Fair Warning: A Gazillion Family Holiday Pictures

Granddaughter CC is such a charmer and she loved watching the hens.

The holidays are over, our family have returned to their own homes,

and I am finally posting pictures--a gazillion of them.

Monday before Thanksgiving was sisters here for lunch when Deb came to Nashville.

Here's my sister Teresa and her husband,

and Teresa and Deb with Deb's granddaughter,

only sister Jenn was missing this day.

We sisters let Fred and R.H. get a word in every now and then.

Next, Defee and Wallace arrived bringing our two granddaughters.

Wallace was my sous chef early Thanksgiving morning--or was I hers?

And Nora was such a good helper!

Wallace will kill me for posting a picture of her in her PJ's but

if I looked as beautiful as she did Thanksgiving morning--

after a sleepless night with baby CC sick--I'd put mine here too!

And she had us right on schedule by Thanksgiving afternoon.

Table set, dinner ready, and Amens said.

Beer bottle on table, these are not magazine photographs, people.

Two sons and their families present for Thanksgiving dinner,

our daughter and son-in-law absent, at their home in FL,

Zack and Courtney made the rounds of her family,

introducing Zack, but came by afterwards.

Isn't she beautiful!

Thanksgiving over, we had to say goodbye to Defee and Wallace and the girls,

and before we knew it, Christmas week came and our daughter Christy, son-in-law Bryan,

and their two schnauzers arrived, ready to help us celebrate.

I think we were too busy getting ready for Christmas to take many photos,

but Christy and I cooked, she and R. H. grilled out one night,

we talked and laughed and watched Christmas movies,

and Christy and Bryan managed to get in quite a bit of shopping in Nashville--

all week in pouring rain,

muddy paws of 5 dogs getting wiped at the doors.

And the night before Christmas Eve

Christy and Bryan's son Alex and daughter-in-law Melissa

came for dinner.

We failed to get any pictures but this is Alex and Melissa

where they just moved to new jobs after graduation.

Can you guess what city they now live in?

The next night was Christmas Eve and Zack brought two of his friends to join us.

Tom and Brett's family live out of state, well one's family lives out of state,

and the other one's family lives in Canada!

Zack's snuggling up there with Zoe, one of the schnauzers.

The next morning was Christmas Day so after my traditional Farmer's 

Breakfast with buttermilk biscuits, it was time to open gifts.

Christy, with their Maddie and Zoe in nests beside her.

Bryan....

R.H.  with Otis in his lap--see the one big eye open...

Zack had to leave his bulldog Bentley at home--just too many dogs present.

Other family joined us that night for dinner but once again we forgot to get pictures.

And before long it was time to wave goodbye to our dear daughter and her husband,

Florida seeming very far away.

A few days later we welcomed back Defee and Wallace to help us celebrate

a new year approaching--oh yes, they brought two sweet little munchkins with them!

Here is a rare moment when the girls were at rest,
about time to read bedtime books.

I got lots of shots of the girls playing but most of them were a blur, like this....

Okay, I admit I helped that one along a bit.

There were wonderful days of talk and meals and uncles visiting.

Some excursions out and also a visit from Zack's high school friend
and his family who now live in a much colder state
than our TN that broke records for high temps.

New Year's Day night, grandsons Caleb and Drake, and Drake's girlfriend Emily
joined us for our traditional meal of pork loin cooked in sauerkraut and white wine,
collard greens and black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes and cornbread.

Zack and Courtney had parties to go to but here's another cute picture of them...

Again, completely forgot to take pictures but here are Emily and Drake
dressed for this year's Christmas Ball of his Army Reserve unit.

And here is grandson Caleb with them...

Drake and Caleb grew up next door to us and were R.H.'s helpers outside
here at Valley View when they were little,
along with grandsons Alex and Luke. 

What's a man to do after his kids and grandsons all grow up and leave
him to take care of 24 acres by himself, I ask you?

Well that's about all the family holiday pictures.

It was  cozy and relaxed...

Even though we had our moments of looking like rock stars...

All good things must end, wonderful holidays and a gazillion pictures.

Everyone went home and I was more than a little blue,

wasn't I, Milo?

"No use, men, you'll never understand."

[Woman's Home Companion, October 1943]

"No use, men, you'll never understand.

To you it's just a lot of waves and curls...

But to Betty it's all that a brand new permanent can mean to a woman.

Something to fortify the spirit...to do the soul good."

The above "public service" announcement, sponsored by the Brewing

Industry Foundation, appeared nearly two years into World War II,

when keeping the morale up was important.

They sure got it right, didn't they, ladies?

A visit to the hair salon is great for a woman's spirit, isn't it?

Here's the young woman who for almost two years now has gotten me over 

the trauma of years of bad haircuts.

Meet Stevie, a hair professional who listens and cares and advises

and treats me as if I were a country music star.

We also have so much fun talking and laughing that I leave there 

feeling as if I've been to a great therapist. 

Thank you, Stevie, it's not "just a lot of curls and waves,"

it really does do my soul good!

And men, I don't know if you truly understand that,

but I think R.H. does get it that a hair appointment with Stevie

sure perks up his wife.

A young man at the front desk of the salon was nice enough

to take the above picture,

but here's the side and back view that R.H. took when I got home. 

Don't ask me why I wasn't smiling;

I really was very happy inside!

Who out there has a Stevie in your life? 

Or are you talented enough to do your own, like my friend Tammy?

Or do you dread those hair appointments like I used to?

Is this a frivolous blog post, dear friends?

If it wasn't frivolous to the Brewing Industry Foundation in 1943 wartime,

maybe we should consider a haircut as necessary as a trip to the doctor or dentist--

and a lot more fun!

Epiphany 2016

January 6, Epiphany,

the day I normally undress our Christmas trees.

Instead today I play Christmas music not yet heard

such as Aimee Mann's album....

"Whatever happened to Christmas?

It's gone and left no traces

Whatever happened to the faces

Or the glow......"

No, I'm not yet ready to let go of a tree we put up late,

and the tree has kept green so much longer

in sand in the old ice cream bucket.

January did bring an end to orange in the kitchen,

to those pumpkins that I held onto,

just as I'm holding onto this tree.

Instead I've wanted shining glass...

and greens.

And last night I brought out the three camels

we found at a Goodwill store,

in remembrance of the custom in some countries

where children leave their shoes by the door

the night of January 5th,

along with grass and water for the camels of the Magi.

The camels will go back in their box tomorrow

and I'll probably wake up one day soon,

look at the Christmas tree and say,

"Okay, you're outta here."

Then again some countries don't take Christmas finery

down until Candlemas Day so don't hold me to it.

What about you, is it all down, put away, tossed out?

[And lest you think you've escaped having to see family pictures of our Christmas, I just haven't had time to edit a hundred down to the number I can get away with posting here. ]

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to each of you and God bless!

Christmas Trees and Pumpkins

I could write about why I haven't written here at Dewena's Window in 28 days and what it has taught me, but that's a story for another day.... Except for this--

Know what you love to do and do it.

Without worrying if others will love it too.

I love this old green ice cream bucket that normally holds old newspapers. 

I've always dreamed of using it for a Christmas tree stand.

This year R.H. made it happen for me--the right watertight container to fit inside it, a bag of clean sand, a wood base to keep it steady, the tree sitting on screws to give space for uptake of water. 

And it was done. Thank you, my dear husband! I know it was a pain to do and you said you'll never do it again, but I am loving it so much! (It will be our secret that my first tree was a beautiful short one that became a lot shorter when you cut off 2 feet instead of 12 inches while the saw was hot but your mind was somewhere off in LaLa Land. Anyway, that second trip to the Home Depot was fun, wasn't it?)

Next, how to decorate it once it was up and magnificent?

Having indulged my taste for a touch of elegance in my dressing room with this skinny champagne colored Christmas tree....

With sparkly vintage ornaments...

And my desire for old-fashioned red and white in our living room...

My "Believe" Christmas tree.......

I wanted simple decorations for our fresh tree in the kitchen...

We can never get good nighttime pictures of our Christmas tree. 

This one is better....

This shows a little better the old orange Shiny Brites and the timeworn blue and purple ornaments from Poland, chosen from my collection of every speckled ornament that I could not pass up through 50 years of marriage. Our kids soon learned that Mama didn't want new stuff, only the tired and worn that somehow had managed to hold onto their glow.

Orange ornaments because of my love affair with orange that has grown so huge that I simply could not banish all the orange Fall pumpkins this year just because it's December and you simply cannot do that in Blogland.

But why not have pumpkins and Christmas trees? 

Why not have orange and green, colors that make me happy?

And pink thrown in for good measure?

Vintage ornaments, Christmas trees and pumpkins and old twisty candles that will never be lit.

Our choices should be all about what Home is to us personally, shouldn't they?

Even if it never gets pinned on Pinterest?

One of my favorite bloggers always says -- 

"Fly your own freak flag."

Shall we?

I've missed you wonderful friends; I've learned so much from you and treasure the friendship of those of you who blog and those of you who don't but keep in touch. And much love to those of you who are also on a bit of a blog break, especially to my dear friend Tam, and to one who has stopped--I wish you hadn't, Tessa. And I'm sending love to dear Poppy who is celebrating Christmas in Canada this year with beloved family. A special hello to a dear friend from the library of St. Vincent's College in Latrobe, PA who has stayed in touch since we met when I first began to blog. 

And my deep gratitude to those of you who wrote me encouraging emails during my hiatus, especially to Doreen, Benita and Tara.

And love to my family who sometimes read, at least when I remind them to, and to my three wonderful sisters who always read my posts but can't figure out how to comment--would someone please teach them how? Thank you!

And to all of you, from our home to yours, do what you love!

Blogging Break, Pretty Please!

Please excuse me,

but I find I must take a blogging break

to get ready for the big holiday next week.

A very happy Thanksgiving Day to those of 

you in the USA.

Now where did I put my pearls and little black dress?

P.S. Everyone's excused from commenting!