A Merry Little Christmas Hodgepodge!

Again this week I am joining in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.  She asks the questions, other bloggers  answer, and it's just fun getting to know one another more. 

🎄1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list? 

Do you really want to know? Quite a bit.  Let's see: one batch of cookies (possibly more); 2 kinds of candy; 2 gifts to buy; several kitchen gifts yet to make (hot cocoa mix, bran muffins, little apricot cakes).  Still some decorating to finish.  A bit of cleaning would be nice, too.

Some kitchen gifts from 2013

On the plus side, nearly all of the wrapping is done and all of the out-of-town cards have been sent or are ready to send. 

🎄2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter? 

The beauty of freshly fallen snow, or snow that is falling softly.  (As long as I don't have to drive in it!)  I also love seeing the beautiful winter night sky.  The stars are amazing!

🎄3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not. 

Many areas, I'm afraid.  I hate driving in winter, or in cities, or for long distances, or tight parking spaces.  Have you sensed that I dislike driving?

🎄4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016? 

The word I picked for 2016 was faithfulness.  In choosing it I was thinking of the need for me to be faithful in all that God has given me to do.   I was also thinking of God's faithfulness to me and how He would continue to be faithful through every trial and test.  Both aspects of the word held true.  There were many challenges and difficulties that could have caused me to disregard the need for faithfulness in my God-given tasks.  And through every one, I saw God's great faithfulness to me and to His people.

🎄5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings? 

I enjoy fried shrimp.  Our local seafood restaurant has a fried shrimp special that is wonderful.  I enjoy shrimp in other ways as well.  Probably my favorite might be just cold cooked shrimp served with cocktail sauce.  I don't have shrimp on any of my menus for the holidays.

🎄6. What sound lulls you to sleep? 

Rain on the roof.

🎄7. What one word best describes your 2016? 

Challenging. (Since I can only pick one word.)

🎄8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I still don't have the Christmas tree completely decorated, so I'll share a picture or two from a previous year.   I tried very hard to be much more organized with my planning this year -- and I followed my hubby's advice about not crafting after November 30 -- but life sort of went crazy for awhile there anyway.

2010

2015

Merry Christmas to all of you! 

Thinking ahead to Christmas breakfast

I seldom post the same things in both of my blogs in a given season.  But because it's such a great recipe, I want to share my Cranberry Coffeecake recipe today.  It would be perfect for Christmas breakfast! 

Also, I know that not all of my readers read both of my blogs, and I don't want anyone to miss this.  There's still time, I hope, to be sure you have the ingredients in the pantry for this festive treat.

This is a coffeecake that I cobbled together from two different recipes,  and I was so pleased with the results.  I'd seen a recipe on line that looked good, but I wanted my cranberry coffeecake to taste like one I remembered from my younger years.  My mother's friend Evelyn had shared the cake (made in a small tube pan) and the recipe.  Hers did not have the orange component to it that this one does, though it was delicious.  However, I like the added zing of orange flavor.

I prefer to make cakes in a 13x9 pan rather than a tube pan, but since Evelyn's recipe called for a small tube pan I needed to increase the quantities.  1 1/2 times the recipe worked perfectly.  Her recipe also called for almond flavoring but I changed it to vanilla, to go better with the orange component I was adding.

Jellied cranberry sauce was the only kind I had on hand and it worked very well.  I didn't have any oranges, so I went with the orange extract in the cranberry sauce and it worked out perfectly.

CRANBERRY COFFEE CAKE
3/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
15-16-ounce can cranberry sauce (either jellied or whole berry will work)
2 Tblsp. grated orange rind OR 2 scant tsp. pure orange extract

Cream together the margarine and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add unbeaten eggs one at a time, beating after each, at medium speed.  Beat in vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Grease or spray a 13x9-inch pan.  Pour half of the batter into the pan.

Stir together the cranberry sauce (I used a fork to break it up as I stirred) and the orange rind OR extract.  Spread half of this mixture carefully over the batter in the pan.  Then layer on the remaining batter and then the remaining cranberry sauce mixture.  Use a knife to gently swirl the cranberry sauce into the batter.

Bake the coffeecake for 50 to 60 minutes at 350º or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before glazing.

GLAZE:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tblsp. orange juice (more if needed)
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

Combine the powdered sugar and the orange juice, adding more juice a teaspoon at a time if needed to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.  Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled cake.  Sprinkle the chopped dried cranberries evenly over the drizzled glaze.  Allow glaze to set up before cutting cake.
Makes 1 13x9-inch coffee cake.  Servings depend upon how large one cuts the squares.

I picked up more cranberry sauce so there is plenty of it in the pantry.  My hubby liked this coffee cake so much that I need to make at least one more during the Christmas season.  And I am planning that one of those times will be for Christmas breakfast.

My grandmother's best cookie-baking advice

I only have a few of my grandmother's cookie recipes, and will have to post her famous Aunt Sally's Cocoa Drops recipe one of these days ... a true heirloom.  But today as I was baking Christmas cookies in my own kitchen, I was reminded of something my grandmother often did -- something I should do much more often.  It would save me a lot of trouble in the end.

Especially when trying out a new cookie recipe, my grandmother would follow the recipe exactly, and preheat the oven to the specified temperature.  Then she would bake a test cookie or two, setting the timer for the specified number of minutes. 

And then she would see how the cookie came out.  Was it underdone?  Overdone?  Too brown?  Not brown enough?  Did the dough spread too much or not flatten out enough?  She would then make adjustments to the baking time temperature and sometimes, even to the dough, adding a bit more flour or liquid if needed.  I think she probably learned to do this as a result of baking in unpredictable wood stove ovens.

I should have done this a couple of weeks ago when I made Whipped Shortbread. 

Photo from Taste of Home

This is an old family favorite that I've made countless times through the years.  I always cut the recipe in half because it makes nine dozen.  I thought that's what I had done this time.  But apparently I made a mistake in the measuring, for the cookies did not stay nice and round as you see in the above photo.  They spread out too much and the edges were thin and crispy.  The flavor was still great, but the proportions were definitely off.  I will serve them on cookie trays at home and church, but will not use them for gifts.

Today I made a second batch and the cookies turned out perfectly.  As I measured, I tried to think what could have gone wrong.  There are only a few ingredients in these cookies -- butter, confectioners sugar, flour, and cornstarch -- so there isn't a lot to remember.  But as I think about it, I believe what may have happened is that I cut the amount of flour and butter in half, but left either the cornstarch or confectioners sugar measurement (or both!😕) the same.  I could have avoided wrecking an entire batch of these by just baking a test cookie and paying attention to the results.  At the time, I noticed the dough seemed soft, but thought it just needed to chill awhile.  That turned out not to be the case!

My Gram has been gone for 25 years.  But her cookie-baking advice is still golden!

Happenings in the real life Christmas kitchen

Yes, things have been happening in my real Christmas kitchen -- and that's partially why I have not been here in my virtual kitchen every day as I hoped and planned to do.  My little island (actually a formica-topped desk from my teen years, hand-built by my dad) does not look this neat or tidy today.  Rather, it is piled high with ingredients: dried apricots, golden raisins, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips. evaporated milk, orange slice candy, and more, ready to be turned into kitchen gifts.

It's snowing hard outside

View of our back woods through an upstairs dormer window

Snow-covered balcony outside our bedroom

Looking through a front dormer window down to the snowy road. 

 but it's been a cozy morning in the kitchen as I've baked up Eggnog Log Cookies

photo from Taste of Home

and a double batch of Sacher Torte Cookies.  The recipe for those is here in the archives, but I'm going to put the recipe here right now:

The sacher torte cookies are in the right-hand point of the star -- the small round cookies with the chocolate topping.  There's jam underneath!

This is another of our very favorite Christmas cookie recipes. These are great all year long for special occasions such as tea parties, showers, etc.

SACHER TORTE COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened
1 (4 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup apricot (or raspberry) jam
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons melted butter

Heat oven to 325°. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and pudding mix; cream together until fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Gradually add flour, beating at low speed with mixer until dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Dip balls in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased
cookie sheets. With your thumb, make an imprint in center of each ball.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until cookies are firm; remove from sheets immediately to wire racks to cool.

When cookies are cool, fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon jam. At this point, you may find it helpful to place wax paper under your cooling racks to catch any drips of chocolate from the next step.

In a small saucepan, or in microwave, blend chips and butter over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate over each cookie.

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

These look pretty and fancy but are very easy to make. I found this recipe in a Yankee magazine article about the Wellesley Cookie Exchange. What a great recipe!

Another day this week I made Coffee Shop Fudge

photo from Taste of Home

and a cookies and creme fudge from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook.  From another Gooseberry cookbook I made a white chocolate snack mix with cheerios, pretzels, rice chex, peanuts, and M&Ms.  I've packaged up two tins of that for gift giving.

All in all there has been a lot going on in my actual Christmas kitchen.  And there is likely to be a lot more kitchen activity in the next few days!

A Holly Jolly Hodgepodge

Again this week I am linking up to the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.  This week, I thought it would be fun to post the answers to Joyce's questions in my Christmas blog.  Here we go!

1. Are you more task oriented or people oriented? Elaborate. 

Good question. I tend to be more people oriented, I think, in general.  I make a plan for every day and do what I can, but really, it's all about people.  If something on my list doesn't get done because God brought along someone to reach out to or to encourage, it's fine.  It helps me to consider my overall goal for life -- bringing glory to God with all that He has given me.  Part of the way I'm to do that is by touching the lives of other people.  Tasks are part of it too, but the people are more important.

2. December 15 is National Wear Your Pearls Day...do you own/wear pearls?  Everyone share a 'pearl of wisdom' with us here today.

I own pearls but haven't worn them for a long time. As a teen, I asked for a pearl ring for Christmas -- the type with two pearls entwined together -- and received it, too.  Hadn't thought of that in a long time, so the reminder was fun.

Here's a Christmasy pearl of wisdom:

Christmas will always be in the hearts of God's children everywhere as they extend a helping hand to a friend in need ... as they go about reflecting God's goodness in the little quiet and unheralded expressions of a loving heart ... as they share the light of the world with those who live in darkness."

-- Jane Hillsmen

3. Speaking of pearls...oysters? Are you a fan or not a fan? If you answered yes, tell us your favorite way to eat oysters? If you said no, be honest-have you ever tried one or does just the idea of eating an oyster make you gag a little? 

I like oysters all right. They're not my favorite seafood, and I wouldn't go out of my way to eat them, but I like them okay.  My favorite way to eat them would be in oyster stew.  My dad used to love oyster stew and my mother would sometimes make it for him.  I was allowed, usually, to just have a bowl of broth, because I loved the flavor, but leave the oysters for my dad.  I don't think any of my siblings liked oyster stew.   

4. Time Magazine has named President-elect Donald Trump Person of the Year. Let's take presidents and presidential candidates out of the mix for a minute. If a political figure had not been chosen who would you name Man or Woman of the Year for 2016?

I would have to say our police officers who have had to carry on under some very difficult pressures and some very bad press, plus the very real possibility of being murdered themselves -- and those firefighters who have been fighting the many horrendous wildfires we've seen this year.  And all of those professionals who've had to deal with the riots and protests and other childishness of those disappointed by election results.

5. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 has been announced and it's a vibrant green, aptly named-greenery. Your thoughts? Is this a color currently in your home or wardrobe? Will you add something in this shade for the new year? Click here to see the color. 

I love this color.   I don't have this color in my home (yet) but I do wear this color, and in fact have a shirt this color. Green is one of my favorite colors to wear.  It never used to be, but has become a favorite in recent years.

6. Today I've had too much__________________.

Coffee, I guess.  Yesterday I had too many Christmas cookies -- Chocolate Mint Crisps, to be specific.  They are wonderful!

photo from Taste of Home

7. Share a favorite lyric from a favorite Christmas carol.

I like both of those that Joyce mentioned: '...Then rang the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth He sleep...'

'...A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn...'

Our world is so weary and it so badly needs that thrill of hope today.  May we who truly have hope be faithful about showing it in our daily lives!

And this one: "Who is He in yonder stall at whose feet the shepherds fall?  'Tis the Lord, O wondrous story, 'tis the Lord, the King of Glory.  At His feet we humbly fall; crown Him, crown Him Lord of all."

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

 Today's forecast was for partly sunny weather.  Patches of blue sky up there, but at this point it's mostly cloudy and snowing lightly.  I detest winter driving!

Thanks to Joyce for these thought-provoking questions.  I'm thrilled to be participating in the Hodgepodge again this week!

More from our busy weekend

I didn't actually get photos of every event during the weekend, but I'll share what I have.  Above, again in front of the fireplace at McDonalds.  Julia has developed a habit of widening her eyes when a picture is being taken.  I forgot to remind her not to do that!

The seats by the fireplace are, of course, our favorites.  We claimed those as well as a nearby table.   Josiah wanted to sit there with Grampa, and Julia wanted to sit there with Grammy.  So the ladies began their meal there and then partway through, gave way to the gentlemen.

Gingerbread coffee at the fireside --- mm-mmm!

After our yummy breakfast, we headed off to do some Christmas shopping. we found lots of good deals for the kids to get for their parents and baby sister.  I also found lots of components for these Art Boxes

Josiah with his art box many years ago.

Mackenzie with her art box even longer ago.  Kids love these!

that I am putting together for two grandsons out West, as well as some baking ingredients and so on.

Then it was on to the ice cream smorgasbord!

Four out of the five sundaes

American flags on top are traditional

No whipped cream?  What was he thinking?

Grampa did not forget whipped cream!

Nor did Grammy. 

The player piano, playing Christmas carols, is always a huge hit with the kids, and they take turns feeding it quarters!

We then took the kids home and I made a salad to take to that evening's event -- a company party for my hubby's work.  Then it was on the road again, to the nursing home to see my dad.  Sunday was going to be too busy to see him that day as we usually do.  We brought along his Nativity scene and set it up, along with the stable he built himself.

We got home from there with about 15 minutes to get ready and head out again to the party.  It was a wonderful time -- great fellowship and camaraderie over a sumptuous meal.  Mr. T's boss and his family go out of their way to make every employee feel valued and special.

Sunday was the usual round of Sunday School, church, and potluck lunch.  Then we enjoyed our annual Sunday School gift exchange.  We draw names and it's always fun to find a small gift the recipient will enjoy.

Following the gift exchange, a good number of us piled into cars and headed off to go Christmas caroling.  Thankfully, it was mostly sunny and not too cold when we started out.  But the cold settled in soon enough and we headed home. 

Yes, a busy weekend.  But it was also a weekend of special times with family and friends.  Just what the season should be!

Busy weekend

It was a very busy weekend indeed.  Fully booked.  I will try and pop in tomorrow and give more of an update, but yesterday morning we took three of our grandkids on our traditional outing of a meal out, shopping for their parents and baby sister, and then out for ice cream at a favorite shop.

Here Josiah is relaxing in McDonalds with his feet up on the hearth.  We love this McDonalds because it has a fireplace, a lodge-type theme and a talking moose head on the wall.

I hope to be back here tomorrow with more of a report as to how things went with our weekend, but for tonight I'll just say that it was both busy and enjoyable.  Festive, too.

A sweet little mailbox card

If you have read here much at all, you know that I love Christmas cards featuring designs of mailboxes.  Recently I was going through a box of old, used Christmas cards and came upon this very small card with a mailbox design.  Another one for my collection!

I've often said that I don't know why these cards speak to me as they do.  The landscape on this one is very similar to where I grew up, and I love that the mailbox is mounted upon a tree stump or maybe even a fence post.  I guess the main appeal for me is of a more innocent time; that people would send gift-wrapped parcels through the mail and they would arrive safely; that springs of holly or evergreen would be tucked in with packages, so simple, yet such beautiful enhancements.

And now, back to my real-life Christmas kitchen where fudge-making and cookie-baking are about to commence!

And a bit more progress

Today I received a gift order from an Etsy shop, with items for older granddaughters and a friend.  It was such fun to see the pretty packaging!

I also received confirmation that some of my Amazon and Thriftbooks orders have shipped.  Only a very small amount of gift buying left to do!

One of my daughters requested Quiet-Time Puzzle Kits for her five oldest kids.  I had made these years earlier for some of the grandkids and they were a hit.  She remembered those of her kids who had received these as really enjoying them, so asked if I could give those again.  I was happy to do so, as it's a very easy gift to put together.  I included the tag on that post linked above, so feel free to snag it if you'd like to make some puzzle kits yourself.

Here is a much younger Sam with his gift

So today I picked up a box of microwave popcorn when I grocery shopped.  I'd previously picked up some hot cocoa packets.

This afternoon I was at the Dollar Tree buying things like pretzels (for cinnamon pretzels and a white chocolate snack mix); gift basket bags, cookie tray bags, family Christmas cards and much more.  I picked up a couple of puzzles to use in the kits, but still have three more to find.

Had hoped to wrap gifts this afternoon, but it just didn't happen.  I did get out some wrapping paper and tags, so hopefully tomorrow I can begin wrapping!   I hope to do some baking tomorrow also, and need to make a salad for my hubby's Christmas dinner for his work.  Every year his boss's wife prepares a nice homemade dinner for the crew.  It's always a nice time to get together with his work mates and their wives and families.  I volunteered to bring something and a salad was suggested.  It's a new-to-me recipe from a Gooseberry cookbook.  If it goes over well, I will share it here.

I spent a few minutes with my Christmas notebook as well,  updating my online gift orders and so on.  I found a few popcorn wrappers tucked into the notebook so will use those in my puzzle kit gifts.  I'll need to make a few more, though.

Will be picking up a few more gift components/ingredients at Walmart tonight, so all-in-all this has been a productive day for Christmas preparations!

Today's progress

 
Let's see ... I taped up the Christmas cards we've received so far.

I got out all of my Christmas cookbooks and Taste of Home December issues and brought them to the forefront of the baker's rack where they will be ready for use.

Vacuumed the bedroom and ironed a vintage tablecloth to go beneath the tree in that room, so I can pile wrapped gifts there.

Cleared off, dusted, and cleaned the glass on my little glass-topped crafting desk in the bedroom; placed favorite Christmas cards beneath the glass.

 Then had to replace all of the file folders concerning nursing homes, my dad's bills, etc. etc. back on the desk.  Finding them a new home will be a project for another day.   Thankfully I have no handmade gifts yet to craft, but I do hope to create a few ornaments.

Sorted out a few gifts that will be part of gift baskets; placed them with the containers so they will be ready to assemble.

Fluffed the evergreen garland over the picture window and hung a photo ornament from the center, awaiting other trims.

Finished up an online gift order.

And that may be all for today!

A lovely poem

I always enjoy browsing through Christmas issues of Ideals, be they old or newer.  (The scan above is part of a 1956 Christmas Ideals, in fact.)  My memories of Christmas on the farm include a stack of Ideals magazines beside my grandmother's chair in the front room.  Oh, how I loved looking through those Christmas issues with their gorgeous photography, lovely paintings, Scripture, stories, essays,  poems, and sometimes even recipes.  I could spend hours with them!

And I still love looking through Ideals today.  Sometimes I will share quotes or poems from them here in my Christmas kitchen.  Today I spent a few minutes browsing through an issue I had bought after Christmas, I think it was last year, and found a poem by James Dillet Freeman that spoke to me.  Here it is:

The House That is Your Heart

Now take this Christmas Day to go 

A little way apart,

And with your gentle hands prepare

The house that is your heart.

Brush out the dusty fears, brush out

The cobwebs of your care,

Till, in the house that's in your heart,

It's Christmas everywhere.

Light every window up with love

And let that love shine through,

So they that walk outside may share

The blessed light with you.

Then will the rooms with joy be bright,

With peace the hearth be blessed,

And Christ Himself will enter in

To be your Christmas guest.

-- James Dillet Freeman

Isn't that beautiful?

I'd like to suggest, though, that we not wait until Christmas day to prepare our hearts and brush out those cobwebs.  We ought to be doing that right now.

Once we have those cobwebs cleared out and the windows clean and shiny, the light within will indeed shine through and draw others to the Light of the world.

"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light."  (Ephesians 5:8)
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  (Matthew 5:16)

So many more thoughts spring to mind as I consider this poem.  Maybe I'll share them another time.

Outside my real Christmas kitchen window ...

~ outside the kitchen door, from a previous year ~

it's beginning to look a lot like winter!  We are experiencing our first significant snowfall of the season.  It was predicted to start at 7 a.m. (and it was remarkably close to that time) but the one inch that was forecast has turned into several.  It's nearly 1 p.m. and still snowing.

I have a long-standing tradition that I will bake some type of Christmas cookies on the day of the first real snowstorm of the season.  So today, in my real Christmas kitchen, I am baking Whipped Shortbread Cookies.

If you use your imagination, you may be able to smell them, all buttery and just slightly sweet, with crunchy colored sugar on top.

Later, I may make some fudge, but we will see.  Lots of housework needs doing today too: many loads of laundry, and the bane of my existence, vacuuming.  I also want to wash the dining room windows (insides only, for obvious reasons) before hanging my Simple Christmas Card Banners.

Have a wonderful December Monday, all!

Christmas Star dishcloths

I've posted about this pattern before, but it's been five years and I think more readers would like to know about it.  I saw these adorable dishcloths over at Miss Abigail's Hope Chest and just had to share.  Here is the link to the free pattern, which downloads as a pdf and is easy and fun to crochet:  Christmas Star Dishcloth.

 The original pattern calls for gold yarn on the edging part, but Kathleen, at Miss Abigail's, used red, which to my mind looks even nicer.  I have done these with green edging also.  These look to me as if they would make a nice doily-type item for Christmas decorating, not just a dishcloth.  And in fact, everyone that I've gifted with one of these has said just that -- they see them as doilies and plan to use them as such.

If you need an easy handmade gift or a little something to tuck into a gift basket, and you crochet, here is your answer.  Have fun!

Beginning with the Christmas decorating

It's been a crazy busy few days and I've barely had time to begin the Christmas decorating.  This afternoon I managed to finishing getting all of the fall things down.  I changed the table decor and put some simple (and easily accessible) Christmas treasures on the hutch.  All of this will be tweaked as December moves along, but for now it is an appropriately festive beginning.

This is an older pic of my Christmas ribbon board.  Currently it  has a slightly different arrangement.  I was so thrilled this year to find that I had stored it with the cards all in place.  Good thinking on my part!

Hope you've enjoyed this simple, though somewhat blurry look at some of my Christmas decorating.

Mr. T's wise advice

Well, it had to happen.  It was partway through the day on Thursday, December 1st,  that I finally remembered to turn the calendar over to the new month.  And there in my husband's not-too-neat printing were the words "No homemade gifts beyond this point."

He has just seen too many years of this, beginning with the first year we were married when we were both up late finishing handmade gifts, the only kind we could afford.  Time has passed and we have numerous grandchildren.  I have so enjoyed creating gifts for them.  But life is busier than ever, and somehow I am always down to the wire on the gifts I'm making. 

So last year he told me (and he stuck to it) that as soon as 2016 began,  he was writing a crafting deadline on the calendar.  It doesn't apply to food gifts, of course.  We give lots of those and most cannot be done too far ahead.  (Cookies, which can be made and frozen, are pretty much the exception, but I haven't really begun my cookie baking yet.)

What I decided to do, and it has worked well, is to make handmade gifts for the kids' birthdays instead.  We have birthdays in March, April, May, June, August, September, November, and December.  I've finished the December birthday gifts and they are on their way!

And you know, this is great.  As much as I love making things in December, I am going to enjoy the season more this way.  I have several ornament ideas I want to try, and I do find myself much more relaxed and able to be in the moment.  So I'm thankful for my hubby's wise counsel.  I know he was only looking out for my best interests and trying to reduce my stress level.

There may come a time when we will feel I can make a few handcrafted gifts in December again.  But now, this busy season of eldercare and other responsibilities, is not the time.  I'll enjoy it to the fullest with a light heart.

The first Christmas cards have checked in!

For a little while now, cards have been trickling in from the ladies in the Christmas card swap I'm participating in.  I'm not counting those, however, since I haven't opened them yet!

The card at the top of the post is from good friends at church.  They gave us this card, along with a lovely jar of homemade applesauce as an early Christmas gift on Sunday.  They left today for three months in South Africa, so they were doing their Christmas gifting early.  I would have to say that November 27 is probably the earliest I have ever received (and opened) a Christmas card.

On Tuesday, we received a lovely photo card from friends in Pennsylvania.  I promptly sent one out in return, and I've sent out all of my swap cards, but that's it for sending cards so far.  I enjoy sending cards in response to the ones I've received. 

With the first day of December come many opportunities to get into an Advent Bible study or Bible reading challenge.  I encourage you to do just that --- it will deepen the meaning of Christmas for you.  Later this evening perhaps I can post some links to studies that have blessed my heart in the past, as well as to those I'm enjoying this year.

Happy first day of December, all!