A visit to King Arthur

 

Last Saturday we met up with friends at King Arthur Cafe, Bakery, and Store in Norwich, VT.  It was so much fun!  

I was enamored of the outdoor trees, so Mr. T got several shots of them. 

To me it looked as if stars had fallen into the evergreen branches.  Just so pretty.

And the indoor decor was nice too -- not just the festive winter look, but also the beautiful collages of vintage kitchen implements and utensils.  I was especially taken with the look of the tall jar or vase at right in the photo below:  It's filled with copper cookie cutters and then topped off with greenery and white branches.  I would love to recreate this decor at home with a smaller vase, and would almost certainly add some red berries to the branches and greens.

I wish that the timing had been right to get coffee and a pastry, but it just didn't fit with our schedule and supper plans.  The Nutcracker Cocoa -- Steamed milk, Mocha, Hazelnut Syrup, homemade Marshmallow with a Marshmallow Whipped Cream -- sounded so good.  And I think I would've tried a Cardamom Bun.  The hometown bakery of my childhood was run by a family with Swedish roots and I instantly recognized (by the photo) the cardamom bun as something I loved as a child, though I'm pretty sure it had a different name.

I had specific gifts in mind that I wanted to shop for here, but most were not available.  Out of stock.  I found a few other things that would work, however, and I did get some cookie cutters I had hoped to, for me and for my daughter -- the classic "truck with tree" and a snow globe shape.  Also some nifty and very detailed snowflake cookie stamps. 

I also found some bakeable paper loaf pans I'd been eyeing in the catalog but wouldn't pay $17 for.    Now on sale for a much more reasonable price!  $6 sounded much better.  The ones I got weren't exactly like those below, but you get the idea:

I already used four of the ones that I got to bake my Little Apricot Fruitcakes in.  To be honest, I wasn't really sure how well I would like baking in these paper pans, but I do.  I like them a lot.  They were easy to work with and fill, nice and sturdy, and the cakes baked well in them.  When cooled, it was an easy matter to just wrap them in foil -- not plastic wrap and then foil, as I would do with cakes baked in ceramic or metal pans and removed to cool on racks.  I am glad I bought a package of 12, as I may make some chocolate chai tea bread if time allows.  If we get the opportunity to return to King Arthur anytime soon, I will probably purchase more.

An additional fun touch was that there was live music -- a Celtic duo with fiddle and guitar -- last Saturday during the time we were there,  so that made it even more festive.

And there you have it -- a winter afternoon at King Arthur!  So happy we got to do this.

A truly special Christmas card

 

We have a friend, really more of an acquaintance (we are close friends with his mom) who never fails to send us a Christmas card.  And it's always a special one.  

Some of these cards I have never seen in stores, though I assume perhaps he finds them in a Hallmark store.   The cards have always been wonderful, but this one may be my favorite, because it includes actual needlework.  

The saying "Faith is at the Heart of the Holidays" is machine-embroidered on felt in the center of this design.  It is then surrounded by stitched poinsettias (I think), holly and other greenery, and red and pink berries.  

The embroidered design is set off by an actual wood frame, albeit a very thin one.  

Have you ever seen a card like this?  I think it's just beautiful.

A sweet handmade Christmas card

 

Here is a sweet handcrafted card I've saved from a few years ago, made by my Canadian friend Tania who is a crafter extraordinaire.  I just love it and have saved it not only because it's so creative but because of the heartfelt message inside.

It's so simple and if I can find a similar stamp, I just might make some for next year.  Tania started with plain white card stock and you can see she stamped this really fun saying on one side, and scalloped the edges of the card.  Next to the saying she placed a textured paper rectangle with rounded corners -- so nifty -- which resembles wood grain.  

Atop this is a piece of antique-looking cotton lace, a simple bow tied out of ordinary string, and a chipboard letter (in this case S, for the first letter of my first name).  She gilded the edges of the letter a little bit.

The finishing touch is a few sequins in complementary colors scattered about, and then of course a handwritten note inside the card.  Isn't it lovely?

Aglow with friendship's light

 

Many of my readers know that I have an Etsy shop where I am selling much of the contents of a New Hampshire attic.  Mostly I'm selling used greeting cards and children's books.  Recently I was listing the card pictured above.  If you happen to be acquainted with vintage Christmas cards, you will recognize this as a Brownie Christmas card by Rust Craft.  They were very popular back in the 1940s and 1950s.  This one is a newer card, but I believe it is reprinted from an older design.  I think the artist is Erica von Kager, but there is no signature so I'm not sure.

See the little Brownie emblem from the card back?

  This Christmas card image is charming, featuring six or seven small angels carrying lanterns. They are making their way through a village of tall stone buildings and lighting the street lamps. It seems as if they are going into the buildings to light lamps there also. Above the town is a night sky in a pretty dark blue, spangled with stars. Although this is not a bright colorful Christmas card, it is gilded with many touches of metallic gold and is quite charming.

I do realize that we have no idea what angels truly look like (except that sometimes in the Bible we see them looking like very ordinary people, and in other instances they are so obviously celestial beings that they caution people not to be afraid of them).  Almost certainly they don't look like the ones in this image.  But I still find it charming, and the little poem inside the card is absolutely delightful:

A well-worn path runs through our thoughts,
With lighted lamps along the way,
That mark the memories we share
Of many a happy bygone day. 
And now that Christmas time is here
Those lamps are shining bright
With memories and thoughts of you
Aglow with friendship's light.

That is so beautiful to me.  It's very interesting in reading these old cards that many carry very simple messages, something as basic as "Merry Christmas" or "Season's Greetings" while others include more sentimental messages for friends and family.  In this particular card, the message itself was quite short and simple: "Thinking of you with best wishes at Christmas", but then on the facing side was the sweet little poem above.  What dear friendships the unknown writer must have had in mind when he or she penned these words!

I know this much: their words moved me to tears.

A thoughtful surprise!

 

Earlier in December, I had a lovely little surprise.  I usually attend a ladies' Bible study every month at a friend's home.  I wasn't able to make the December meeting due to inclement weather, and felt badly to miss it.

Imagine my surprise the next day when one of the other ladies appeared at church with a cardboard box and proceeded to hand out sweet Christmas floral arrangements to those of us who had missed the meeting.  Our thoughtful Bible study leader, Amanda, had made one of these for every lady.  I suspect  her little boys may have had a hand in these as well, since she often recruits their help in projects.

The day before, puttering around my home with a bit of Christmas decorating, I had placed on our dining table a pretty hand-quilted Christmas table topper that someone had made for my mother.  When I saw how beautifully Amanda's floral arrangement coordinated with that table topper, I was stunned.  It just could not go more perfectly!  The deep rich colors, the touches of metallic gold and of white -- they were all just perfect together.  Immediately I removed the little decoration I had placed there earlier and put this sweet arrangement in its place.

 

Christmas surprises are so much fun, don't you agree?

A few thoughtful gifts from my Christmas season

I know I didn't mention all of these things here previously, so here goes with a simple post sharing a few thoughtful gifts I received over Christmas 2019.  That tin (which is much smaller than it appears here) at the top of the post contains a generous Hobby Lobby gift card.  Still haven't gotten to Hobby Lobby to spend it, but I know a couple of things I want to get.

 This Christmas teacup is so pretty!  A thoughtful gift from my friend Rhonda.  I later learned that she gave a Christmas teacup to each lady at church.  She included a package of pizzelles with each one.  I think (but am not sure) that all of the teacups were different.  I have some Christmas mugs, but this is my first Christmas teacup. It sort of matches these sweet ornaments:

These were a gift from my friend Linda in Utah, some years ago.

The pretty tray above was a gift from my daughter Carrie.  She asked for gift ideas and I was ready with this one!

 The "jadeite" look sugar and creamer are by Pioneer Woman and were also a gift from Carrie.  She also gave me a tip about the gorgeous melamine plates in Walmart this season, so I guess in a sense that middle plate is also a gift from her.

And this handcrafted owl was a gift from our friends Sam and Jennifer.  At a loss for affordable gifts, they turned to the internet for ideas and found this one!  Although our tree is down now, this sweet snowy owl is at home on an evergreen garland that tops our picture window year round.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these thoughtful gifts ... maybe you even found an idea or two to use next year!

And just a few more ornaments to share ...

We had our last Christmas event of the season last evening: supper and gifts with our oldest teenage granddaughters.  That had been postponed from Christmas Eve, our usual time to celebrate with them, because one was ill.  So last night we enjoyed Christmas Eve Soup with pizza, and a cookie and fudge tray for dessert, and opened gifts in a festive time together.  Now I can think about taking down some of the Christmas decor, making sure to leave plenty of light and sparkle to get us through the rest of the winter.

Before I put the ornaments away, however, I wanted to share just a few more of them with you.

The one below was quite large so I hung it near the bottom of the tree.  As you can see, I was having a hard time getting a good photo of it there.   So I moved it temporarily just for the purpose of getting a decent picture.   You can see it much better in the second photo.

This is one of those "kitschy" ornaments that is so tacky it is almost cute.  (That's what I told myself, anyway.)  Somebody made this, probably in the early 1970s or the late 1960s.  It looks as if the white part was made by crocheting with white yarn around a ring made from a plastic lid, or possibly two plastic lids put together for stability.  Then plastic greenery was glued to it to give a wreath effect.  Two colorful little plastic figures, ice skaters in this case, are glued to the bottom center of the wreath.

Below is the only ornament in this lineup that is not handmade.  It's a sweet little vintage white metal bell with red and green striped candy canes pictured on it and just a plain white string looped at the top.

Below is a mother and baby mouse that I embroidered on felt back in the day.  This was something I had made for my mother, I believe.  It's from Erica Wilson's Christmas World and is intended to be Beatrix Potter's Hunca Munca.  I made quite a number of ornaments from that book.

 Below is a felt gingerbread boy.  Not sure but it may have been made by my Aunt Dot.

 And below, another which I am pretty sure was knitted by Dot.  It's a mitten that matches the stocking I showed in a previous post.  I finally managed to get a decent picture of it.

 The ornament below was cross stitched by one of my friends from the Christmas craft forum and enclosed in a Christmas card in a previous year.  You can't really tell, but the Aida cloth used is glittery!

These two photos (above and below) are of the same snowy owl ornament, just taken from slightly different angles.  This one was made by our friends Sam and Jennifer out of a toilet paper roll.  Very, very creative, I thought! These would be sweet on a tree with just woodland trims or just birds.  I think I will keep this owl out for winter along with the snowflakes, pine cones, icicles, etc.
 
I love ornaments -- especially handmade ones -- don't you? 

A wonderful little gift for friends

For the past several years, I've been making these sweet little gifts for my women friends, as well as for teenage and college-age girls.  Read on for an explanation:

Every year for the last I-don't-know-how-many, Ashley at Under the Sycamore has offered a free download of these  "Best of My Days" cards. Briefly, they are pages for each month with a line for each day. They serve as mini-journals for each month.  Ashley's idea is that at the end of each day, one thinks through the day and notes down the best thing that happened.  I keep mine on my nightstand and write a few words at the end of each day.  It has really helped me with keeping track of things I am grateful for, and provides blog fodder for my "Friday five" posts.

When I give these as gifts,  the recipients seem to really like them.   Even busy young moms who could never find time to journal can often find a moment to jot down a phrase or sentence.

When I first started making these I was having trouble finding the looseleaf rings to use in the corner, to hold the pages together and make it easy to turn from month to month.  So I used a smallish carabiner clip instead, which I actually find more fun because they come in all different colors which can then be coordinated with the wrappings.  I'm still using those!

As you will see when you go to Ashley's blog, the fun of gifting these is in the decorating and embellishing of wrapping them up.  Ashley gets really, really creative with her wrappings, so you will want to check out her ideas for inspiration.  


I tend to take the easy way and use gift wrap or other paper items (the wrapper at the top of the post is from the front of a church bulletin).  Fabric, calendar pages, pages from magazines or catalogs, are other ideas -- and if you have something like a vintage magazine or other paper treasure that you don't want to cut up, simply scan the item.   I actually keep a "Best of my Days" manila folder and keep ideas and items for wrapping,  in it from year to year.  Below are a few of the wrappings I have put together:

This was from a Vermont Country Store catalog cover.  I embellished it with snowflake buttons and bakers twine.

Another made from a Vermont Country Store catalog.  This one has some jingle bells and a plaid ribbon.

Another from a church bulletin.  Snowflake button and Christmas bulb beads.

Another from a Vermont Country Store catalog cover.  This one has an embellishment I made from a round paper tag and a snowflake bead, plus a wintry tag cut from an old Christmas card.

Same as above but with a blue handmade tag from a friend tied on.

You've seen this one before too but the embellishments and tag are different.

Here is the link to download the files for this year: Best of My Days 2020.


I haven't printed mine out yet.  This is one of those projects you can do at (almost) the last minute, yet still feels so creative and festive because you are having so much fun with the wrappings. 

On Instagram, someone asked Ashley if she saves her own completed "Best of my Days" from year to year.  (I tend to throw mine away.)  She replied that she keeps them in a box and then she has a mini record of things that happened in the various years.  So that's a thought!

Hope some of you will try this fun and ingenious idea!

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!

A Christmasy surprise in August!

How much fun is this?  A few days ago I picked up the mail and was intrigued to see a large manila envelope from my blog friend Arlene.  Arlene blogs at Nanaland.  Among other subjects, Arlene writes about cross stitching, decorating, books, grandchildren, and her little getaway place in Georgia.  She is one of those bloggers I hope to meet in real life one of these days.

What had Arlene sent me?  It was a project-filled magazine called Annie's Christmas, the 2015 edition.  It seems that Arlene had won this magazine at a cross stitchers' group she attends.  Kindly, she thought of me and my Christmas blog and decided to send it on to me.  She enclosed a note:

What a nice surprise!  This thick magazine contains many projects to knit, crochet, sew, cross stitch, quilt, or paper craft.  Although obviously I will not make every project, I do already see a few that I would like to try.  My eye is drawn especially to the sewing projects like the kitchen set pictured below.  It's a set of place mats and hot pads with a sweet vintage look.  I think that I would make the hot pads and use them as mug rugs.  This project would be perfect for using up narrow scraps of Christmas fabric.  I'm not much of a quilter at all, but I think I could manage this beginner-level project.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Arlene!  It was like Christmas in August!

Ladies' Christmas brunch at church

This past Saturday we enjoyed a ladies' Christmas brunch at church.  We invited ladies from another area church as well as friends, coworkers, etc. and we had about 25 who gathered at 10 a.m. for brunch.  Everybody brought something so we had a lovely variety of brunch foods -- along with a nice fruit punch, lots of coffee, and the options of tea or hot chocolate as well.

The pretty plaid "tablecloth" is actually wrapping paper!

Even a chocolate fountain with lots and lots of fruit!

My friend Ruth had offered to head up this entire event, which was just wonderful.  In a small church, with no pastor at the moment (and hence, no pastor's wife to take the lead in things like this), it often falls to the same people to take on ladies' events.  So when Ruth volunteered to orchestrate the brunch, it was a great relief.  She did invitations, planned a devotional, provided music, decorated, and much more.

A few ladies during the song time.  Ruth is in the red.

When I asked on Wednesday night how she would like the chairs and tables arranged in the fellowship hall, she simply replied that she planned to spend most of Thursday (her day off!) at the church and would take care of it herself.   What a servant's heart she has!  She did say, though, that she was not planning on bringing any of the food, just the drinks.  And there was certainly more than enough food!  People shared so generously with what they brought.

Above you see one more of Ruth's contributions to this special event -- a faux fireplace that she designed, constructed and decorated.  It really came out so nicely -- the photo does not do it justice -- and added a cozy Christmas ambiance to our fellowship hall.  Her hubby actually sneaked over to the church on Friday and added the birch logs for an added touch of realism.

Ruth's devotional centered around Psalm 90:12 -- "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." -- and the necessity of using our time for the glory of God every day, but paying special attention to this during the busy Christmas season when so many events vie for our attention.  It was a wonderful reminder and a lovely event.  Thank you, Ruth!