyway. 

Of course it is fun to decorate, be creative...look who is writing this blog! But to me, there is a difference between entertaining and hospitality. I can usually feel the difference when I am in someone's home as a guest. In my opinion, bringing others into your home is about them, and what will make them feel invited, not impressed. 


Take the rolled napkin above. It's Christmas, I wanted something a little special for my guests, of course. But my Barber husband's family are the guests and they are lovely people, but like most, what good is a "stick" on a napkin, right? (I noticed no one called it by its proper term...lol).


They politely put them aside as we ate our meal, until Barber husband announced during dessert that inside their books (place mats) there was a little something for each of them...lotto scratch off tickets! And eyes lit up when I showed how handy those "decorative sticks" came in to scratch off the numbers. You see, it is kind of a custom in his family to have some sort of scratch off ticket at Christmas. Not really my deal, but why break their tradition? I got to have my "stick" on the napkin, and they got a handy scratch off instrument for their tradition. And they laughed when I held mine up and said, "And you thought it was just something pretty that got in your way...I am a true believer in beauty with function."


And I happened to win $10 with my ticket as well.


Hopefully hospitality also means you can keep the ticket, because I kept mine....and cashed it...


From my house to your house,

Seeing the New Year Differently

Happy New Year!

It seems that every year gets shorter and shorter as I get older and older.

As one year ends and another begins, most of you know that I don't make any new year's resolutions. I do however, usually select a word for the new year that I will observe throughout the year in hopes that I will be better for it.

I had been thinking of this new word for about a week or so, and decided that my word for the new year would be:

Vision.

As most of you know, my vision has been a great source of contention for several years now due to my car accident.

These past several years have been a struggle as my once 20/20 vision was "totaled" along with my little car on that night of the  accident and has fluctuated ever since. Five of the glasses you see below are different prescriptions and the rest are just readers.

While gathering items around the house for my little posting on my 2012 word "vision," I played around with my props a little bit as I played around with words in my head on exactly what it is about the word, vision, that I want to write about....

And as I fuss about the books and glasses, trying to figure out exactly which shot I want, I continue to think about how my vision of this shot isn't really coming to fruition and how ironic that is....

After some moving here, and fussing there, I finally get the vision I was after and I am satisfied. Now, it is only a matter of getting the right angle...or rather, perspective. I continue to ponder in my head about how 2012 is going to be different for me...how I am determined to see things differently.


How I will have a different perspective on life....

But it wasn't until I bent down and got a completely different perspective and shot the photo below did it finally occur to me: my word for 2012 was not the right word. It wasn't vision that I was after...no, not vision.

But rather, I was wanting insight. 


Yes! Insight is something I desire. A deeper understanding of the world, those around me, as well as myself. All the spectacles in the world won't give me this.


Insight is a level of wisdom that comes from experience. 


Not from books. 

Only from living.

It is interesting how "insight," my new word for 2012, came about. While at first, I was sure my word was "vision" and I had set out to create this little vignette to shoot, I went and got this huge 1800's bible as the base of the setup.

As I set it on the table I just flipped it open and on the very first time I opened it, this little four-leaf clover was pressed right in the center of it. I took it out and then began to stack my other antique books on top of it and went and gathered all my glasses around the house.


But it wasn't until I finished my little photo shoot, having mostly "written" my post in my head, and began to put my items away did I discover something even more extraordinary. As I carefully replaced the little clover leaf in the pages, it was the first time I had noticed that I opened the bible to this verse:


Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.

I think no matter how well I thought out this little vignette, or my idea of what I thought I was going to say, and how I was going to say it...


Someone much smarter, wiser, and more in control had something else in mind all along. And I think I would be so much better off in 2012 if I will just let my insight be guided by Him.


May your 2012 be filled with peace, joy, and be lovingly guided by Christ who loves us like we couldn't never understand.


from my house to your house,

Love IS Blind

Merry Christmas!

How the time flies and things never seem to get done, right?

But here it is, Christmas Eve, and it is time to slow down and take in the joy of the season.

So what if the tablecloth didn't get ironed...what a blessing to have family and friends to gather around it.

Okay, maybe you didn't get to make those fancy homemade cream puffs like you wanted to, but the store bought ones, served on a nice plate to your guests will be just as welcoming because the laughter of friends is what will be remembered for years to come.

The gifts may not be quite as plenty this year, but hugs and kisses are free. Today is a day to be a little selfish. Surprised I said that? 

Give to yourself today.

Give yourself the gift of loving yourself for just being. For being you. Not for what you can do, or make, or create, or how well you perform...but love yourself as Christ loves you. We tend to see our own faults and praise others' for their creativity, no matter how simple they may be.

Take this little ornament exchange party I attended. I simply wrapped a little ornament in a simple, left over piece of fabric...

Just added a little leftover greenery...and some leftover ribbon...

 And decided to photograph it quickly in a little silver dish...

Because we all know that even the simplest of things can be prettied up with a little fussing....

But that is where the true spirit of Christmas comes in...

That is why it is so cool that Christ was born....because He gets to see what so many of us never see in ourselves. 

I recently snapped up this unique, beautiful, silver one-handled tray at a flea-market. I couldn't believe my luck - or the price! Oh lucky day for me...it was even tarnished. How I couldn't wait to show my shopping buddy. 

Before I bought it, I showed my beloved treasure to my friend, who upon closer examination, pointed out that my "one-handled" tray was in fact, broken. It was missing the other handle...

I stared at my beloved "one-handled" silver treasure and contemplated for only a moment. It didn't take long for me to decide that it was even more special now. Because now it was a one-of-a-kind and now it has a story...a history. 

And that is how Christ sees us. We are His beloved treasures. And I would like to think that while it is rare that I can overlook my own flaws, Christ is able to look at us as I first looked at this broken, silver tray. Broken, but still treasured. We are so loved by Him, that He takes us as we are, and we have nothing to prove.


All we need to do is just "be."


Now I ask you...how many of you even noticed the "broken handle" before I even pointed it out to you? Is it broken or is it unique?


Exactly.




Merry Christmas and may you always feel treasured by The One who finds you valuable no matter how much we are "broken."