My Grama's Soul

This is a picture of our little tree this year.  Each year our trees seem to be smaller, a function of our getting older and just wanting to deal with less stuff.  I'm sure a few of you feel them same.  Although it does seem to be a little weird that we want to deal with fewer Christmas decorations and give each other MORE STUFF in the way of presents under the tree.   Ahhh...being human is such a quandary sometimes!                                          MERRY CHRISTMAS                                                          Jo  

Sending Christmas greetings out into the world today. BELIEVE in what you hold dear. xo Jo

Brad and I have a lunch group that meets on the third Friday of each month.  We rotate turns on picking the place.  Today it was Indian food. Here are we girls being silly in our Christmas cheer. xo Jo

I certainly don't do as much Christmas decorating as I used to when I was younger.  In fact, since my son passed Christmas is always a bittersweet time for our family.   But this year it has been easier to get in a festive mood, so we got out all the old Christmas things and tried to use them in new ways.  The above wreath is decorated with clear bulbs that my sweet grandson and I tie-dyed to be pink in color.  They turned out lovely and I was able to use them in this old wreath.  I have it mounted on an old bird stand and it is proudly displayed in our living room. Our tree is only about three and a half feet tall and it sits on a desk and the end of our main room in the house.  My sweet sister in law gave me a Christmas book a few years back with all kind of handmade papers and cards.  This year I took it apart and used it to decorate my little tree.   When you retire ...

Part of celebrating Memorial Day...is having memories. Sophie we will ALWAYS miss you!! Jo

Goodness....I have not posted in over a month.  This one will have lots of pics so be prepared.  (O: I was not sure if I was ready to celebrate this year as Christmas day was the last day I saw my son alive....but I know Scott would want me to celebrate the day even though he is somewhere else....hopefully....having his own celebration!!! These old clear bulbs turned into the ones in the shots above.   Still loved the bulbs as they are plastic and unbreakable but wanted to make them a color so took paint and made that happen.   I have used the same decorations now for sometime....just remaking them into something new.   We did not put up a big tree this year as I was just not up to the task...but as you can see I spread little things here and there though the house. The leather photo album in this picture is over 100 years old.  It contains pictures of my aunt, my mom and my grandmother and grandfath...

Simply said.....and warmly felt. xoxo Jo

Have a awesome day. xo Jo

Like many of you, I start decorating with Christmas things the day after Thanksgiving.  We are in a much smaller home now so I cannot put out as much as I have in the past. But....I do manage to set out a few of my favorite things....many I have made....some are things I have had for many years. The wonderful old santa photo is actually the front of a magazine cover dated from the 1920's.  My adult children didn't want many of their dad's things when he died...so I kept a few of the things I thought were special.   The brass candlestick actually was an anniversary present to my in-laws for a important  wedding anniversary.  Both of them passed on many years ago...and no one in the family wanted this set so I kept it as a remembrance. Here is the other candlestick and a wonderful Red Lion amaryllis purchased at our local Trader Joe's a few weeks ago. Both of these little trees are made with vintage bulbs and things I have h...