A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Our House at Christmas ll

We were watching television last night and I decided to take some pictures for 2013. We do pretty much the same decorating each year.....but little changes here and there. We have two trees... this is the one in the living room. We've had tall trees in the past, but now we are happy with the small ones.Joe's ornaments stay the same each year, but I like to choose different ones from my collections.


 This year the snow babies are in the spotlight, so to speak. I usually have them in the guest bathroom, but this lighted shelf over the TV just called for them. I've collected these for several years. I love them.
 Here is a picture of the TV with the shelf above.(Should have shut the doors for the picture). Joe has his mouse and elf hanging on each side. These are from his past and very old. My old Santa and elf are under the tree this year.
 Here's a picture of Goosey Lucy in her sweater... by my sled that used to be my friend Ruth's. I'll tell you about the sled tomorrow... in a repeat post from years ago.
 This has hung on the front door since I have lived here.I have similar hangings for other seasons.
 This is the manger scene in the dining room. It's the first thing that people see when they come in the front door.
 Even the railing to the downstairs gets decorated. This picture turned out kind of blurry.
So little by little I am taking you through our decorated house. I can remember in years gone by of only having a live Christmas tree to decorate our house.. We used the same ornaments each year.We kept them in dusty boxes in the attic.  I can remember the excitement of Christmas week, when Dad would bring home the tree and Mom and I would decorate it.... after he set it up. There weren't any other signs of Christmas in our house...unless you count the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen and the fresh wreath on the front door. These were the war years...Dad wasn't there for two Christmases and we had to get the tree ourselves. We picked out a smallish balsam pine... from Burnstein's grocery and dragged it home.... one year on my sled. Mom was determined to have a Christmas for us. I have so many wonderful memories in my head...lean years and years of plenty.Christmas was always the same...we had love in our house...so no matter how lean our Christmas was...we had enough. 

Balisha

13 comments:

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Looks beautiful.
I stopped doing a lot 2 years ago.
It still looks beautiful to me.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Love is the most important things to have and give anytime of year, but most especially at Christmas when Love came down to earth.

Your decorations are really lovely. I did a little start in my bedroom yesterday. Will do more after Thanksgiving.

Love and hugs to you ~ FlowerLady

From the Kitchen said...

Lovely! Your home looks warm and inviting. I decorate the house the day after Thanksgiving. So much better than going shopping I think.

Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving.

Best,
Bonnie

Jan said...

Your house looks wonderfully festive. I love the way memories collect around Christmas decorations. Mark and I are really attached to some cheap decorations from our first Christmas together. I'd never throw them away! Jx

Hillcresthome Prims said...

Your Christmas homestead is beautiful. Warm,cozy and inviting.
Also thank you for telling the story when you were younger about your Dad not being there because of the war and your Mom still wanted you kiddos to have a Christmas tree and bringing it home on a sled. Those were the GREAT OLD DAYS!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Hugs,
Tricia

Judy said...

Lean years--I remember the nativity my mother made--from cereal boxes and pipe stem cleaners and whatever she could find. It was most beautiful.

MsGraysea said...

Your home and the decorations radiate love Balisha!! Happy Thanksgiving.

Sharon said...

Your home says "Welcome. Come in and sit a while." The beautiful wood mantel reminds me of the home of a dear friend from years ago, my very favorite place to spend Christmas.
Wishing you and Joe a happy Thanksgiving ~

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Every Christmas is special in some way. Love getting the tour of your home. No Christmas decorations here yet but you have a good reason to be early.

acorn hollow said...

your decorations are lovely I am so glad you shared them with us. I guess I need to get moving to get my out of the closet.
Cathy

Blondie's Journal said...

Everything looks beautiful and very festive, Balisha!! That is one huge cabinet you have for your TV, my husband would love that. And two trees, maybe someday because I can't seem to control my love for new ornaments!

Much like you, we waited for my father to bring home the tree and then bring the ornaments down from the attic. Although my mother was quite "with it" when it came to home decor, she wasn't very creative (sorry mom) and had store bought centerpieces. But the lights on the tree made everything magical. There was always a bowl of nuts and a nutcracker on the coffee table and candy dishes filled to the brim.

I guess we treasure out childhood Christmas' no matter how they were in comparison to others. And that was something I wasn't exposed to until very late. Now I am just so very happy and blessed with what I have.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

XO,
Jane

Balisha said...

Thanks to all of you for your lovely comments. A lot of love goes into decorating our homes for holidays.It's been that way for generations.Home decorations have come full circle. My first rememberance of Christmas decorating began with one tree. As I grew older, my home was full of holiday decor. Now, in my later years...I'm going back to a simpler plan. We leave our decorations up until after Epiphany. We have a long time to enjoy our decorated home.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Balisha

deb @ frugal little bungalow said...

Balisha I had started working on a post of memories from when I was a little kid...and one of them was these elves that my mom had. I wonder if Joe's is like that...I couldn't get the computer screen to zoom in enough so if you take more pictures a closeup please for the next post.
Everything looks so pretty and cozy there ! :)