It's been fun!

 Yes, it's been a fun month indeed here in my Christmas kitchen!   The collage of grandkids baking cookies in years gone by is a page from my Christmas cookie cookbook and is a great reminder of how much fun can be had in a Christmas kitchen.

I hope to post here much more often in the coming year.  We will see!

Christmas plates from the thrift store

 

We love finding Christmas plates at the thrift store!  Sometimes they are collectibles; other times just inexpensive plastic plates to use in giving away cookies.  Last year I ended up buying a whole new set of Christmas dishes there, after being sure my daughter would be willing to take my other set.

 I recently bought three Christmas plates -- two decorative and one for actual use.  The one at top is a collectible, from Avon in the 1980s, I think.  We just loved the scene.

I bought this plate with the sweet deer back in the fall.  It coordinates with two trays 

 

and some other plates that I have, the Better Homes & Gardens ones from Walmart.  But I hadn't seen this small plate with the deer and I love it.

And then there is this one:

This is such a nostalgic scene!  This is a collectible plate too and not meant for food use, so I am displaying it.  The poem may be a bit dated -- "Never a Christmas morning, Never the old year ends -- But someone thinks of someone -- Old days, old times, old friends" -- but I actually never tire of it.  It's true, so true.  Sometime during the Christmas season, we are bound to look back and remember old days, old times, and old friends -- and, though a few tears may be shed, we can also thank God profusely that we have these dear memories.  I love this scene with the couple making their way toward a cabin in the woods.

Such good deals!  I think the deer plate was $1.50 and the other two were $4 each.  The loveliness they bring to our home is priceless.

Two vintage Christmas cards with a skating theme

 

Below are two very fun vintage Christmas cards. (The one at top is newer and just for fun; this was a card sent us by our younger daughter in the very early 2000s.)

I love the little poem.

My warmest memories of winters past:
A snowman, hot chocolate, and skating fast.

At first glance, these vintage cards below appear as if they might have come out of the same box.    But that guess would be wrong, believe it or not.

 

Both are essentially the same size; I would say both are from the 1950s.  Both feature crowds of people of varying ages and abilities skating on a small pond.  

The topmost pond seems to be in the midst of a village, for there are house close by and even lamps or street lights.  There's a little fire on the shore at the pond's edge.

The pond pictured on the bottom card seems like it's more out in the country.  There are houses and even a church steeple, but they are distant.  There's a mountain in the background.

One of these cards is from the famed Brownie line, by Rust Craft.

The other has only a number and "Made in USA" on the back.

But I think the two cards are equally charming.  I have listed one in my Etsy shop and will list the other soon, probably this week.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these sweet cards!  We're in the midst of an ice storm up here today, so one could skate pretty much anywhere.  No pond needed!  Mr. T and I have no intention of going out.

Sunday Scripture

 I've been posting  Sunday Scriptures on both of my blogs this December, taken from an Advent study I did in 2013 with Good Morning Girls.  The study, Keeping Our Hearts Focused on Jesus, is still available as a free download.  Scroll down and click on the book-like image, and the pdf should open right up.  More than just a Bible study, this is an ebook that includes recipes, Advent activities, and more.  I think it will be a blessing to you, although you will probably want to save it for next year.  At this point I think I've blogged about every part of that study, so next December I'll be doing something different.  And, in January 2026 I plan to get back to the Fix Your Focus lessons.

I've mentioned before that I like to use the SOAP method of Bible study, and the studies from GMG use a very similar one.  I find this method a real blessing whether I am studying shorter passages or longer ones, so I hope you'll give it a try if you haven't ever done so. Just a reminder that the S is for Scripture -- just write it out -- and the O is for Observation, the A is for Application and the P is for prayer -- concerning how you'll apply this verse or passage,  or praise for what it means to you.

This last week's verses are focused on Peace.  If you downloaded the study and are following along with it, this is the one from December 24.

S= "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

"The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thy enemy; the King of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more."  (Zephaniah 3:14-15)

O= This is obviously prophetic.  As C.I. Scofield says, "That this, and all like passages in the prophets, cannot refer to anything which occurred at the first coming of Christ is clear from the context.  The precise reverse is true."

Scofield has titled this section "Israel's restoration and blessing; the King in the Kingdom."

So when verse 15 states "the King of Israel even the LORD, is in the midst of thee", it is not really referring directly to the Baby in the manger, but pointing forward to a time when He will reign during the millennial kingdom.  In that future time, it could be said that God's people will not "see evil any more."

Still, His presence on earth as a Baby was a cause of great rejoicing -- "behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people."  (Luke 2:10). And He was in the midst of His people, even if not all of them recognized it.

A= I can be glad and rejoice with all my heart as I recall and celebrate the coming of the Savior.  I can rejoice that He is my Savior.  He has taken away my judgments in that there is no condemnation to those  who are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh (Romans 8:1).  He is in the midst of me in the sense that He dwells within me in the Person of the Holy Spirit.  I have much to be joyful about!

P= "Lord, as much as I have tried this season to focus on You, in many ways I feel I have failed miserably.  I have so often allowed busyness and stress in preparing to celebrate to crowd out my joy to a much greater degree than it should.  

"I thank You though for the snatches of celebratory joy that I have found.  I pray that You will help me in this week to show my joy in Christ's coming to a needy, needy world.  I thank You for the opportunities that You will give!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

There is the Sunday Scripture for this week and the last of our Advent study.  We will get back to Fix Your Focus in January!

Winter getaway part 4 -- outdoor decor and more

 

Last post for this little series!  I lumped all of these outdoor photos together to simplify matters.  

The door at top was the door to our building.

 

This lobster trap tree was in front of another of the Inn buildings; these are two slightly different views of it.  It was so pretty at night, and the porch on the building behind it had white icicle lights.

Above is how the lamps on either side of the Inn front door were decorated.  Pine cones, leaves, greens and little white lights.  So pretty!

The window boxes were similar, minus the lights, but just look at the icicles hanging from them!

After leaving the Inn, we decided to see if a walk on the beach was feasible.  It was chilly, and we had to walk through a bit of snow to get to the beach, but there was no wind and it was quite comfortable walking.

Next we drove up to Kennebunkport.  We had heard it was a real "Christmas town" so we parked there and walked around for a bit.

There were fun Christmasy displays everywhere -- snowmen, reindeer, Santa and more.

And loads of greenery.  I think this archway might have been intended as a place for a photo op.

Above is a closer look at how that arch was decorated.

So many of the shops had wreaths and garlands of greenery.  If you look closely you'll see the starfish and sea shells on some of the wreaths.

 Because we had gone farther east to Kennebunkport, we came home by a different way.  But we still managed to pass by a favorite ice cream place.  We did share the ice cream, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

And that was our getaway!  A truly relaxing couple of days!

Winter getaway, part 3

 

 One of the most wonderful things about any getaway at the York Harbor Inn is that a free, hearty breakfast is always included.   Above, you see the amazing ocean view from one of the dining areas.

We so enjoyed seeing how the public areas of the inn were decorated for Christmas.

In one of the dining areas, these sweet built-in cabinets on either side of a fireplace had a definite gingerbread theme.  

These wall sconces were sweetly trimmed for Christmas.

The main living room-type area features a gorgeous stone fireplace.  So beautifully decorated with greenery!

The tree with buffalo checked ornaments was just to the left of the massive fireplace.

 The fun red truck below was in the lobby.

 It was such a delight to be here at Christmas time.  We will definitely consider a December getaway for next year!

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas to all of my readers and friends!  

We have had a truly lovely day.  This Christmas season, I have felt so strongly the importance of celebrating the coming of a Savior to a needy world.  It has seemed very important to me to intentionally celebrate.

My daughter has been feeling the same.  She inherited my mother's silverware but had not used it in years.  This year she got it out and polished it up and we used it at dinner this afternoon.

Didn't it come out beautifully?

This morning I decided to make gingerbread cinnamon rolls for my hubby and me.  Another celebratory thing I've not done in some time -- and I had never made rolls with a gingerbread flavor.  They were SO delicious.  

Here's a quick look at our Christmas tree as well.  This was before we packed up all of the gifts and took them across town.

I hope that each of you had a precious and meaningful Christmas Day as well.  We have so much to celebrate!

Winter getaway, part 2 -- Christmas lights

 

 Before supper on the Monday night of our getaway, we took a drive to see the Christmas lights in the area.  At the top of the post you see Nubble Light all dressed up for the holidays.

In front of a restaurant near Nubble Light is this amazing lobster trap Christmas tree, topped off by a lobster!

These are in front of the Anchorage complex.

I think this one above was across the street from The Anchorage.

And these two were at a restaurant that was open even on a Monday night in winter.  It was very colorful.  My favorite was the snowflake.

And those are just a few of the lights we saw that evening.  It was cold and very windy so we were quite selective as to what we took photos of.

Coastal Maine certainly does know how to light up the winter darkness!