Festive Friday five

 

 Just popping in for a quick post today.  Time surely is flying by as we speed toward December 25!  Just sharing five quick thoughts of things I'm enjoying this month.

* Christmas fellowship with friends.  Way back on December 1 we went out for breakfast with friends at a fun, new-to-all-of-us place.  In the evening there was a lovely fellowship with our LOG (Ladies of Grace) group from church.  Crackling fire, beautifully set table, yummy food, thoughtful gifts, cookies to swap and share ... it was all good.

 On December 2 we enjoyed a nice Christmas party with my hubby's former coworkers on the logging crew.  This is an event the company's owners put together each year in appreciation for their crew, and it's always a good time.

On December 9 we met up with friends for thrift shopping and Mexican food.  These are folks we might not ordinarily see in December, so it was especially nice.  

On December 19 we were invited for supper at the home of friends.  ALL of their Christmas decorations were up (and I thought I decorated a lot.  I don't.) so it was very festive and the meal was restaurant quality.  The company -- our friends and their two adult sons -- was also most pleasant.

 * Special Christmasy times with grandchildren.  On December 8 we got together with four of our local grands for brunch, crafting, and ice cream sundaes.  Tonight, we'll be exchanging gifts and enjoying a "Christmas eve observed" supper with our two oldest granddaughters.

 

 

Ice cream sundaes

This player piano played Christmas music and was a huge favorite with the grandkids.  Alas, it no longer works.

 * Mr. T busy in the kitchen.  I can't even count all of the different cookies and candies that have emerged from the kitchen under the watchful eye of my hubby.  Our unheated front porch is the perfect repository for most of the sweets being stored.  Several cookie trays have already been given to friends and family, and others have been taken to various gatherings.  I love to bake, myself, but I don't mind one bit that he is doing most of it.

* Time to make a few handmade gifts.  I've made some Shutterfly gifts and a few other things -- though I never do as much Christmas creating as I would hope to.  I did a little crafting when the grandkids did, and made an ornament I've been wanting to try for a long time, so that was a blessing for me.

* Wallowing in nostalgia.   My Etsy shop is responsible for most of this, as it is filled with vintage goodies I remember from childhood.  I should be busy listing all kinds of vintage Christmas things, but time is at a premium and I get moved to tears often enough as it is.  The old Ideals magazines were such a part of Christmas at my grandmother's, and I have a large stash of them now myself.

 

 

Then some years ago I made a Christmas memory book for my adult kids.  I included my childhood memories and also some from their childhoods. I had a copy of this memory book at our camp and have been reading through it lately when we've been there.   Life has become so different in so many ways since then that it just hurts sometimes.  I remind myself often that the important things about Christmas -- the facts of Jesus' birth and why He came -- will never change.

And there's the Friday five! What are some special things you're enjoying this month?

Friday five for December 27

Time to count a few blessings from the week!

1.  Time with friends.  A couple of good days for walking with my friend Rachel.  Our friend Noah for supper with us last Friday night, and then our friends Sam and Jenn and their boys with us for supper and gifts last evening. 

2.  A great outing with four of our local grands last Saturday.  Brunch, Christmas shopping, and ice cream.  It's our tradition and was such a fun day!

3.  Being able to attend a lovely Christmas Eve candlelight service.  It hadn't been in our plans, but it was in God's plan.  A wonderfully encouraging time.

4.  A wonderful Christmas day.  We prepared a nice festive breakfast for ourselves, then Mr. T delivered a few food gifts while I cooked and also wrapped some gifts.  We squeezed in a brief Skype visit with the Nevada family before heading to our local daughter's home.  We enjoyed a scrumptious dinner, opened and enjoyed gifts together, and laughed a lot while playing games.  Very relaxing.  I needed that.  Carrie has such a flair for seasonal decorating.  I loved the little woodland vignette on a kitchen counter, below:

5.  This girl, now a busy mom of six living in a faraway state, turns 41 today.  So thankful for her!  Here she is pictured with her traditional birthday tree many years ago!

That does it for this week!

Friday five for December 20

(Graphic above from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.
With little ado and even littler time, here is my Friday five:

1.  Supper and Bible study with our young friends Sam and Jennifer at their home on Saturday evening.  They fixed a "breakfast for dinner" meal -- one of our very favorites, and theirs too.  It wasn't quite "Grandma's Sampler" (below) but it was delicious!

2.  A wonderful time last Sunday as several of our grandkids and our daughter were involved in the musical "Peanut Butter Christmas".  They presented it at their own church in their 2:30 p.m. service, and in our church at the 10 a.m. service.  Everyone did a fantastic job.  The young actors, singers, and bell ringers were amazing and we loved seeing our daughter Carrie accompanying it all on the piano, and our friend Gail directing the singers!  The little girl below was one of the singers and bell ringers.

3.  The opportunity to get out in the fresh (though cold!) air this week and walk three days out of five.

4.  Finally getting our Christmas tree decorated on Monday evening.  It had had just lights in place for a week or more.  We also got our creche set up, the kissing ball in place, and did a bit more decorating.

5.  All of the gifts for Nevada wrapped and sent with time to spare!

And there you have it ... this week's Friday five.

Friday five for December 13

Here's a quick Friday five for today's Christmas kitchen post:

1.  A lovely Christmas party at my hubby's work last week, with the added component of celebrating his retirement.  Scrumptious food and good company.  He received several thoughtful and generous gifts as well.

2.  The fun of sharing some of my collected vintage images with a fellow blogger who'll be using them in a book project.

3.  Being able to get out and walk every day this week.  Some of the days were cold, but it was still good to get out.

4.  This little girl in Nevada turned 4 years old yesterday!  Wish we got to see her more often, but with retirement on the horizon for my hubby, maybe we will get to see her a bit more frequently.

5.  The fun of hosting a simple cookie swap here at my home last evening.  It was a very small group of ladies that gathered, but we did have a good time.  I had asked everyone to bring a "sweet thought" in addition to their cookies and other goodies.  I suggested a memory, a testimony, a Scripture verse -- really, any sweet thought  Everyone took part, and a good many of the thoughts were from Scripture.  It was very interesting to see what they all came up with.

Not our cookie swap.  This is a photo from a 1950s magazine.

And there is this week's Friday five!

Friday five for December 6

In need of a post for my Christmas blog today, I decided to go with a Friday five.  Here goes:

1.  Some shopping for fabrics last Friday -- materials that I need to make a few handmade gifts for grandchildren.  I spent more than I intended, but some of the fabrics were just perfect.  Below you see a hint (from years gone by) of what I am going to make.

2.  Supper and Bible study last Saturday with our dear young friends Sam and Jennifer.  I made this soup and it was a tremendous success: Hearty Butternut Squash Soup.

3.  A wonderful day on Sunday with our old friends Syd and Cyndy.  What a joy to reconnect with them this past fall at the couples' retreat at The Wilds of New England, after not seeing them for years.  Syd has done some pulpit supply for other churches in the past and agreed to come and speak at our services December 1.  They came over for lunch afterward and it was such a sweet time.

4.  The opportunity this week to change out my fall decor to Christmas.  Not all of my Christmas decorating is done and the tree's not up, but I have a great start. 

5.  Starting on my Christmas baking!  Two kinds of cookies done so far.

And a bonus:

6.  Mild weather and (cloudy) sunshine so my walking partner and I could go for two nice long walks this week!  That felt good.

That's it for this week.  Happy Friday, everyone!