A goodwill Christmas recap

When I was growing up, I don't remember ever seeing one Christmas tree set up in anybody's house before Thanksgiving.  Not ever.  And not only did the Christmas trees not appear until after Thanksgiving, almost everyone we knew kept their Christmas trees up through New Year's Eve.

Instead of Thanksgiving and Christmas being one blended holiday, it was the week of Christmas and New Year's.  That was the holiday week.

Over the past twenty years, it seems like that has changed completely, and I've wondered why.

Is it because more people now use artificial trees, so they can be put up much earlier?  (I only ever knew one kid whose family had an artificial tree growing up.  Now at least half the people I know use them.)

Was it a regional thing?  I'm from upstate New York, where there was almost always snow at Christmas.  And most people took the week off between Christmas and New Year's - did the snow and vacation time seem to make the Christmas holiday last longer?

Or maybe now people are much busier, so they dismantle their trees during time off during Christmas.  Or maybe they're so tired of them (I know of a few people this year who put their trees up the weekend after Halloween, really!) that by the time Christmas Day arrives they're just over it.

I don't know.

But since our tree is never up and decorated till the first or second week of December, I always like to make it last as long as possible, and keep the tree up through New Year's Day.

For our last holiday-day of 2020, here is a recap of the Christmas goodwill highlights this year:

The Christmas flowers in Goodwill/thrift store vases

My new serving & candy dishes I picked up at Goodwill recently for a few dollars each.

Aren't they pretty?

My sister-in-law on Christmas Eve.

We always have a Christmas Eve appetizer party after church.

(I just happened to notice - almost everything seen in this photograph [minus the grandfather clock that came from my grandmother] came from an antique store, a thrift store or Goodwill.)

Can you tell these vegetables are supposed to be a wreath?

My Southern Living cookbooks from Goodwill came through for me again!

Before Christmas our family entered a "carwash karaoke" contest to try to win my son a Play Station 5.

While we didn't win, I do think we managed to make an epic video.

Here are Santa, a panda and un muchacho before performing "Feliz Navidad" at the carwash.

(I'll spare you the video.)

And finally, Christmas dinner.  

I just love to use the dining room.

I know a lot of houses are not being designed anymore with dining rooms; I will always have to have one.

Just another reason to love old houses...

🥂🎉🌟 Happy New Year's Eve! 🌟🎉🥂

It's a $5 amaryllis-by-mail for the win!

Ok, so I am a person who really loves flowers.  LOVES flowers.  I love giving and receiving them.  But I HATE sending them.

Because being a thrifty person AND a flower sender don't mix well.  At all.

Every time I've ever gone to order flowers online, I've almost had a heart attack at the cost.  I mean, I love flowers, but $100 to send someone a bouquet?  I understand why it's so expensive, I just hate that it is.  I mean, it's not like I'm sending a gift that's going to last forever.  Or even two weeks.

And it's not that the receiver isn't worth it, because if they weren't I wouldn't even be considering sending them flowers in the first place.

And in my own defense, I always tell my husband and son on special occasions that the discount flowers are fine.  Our huge Kroger in town has an incredible selection of markdowns sometimes with flowers that are beautiful and long lasting.

So last year, for Mother's Day, I ignored every cheap instinct within me and ordered my mom a beautiful pink and white amaryllis.  I had just lost my mother-in-law and it was crystal clear that the people we love will not always be there to receive the flowers they deserve.

It may have been almost $100, but hey, it was for my mom. ❤ 

(Who incidentally is one of the two people who supplied me with the genes that are always looking for a more affordable alternative...)

What I did not anticipate was the vast number of texts the amaryllis would inspire.

I received an almost daily photo record of the growth of the amaryllis, from bulb to flower.  And I enjoyed observing the pleasure my mom had in watching it grow and bloom.

When my DAD texted me photos of the amaryllis in the window (with a caption of "the things that block our view") I KNEW the amaryllis had been worth the big bucks.

Here are a few of the texts from my mom:

I think it's clear I did not get the gardening gene from my mom...

Yes, I should!

(But I don't buy $100 flowers for myself...)

So anyway, the amaryllis appeared to be a big hit.  And now it was Christmas, amaryllis season.

And in this year of COVID, my parents were spending Christmas alone together (one of my favorite oxymorons) and I wanted to do something a little extra.

So aside from the gifts, I packed them each a stocking.  My son and I baked a big tin of cookies to send.  And I went online once more, to shop for an amaryllis.

I thought the 40% off Black Friday amaryllis sale would be a good deal.  But no!  It was still going to be about $70, just to send a single amaryllis bulb.

Which got me thinking...

Hmm.  Every December WalMart sells a huge selection of healthy amaryllis bulbs for $5 each.  In fact, I gave quite a few away to friends this year, since I think it's an awesome inexpensive little gift.

$70 to order one online.  $5 at WalMart.

I was about to send the box with the gifts, the stockings and the cookies.  But could I ship an amaryllis bulb?  Was it legal?  Would it survive?

I did a quick google search and determined it was legal.  I know from experience that amaryllis bulbs are pretty hearty.  They are no delicate little flower.  And I decided, if it didn't work, I'd only be out five bucks.  I could always order an expensive one as a backup if it didn't work out.

So I bought the bulb from Walmart (with about two inches of growth), wrapped it up in a couple of plastic grocery bags, with a couple more around it as padding, crossed my fingers and mailed it in the box.

I was dying to know if it made it.

Six days later, my mom texted me that the box had arrived.

And the amaryllis, how was it?  Here is the pic she texted:

Now this is a healthy looking amaryllis!

Apparently amaryllis bulbs don't take offense at being mailed.  And while it may be just a tad smaller than the $100 plant from Mother's Day, I think it will be just fine.

Will I be trying this again in the future, knowing now that it works?  Most definitely!

I better get a text update on the amaryllis soon, though.

I'm beginning to wonder if her phone is broken...

All the lights of Chistmas

Every year at Christmas, I like to change things up a little.  I love our traditional Christmas decorations and recipes - you will never see a "decorator tree" with generic ornaments in our house - but I DO like to mix in a few "new" elements just to keep it fun.

I found a lot of candleholders at Goodwill and antique malls over the past couple of years that I brought out this year.  I thought they were all beautiful, and inexpensive enough that if I ever switch them out for something different, it's no big deal.

Here are some of the "new" lights of Christmas this year:

I love colored glass, so elegant!

This was a few dollars at a thrift store.

I found this Lenox candleholder at an antique mall in November, and loved it because it looks like it could easily go from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

I *LOVE* these leaded stained glass vintage votive holders.  (From the '70's?)

I have seen them somewhat regularly at Goodwill, and whenever I see one without cracked glass I buy it.  (Unfortunately I have seen a few too many of these cracked - Goodwill's method of dumping things on shelves tends to create more than a few casualties.)

Sooner or later someone's going to blow these up on instagram and I won't be able to find them for $2 or $4 anymore...

(The glass tree is from an antique store as well.)

Stained glass is one of my favorite things.  So pretty!!

This stained glass candle topper came from Goodwill too, and I use it every year.

I think the vintage plate came from Goodwill also.

The trees and Lenox candlesticks came from antique stores, as did the green glass candle centerpiece.

It stopped me in my tracks when I saw it - how I love colored glass!

The center glass piece is not attached and did not come with the green glass part on the bottom.  I bought the clear glass piece separately at Goodwill so the candle wouldn't melt down into the glass petals - so the center can be changed to something different.

I think some people who never thrift might be surprised at how elegant and lovely some Goodwill finds can be!

We're still a few days out from New Year's Eve but I'm already sad the Christmas season is fading out.  I'm going to hang on to it this year as long as I can.

The Christmas Hope

 Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

🎄  Merry Christmas! 🎄 

It's a Christmas miracle!

Years ago I saw a beautiful Christmas cactus in bloom at the grocery store in December, so I bought it.  I brought it home, and a few of it's numerous buds bloomed.  The rest proceeded to fall off unopened.

I watered the cactus all year long and the next December, I noticed it forming some buds.  When it seemed close to blooming, I brought it out of it's corner in the room and put it on my coffee table (where I could see it and enjoy it).  It proceeded to drop every single bud over the next few days without blooming.

So I went to Kroger and bought another.

I watered them both all the next year, and saw them forming buds again in December.  So I brought them to my coffee table, where they repeated their pattern of dropping all the buds in a few days time.

So I went to Kroger and bought another.

Fast forward five years or so.  I  now have five Christmas cactuses.  Over the past years I've tried it all - I've fertilized them with cactus fertilizer, moved them to various spots of the room, watered them less and watered them more.  In short, I've toiled to solve the mystery of why my Christmas cactuses tease me in the worst way every holiday - threatening to bloom, until they're moved in the spotlight where they drop all their buds.

They are not near heat vents, as far as I can tell.

Maybe they just hate being moved?

The story has never changed, UNTIL:

2020, the year of plant neglect.  This is the year I have driven between two houses for six months, bringing some plants back and forth between, but leaving the bulk of my houseplants more or less neglected, receiving only occasional waterings.  There were a few casualties.

Honestly, the Christmas cactuses looked like they were barely hanging on when I returned home in November.  It had been two weeks since their last watering.  (I had forgotten to call the neighbor).

My expectations were zero.

But then suddenly I noticed two of the cacti growing buds.  One of them grew three.  The other grew about twenty, the most I'd ever seen.

So I moved them to the spotlight, on a ledge over the kitchen sink.

The pink one with three buds dropped two, but gave me one flower.  Typical.

But the other - the other!  The other STILL sits in the spotlight, over a week later, blooming it's little heart out.  It must have given me 15 flowers so far.

I NEEDED this in 2020!

2 of the 4 underperformers

Ok, so I STILL haven't solved the mystery of WHY one performed (finally!) while the other four did the usual.  But I'll take it.

(If there are any Christmas cactus experts out there with ideas, please tell!)

I'm sure a lot of people would throw them away when the holiday is over.  But I love TRYING to bring them back every year, even though I've ended in failure 95% of the time.  Why?  I don't know.

Having one succeed after all these years of trying has renewed my hope.  I guess I needed it.

This is the first year I haven't bought a new one at Kroger so I could have a guaranteed few flowers at Christmas.

I did it.  I made one succeed.  I have no idea how I did it, but I did.  And that hope will keep me going.

Not everything about 2020 was terrible.  I cling to the positives as the year draws to an end.  How about five blooming Christmas cacti for December 2021?

Perhaps not.  But maybe.

And that hope will keep me going.

When you run out of time? Plan B!

I thought I'd share a couple of pics from Christmas in 2018.

I had bought 3 pumpkins for my family to carve for Halloween and we just never got around to it.  I sure did hate to waste them, so I cut up 2 of them and used them for soup.  But after filling up half the freezer with pumpkin, I still had another left over.

So I decided to carve a turkey in it and use it as a Thanksgiving decoration.  Except that I ran out of time and never did that either.

So that left...Christmas!

(I'm pretty sure this is about as affordable as Christmas decor gets.)

Here I share with you our Christmas pumpkin:

My husband's taken to calling the new season between October and December when you're driving around and see Halloween/"fall"/Christmas lights outside people's houses all in the same day "HallowThanksmas."

I think we're right on trend!

Another time, another place

After Thanksgiving I decided to take a fun day and drive a bit to another part of the city that has some wonderful antique malls.  I still need a few things for the house, so I told myself I was working (sort of), but really it was a pre-Christmas-hecticness day off.  

(That is, it was a day off minus the extra 20 miles I drove to pick up a video game chair for my son that I was buying from someone on craigslist.  Though the chair was part of his payment for helping me paint at the House of Goodwill, so it was definitely worth it!)

Anyway, as I was wandering around the usual antiques and random old stuff I saw a cookbook that I could not NOT pick up.

I love reading cookbooks and perusing recipes for fun.  As I was glancing through this one, I couldn't help but wonder about a lot of things (?)

Obviously, I HAD to see what was inside.

Question #1 - Does this lady actually know that her picture made it on the cover of this cookbook?  Did she approve it?  If so, I would like to meet her.  (I think.)

Inside, along with a lot of "normal" recipes (perhaps a tad heavy on the canned ingredients and processed foods), were a few that made me pause.  For example:

I'm really not sure what to say, really.  I can't help but wonder how old Pardie Tickette lived to be?  But I suppose this is no worse than Hostess cupcakes, or Little Debbies, which we all would eat and not think was odd at all.

Question #2 - Is this for real?  I mean, was the whole cookbook done as a joke, or was it meant to be serious, with a few recipes thrown in for entertainment value?  I know there must be someone somewhere STILL eating fried squirrel, but I'm pretty sure the people who do are probably not the same ones who buy cookbooks.

Question #3 - What the heck is a cooter?  (Actually, I think I figured this one out by the context clues.)

But - Question #4 - Is THIS a real recipe?  Do people who whack apart cooters with hatchets really add thyme and crushed garlic when cooking them?  And what I really want to know now is - Question #5 - what am I setting aside the liver, tripe and eggs for?  The recipe does not say to throw them out.  Is "cooter liver" a delicacy?

(Somehow I imagine if I was a talented French chef I would answer, "of course.")

I just assume that this recipe would not make it to publication in today's politically correct world, and would be about as appealing as the (former) Mississippi state flag.  

Which begs Question #6 - would this cookbook even be published today?  I'm still not sure how serious/funny it was meant to be, but no doubt there is a group somewhere who would want to protest it.

Speaking of which, if anyone finds this post offensive, I would just like to apologize as it's not intended to be condescending in any way - I think it's obvious by this book's cover that it wasn't meant to be taken 100% seriously.

I'm just an ignorant suburban woman who's grateful she's never HAD to soften up an old, tough squirrel in a pressure cooker.

But if my husband ever puts an unapproved photo of me on the cover of anything I may just have to purchase a shotgun after all.

My sophistication does have its limits.

The invitation must have been lost in the mail...

I'm feeling a little bit like Charlie Brown right now, because darn it, I don't have one single white elephant Christmas party on my dance card this season.

And I found the PERFECT "gift" at Goodwill yesterday!

I mean, come on!

*Sigh*

Just ANOTHER reason to hate Covid.

It's that magical time of year - .88 cent poinsettia time!

I am NOT a Black Friday shopper.  Early mornings and big crowds are definitely not my scene, especially after a long busy day of cooking.

But every year, on Black Friday, there is one sale I can't resist - Lowe's sells tiny poinsettias for 88 cents.  My husband always makes a trip to Lowes and buys me 12, so I can put them all around the house.

They last through New Year's, and may be my favorite Christmas decoration after the tree.

Years ago I painted some tiny pots and decoupaged vintage Christmas postcards on them.  The poinsettias fit in them perfectly.

The last two years my husband got to Lowe's too late and all the poinsettias had sold.  So many people have moved to this area, they cleared out early.  It just wasn't the same.

This year, he got there before noon and came home triumphant.

Christmas is officially on it's way now!

A flat of poinsettias for under $12 - this is bargain holiday cheer!

I guess it's time to get the fall decor put away...

Hello Christmas!

And 2020 was like...

How did I spend my down time over Thanksgiving weekend?  (Relaxing - NOT setting up the Christmas tree)?

Like Ross Geller, I too like to kick back with a puzzle once in a while. 

I found this great 998-piece puzzle at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, when you buy something secondhand, you sometimes don't know exactly what you're getting, or whether that great discovery will be "all there."

That's the chance you take, right?  I spent hours working out this puzzle, only to come up 2 pieces short at the end.

Somehow it seemed like the perfect metaphor for my life.

It was almost there.

My life, in form of puzzle

It was a good reminder to focus on the joys in the journey, not on the end result.

Life seems to contain a lot of unfinished puzzles.  While I wish I had all the pieces to pull them together, I don't.  That's just how it is.  I love a holiday that reminds us to be thankful anyway.

May your Christmas season be full of Thanksgiving - for everything.

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

A peaceful Thanksgiving

It's been a strange year that hasn't felt like any other.  But our quiet, Covid-year Thanksgiving was simple and peaceful, and felt just right.  The Goodwill theme was all over, as usual.  Here, a few scenes from the weekend:

I always like to try at least one new recipe for Thanksgiving Day.  This is a pumpkin pistachio "bread" from a Southern Living cookbook.  ($2 from Goodwill, of course.)

I just glanced at the recipe when I chose it, thinking a pumpkin "bread" with a pistachio crumbly topping sounded good.

Then I went to make it and saw that the "bread" is poured into a 9"x13" pan and covered in cream cheese frosting.

Bread?  Maybe not.

But still delicious!

I like to buy a big beautiful poinsettia that will transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas - I just change the homemade pot!

"The First Thanksgiving" on a Johnson Brothers transferware platter, with a glass turkey from the antique store.

At the last minute our neighbors opted not to join us for dinner, due to Covid concerns.

So we delivered them a homemade Thanksgiving dinner with some Christmas carols (from six feet away).

I love this picture because my husband, his sister and my son look like angels singing.

This was the most Thanksgiving moment of Thanksgiving Day.

I love to set the Thanksgiving table, with my antique store turkey candlestick holders and transferware vases.  When your dining room colors are red, green and gold, the holiday decor is easy!

My newest vintage turkey platter.  My larger one is lost! ☹

I haven't yet learned to blend Thanksgiving and Christmas together; they are still separate holidays for me.  I like to savor every moment of Thanksgiving weekend before the door is closed on fall for the year.

Time to put the turkeys away for the year and go pick out the tree!

A work in progress

When I left The House of the Goodwill last week for the holidays, I was in the middle of repainting the hall bathroom.  It was a little hard leaving with the project half finished.  But after six days of painting, it was halfway done, and when I return to finish it, the second half will be the fun part.

I got the tedious part completed, the deglossing and painting of the molding.

When I get back, I get to remove the old wallpaper (fun!), repaint the walls and refinish the vanity cabinet.

It's going to look great when it's completed!

Here are a few pics from before, as well as how it looks at the halfway point:

Before, with the old dark molding.

I just love the avocado step-down bathtub!

The bathroom is divided into 2 sections, this section has beautiful tile work on the walls.

There is also a fantastic avocado colored countertop!

I got to paint more overhead molding here 😒

I am really excited to remove this wallpaper, and I'm going to paint the vanity cabinet a nice shade of orange to complement the counter.

I love the wall tile with it's light green pattern.  

I haven't decided on the wall colors yet.

Step 1 completed: molding is brighter!

I am excited for this unremarkable '70's bathroom to look fresh and cheerful!

The view from the still dark and unpainted hallway into the bathroom.

The change in this house is going to be dramatic!

The unfortunate irony of this house is, it is in such good shape and was so well maintained by the former owners, that if it hadn't felt so dark, and I had liked the former paint colors, I wouldn't have had to do anything.  There were hardly even nail holes in the walls.

Even the wallpaper held up surprisingly well, considering how old it probably is.  

I'm painting over pristine paint jobs most of the time.

But this photo is a good example of how dark this house felt.  It's probably a solid analogy for the year 2020; 2021 at The House of Goodwill will be looking lighter and brighter!