It's Beginning


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house.  Call me crazy but this time of year is my kind of season.  I love to be cold down to my bones, I love the cozy feeling of an early morning and evening both in the dark and of course the anticipation of the holidays.

I am very lucky that both kids will be here for the holidays and they will overlap each other's visits during the Christmas week.  As long as I can remember, I have strived to get most of the shopping done before December so I can enjoy December.  I don't like crowds or pressure.  This year I might be done within a week or so.


My mom was a fantastic gift giver.  She would ask us for our Christmas lists in September.  At the time I thought she was crazy but now that I know how long it takes to knit gifts, she was a sane person.  Not only did she knit clothes for my kids and my nephew, she would sew clothes for all three kids as well.  I miss her.


So far Holly is respecting the ornaments that are placed out and about the house.  I am still skeptical but hopeful that she is a grown up cat at two years old.  The true test will be the Christmas tree which will be up this weekend.  She still loves to play fetch with her toy mice and brings them sometimes close to me to throw again.  Sometimes not...


I broke down and bought a new kindle.  My older kindle was four years old and the charge was not holding.  When the new kindle arrived and I set it up I thought, 'my goodness what a great upgrade'!  It has a back light and it's so much lighter.  I'm reading Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny.  I love being in that town with those characters enjoying the new mystery descending upon Three Pines.



I'm toying with starting Grant by Ron Chernow.  It's over 1000 pages and that is what is keeping me at bay.  However, I have one month off of babysitting (yay!) and a big book would be kind of fun.  I surpassed my Goodreads reading goal which leads me to believe I can dive into a nonfiction history book.

When do you decorate your house if you celebrate the holidays?  Do you like winter?

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 29, 2019 at 3:28 PM

    Your christmas decorations looks wonderful! I'm having a bit of a hard time with it, since we're travelling in a week and won't be back until after Christmas, but I'd still like to do something in our home here. I bought a tiny tree weeks ago, but I still have to decorate it. Oh well, there's allways next year

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChyNovember 29, 2019 at 3:32 PM

    All decorated except for the garland on the staircase and our balcony. I hope to do that tomorrow. We decorate early in November so we can enjoy longer and it's not a rush.

    Yours look great! And nice and cozy. Enjoy!

    Chy

    ReplyDelete
  3. wisps of wordsNovember 29, 2019 at 4:08 PM

    I love the cozy, hibernating ambiance of winter. Am not a fan of ice. But I think, many would agree with me, on that! -smile- And I guess I don't really love too much cold. But I wilt, in too much heat/humidity. -chuckle-

    With cold, one can put more layers of clothing on. With heat, one is _stuck_, unless you have A/C.

    Love that you are beginning!!!!!!!!

    Just composed my Sat. post. Which will go up tomorrow, of course. You will smile, when you see it.

    Early prep, for everything, is always Wise.

    "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...."

    🎄 😊 🎄 😊 🎄

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deb J. in UtahNovember 29, 2019 at 5:28 PM

    I love your fun decorations. I like non-fiction, but would definitely find a 1,000 page history book a little daunting. Grant is a very interesting character though. It is cold and snowy here today. I'm ok with it, although driving can be tricky. Arizona was just hot and boring. The seasons keep things interesting and I am enjoying be back up here in Utah. Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. HonoréNovember 29, 2019 at 5:37 PM

    Fall is my fave season ...and the others in their natural turn. Don't like summer heat + humidity at all! Plan to pull out Christmas decorations this weekend - at least some. I too have Christmas ornaments and hand woven pieces my mom made - they are my life's treasures. Will initiate the season with my fave Christmas Scotty Dog mug starting Sunday morning!

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  6. AsKatKnitsNovember 29, 2019 at 6:06 PM

    I do love winter and will pull out Christmas on Monday when Steve heads back to work. He can be a bit grinchy with a pre-December start (and trust me when I say the 1st is pushing it, lol)

    I have some last minute things to get - but nothing major, just enough to experience a tiny bit of the seasons hustle and bustle - which is more than enough for me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. JaneNovember 29, 2019 at 7:57 PM

    Autumn is my favorite season but I do love winter. As a homebody, I love the excuse to stay home with hot tea or soup and knitting/reading/writing. I usually wait until December 1 to pull out Christmas decor but I needed a little cheer today so I pulled out a few Christmas quilts - wall hangings. I have my knitted gifts finished. Next I'll finish choosing the book gifts for everyone - one of my most enjoyable traditions. Your home looks so warm and inviting. Hopefully Holly is on her best behavior.

    ReplyDelete
  8. kathy bNovember 29, 2019 at 8:56 PM

    We seem to decorate much earlier here in Wisconsin than we did in Chicago. I don't think we EVEr put up the tree on thanksgiving, but this year we did!!! The early heavy snow fall got into our heads I think. Im not putting any ornaments on the trees this year. I'll put them out and about, but not on the trees

    ReplyDelete
  9. DiannaNovember 29, 2019 at 9:06 PM

    I LOVE winter...once it gets here but the fluctating temps when it is trying to decide if it is autumn weather or winter weather...not so much. I've had little sprinkles of Christmas decorations out for three weeks now because of company who was here that we won't be with at Christmas. I'm not so sure if I'm going to do any more decorating though...hubby has surgery coming up mid December so I'll be busy. I enjoyed seeing all of your lovely Christmas decor here and there though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AriaNovember 30, 2019 at 2:39 AM

    I love Christmas and winter time. The cold outside and the cozy feeling inside makes me so happy. I hope you are enjoying your Christmas decorations. My family has still not decorated for Christmas. We are Expats and live in the Netherlands so my family and our American friends here are going to cellebrate Thanksgiving today. So we have to wait for Christmas decore until after that. Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. sustainablemumNovember 30, 2019 at 5:02 AM

    I love Winter and I am ready for it to arrive now, we are in the worst part of Autumn the grey dull part when it seems to rain all the time. We don't put our decorations up until around the Solstice 20/21 December but our seasonal table will become a little more festive this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jeannie Gray KnitsNovember 30, 2019 at 10:35 AM

    I like winter too. I find the cold exhilarating... although I also admit that I tend to hibernate inside the house because 'it's too cold out there!' But I like hibernating so it's okay. I can't wait to decorate for Christmas, we just have to go dig our stuff out of storage. This house we are living in is old and absolutely perfect for decorating.

    ReplyDelete
  13. BridgetNovember 30, 2019 at 12:55 PM

    We're doing bits here and there, but the major stuff (like the tree) will probably be next weekend. I LOVE winter - the cold, the dark, the cozy!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Needles and WoolDecember 1, 2019 at 9:08 AM

    I love your decorations Karen they are so fun and festive. I have decorated my apartment now for Christmas, we have the tree up and all the other decorations. I like to start early to enjoy them longer. That is so nice your kid's visits are overlapping for Christmas it is so nice to all be together this time of the year. Nice you have more reading time with your babysitting month off! Hope you enjoy that book and congrats on surpassing your Goodreads goal I have some more reading to do to get to mine. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  15. MaryDecember 3, 2019 at 3:43 PM

    I'm sure your kids are excited to be overlapping visits ... your house is going to be FULL! I've been saving Overstory to read after Christmas - to me this is the time of year that calls for a doorstop of a book. Go for it! ... and I try to have all the decorations up by the time Advent starts. Unless Thanksgiving is really early (like last year), I typically decorate the weekend after. I like a lot of things about winter - sweaters, comfort food, fires in the fireplace, red wine - but I'm not so much a fan of ice. Where I live, even a hint of wet when it's below freezing shuts everything down. and that just isn't fun!

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  16. StefanieDecember 10, 2019 at 8:34 PM

    You have the best holiday decorations. I'd love to come over and just look and touch everything besides take Frodo for a walk and to give Holly a good scritchin behind her ears.

    ReplyDelete

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