Merry Christmas 2024 - a traditional tree decorated in pink

 We all have so many traditions at this time of year.  Many are unique for families and cultures but probably the most popular among us is the Christmas tree:

Queen Victoria is most likely credited for bring the decorated Christmas trees into our homes.  In 1846 Illustrated London News  featured a sketch of Queen Victoria and her German born husband Prince Albert and their children. (scroll to the end of post for copy) The Queen was very loved by her subjects and soon Londoners started to bring trees into their own homes.  They were small - usually around 4 feet high and decorated with simple trinkets the people had on hand,  Germany soon started making gorgeous hand blown glass ornaments and became very popular. This new tradition jumped over the pond to the East Coast of America. But the elite American liked their trees to reach from floor to ceiling.  Candles were attached to the trees to make them even more magical until electricity was discovered enabling homes to be safer with strings of lights.  We do love our Christmas trees.  So this was the idea I had this year for my theme.  Since I also love pink (not really a red fan)  I combined the two ideas to make my home a magical pink Christmas theme.

pink glass candle holder

Here are a few glass trees on my table

studio

I hand painted my cards with watercolor and gouache

Three little hands made into ornaments

Then it came time to add some sweets.  Mexican wedding cakes:  powdery and made with pecan flour and brown butter from Zoe bakes Cookies recipe

Cut out sugar cookies trees decorated with pink ornaments

Making an entire grove of Christmas trees

A peek into the living room

And a look back into the dining room through the French doors my grandfather hung many hears ago

And now it'e time to package all the goodies up and send them to my family:

The cookies, peppermint bark and French chocolate bark are inside this tin.

Pink paper with Christmas trees...bright pink ribbons,   Someone thought this looked like Eloise's Christmas tree at the Plaza - oh that was a cute movie  I'll have to watch it again  Eloise at Christmastime

movie on Prime  and a very cute book to read

Christmas is a wonderful time to share and spend with the people that you love.  I wish all of you an abundance of blessings, lots of fun gifts, great health and a life of happiness under your Christmas (maybe pink ) Christmas tree

Love Denise 

sketch of Queen Victoria's Christmas

Puppies in PJs Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2019 Puppies in PJs

Merry Christmas to all!  I wish you joy, happiness and peace in your world and your heart.  Sometimes you just have to make your new puppy the star of the show.  So this year's Christmas theme is Puppies in PJs.  Now I've never dressed a puppy in a pair of pajamas but it is a cute idea.  Charlotte came to the farm in August to learn to be a guardian dog for the rest of the girls.  She didn't come with many skills except a lot of bouncing which scared the goats and chickens instead of bonding with them.  We're all working on it.

The picture above shows the signature Charlotte Christmas ornament.  There's also an ornament of a Dalmation ( that would be Oscar ~ 1984) and a picture frame of Madison ( ~1988).

Charlotte - 4 months

She is too cute, isn't she?  Such a sweet face and she will cuddle with you until you've just had enough.  She is so gentle with the small dogs in the neighborhood but has the will to take on a coyote if it dares come in our yard.

And the other baby in the barnyard is Poppy:

Poppy- 1 hour old

So my farm grew in 2019 and filled me with more love and laughs....well and some work too.

dining room

The table is ready for a fabulous meal

And let us all remember what Christmas really means:

nativity

Cookie day is tomorrow. Sue and I will be busy in the kitchen making tasty treats for our friends.  We'll share stories like this one of my mother creating wooden reindeer and painting them beautifully and with so much love:

reindeer - Mary Whitney

 I'll freshen up my memories of Christmas past and ornaments and gifts from years prior:

A girl and her goat.  Hummel

I'll be both happy and sad when I look at this pic of my 3 generation family and remember that CoCo just passed a few days ago:

CoCo, LuLu, Poppy

Where do goats go after they leave us?

And then cycle back to the newest kid on the farm and be grateful and happy:

Have a Merry Christmas and make sure you hug the ones you love----human and animal!

Merry Christmas from my home to yours

I'm pretty sure by now all of you have your house ready for Christmas.  The tree is up and there are plenty of decorations new and old around the house.  Welcome in to my "new" home:

welcome to my home

Each year I have a theme to my decor and packages.  This year it is HOME.  This is a perfect theme this year for me.  After 8 years in Denver I have had my share and then some if white Christmases.  They are surely beautiful but also cold.  And then the cold lasts and lasts until ----well too long for this California native.  So this year I packed myself and half of my farm and came home.  Home where I feel like I belong.  The weather is great ( 75 degrees outside while I am making this post)  I have family and friends somewhat nearby; the beach is about 30 minutes away and I have this house that I am living in as a huge project,  So I am happy to be home.  Let me share a little bit with you:

Home Christmas tree

I made this appliqué quilt several years ago but it is still sweet:

applique quilt

Grandma's house and packages under the tree

sweet little galvanized house ornament

This year's cocktail: pomegranate and something bubbly:

pomegranate cocktail

recipe:

1 oz pomegranate juice

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

4 oz champagne or sparkling cider

4-5 pomegranate arils

And then there are always the cookies:

Christmas cookies

Merry Christmas to all and may 2019 be all you dream it can be!!

Christmas tree, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.