{There is No Place Like} Home for the Holidays

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home! 
- Perry Como

Happy Christmas, dear friends! I love those old holiday songs, don't you? Those songs are so nostalgic and bring back so many lovely memories. I like the instrumental version even better.

We're looking forward to spending Christmas at home with some of our family. It will be a quieter Christmas compared to last year when we had eight for dinner and we will miss those who can not be with us this year. We have family in Ontario, British Columbia, and our youngest is spending Christmas with his in-laws in NY. So, we're spread out quite a bit.

From home to home, and from heart to heart, from one place to another, the warmth and joy of Christmas brings us closer to each other. ~ Emily Matthews

My menu for Christmas dinner this year will be fairly simple. There will be turkey of course, dressing, potatoes and gravy, brussels sprouts and carrots. Cranberry sauce and pickles will also grace the dinner table. Dessert will be pumpkin pie with whipped cream,  chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and whipped cream, as well as an assortment of homemade goodies. 

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

I have taken a few photos of my decorating to share with you. Some things you have seen before so I won't share those.

In the dining room, the pink poinsettia graces the table with a new runner. The little red rimmed pitcher holds tea spoons.

I hung this wreath I fashioned a few years ago, in front of the patio doors this year. 

Here is my little tree that sits on the green cabinet which houses a number of dishes. The tree used to have pink and gold striped ribbon like that on the wreath above, cascading down from the top, but I think I like it better without the ribbon. It was a bit too fussy before.

I made the wreath above this year to match the little tree and the big wreath in the window.

The tea towel with Rose Chintz Cottage on it is displayed on the cabinet doors; a gift from Kitty, several years ago, which I keep there year round. It fits right in with its tassels and gold trim.

This large shelf is on the wall behind the table and it has a collection of red transferware on it. The sheep were both gifts from a friend.

I absolutely love red transferware at Christmastime!

In the kitchen I have my Hallmark Gingerbread house. As you know, the gumdrops keep time to the music of "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" when the doorbell is rung. The little ones always loved to ring that bell!

And here is the main tree this year. Much the same as last years only I did the ribbon differently.

Lights off

Lights on just before sunset. 

The nativity is sitting on a table in the corner. I have more pieces but I think they take away from the Holy Family. The little Testament is opened at Luke 2.

A little Child...a shining star...
A stable rude...the door ajar.
Yet in that place, so crude, forlorn,
The hope of all the world was born. ~ author unknown

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame for charity in the heart. ~ Washington Irving

I am sipping a cup of tea which I have stirred with a cinnamon stick. It is delicious!

A cinnamon stick makes it just a wee bit more festive, don't you think? 

I made some butter tarts and mincemeat tarts the other day as well as some sugar plums. My family loves these treats.

My son who lives in the US tells me they don't have butter tarts down there and he misses them. So I made some with him in mind even though he isn't here. Someone in the house keeps sneaking them however so I had to hide them, at least long enough to snap a photo or two. The kids have long since left the nest so you know who the guilty party is. If he wasn't so cute, he wouldn't get away with it!

Well, my break is over and I have lots yet to do so  I had better continue on with my day. Thank you to all of you who have visited my blog this past year and left such lovely comments. 

From my home to yours, I wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with many blessings.

Love, Joy, and Peace to you all!

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

For loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away 

Like the bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf. 

The good you do to others is good you do yourself. ~ Norman Wesley Brooks - 1976, from "Let Every Day Be Christmas"

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi