Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
December 20, 2014
The grey day doesn’t phase me at all. My trees are lit. The chili pepper wreath, the painted gourd and the scallop shell lights are also lit. They are bright and warm and the rooms feel cozy in the light. Today is make a batch of cookies day, orange cookies. Of all my cookies, the orange ones were my mother’s favorite, and they are also my friend Clare’s favorite because they remind her of her mother’s orange cake for which the recipe was lost. I remember my mother hiding some of these cookies because they disappeared quickly when company came, and my mother wanted a stash.
I am not going anywhere today. I’m doing the laundry, making the cookies and wrapping gifts. I’ll watch Hallmark movies this afternoon and be wary of my sugar intake. This evening, in keeping with the spirit of the season, I’ll watch the premier of the Syfy movie Christmas Icetastrophe. The only description says,”Christmas turns deadly.”
It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen them. I still watch all the old Christmas movies. A Christmas Carol is my favorite dating all the way back to Seymour Hicks, the gruffest of Scrooges, but, as I’ve said many times, the 1951 Alastair Sim will always be my favorite. In The Bishop’s Wife Cary Grant plays Dudley the angel. One of my favorite scenes is when Dudley magically decorates the Christmas tree by just a wave of his arms.
It seems Christmas angels have odd names, not just Dudley but also Clarence and Gideon and probably more I’m forgetting. Gideon is the angel responsible in The Magic of Christmas, a movie I like though it isn’t on TV often. In the night scene, the street lights have almost an eerie glow. Snow is piled high along the sides of the roads. The roads still have a layer of snow. Their breaths can be seen as Ginny and Jack, the two main characters, talk. In that pivotal night scene is one my favorite sounds, the squeak of boot on snow as Jack takes a walk.
Okay, I admit a guilty pleasure, the 1997 horror movie Jack Frost. I first saw it one Christmas Eve while my mother and I were talking and laughing. We couldn’t believe it, but we got pulled in and watched the whole movie. Jack Frost is a serial killer on his way to be executed when his van crashes into a truck filled with genetic material. Jack mutates into a killer snowman seeking revenge on the sheriff who arrested him, the sheriff of Snowmonton. Residents of the town are killed in horrific Christmas themed ways. Spoiler Alert: a blow dryer plays a key role.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas angels, Christmas Icetastrophe, Clarence and Gideon angels, Dudley, grey day, Laundry, lights, orange cookies, The Magic of Christmas, wrapping gifts
Comments: 12 Comments
December 19, 2014
It is quite late for me because I had several errands. I also treated myself to lunch in between as I had a half hour wait before I could finish my last errand. Today is a still day, a windless day. It is dark and cold. Everyone was bundled up and was moving quickly from store to store.
I need to get out of my public clothes into my cozies. I’ll be glad when I’m really old because I’ll wear whatever I want in public and people will chalk it up to old age.
The Christmas tree lot at Stop and Shop is gone. A few trees are on the ground, the leftovers I expect. Agway is still open but has very few trees. I remember my mother talking about her Christmas tree and how it was decorated when they were in bed on Christmas Eve. They’d wake up in the morning to a glorious tree and gifts from Santa. I like having the tree around longer. I get to admire it in the living room, and I get to sit and read surrounded by Christmas. Both trees are lit now. They have given the day its only color.
Fern has taken to sleeping on the tree skirt. She falls asleep warmed by the lights and sleeps so deeply she snores but ever so slightly. I have to listen closely to hear her. Gracie, on the other hand, snores loudly, like a grown man, a big grown man. She snorts as she sleeps. Sometimes I can’t fall asleep for the racket. Boxers tend to be snorers.
A few Christmas jobs remain. I have my baking to do, presents to wrap for my Cape friends and Christmas dinner to plan. I ordered a pork roast from the butcher, but that is as far as I’ve gotten. I know I’ll do an apple dish and some sort of potato, and I’m thinking baby carrots for color and one more vegetable yet to be decided. I’m going to do a relish tray. My grandmother always had one on her table when we ate there. I was always drawn to the celery. I have the perfect dish to use: a very old glass sectioned plate just like the one my grandmother had. The old touches are always great memories to add to the table.
When I think of dessert, I think of the Cratchits and their Christmas pudding. The flame was always so dramatic and such a splendid finish to dinner.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cat under the tree, Christmas Eve, Christmas trees, cold, cozy clothes, dark day, decorating the tree, errands, planning dinner, relish tray, Snoring, still day, tree lights, wrapping presents
Comments: 10 Comments
December 18, 2014
My Christmas tree is beautiful. I finally finished decorating it except for the star. The top branch is too high though I could try standing on the couch or a table, but I know my history so I’m waiting for a friend who will do it today. The tree decorating began with the lights. I wound them around and tried to hit the inside dark spots. I have regular colored lights, two strands of chili pepper lights and one special set of lights which is always last. It is Santa with his eight reindeer and each hangs separately. I have the reindeer flying to the top of the tree. Next I hung the cranberry and popcorn, colorful beads and a strand of stars. Last were the ornaments. The first ones hung were three from Ghana my friend gave me. She had bought them in Kumasi in 1969. As she doesn’t usually have a tree, she thought I would be a good caretaker. I keep them in a special box, and they are always first.
My tree is so many things. It is my childhood with the glass bulbs my mother gave me. Some of them have lost their paint, but they are all still bright with memories. Other ornaments were stitched by me. I had given them to my mother as a Christmas present one year, and they came back to me after she died. She loved sheep and lambs and two of the ornaments have lambs. Places I’ve visited have special ornaments. There is a stitched heart from Hungary and ornaments from England, Portugal, Italy and Germany. I also have some really ugly ornaments I love for their whimsy, their ugliness. One is an angel with just a few strands of hair, buttons for eyes and a cloth body with arms holding a piece of greenery. On her chest is stitched Joy. Another is a beach goer who is carrying a folded umbrella, a towel and is wearing a bikini. She has wispy hair,what little there is of it. A couple of circus clowns in bright colors are always on my tree. One is holding a tiny umbrella, far too small to hold off the rain. I have a few Cape Cod ornaments and others with no pedigree. I just liked them.
The last ornament I always put on the tree is made from children’s blocks. I had made an ornament for every member of my family with each name spelled out in blocks for the last Christmas we spent together. I have my mother’s. It says Chick, which is what everyone called her. When I put it on the tree, she is here for Christmas.
Categories: Musings
Tags: block ornaments, Cape Cod ornaments, childhood ornaments, decorating the tree, memories of Christmas, ornaments from around the world, ornaments from Ghana, Santa and his reindeer, top star, ugly ornamenst
Comments: 9 Comments
December 16, 2014
Today is warm even without the sun. I woke up early, around 5:30. Though I tried to go back to sleep, I couldn’t so I came downstairs, brewed my coffee and checked out the TV news. I heard the thud of the papers hitting the driveway a little later and wandered outside still surprised at how warm a day it is.
This morning I have to bring goodies to the library’s Christmas open house and I have PT at 11. After that I get to decorate my tree. It is not as tall as usual but is beautiful and fresh. I ran my hand up and down the needles just for the pine smell. The tree is sitting in the middle of my living room all ready for the lights.
One snippet in the paper caught my attention. Yesterday the police arrested a drunk driver on the highway. He was also cited for an unsafe car. It seems he was riding on three tires and a rim. When asked about it, the driver said he hadn’t noticed.
Every Christmas Eve my mother and I were always the last to go to bed. We’d sit, have a drink and chat and exchange one present, one special present. One year my present to her was a replica of a framed picture which used to hang in the bathroom when I was young. It had a small boy wrapped in a blue towel and a poem with started, “Please remember, don’t forget never leave the bathroom wet nor leave the soap still in the water…” It was hung on the wall across from the toilet, and I used to read it every time I went to the bathroom, and it is permanently etch into my memory drawers. We saw it in a house in Ireland, and my mother tried to buy it but wasn’t successful. I found the replica on-line. She loved it.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas Eve, Christmas tree, don't forget, newspapers, Please remember, special present, three tires and a rim, TV news, warm day
Comments: 10 Comments
December 15, 2014
Today is much the same weather as we’ve had for days. The temperature is in the 40’s. The sun is gone and probably enjoying warmer climes so we are stuck with perpetually gray skies. On my to do list is the tree. I still need to move a few small pieces of furniture to open the corner where the tree fits beautifully. I also need to do a bit more hunting downstairs as I haven’t found the Christmas stockings yet. The tree ornament boxes are already up from the cellar. The tree stand is stored in its box and will be easy to find. I hope to finish decorating tonight.
When I was a kid, once December came around, my house always felt like Christmas. My mother didn’t put up tons of decorations, but the lights in the windows, the huge tree in the corner, the stockings hanging on the bannister and a few Santa knickknacks were more than enough. I remember the Santa cups. There were four of them and the handles spelled Noel when the Santas were beside each other. I don’t know what happened to the original cups, but I found the same set and bought it. I also bought a few other ceramic Santas from the 50’s and some plastic ones which light up with a single white bulb. Of all the holidays, it is Christmas which brings back my childhood and fills me with joyful memories.
My mother gave us the gift of Christmas. My dad came from a socks and underwear family. My mother put whimsy in Christmas and found the best stocking stuffers. Decorating the tree was a full family affair, and my mother was the director. As we’d get closer to Christmas she’d tease us about what we were getting and did that the whole of her life. She’d call and say, “You’ll love what I bought for you today.” She was always right. The other night my brother-in-law called. He said listen to this and I heard paper being crumbled. He told me that was the wrapping paper he was putting on my gift, the perfect of all gifts. My mother would have loved that phone call!
Categories: Musings
Tags: a socks and underwear family, ceramic Santas, decorating, gray day, lighted plastic Santas, my mother and Christmas, Noel cups, nostalgia, stockings, sunless, teasing about gifts, tree shopping, warmosh
Comments: 8 Comments
December 14, 2014
Yesterday was the perfect start to the countdown to Christmas. The play, Meet Me in St. Louis, was wonderful. The cast had great voices and the scenery was cleverly built so the pieces could be turned. Summer became fall and fall became a snowy winter complete with a snowman. It was the Saturday matinee in the very same theater where I spent so many other Saturdays watching movies when I was growing up. The marquee is the same, the ticket booth is still on the side wall and the upward incline leads to the seating areas just as it did when I was a kid. Missing, however, are the teenagers making out in the back rows, the candy counter on the wall between the two aisles and Al and his flashlight patrolling those aisles and shining his light on evildoers throwing candy. The stage isn’t very big, but it seemed huge with all the characters dancing and singing together.
After the play we walked down the street to Felicia’s for dinner. As we walked closer to the restaurant, we could smell the food, especially the garlic. The restaurant was crowded and you got a table only if you had a reservation. We did. The garlic enticed me to order shrimp scampi. It was delicious.
After dinner we took the long way to my sister’s house, the same way we used to walk to and from school. There were so many houses with lights, it was amazing. Even their fences were decorated. I had’t seen so many lit houses in a while. I stayed with my sister for a bit then took all back roads to the highway. I wanted to see more lights.
The ride home was uneventful and boring. The city, as usual, had a stretch of bumper to bumper cars, but beyond that the traffic lightened, and the ride was quick. The radio played Christmas songs and I sang along. I got home in good time, gave Gracie some hugs, patted the cats and got comfortable. Today is house decorating day. I’ll go up and down the cellar stairs several times hauling the decorations I want to use this year. I’ll have to go to the back for the boxes as the front boxes were last year’s choices. Tomorrow is tree day. I can hardly wait. I love decorating the tree.
Categories: Musings
Comments: 16 Comments
December 13, 2014
The clouds are back, and the day is gray. The limbs of the oak trees are silhouetted against the sky in a jumble of branches. The morning is cold. Maddie has her head under the lampshade to get warmth from the lightbulb though the house isn’t cold. Fern and Gracie are having their morning naps. It is the usual start to the day.
The week or so before Christmas seemed to have a spark, an edge of excitement. I remember the early darkness and all the houses and front bushes lit up with the big colored lights which always got hot. The square was strung with garlands across Main Street and a huge lit wreath hung from the middle of each garland. A bandstand of sorts was erected in front of The Children’s Corner, a long ago store, and every night a different group sang Christmas carols for the shoppers. When I was in the fifth grade, we got to sing. I remember how cold it was and how we huddled to stay warm. We each had one of those carol booklets John Hancock gave out. The nun would tell us the page rather than the name of the carol. It was quicker that way. I remember feeling proud and important and hoped there were neighbors who would notice me singing. In those days the square had all the stores, and the sidewalks were filled with shoppers. You always ran into someone you knew.
Tomorrow is the Dennis Christmas stroll. All the stores are open, there are singers in the bandbox, a horse-drawn wagon takes people up and down the road, the library has a crafts fair and there is food in a tent and in many of the stores. The insurance company usually has hot dogs and the fire station gives out hot chocolate. At the Cape Playhouse there is a sing-a-long. Mrs. Claus is usually there. Mr. Clause wanders a bit. Many of the towns have strolls but this one always seems local to me, filled more with people from Dennis than from other towns. I always meet lots of people I know.
Today I’ll be going off Cape. Gracie has a sitter, her Uncle Tony. The cats are fine on their own. It’s our traditional Christmas play day and then out to dinner. My mother started the tradition, and my sister and I keep it going. My favorite was the year my mother took us to see Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy. After the play, with tongues in cheeks, my sister and I thanked her for such a merry Christmas offering then we all went out to dinner.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bandstand, Christmas, cold, Death of a Salesman with Brian Dennehy, Dennis stroll, fifth grade, John Hancock booklet, lights, shoppers, Singing, singing carols, the town square, wreaths
Comments: 10 Comments
December 12, 2014
Piles of Christmas bags filled with wrapped presents sits on the couch ready to be boxed and mailed. My marathon wrapping session of Colorado gifts has ended. When I finish here, it is over the river and through the woods to UPS where they will box and sent. I will pay and breathe a sigh of relief.
I don’t have my tree yet. That will have to be on Sunday as tomorrow is booked with the annual play then out to dinner with my sister. The play this year is Meet Me in St. Louis. The dinner will be Italian. It always is.
I need to get in gear. My house isn’t the magical Christmas scene it usually is by now. My back is to blame. It hurts when I carry things and hurts when I don’t. The only time I get relief is sitting with pillows behind me. I’m thinking that sounds like a bon-bon day. I’ll wear frills and call for the maid to indulge my every whim.
A spawn of Satan came in the mail. im6 sent it to me. The spawn is grasping a bag of acorns, ammo I suspect. It is in this room with me. I swear its eyes follow me, and I think I heard the acorns rattling. The spawn is cute which is its weapon. You get drawn in and then whack. The spawn has you. Gracie thought it was hers. She does have several stuffed toys so it was a natural mistake, but I saved the spawn from Gracie clutches. I don’t know why. I’ll regret it. I’ve seen all the movies. Chucky comes to mind.
Today is sunny and the sky is blue. I almost didn’t recognize either one as it has been so long since their last appearance. They are welcomed, but neither is enough to keep the cold at bay. It’s in the mid 30’s and will stay that way all day. It’s a bundle day.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Christmas play, decorating, dinner, maid, mailing boxes, Meet me in St. Louis play, spawn of satan, Stoneham Theater, stuffed squirrel, sunny but cold, Tree, whims
Comments: 12 Comments
December 11, 2014
I may have seen the sun a bit earlier, but I can’t be sure. It’s not raining-that much I can say with certainty. I watched Gracie from the back door after I let her out and noticed birds in the side yard and one woodpecker on my back step. The birds were juncos, and there were many. I had a mixed seed bag so I threw some into the yard in case the juncos come back. They haven’t been around much so I figured I’d give them some incentive. Today is a one errand day, for dog food, and a wrap like crazy day. I need to get the Colorado gifts wending their way westward.
The old tinsel controversy has reared its head. My family called the silvery garlands tinsel. They were wound around the tree and draped for effect. We also had a red tinsel garland and a construction paper one we had made once. It was the worst for wear, but it was part of the tree tradition. The tinsel was put on the tree just after the lights. My mother did the honors as she knew exactly how the tinsel should look from branch to branch. The ornaments were next. The big breakables were put around the top by my mother. We always thought of them as the fancy ornaments, the untouchables. We all put on the rest of the ornaments including the small glass ones. I have some of those and I have one fancy ornament. My mother gave each of us a box filled with the ornaments of our childhood including one fancy ornament I still put high up on the tree. Last of all to be put on the tree were the icicles. We’d each take a handful and drape one at a time on a branch. After a while draping became boring, and mayhem ensued. We’d take handfuls and toss them on the tree to get rid of our piles. My mother would yell,”One at a time. One at a time.” We didn’t care. We were lost in the throwing frenzy. Finally my mother stopped us and took all our icicles. She then removed the piles on the branches and put the icicles on the tree one at a time. We watched television.
Now, were they icicles or were they tinsel? What about the garlands? Were they tinsel too? I say there is no question, no confusion. Those silvery strands were icicles because that’s what they looked like hanging from the branches. They looked like the real icicles which hung from the edges of our roof. I do admit the real ones never hung in clumps.
Categories: Musings
Tags: birds, construction paper garland, fancy ornaments, garland, gifts, icicles, ornaments, piles of icicles, sun, tinsel, tinsel garlands, tree decorating, UPS, wrapping presents
Comments: 16 Comments
December 9, 2014
The wind is howling and the rain is falling sideways. My backyard trees are again dancing in the wind, back and forth and back and forth. The rain has flooded roads and is falling so heavily that even a quick dash means getting cold and wet. This morning I made four stops. First was the library board meeting, then the post office, then PT and finally the store for life’s essentials: bread, cat food, chicken and a chocolate bar.
I am so happy to be back inside my warm, dry house. When I finish writing, I’m going upstairs and put on my cozies. I bought some clam chowder for dinner. It seemed perfect for a day like today.
Yesterday I brought up a few Christmas decorations from the cellar and later today I hope to decorate some more. The tree in the dining room is lit. I like to go the long way around to the stairs so I get to see the tree. I can hardly wait for the big tree, but now I have to hope for a couple of dry days.
The gold finches have braved the rain and are at the feeder though it swaying in the wind. The red spawn doesn’t seem to like the rain. He is probably in a cozy nest snacking on my sunflower seeds. If he were a character in The Wind in the Willows, his nest would have comfy furniture, a fireplace and a filled pantry. He’d be sitting by the fire with his feet on an ottoman as he drinks afternoon tea from a dainty China cup.
The last wind storm took down several of my outside decorations. I had to go down the side hill which is covered with brush, thorns and branches. Getting down is never the problem. Getting back up always is as I have nothing to hold on to help pull myself up. The other day I threw the ornaments I had retrieved onto the grass above the hill so I could have both hands free. I made it safely up the hill, a major accomplishment for me.
Now to my slippers and my cozies and maybe, just maybe, a nap.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chilly day, Christmas decorations, clam chowder, cozies, cozy, dancing trees, errands, getting soaked, rain, red spawn, Tree, warm nest, Wind, Wind in the Willows
Comments: 12 Comments
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 