Stop! Do NOT follow directions!

Following Directions?  That is so 1950’s!

We went to school in the era of workbooks and following directions.  “Do not start your work until you have read ALL the directions, children!”  “Janice, do I see you starting your work without reading EVERYTHING?”

So is it any wonder I must slog through the entire 5 lb. “Photoshop for Dummies” book I asked my husband to give me for Christmas before I even open the program?

And those computer games!  Where are the instructions?  It doesn’t help that some of the games I am attracted to are ones wherein you must search around for the hidden objects, open secret doors and try using tools you have collected to get in deeper.  Those games are made for people who did not have the arched eyebrow of Miss Hokensen, my second grade teacher, looking at them.  They can be so frustrating.

However, these are very games that promote using computers and cell phones.  Just jump in and start clicking, urge the games!  We mid-lifers worry that we will push some button that will launch the nuclear weapons of mass computer destruction.

After playing a few of these games, I was more inclined to try clicking around my new computer programs, and voila!  I actually was able to move to a higher “level”.  Societies of every ilk have had games and pastimes that promoted valuable skills.  Shooting arrows at rolling hoops, marksmanship skills, sewing doll clothes, rodeos for cowboys, macramé for sailors, lemonade stands for future entrepreneurs.  And now computer games encourage us to start clicking.

But I’m not giving up my “…for Dummies” books.  Nor my archaic ability to write cursive and add a column of numbers in my head, for that matter.  You never know when I might need to cut out a construction paper Valentine and send it to a math major.  Such as my husband.

Making Resolutions, Lists and English Gardens

Lists!  Boy, do we like 'em!  The German Dad loves 'em.  He has lists, post-it notes, bins of Christmas decorations precisely labeled and stacked on neat shelves in the garage.  Which I adore about him, of course, as it makes life ever so easy.

Daughter B got all the German genes.  Besides being the near twin in appearance of her dad, she's a list-maker to the extreme.  Puts her lists on Excel spreadsheets.  Makes notebooks of lists.  Christmas lists?  Color coded.

Daughter A, however, is more like an English Garden.  Stuff here and there.  A tad bit sparse here, a bit overgrown there.  Seeds spilling over.  Utterly charming.  Funny, she even looks like her mama, who is more of an English Garden than her German Listmaker dad.

Guess we got one of each.  But as the German Listmaker Dad and I have been together over 37 years, we've grown alike in many ways, in that I adore lists.  I make them just to cross stuff off I've already done.  Ha, ha, take THAT, vacuuming!  Crossed off and done.  Neener, neener.

Of course, it works both ways, and German Listmaker Dad has become a tad bit sparse here, a bit overgrown there.  And I think him utterly charming in every way.

So in this time of resolutions, I don't mind making a list of them.  There might be a few in there I've already kept last year, just so I can cross it off.  Such as smelling the roses.

Mighty Range Dog

Huckleberry the Mighty Muffin thinks he is a super dog.  

He's a muppet.

Wonder Range Dog--hardly.  He likes his tuffet.  His warm bed.  His treats and toys.

He's a non-stop wagging ball-chasing pile o' fluff.  Aren't dogs the best?

Home For Christmas

Is there anything better than a soldier returning to the arms of his/her loving family?  What joy!  Here's a quote that says it all:

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at the airport. General opinion is starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. Love actually is all around."

What a gift.  A blessed daughter.

Spectacular "Yard Waste" Wreath

Going green this year? Here's a way to cut costs in your decorating, go green, and have a great wreath to enjoy.  We use what we call "yard waste" or trimming from neighborhood holly trees.  Ask permission, of course, it will usually be given an eager nod.  You can use cedar or evergreen trimmings as well.

Not all of this wreath is made from "yard waste".  The wreath itself is an old fake one, you can get similar ones at any discount store or even the Goodwill.  Or make a fresh one, if you have time, even better.  We have a Father Christmas face we hang in the center.  He is decades old and was given to me by my mother, but it is not necessary to have such a thing in your wreath, I just happen to like it.

First, you must have a little kid go with you when you pick holly or clip your yard waste.  It is much more fun.  We don't have a little kid.  We have no grandchildren, so we have "rent-a-kids".  Basically, we don't mind babysitting!  Here is our little rent-a-kid du jour, Luke.

He's helping Hans cut holly from a tree up the street.  Our neighbors have been very generous every year in giving us permission: "Please! Trim the darn thing," they said.

Huckleberry the cockapoo must help by providing amusement.  He chases his ball, and he and Luke have races.

Then, like Santa with a pack over his back, up the hill and home we go:

Here's the bare mantle before we get started:

Then we hang up the wreath.  We added a garland and hung the stockings by the chimney with care...

Then we added the Father Christmas face that my mom gave us YEARS ago:

Here he is, grand ol' fellow:

Then all we do is start sticking holly in the top.  Make it big.  Make it spectacular.  It's got to explode out the top with that pow factor.

Here we are, all finished:

(To my European friends, I know wreaths in other cultures are what one brings to a funeral, but in America we use them as decorations, often at Christmas.  It does not carry the funeral overtones.)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Table Settings

Really beautiful and unique table settings are here with lovely pictures to inspire you this holiday.  Whether you feel like being an ice princess, a woodland sprite, or St. Nick's elf, you have lots here to get you going.  Enjoy, and post your own creations!

19th Century Christmas

Lots of fun out at Ft. Nisqually, WA this weekend as Christmas 1855 was portrayed.  There was a Yule Log to haul in (courtesy of 50 young visitors), carols to sing, decorations to make, mincemeat pie with Cumberland rum butter to sample, a flaming Christmas pudding to exclaim over, presents to share, parlour games and harps to enjoy, a new exhibit of Letitia Huggins to admire, and most special of all, the joy of having a young couple of visitors surprise us by getting engaged in the Factor's House under the kissing ball.

Happy Christmas all!