Starting Christmas

Everyone has their own idea about when it is the right time to start Christmas.  I don't mean shopping early (I am an all year long Christmas shopper, and make every effort to avoid going into stores after the middle of November!)  or seeing decorations hung on city streets as early as Halloween.  I understand that many resist being encouraged to begin thinking Christmas thoughts before Thanksgiving.  But I believe Christmas is more than decorations or gift exchanges, and seasonal foods. We need Christmas, the deep peace of knowing that God is with us, all the time, and it does not seem strange to me that this bubbles up at times with a desire for little things that show that need. For years, I have treated myself to beginning listening to my beloved Christmas music on my birthday, which is coming up soon. So I was really not surprised a couple of months ago when our 2 year old granddaughter Nora, began asking for a Mismas Tree. Perhaps she had seen the decorations when they went into the garage closet when we moved this summer.  Perhaps she saw a picture of a tree. But suddenly she was insistent.  She begged for a Mismas Tree with a star.  Her mom obligingly got this little tree out of the closet, we plugged in the lights, and then Nora wanted a star.  I cut one from cardboard for her and offered to cover it with foil.  She passed on the foil and I lifted her as high as I could for her to put her star where she wanted it.

So there is the start of our Christmas, before September's song or Halloween.  Note the pumpkins nearby!  We will do the rest of our decorating soon, since baby Oliver is due to make his appearance around Thanksgiving!  "For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” 
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Nora's Family Tree

As we enjoy the first days that feel like fall, the changing light of Autumn, and see leaves changing color, many of our littles work on art projects that reflect the season. I smile as I see Nora's Family Tree art already includes baby Oliver.  Our whole family prepares to welcome him in the coming weeks.  I am grateful for all the branches and leaves on Nora's tree, and for the larger one of extended family!

Today my sweet Mother, Opal Terrell Teal would be 103 years old.  She died 10 years ago, a month short of her 93rd birthday.  I miss her still, and while thinking of her I think of so many things about her that I miss, things that remind me of her.

she played the first piano notes I ever heard,

loved all the old Baptist hymns plus

Rustic Dance and I Love You a Bushel and a Peck

took me to piano lessons and made sure I practiced

when I played my piano today, it was a tribute to her

she found the prettiest cloth to make my dresses

smoothing fabric on her bed, laying the tissue patterns, cutting with care

sitting for hours at her Singer 

in front of the window where Hawthorne bloomed

pinning and fitting before hand-stitching hems

and teaching me that, too  

 she brought me yellow roses when I was a young mother of  3 sons

Tyler roses, tight yellow buds in a bunch

in her last years there were petals of yellow sticky notes

to remind me she loved me

I miss her laughter,

the magazine and newspaper clippings she used to send in letters

she had the most beautiful handwriting

I miss the way she loved coffee

the way she smelled of face powder and Tide

I miss sitting by her,  

her wrinkled hands clapping with joy or clasped in prayer

clinging by faith until it was by sight

Fall Garden

One of the consolations or our summer heat is the arrival of our second growing season, our fall garden.  We again grow a salad bowl of lettuces - Romaine, Red and
Green Leaf and Butter lettuce thrive, and cold weather veggies like cabbage, collards, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, and chard begin to thrive.

We plant old favorite herbs in the new beds as well - basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, sage, and Mexican mint marigold, the Texas offering which tastes like Tarragon, which does not grow well here. Our garden is one more thing which makes  us feel at home in our new surroundings.

Getting Ready for Oliver

When visitors are coming to our home, we prepare for them, and meet them at the door with welcome hugs. In many ways, we make ready.  It might be setting the table and cooking favorite dishes to share with them, or planning a place for them stay while they are here. Offering hospitality is a gift from us as well as a gift to us because there is so much joy in getting ready and then spending time together.

I am thinking of a brand new person who will soon be here to join our family. Oliver Hilton Parker is due to be born near the first of December! Every day brings us closer to that glad time and just as we prepare for those who temporarily join us, more importantly and thoughtfully we prepare to greet him with open arms.  The crib is in place, dressed in soft cream linens. Colorful banners hang on the walls, and bright bins hold baby things and toys. The nursery is amazing and deserves its own blog post, so that will come later.

I am knitting a tiny newborn size sweater (above) that I know will only fit him briefly, and starting a small coverlet which will be like a Victorian crazy quilt, stitched with all the old-fashioned stitches taught me by Oliver's great, great grandmother Curley.

Getting ready!

Welcome to Fall

One of the things I have always enjoyed about making a new home feel like "ours" is opening boxes and finding the place where seasonal decorations will fit.  Now that Ben and Kristen's collection of autumn stuff joins with ours, we have even more than usual. This wreath is hung on our front courtyard gate and I smile every time I see it.  I hope it speaks welcome to our new neighborhood and makes our neighbors smile too. Even though we continue to have summertime temperatures here in South Texas, there is a difference in the light filtering through the still green trees. The morning mist seems heavier on the low spots as I look out over the lake behind our house. Houses are further apart, but most yards are beginning to sport some fall color, a pumpkin or two, and wreaths of their own. We are ready for fall - for autumn colors, smells of cinnamon and allspice, autumnal tables offering squashes like butternut and acorn, hot soups, and spicy chili. It is the season of fall gardens, county fairs, football games, pumpkin spice lattes, gingerbread, and apple cider.  Welcome to this season.

Hummingbird Visitors

The last 2 weeks our hummingbird feeders have been in demand. We have 4 feeders in several places in our yard, plus several container plants that have blooms they like,  so dozens of tiny, chattering hummingbirds whirl in at various times during the day to sip, sit, dive and dart, returning again and again for another taste of sweetness. They are quite territorial, claiming their dining rights vigorously. Most of the time we hear them before we see them, almost feeling as if we are in a bee hive.  What a delight!  I hope our guests feel welcome (and full) and mark our place as a place to stop during every fall and spring southerly migration. As we plan and plant in our new garden space, we will be sure to include blooms that attract hummingbirds!