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Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Monday 14 December 2020

Beloved Trinkets for No Place Like Home

Hearts are aglow when we fill our homes with domestic warmth, nostalgia, and the beloved trinkets that symbolize the season. ~ Victoria magazine

Good morning, dear friends! Welcome to No Place Like Home week four! We have one more party after this one. Hope you can join me then too.

The days are winding down to Christmas. I have all the decorating done that I'm going to do this year. Not the baking though. I still have a bit of that to do yet. I won't be doing too much of that however because we don't know whether we will be spending Christmas with our family or not. We will have to wait and see if the restrictions will be lifted in time.

Today I'm sharing a few of my trinkets; treasures from my family. I am a very sentimental person and I tend to hold on to things that I have acquired over the years like, greeting cards and sweet little love notes from my boys when they were growing up. Among those treasures are tree ornaments. We all have them. I can look at an ornament and I remember who gifted me with it and when. Those are the treasures that make a tree special.

This beautiful ornament was a gift from my hubby. He likes to get me a new one every year. He knows how much I love sparkle and prisms so this one is like a four dimensional starburst. The phone camera simply doesn't do it justice. It catches the light and reflects the sparkle; very pretty on the tree!

This snow covered cloche is from my oldest son. Three angels clustered together on a cloud with roses, bringing joy. 

This wee rocking horse was a gift from my middle boy when he was nine years old. I love it, and whenever I look at it I remember that little boy with the big blue eyes!

A goldfinch, my favourite bird, was sent to me by my youngest son when he was a post-doc in Colorado a few years ago. The birdie is very fragile and made of blown glass. My son sent me two that Christmas, this one and a cardinal. He got himself a bluejay which is the bird of PEI.

This lovely ornament is one of two ornaments, gifted to me by my mother; one of the last gifts she ever gave me. It is forest green and white with a circle of roses painted around the centre and topped by a butterfly. Anyone who is familiar with Lena Liu's work will recognize her handiwork.

I have so many cherished ornaments but that will do for today. Oh, the memories attached to each one is priceless!

You should always be the best decoration in your own house.~ Phoebe Howard 

Instead of the usual floral centrepiece, I have the table set with my Hallmark gingerbread house, a tree, and Hubby's little snowman which I put in his stocking many years ago. The snowman has a crow sitting on his arm. 
And the snowman is noseless! 
He had a lovely little orange carrot nose which I noticed was missing the other day. 
When I mentioned it to my hubby, he told me when he was vacuuming the family room, he had seen something small and orange on the carpet but he thought it garbage so it went into the vacuum cleaner. He thinks perhaps it was the snowman's nose. Anyway, I will have to make a new nose or get my niece to make it because my hands are not as good as they used to be.
 
Why is this important? Well, years ago, my hubby used to feed the crows and they literally waited for him to come home from work because they knew they would get fed. I always knew when Hubby was coming home because the crows would start calling to one another when they saw our car at the mailboxes. Crows are incredibly smart! 

Alas, that relationship came to an abrupt end when the crows ate our large flower garden that we had spent hours and a good sum of money planting in the back yard. That little snowman with the crow on his arm represents a memory, you see. Remember I told you I am sentimental?



A Royal Stafford teacup and a plate of jelly cookies are on the table for a quick cuppa.

I am delighted to have you join me today. If you have something to share, simply let me know in a comment and I will add your blog to the list of participants. I will be happy to come and visit you. 

Please share any of the following: Cooking and baking, recipes, antiquing, artwork, ceramics, crafts, crocheting/knitting, quilting/sewing, collections, floral arranging, home decor, homemaking tips, hospitality, refinishing furniture, tea time, tablescapes, thrift shopping etc....Maybe there's a new baby in the family or you have a new fur baby you would like to introduce us to. They are welcome too! Anything and everything which makes your HOME more enjoyable to come HOME to, for your family, your friends, and yourself.

I am sharing this prayer that I always ended my Home parties with. It is a special prayer asking for the Lord's blessing upon our homes, whether it be a house, an apartment, a motel room, a hospital room, or a jail cell. May we be thankful every day for His blessing and go out and share a blessing with others. The Lord watch over you all this coming week! Christmas hugs. 


Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. -
 Edgar A. Guest


My Participants




















Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

20 comments :

  1. We both are sentimental, Sandi. I loved seeing your special ornament and your snowman, with the memories attached. Thank you for your ending prayer and for blessing us with your lovely home and party. Yes, please add my post to your party. May you have a wonderful week. 😘🎄🥰

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  2. Sandi, good morning ... and Merry Christmas! You're so right, those ornaments from family down the years are the most precious of all.

    Today, I'm sharing my Cozy Kitchen Christmas Album ... it was so much fun to pull together snapshots filled with memories from recent years -
    http://www.lindastoll.net/2020/12/a-cozy-kitchen-christmas-album.html

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  3. I'll leave my link for the party and then I'll go back and enjoy your post and comment on it, ellen b.
    https://happywonderer.com/2020/12/14/no-place-like-home-4/

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  4. I so enjoyed your post with the sentimental ornaments you shared the story behind. That's a fun tradition, giving yearly ornaments. I had a brother in law who fed the crows. They are very smart creatures for sure. How special that you could find an ornament that included a crow! Sorry about his nose. :) We have a new restaurant in our little town called Goldfinch. I hope it survives these hard times. Restaurants can only offer take out in our state right now. Lovely benediction to your post. Thank you for hosting! Blessings...

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  5. I am sharing on your meme today! The link is. https://wingingwitheagles.blogspot.com/2020/12/no-place-like-home-week-4-traditional.html. Merry Christmas

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  6. Your ornaments, how precious! My heart melted to think of your nine-year-old son giving you that sweet rocking horse. Your kids certainly knew you loved Christmas things. That blown glass bird is gorgeous.

    Wishing you a beautiful day, Sandi!
    Brenda xo

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  7. I’m sharing some Christmas joy today!
    A Day of Small Things
    Amykinsblog.Wordpress.com

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  8. Great treasures,Sandi!Thank you for hosting!My link:https://loucaporporcelana.blogspot.com/2020/12/eu-sou-luz-do-mundo-quem-me-segue-nao.html#comment-form.

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  9. Hi Sandi. Nice to read your blog post today. I laughed when I read about the noseless snowman. It made me think of the headless camel. LOL. My daughter has a manger scene that I gave her. I bought it at Easton's in the 1970's. Her dog, when he was a puppy, chewed off a Camel's head. I did find her another one at a thrift shop. It's not the same but she likes it.
    I dried some fruit for the first time and did a blog post today.
    https://thelma-day.blogspot.com/2020/12/drying-fruit-for-decoration.html
    Thanks for hosting this party. I will be back later to visit all the other blogs.
    Have a good week xo

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  10. Yes, the sentimental memories behind your beautiful ornaments are definitely priceless!

    Our office had a gingerbread house contest as part of our holiday party. During the virtual party, we had a tour of the creative gingerbread houses. It was really cute!

    Thanks for hosting!

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  11. Oh I didn't realize you were doing this another week! Thank you so much. Here is the link to my post today. I hope it will be appropriate. https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2020/12/all-is-calm-all-is-bright.html I love your story about the snowman and the crows. That is a great memory. Your table looks so lovely...I love the Gingerbread house too. And the ornaments on your tree that are so special. Thank you for sharing them from your heart and home. What I have shared today is also from my heart and home. Not tea related this time, but something a little different. Have a blessed week dear friend. I hope you can fix Mr. Snowman's nose!

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  12. Hello Sandi - I know what you mean by sentimental ornaments. I used to always have a tree decorated entirely of my homemade ornaments, ones I received as gifts, and others that I bought on my travels. I haven't used those ornaments in years and fleetingly thought about decorating a tree with them this year but ran out of steam after decorating three trees! Today, I would like to share my recipe for Cranberry Shortbread Square for teatime. It uses cranberry sauce in the topping and is a lovely decadent square, especially for the holidays. Have a great week! https://myislandbistrokitchen.com/2020/12/14/cranberry-shortbread-square-recipe/

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  13. Your ornaments are special and lovely. It is always a joy to get my special ornaments out every year. Have a wonderful Christmas ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Thank you, FlowerLady Lorraine, and thank you for your visit! Merry Christmas!

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  14. Sandi, I missed last week!

    My tree has sweet memories and ornaments that I've purchased. I like both!

    Your teacup is lovely, and I do hope your family can get together for Christmas!

    I'd love to share this blog post - https://mrsrabe.blogspot.com/2020/12/gifts.html

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  15. Sandi, I have so enjoyed reading about all of your ornaments and the precious memories attached to them. The gingerbread house is adorable and makes for the perfect centerpiece. Thanks for the sweet prayer that you shared with us. I'm sorry that I have not been commenting. Something has been wrong with my google account, but I think I have it fixed now. I hope that you have a most merry week!

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    1. Thank you, Shannon! I am glad you enjoyed my post. Thanks for your visit and Merry Christmas!

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  16. Sandi,

    Your ornaments are beautiful. I have a wonderful collection. The chloche ornament is gorgeous and wonderful treasure.

    It doesn't seem many collect them like we have anymore. Seems they're worried about a new theme.

    Collecting ornaments was a big thing. I wouldn't pass it up.

    Hope your hubby is healing.

    Cindy

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  17. Sandi, I have loved reading this post and your prayer at the end moved me enormously. I will be making sugared cranberries this coming week and will pop back and share a link when they are done.

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  18. Everything is just beautiful and so festive! I wish I had taken part, but maybe I will next year. I love seeing homes decorated and cheerful with pretty treasures and twinkly lights! holiday hugs!

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I am delighted to have you visit me and I read every comment. Please forgive me for not being able to visit you all as there are so many of you lovely bloggy friends now. I will visit as much as possible. I wish you a day filled with JOY!

Also, due to the amount of spam I've been getting, I have had to set Comment Moderation. ~ Sandi

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