"Unpacking the ornaments is like opening a box of memories.  Many of the decorations bring to mind a special time or place or person.  The tree will soon be laden with ornaments collected over the years, each with its own story to tell.  When we have finished decorating, the shining evergreen creates a magic that we are never too old to enjoy."

~ COUNTRY CHRISTMAS, Country Living Staff, 1990 The Hearst Corporation

"We know we are very much alive when, head bowed against a blast of cold air, we hurry on our errands.  It is a good feeling.  On a clear, cold night, the sky is lit by the winter moon and a scattering of stars.  Country life is captured forever in our memories in a photographic mix of shadows and shimmering light.  In December, we are never too young or too old to store up memories of the pleasures around us."

~ COUNTRY CHRISTMAS, Country Living Staff, The Hearst Corporation, 1990.

Elf on Watch ~  Longing for the North Pole

Tasha Tudor Says ~

"Tasha Tudor says, 'Christmas is one of our most exciting celebrations and we spend months planning a marionette show and making presents for this special time of year.  In the long, back room of the house known as the winter kitchen, there is a large fireplace and brick oven, such as may be found in most old New England houses.  Here stands the settle and behind it is the Christmas chest.  Into this chest, the year 'round, go presents and surprises of all shapes and sizes.  Certain drawers and closets, too, are forbidden territory.'
"Christmas is the most joyous season of the year for Tasha Tudor and her family, and their celebration of this holiday embraces both the reverently religious and the festive secular aspects, in the New England tradition...
"On the rolling land is a large stand of timber, providing not only the family Christmas trees, but lumber for the barns and wood for the wide, old-fashioned fireplaces."

~ The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book TAKE JOY!  Illustrations Tasha Tudor, The World Publishing Company, 1966.
Photo:  Cayuga Village Green, Dec., 2012.  lbw files.

Tasha Tudor, American writer, illustrator (1915 - 2008)




Thank you Santa for coming to Cayuga & Thank you Elf Lisa!

 
THE SHARING OF CHRISTMAS ~

"Long before joyful carols fill the air and gaily trimmed trees peek from behind curtained windows, we begin to plan special Christmas surprises for our loved ones.
Gift ideas are carefully considered as we contemplate each name on our list.  And much to our delight, we often discover that it is our handcrafted offerings that bring the greatest joy."

~ THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS, Leisure Arts, 1992.

"... and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.  May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  [Does anyone remember "him?"]
[*Click on photo for larger image.]

Royal Christmas Message ~  The first speech was written by author Rudyard Kipling.

"At 3 p.m. on every Christmas Day since 1932, the reigning British monach has spoken to the people of the Empire and Commonwealth.  The first to make a royal Christmas broadcast was George V, who had been requested to do so by BBC General Manager John Reith since 1923.  Written by Rudyard Kipling, the speech was delivered from Sandringham Castle:

In part it read:  "Through one of the marvels of modern science I am enabled this Christmas Day to speak to all my peoples throughout the Empire.  I take it as a good omen the wireless should have reached its present perfection at a time when the Empire has been linked in closer union, for it offers us immense possibilities to make that union closer still."

Source:  THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTMAS, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.

Elves ~

"Small supernatural creatures who are now associated with Christmas through the notion that they work as Santa's helpers.
They were not always so benign.  They originated in [Scandinavia] -farm- or house-elves, who could be helpful if bribed but malicious if they were slighted, especially at Christmas when, as in Denmark, a bowl of milk must be left out for them.  In the second half of the 19th century, the reputation of elves began to change for the better as part of a drive to make Christmas more child-centred.  An 1859 poem in Harper's Weekly speaks of Santa Claus keeping "a great many elves at work,/ All working with all their might, / To make a million of pretty things..."

~ THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA of CHRISTMAS, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.