New England Decorations

"The simple things that bless our fireside,
The peace and joy we shared, the love sublime,
The heritage of home at Christmastime!"

~ E. Sherman Smith

"Years ago, Portuguese families living on the New England coast, placed a candle in each window to welcome visitors to their homes. Modern New Englanders of many backgrounds do the same, but with electric candles."

~ From 'The Time-Life Book of Christmas' (1987)



"Not everyone has last-minute shopping to do. In a Maine farmhouse, preparations for Christmas are all but complete. The tree is decorated, presents are wrapped and in place. Cranberry bread, a special holiday recipe, bakes in a cast-iron oven, its sweet aroma spreading from the kitchen through the house. Wood has been cut and stockpiled; already a small blaze dances in the fireplace. In front of the fire sit the providers of this scene of peace and plenty, quietly watching the flame and enjoying its glow. Tomorrow will bring children and grandchildren, laughter and a hearty dinner. But as evening descends over the snow-covered hills the words of the old carol could not be more true: 'All is calm, all is bright.' "

~ From 'The Time-Life Book of Christmas' (1987)



Decorate your home with...

~ pine branches (swags, wreaths, or homemade garlands)
~ pinecone wreaths...
~ bowls or baskets filled with pinecones and some cinnamon sticks for a pleasant aroma
~ make cranberry wreaths, small cranberry trees, or string cranberries for the tree
~ use seashells, sand dollars, or star fish to make ornaments or wreaths.



A BOOK RECOMMENDATION

'A Yankee Christmas' by Sally Ryder Brady (1992) is a great book for anyone who loves New England. It's full of traditions, crafts, and delicious recipes. It was published by Yankee Books, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.

Christmas is a Bridge

"I once said that Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today's Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday. This year I find myself remembering a Christmas long ago, when Connie was two and her father sat at the piano, holding her on his lap and showing her how to play "Silent Night" with one finger. I remember Jill, who shared Stillmeadow with me for so many years, bright and dark, and her two children, Barbara and David, who tiptoed down one midnight to check for Santa and almost discovered two busy parents instead. Luckily, Star, our first cocker, heard what she thought were burglars on the stairs and raised the alarm.

I think, too, of Hal Borland, who loved this season most of all. Christmas to him meant walking down a snowy road in starlight with Barbara, his wife, and speaking quietly about the birth of Jesus. A carpenter and his wife traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There was no room at the Inn. So the baby was born in the stable and laid to rest in a manger.

Princes and kings and warlords were spreading their power over the lands. What happened to them? Who remembers their deed? A few historians are knowledgeable about the Roman Empire. But by and large the rulers made no impact. The carpenter's son born in a manger came to speak in simple words to multitudes who listened. He talked about love and justice and the brotherhood of man. And today all over the world, his message sounds as clearly as it did in the hills of Judea. When we light the candles in honor of his birth, our listening hearts fill with hope for peace and love and justice to come.

Sometimes the holiday season is so busy and exciting that the deeper meaning of Christ's birthday is lost. It is good then to walk in the star-filled night, as Hal and Barbara used to do, and touch the real significance of this birthday."

~ Gladys Taber, from 'Still Cove Journal' (1981)

A Gift Basket for Book-Lovers

"Once the dollars are removed from Christmas gifts,
gift-giving becomes more loving, more interesting,
and more fun for everyone.
Gifts can be found on the seashore, created out of scraps,
searched for at book sales, or baked in an oven.
Dare to be different.
Take the dollars out of gifts and wrap them in love."

~ D. W. Woodliff

Here are some ideas from one of my holiday notebooks. If you have book lovers on your list, these are always fun to put together!!

A BOOK-LOVER'S BASKET ~

Use a large basket that can be left in a special place in their room and filled with books. Or, another "container" could be a large canvas tote bag that can be carried to the library.

~ Fill the basket or bag with some books by a favorite author ~ or a new one in the type of book they prefer (for example, a new mystery writer for those who love mysteries).

~ Look for older books they've mentioned that are no longer in print ~ you can often find them at small bookshops or at online auctions ~ and they'd be wonderful to add to their collection. I've often had luck at ebay or amazon.

~ Handmade, personalized or specialty bookmarks (don't worry if they already have a bookmark... those who love to read never have enough!). Possibilities are endless if you love to scrapbook, rubber stamp, crochet, or cross stitch. ABC Stitch Therapy (an online shop) has a nice selection of cross stitch bookmarks that are available.

~ Bookplates ~ I've found some great ones at both Barnes & Noble and Borders.

~ A journal to record their thoughts and favorite quotes or passages.

~ Coffee, tea or cocoa to enjoy while they read.

~ Specialty candies or cookies to go with the beverage.

~ A candle or two to enjoy as they relax with a favorite book.

~ A booklight (great for night-time reading while traveling, or even if the electricity goes out!).

~ Gift certificate to a favorite bookstore or two.

~ A large pile of paperbacks from the used bookstore for the avid reader (my husband loves this each year ~ he gets about 10 books for the price of 2 or 3, and he doesn't worry that he might leave one behind on a plane or a hotel as he travels).

~ A book for readers (recommending books along a certain line, or including passages from various books.... you can often find something like this in the bargain sections of the large chain bookstores, and they're full of interesting information).

~ Since I'm really into cross-stitching again (one of my old favorite hobbies) I think a nice homemade cross stitch sampler or pinkeep would be wonderful to include with the gift basket. You could stitch one that goes with the theme of the basket (if you've followed a theme), or you could do one that goes with books. A nice sampler for this would be "The Bookshelf" by Little House Needleworks. There's also a nice smaller sampler by LHN called "Music and Books".

From "Stillmeadow Sampler"

Yesterday I spent the afternoon taking down our Christmas decorations, and even though it's almost the end of January, I was reminded of this passage by Gladys Taber.

"As always when the old house creaks into quiet, I snuff the Christmas candles, and check to be sure nobody has left a turkey bone where the Irish could get it. The colored ribbons and tissues are swept up, the fire has died down, and I let the cockers and Irish out for a last run in the new-fallen snow. They take nips of it, roll in it...

The house talks, as old houses do. A beam settles. A chair rocks. A floor creaks with unseen footsteps. I like this, for it reminds me of all the lives that have been lived under this roof, and I feel their friendly presence as I poke the embers. Christmas is over. It is time to burn the wrappings, write the thank you notes, return the calls, set the house in order for the New Year. It is also time to consider where our lives are bound, what purpose steadies our course. How much have we helped our fellow men this year, and what good have we accomplished? Has the world been better because we were in it? If Christmas means anything, it means good will to all. I doubt many of us truly live up to that, but we can try again.

As I let the dogs back in, I smell the snow. The walk is silver, the picket fence wears pointed caps. Night herself is luminous with the falling snow. A flurry comes in with the dogs and melts on the wide floor boards. No two snowflakes, I am told, are exactly alike and this is a mystery. Now the intricate shapes are gone, and only a spot of water remains. It is not very practical to stand in the open door at midnight and let the snow blow in. But it has been my habit for years to close Christmas Day just so, sending my blessing out to all the people in the world, those I know well, and love greatly, and those I shall never see. And as I close the door, I repeat again my Christmas blessing.

"God rest you merry, gentlemen."

~ From 'Stillmeadow Sampler', Gladys Taber, 1950, 1959

(Image: Valley Winter by P. Buckley Moss)

A House Filled With Christmas

"By the middle of the month, the house is filled with Christmas. And everything about Christmas is exciting to me. I love the smells ~ the pine branches we bring in from the woods, snowy and cold, give forth the most heavenly fragrance, and there is the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies and fruitcake, and a whiff of spring from the apple logs in the fire.

The sounds are fine sounds too. Tissue paper is mysterious when it crisps under the blue and scarlet ribbons; the cracking of nuts has a good sound; even the tinkle of a blue Christmas ball on the floor is a holiday note...

The color of Christmas is lovely. The deep shining green, and the scarlet and blue, the flame color of the candles in the windows, the rosy glow of the baked ham ~ there are many enchanting colors. The color of Christmas is dramatic, triumphant.

But the best thing of all is that it is a time of friends remembering one another, families gathering together, a time when people open their hearts. It is a time when one can be sentimental and not hide it."

~ Gladys Taber, from "Stillmeadow Seasons"

God Bless Us, Every One!

"Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the whole city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him... and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!"

~ Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"

On Santa Claus

"Not believe in Santa Claus!
You might as well not believe in fairies...
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist."

~ Francis P. Church
"Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus"

The Story Begins...

"The story begins one cold, bleak, biting Christmas Eve, when the fog is so thick and the dampness so complete that wheezing is the only way to breathe, when the clock in the frozen tower strikes the hours as if its teeth are chattering when the afternoon is as dark as the evening, and the evening so dark that even familiar courtyards require groping to find one's way."

~ Patricia Barrett Perkins, Baltimore, Maryland, 1987, as an introduction to "A Christmas Carol"