Just can't help myself.....

Found this today and had to share it! Make yourself a cup of your favorite warm tipple...hot cocoa or coffee or tea...as this is fun to play with for a while. Be sure to go back and play with all three hedgehogs...



 Happy Wednesday ... 4th day of Christmas!

It is still Christmas!

Here in Holland, it is what we call 2e Kerstdag or 2nd Christmas Day. I think it should be 2nd Christmas Day everywhere. Why is the biggest holiday of the year just one day? I like the tradition of the Victorians to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas. Why not start your own tradition? Why should we only think Christmas is one day? To me it should be Christmas in our hearts everyday. The world would be a better place if it was.

This video is so precious. I am not a pop music fan at all and have never heard of this group but I found this video last year and just love it. I watch it once in a while to bring to back to the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Not only the nativity but also the girl walking along and discovering all the pieces herself. Enjoy!

Magical Christmas Day!

What is it that creates the magic of Christmas Day? That answer would be different for each of us I think. It is also many elements to each of us. One part of Christmas magic is nutcrackers.

Each year, I put out my collection and the magic starts once again...

I have a collection of colorful ones and of natural ones...

Last night, I watched a production of The Nutcracker Ballet by the San Francisco Ballet on German satellite television. My mother asked me don't I ever get sick of watching it. Christmas is not Christmas if I have not seen The Nutcracker.

Wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas!

Twas the week before Christmas - Day 7

Decorating simply with pinecones...

On a windowsill with pine branches, berries, lights and ornaments...

In a large glass cookie jar with lights, dried cranberries, cinnamon sticks and star anise...

On top of the hutch with greenery, holly and lights...

In a dough bowl with red ornaments and a little stitched pillow...

"I hear the wind among the trees
Playing the celestial symphonies;
I see the branches downward bent,
Like keys of some great instrument."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Have a peace-filled Christmas Eve!

Twas the week before Christmas - Day 6

Our sweet Christmas kitty Dagi is 14 years old today!

When we got Dagi 14 years ago, the vet had the assistants come into the surgery to look at him. He said he used to see Javanese or Mandarins (half long hair Siamese) often when he had a practice in The Hague but we were the first he had ever had here. He had to help us with a problem from the start as Dagi was allergic to cat food. We have fed him on Hill's science diet only from that day on and he is doing well ever since. The vet warned up that Dagi is a breed that does not get old so we would have him for a short time.

Joy of joys! Dagi has become our little old man. He is turning white from his old age and moves slower with stiff joints than he used to. He is my companion who is constantly on my lap even when it is not convenient. He talks my ears off until I ask him to shut up and then he looks at me, meows okay and keeps on chatting. He is my quilt tester who is now also my afghan tester since I learned to crochet. In this photo, he is trying out Jos' new afghan which I am crocheting now. He is my cuddle toy while I sleep. AND he is a dear cat who I am grateful for each and every day!

Happy birthday!

Twas the week before Christmas - Day 5

"Christmas is forever, not for just one day, for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf. The good you do for others is good you do yourself..." 

~Norman Wesley Brooks

What says the magic of Christmas better than glass, silver and candlelight? 

Place a cloche filled with pearl look and silver ornaments onto a glass cake stand for instant elegance. 

Silver reindeer and wire tree on a tray of various mercury glass ornaments and tea light holders adorn the dining room table. By using a large tray for the arrangement, it can be easily moved when dining. 

Twas the week before Christmas - Day 4

"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house." 

 ~Henry Ward Beecher

I love to decorate with books. This is my reading corner in my living room. December is a time when I put aside all my other books and start reading or rereading some holiday or winter themed books. So far a book by Elizabeth Goudge entitled I Saw Three Ships has been a highlight for me. You can read my review on my Bookshelves and Stove Tops blog. I am now rereading The Christmas Tree by Julia Salamon and this is a story that always warms you with the true meaning behind a Christmas tree.

Do you have a favorite Christmas book? I love reading Charles Dickens or Henry Van Dyke as much as a modern novel like Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley or The Golden Ring by John Snyder.

"When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before."

 ~Clifton Fadiman