santa’s chair?
Tag Archives: christmas
bag humbug monday
Bah Humbug.
There I said it. (And I will undoubtedly say this a lot before this post is over.)
No, not feeling so namaste today.
Why?
Simple, I am wondering what is ailing people this Christmas season?
People are driving like maniacs and fighting over parking spaces. It’s run over people season with a shopping cart inside stores. Truly, the back of my legs/ankles are I swear getting dents. Bah Humbug.
Today waiting to pull out of a parking space, I had to wait fifteen minutes to pull out of a space because this woman in a giant SUV just literally pulled up perpendicular to my parking space and two others and threw it into park and just sat there. For fifteen minutes. Completely oblivious to me or anyone else. I watched her in my rearview mirror…she was on her phone. Bah Humbug.
Today I stopped at Aldi in Exton. The store was like land of the zombies. It was a marvel watching a bunch of people completely divorced from their surroundings navigate the store with those giant carts Aldi has. All on their phones. Not looking at anyone or where they are going. Staring at their phones, then staring straight ahead in some cases with vacant stares…like true zombies of the apocalypse. Bah Humbug, zombie edition.
And don’t get me started on how you have to wait for someone to return a cart because it’s just a few days before Christmas and Aldi has all of their carts locked up! Yes, you have to rent a cart for a quarter. I wonder does Aldi know about the cart hack work around on the Internet? Bah Humbug, Aldi.
And then there is social media. Oy vey there should be a pill for this. But if there was a pill for social media welcome to bizarreville posts Donald Trump wouldn’t be on Twitter 24/7 would he? Think he needs a squatty potty for Christmas or something? I mean there has to be some explanation short of aliens invading his body to explain some of the more remarkable Scroogesque tweets, right?
But seriously, holidays and social media is not for the faint of heart. Take a recent personal experience as an example. I saw this wonderful recipe someone had shared on their cooking page on Facebook. As in an open page where they share tips, techniques, and recipes.
So I shared a post. As in the originating post and page showed clearly. I did not say it was my idea, but that it was a great idea. Others concurred that it was a great post.
Should be the end of it, right? Nope. Along flies a comment that tags me and says that they hoped I did not share their private post without permission. HUH???? Private? It was on a public page so how is that private? In an effort to understand what was going on because I clearly did not understand, I messaged the person to clarify that I only shared from their open page and provided attribution. The response came back “I don’t want you on my page.”
Oh OK Bah Feaking Humbug.
Alrighty then. Block. I don’t need that. I also did not do anything to deserve it. Did I also mention I had been a good customer of their former business? I guess it was o.k. to take my money at the time, right? I know they liked it when I sent customers their way. Sad, but not terminal to me.
Also filed under Bah Humbug, I recently had the woman who felt the need to vomit cray cray comments on Christmas party photos. Now she was not the only one who did that, sadly. There was also the woman I liberated myself from quite a while back who likes to be somewhat questionable with the comments having to do with me to anyone who will listen. Double Bah Humbug with a side of cray cray. I don’t pretend to be perfect or lead a perfect life, but they were Christmas party photos. Not the lampshade-wearing-swinging -from- the- chandelier- swigging -from -a -bottle -of -Captain- Morgan type photo but a lovely gathering of close friends and family.
Then there is the Bah Humbug you file under no good deed goes unpunished. Or also known as what happens when you make the difficult decision to tell a friend how you feel about something and they truly do not wish to hear it. Umm yeah, you kind of sort of asked me my opinion and well I had to think about it, I thought about it and now I am sorry. As in I am sorry I said anything. Sometimes you just need to not say anything. That is a lesson I need to learn personally. But if I didn’t care, I also wouldn’t bother. Sort of a double-edged sword.
It’s like December has a giant holiday full moon all month long. People struggle during the holidays, yes I know but seriously, do they know real loss this time of year? I know people who have experienced soul breaking losses this time of year and you don’t see them behaving like this.
I read this interesting piece on Bustle from 2015:
3 Weird Things That Happen To Your Brain During The Holidays By Marissa Higgins
There’s a lot to think about during the holiday season: Visiting family, making time for friends, and (hopefully) eating lots of home cooking. But if you’ve ever stopped to wonder what happens to your brain during the holiday season, you’re not alone! Researchers are fascinated with this very subject….Some researchers believe that not only do our brains actually change over the holidays, but they know what culprit is: Nostalgia. Essentially, nostalgia is a bitter-sweet love for what is gone, and a longing to return the past. And when you go home for the holidays, this isn’t the typical nostalgia you feel when you listen to ’90s boy bands on your way to work or watch Nick at Nite before passing out. In fact, therapists say you should basically “expect to regress” during the holiday season.
And then this from Psychology Today in 2011:
Why Our Minds Make Us Crazy During the Holidays
“Surviving” the holidays may be more pressing than we realize. By Shawn T. Smith Psy.D
The first job of our minds is to keep us safe. The world is a dangerous place, and we were blessed with an abundance of neurons devoted to keeping us upright and breathing….There is plenty to be anxious or depressed about this time of year, but relationships seem to be the most common concern….There was a time in our history when being ostracized was as good as a death sentence. Perhaps because of that, our brains are wired to pay close attention to our social world and to sound the alarm whenever relationships seem unsteady.
…During the holidays, when society focuses on family and community, we can become acutely aware of ruptured or damaged relationships. Our minds can give us all kinds of pain in response to that heightened awareness.
Second, our minds routinely compare us to others. Staying in the good graces of the clan means imitating normal behavior…..
Christmas and the holidays can be hard. It is a gloriously beautiful time of year, unless it just isn’t. It’s the end of the year, so pressures mount. We’re supposed to relax and enjoy being with each other, but emotional and even financial pressures can exasperate people during the holiday season.
Then there are the people with memeories that only surface at the holidays. Some good, some bad, some unbearable. We can’t climb inside their heads and make it better, sadly. We all have our own holiday baggage of one sort or the other and if we say we don’t at a minimum, we are lying to ourselves.
I love Christmas. I have always loved Christmas. But as someone who married later rather than earlier, I like it even more now. Why? My sense of place. I belong and I am loved. And I know it. My sweet man is the guy you can bake cookies with and who will watch Christmas movie after Christmas movie with me because he knows I like them. Christmas is indeed being with the ones you love. (Which is why I need to exercise my Bah humbugs so they fly free and away from me.)
That is Christmas. The together thing. The family thing. Christmas and the holidays are wonderful if you allow yourself to enjoy them. Some people can’t. I think part of what makes the holidays hard for people are the seemingly perfect lives they see flashing before their screens and mobile devices on social media.
And if these people are more alone than others for whatever reason, I am guessing the holidays can be horrible. I am sorry. Truly. But it’s not all bad. Find the magic in the season. It’s there. Some years you have to look harder, but it’s there.
News flash: the holidays will never be perfect. And I suffer from this at times because I want the holidays to be perfect because I love Christmas. It’s the vicious Bah Humbug cycle. We all want it to be perfect. It’s not. It never will be.
Chill people. We’re in the home stretch. Bake some cookies. Watch a Hallmark Christmas movie. Find your Christmas spirit.
Until then, Bah Humbug.
christmas traditions should endure
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~ Charles Dickens
We live in a crazy world. Angry politicians are running our country, and overseas in one of the most beautiful places in Europe, Strasbourg, a fanatical radical shot up a Christmas Market, and was later shot dead by police. Strasbourg is a place special to my sister and I. We both spent time there many years ago. We are still connected to the families we grew to love.
When you think of Christmas, you try to think of happy things but truthfully many people have a difficult time emotionally during the holiday season. They either can’t find a reason to look for joy or are unable to find a reason. There are so many who sadly feel so alone at Christmas. Or they are just so wrapped in their heads they lash out at people.
This Christmas we also have a missing person that a lot of us are worried about. His name is Geoff Partridge. I wrote about him the other day, and Vinny Vella from The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an amazing article yesterday. I don’t know Geoff, but I know his mother and we share a lot of people in common who are important to both of us.
And if you read what Vinny Vella wrote you will learn about the neighbors and friends of this missing man who have gone out searching repeatedly. I am blessed to have them as friends as well. Those people? They are the Christmas spirit. They are what friendship and love and community are all about. And I know they won’t give up.
Just like the friends and family of Anna Maciejewska Gould of Charlestown, Malvern also won’t give up. I never knew Anna, but I have Polish born friends and I know how much they and their families love Christmas. And how close they all are. I thought about Anna the other day, because she leaves her little son behind. I wonder if she was still alive if she would make Chruściki (also known as Polish Angel Wings) for her young son? I wonder if he has any memory of his beloved mother at this point?
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
~ Calvin Coolidge
Now, back to things like Christmas traditions. Maybe I am a closet Pollyanna, but I think tradition is important. I think it keeps the season alive in our hearts and brings people together. Take Malvern Victorian Christmas. I loved that event, and I wasn’t alone. It was truly magical much like the Dickens Festival in Narberth, PA and the West Chester Christmas Parade (which is sponsored so generously by QVC.)
This year Malvern Victorian Christmas was replaced by Christmas on King. It was December 1st. I couldn’t attend as we were elsewhere that Saturday. I honestly didn’t hear a thing about it one way or the other. I hope it was a huge success for the beloved local merchants, but next year? Maybe next year they can do both events? Maybe make Malvern Victorian Christmas one night and Christmas on King the next day? I get we have to have new traditions sometimes, but we also need to keep old traditions alive.
Like baking Christmas cookies. That is a Christmas tradition families should keep. Sure you can buy your Christmas cookies, but there is nothing like the happy zone I find myself in baking for friends and family. As a matter of fact, this year I put together a PDF of recipes I collected and a few of my own recipes.
So yes…Fa la la la la. No cookie grinches here! Follow this link ( xmas cookies ) to this collection of cookie recipes from ALL over the Internet and a few of my own personal cookie recipes (which I think I have published here on the blog before, truthfully.). For web-based recipes at the bottom of each page is the link to the originating sites (check out those various sites for MORE recipes.). I gathered them to make my life easier!
Yes a lot of them are in landscape – I do that when I print – easier for me. (I stick the recipes on the edge of the cupboard above my stove to follow when I am baking. If I am using one of my cookbooks, I use my cookbook holder, but for web-printed recipes I hang them right in front of me.)
Another Christmas tradition are Christmas cards. I remember we used to get and give so many more when I was growing up. But once the Internet evolved and with the changing world, this is a tradition I think that sometimes flickers versus burning bright.
I am guilty of not doing cards for a couple of years and today I was reminded by my friends Lynn and James who moved to Maine about why they are such a beautiful tradition which also must endure. Lynn included a letter catching all of us up on what their year had been like. We heard all about their wonderful children as well. As I was reading the letter I could almost see Lynn typing away in my mind’s eye. On a gloomy rainy day it was the perfect gift to open. Cards and letter-writing take time, but the result? The result is a beautiful thing that is such a gift to receive.
My last Christmas tradition is decorating your home. Not paying someone to come in and make your home burp Christmas but doing it yourself. Collecting ornaments and displaying family ornaments and even the simplicity of the green and red paper chains we used to make as children, along with cutting out snowflakes. Yes I am a little Christmas crazy when it comes to decorating, but I come by it honestly. My parents loved decorating for Christmas.
At the end of November, I asked all of you to consider my Christmas blogging idea. It was a thought that has seemingly fallen flat or people have forgotten.
I have not lived here in Chester County long enough to know about all the celebrations continue today or are purely from the past. Parades, festivals, things that speak of the season and community.
So if you have memories of Christmas past and photos you would like to share. Please contact this blog via the blog’s Facebook page. Please tell me about the photos you’re sending and how you would like them attributed. I can attribute them simply “reader submitted” or put an entire name and so on. If you are sending things in for celebrations that still continue today and it something that requires public participation and donations, tell me who it is they are supposed to contact and when the event will occur.
We have 10 days until Christmas, so maybe some of you will consider this? I can only do this if you my readers participate. My idea is to create not just one post about these traditions and Christmas history, but to be able to create several posts throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas. If it doesn’t work this year, I will ask again next year.
Here is hoping the missing find their way home for Christmas.
Here is hoping those who have lost their Christmas joy find it.
Here is hoping for some old-fashioned peace on earth, good will to man.
“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.” ~W.T. Ellis
christmas in the heart
The W.T. Ellis quote in my photo above is one of my favorite Christmas quotes. I love Christmas. Everyone who knows me knows I love Christmas.
Decorating the house for the holidays and having friends and family in throughout the season is just one of the nicer things you can do I think. It doesn’t have to be fancy, everyone doesn’t have to be dressed up all the time, it’s the act of being together.
This past Friday evening I hosted a ladies’ open house and a friend brought her trunk show to town from New England. A lot of friends old and new, and a couple of friend surprises including a friend I had not seen in a few years. We live enough distance apart and the past few years have been busy enough that time just went by. It was so amazing to see her and made it really feel like the Christmas season was beginning.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country radio stations are removing beloved Christmas songs from radio playlists. Yes seriously. Star 102 in Cleveland has removed “Baby it’s Cold Outside” because of the #metoo movement.
Yes, for real. This song was written in 1944 by Frank Loesser for his wife for the two of them to sing together. As a duet. It is NOT the Sugar Plum Fairy date rape anthem. The song was also in the 1949 film “Neptune’s Daughter, which made it even more popular.
It’s ridiculous that this song is being targeted. It’s like everything old is new again and we are back to book burnings, except now they are Christmas song burnings. In 2015 there was an article in The National Review about potentially offensive Christmas song lyrics.
Come on people! It’s bad enough sometimes you don’t feel like you can say Merry Christmas that you must say Happy Holidays even if Christmas is the holiday you celebrate. And no, I am not getting into the whole “putting the Christ back in Christmas” argument because to me that’s like making someone accept your religious beliefs at the expense of their own.
What I’m saying is can’t we just enjoy the Christmas season without some sort of controversy every single year?
Christmas is a magical time of year, but I accept it’s hard for a lot of people. But maybe the season would be less hard if we just took a step back and enjoyed it?
Here’s wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas and holiday season.
chester county christmas memories: first stop gunkle mill in east whiteland
Circa 1976. Reader submitted photo.
Overnight I received an email from a friend:
I saw your post about Christmas. Sending you a converted slide (hence the poor quality) circa 1976. National Liberty Corp owned the Gunkle Mill in East Whiteland before it was donated to the township.
Arthur DeMoss opened up the small building adjacent to the Mill and created a manger scene. There were figures and real animals. In this photo, you can see a critter (goat, ram??) in the foreground, but there were bigger animals too. I remember a donkey who would come to the fence hoping you had food.
I think it lasted 5 or so years in the 1970s. Once we went over at midnight on Christmas Eve and it was snowing–it was magical.
Maybe others remember it too. And maybe they will have a better photo!
I think this is so cool and this is the first person to respond to the post I posted recently about my Christmas blogging idea.
It’s not complicated. In a time where so much of the day today world can be so ugly, I thought maybe we would throw back to holidays past in Chester County.
I have not lived here in Chester County long enough to know about all the celebrations continue today or are purely from the past. Parades, festivals, things that speak of the season and community.
So if you have memories of Christmas past and photos you would like to share. Please contact this blog via the blog’s Facebook page. Please tell me about the photos you’re sending and how you would like them attributed. I can attribute them simply “reader submitted” or put an entire name and so on. If you are sending things in for celebrations that still continue today and it something that requires public participation and donations, tell me who it is they are supposed to contact and when the event will occur.
And for those who love the historic mill, I do have a whole bunch of photos still to go through from Chester County Day which I promise I will post.
oh tannenbaum
christmas blogging idea – need reader participation
I can only do this if you my readers participate. I have this idea of once December rolls around to feature our ghosts of Christmas past in Chester County and the upper Main Line. Not in a creepy way, but in a nice celebratory way. My idea is to create not just one post about this, but to be able to create several posts throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas.
I have not lived here in Chester County long enough to know about all the celebrations continue today or are purely from the past. Parades, festivals, things that speak of the season and community.
So if you have memories of Christmas past and photos you would like to share. Please contact this blog via the blog’s Facebook page. Please tell me about the photos you’re sending and how you would like them attributed. I can attribute them simply “reader submitted” or put an entire name and so on. If you are sending things in for celebrations that still continue today and it something that requires public participation and donations, tell me who it is they are supposed to contact and when the event will occur.
Thanks!
kicking off the holiday season life’s patina style
I love Christmas and was so excited when my friend Amy suggested we attend the Holiday Tea at Life’s Patina on Willowbrook Farm in Malvern. The tea was today and it was an amazing event! (In all fairness, EVERY Life’s Patina event is amazing!)
Mind you, my day did not have an auspicious start as I locked myself out of the house accidentally this morning dealing with pets. Not only did I lock myself out, but I was in my nightgown with wet hair. I had to march myself across the road to my neighbor’s to call my husband to get back into the house. (Have I mentioned I have awesome neighbors? I do! I am sure the sight of me in my nightgown has scarred them for life, but anyway.)
So after the trauma of locking myself out of our house in my nightgown, I managed to be ready in time to go to the tea.
I love the Life’s Patina events! The proprietress, Meg Veno, is an amazing woman. She has the biggest heart, is just so darn nice, and has an eye that gets me into trouble every time I attend a barn sale. Seriously, the woman has an amazing design aesthetic and is super creative and finds the perfect things. Her holiday events are among my favorites because, well, it’s no secret I love Christmas!
This morning when we walked into the holiday preview tea, it was sensory overload. The holidays were beautifully spilling out of every nook and cranny of the barn. This was a lovely and exclusive event complete with a delicious luncheon for all of us who subscribed. I especially liked the Quiche and the little smoked salmon sandwiches and the peach tea.
It was like a little bit of holiday magic in that barn today. People were happy. Holidays are festive times for friends and family, and this was a very nice reminder of times to come.
Another component to today was the charity Meg chose to receive a portion of the sales. She pays it forward in that way with her events.
Today’s charity recipient was the Women’s Resource Center of Wayne, PA. This non-profit has the mission to help women and girls successfully navigate life’s transitions and to inspire others to do the same. By providing resources, tools and support for today, we create hope for tomorrow. The Women’s Resource Center serves Southeastern, PA including Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware counties.
Founded in 1975, the Women’s Resource Center began when five women placed an ad in The Suburban and Wayne Times calling for a meeting on women’s issues. Forty-five women attended the initial meeting, indicating a strong demand for an organization that was dedicated to the special needs of women. The original group established three goals that remain in place to this day:
1) To provide information and referral services to women & families;
2) To offer supportive programming and workshops; and
3) To maintain a physical location from which to serve the greater Philadelphia community.
This is a very worthy non-profit and I was happy to do my part and purchase some really fun things for the holidays. I will admit I bought some Christmas ornaments and the world’s funniest holiday cocktail napkins.
Also today was the unexpected surprise of running into old, familiar faces at the tea and shopping preview. I saw someone I basically had not seen in over five years. We were friends in another lifetime. It was nice to catch-up and meet her new friends.
I was truthfully amused by all of the Main Liners and city dwellers who made it out “to the country” to attend this preview. I hope they all saw and appreciated the fall splendor of Chester County today.
Willowbrook Farm is an absolutely magical property with majestic trees donned at present in fiery reds, oranges, and spectacular yellow. They have a huge Ginko tree which is captivating this time of year. You just do not see many Ginkos anymore and the only other ones of similar height and majesty are on the path leading to the Haverford College Nature Trail that runs behind the one side of Haverford Friends School.
You too can see the magic in store this season at Life’s Patina. There are holiday events coming up! Christmas magic doesn’t even begin to describe what is coming up.
Holiday Barn Sale – New Dates (postponed because of flooded fields)
November 16 – November 18 FREE ADMISSION! 10 AM – 4 PM
German Christmas Market at Life’s Patina
December 8 – December 9 FREE ADMISSION but asking for donations to MainLineFreunde and T&E Care 3 PM – 6 PM (Follow German Christmas Market on The Main Line HERE on Facebook.)
Willowbrook Farm and Life’s Patina are located at 1750 N. Valley Rd
Malvern, 19355 BUT this is a private residence, NOT a store so you can’t just show up. The fabulous dairy barn full of magic is only opened to the public for special events. Feel free to follow them on Facebook .
Here is a sampling of the Christmas magic I found today at Life’s Patina which also included discovering Stony Hill Farm out of Pottstown:
ooooh vintage christmas ornaments
deconstructing christmas
“Oh goody! Let’s put away all of the Christmas decorations immediately!” SAID NO ONE EVER.
Sad but true. I love Christmas. I love decorating for Christmas. But taking it all down is a real chore. And usually it falls on one person and in my house that’s me.
So….since I pretty much got the flu a couple of days after Christmas, and have been sick since, getting Christmas squared away and back into all of the containers is not happening quickly.
I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to spend weeks pointing fingers as to who was putting what away when. As a result, one year the Christmas tree was still up at Valentine’s Day. And it was a fresh cut tree so by Valentine’s Day it was dry and brittle and a fire hazard waiting for Miss Havisham’s living room (that’s a literary reference to a Charles Dickens’ character in Great Expectations for those unfamiliar.)
I try to be systematic about putting things away and usually all my ornaments and decorations stay up through Epiphany.
Epiphany falls 12 days after Christmas, or January 6th this year. Also known as 12th night it is the end of the Christmas season. Now I could stretch it out to Eastern Orthodox or Russian Christmas but when New Year’s Day rolls around I am generally ready to deconstruct Christmas as all eyes from the Nutcrackers, elves, and Santas seem to stare off their various bookshelves and tables.
As far as storage goes, I have graduated to plastic tubs of various sizes at this point. My parents used to keep all the decorations in giant cardboard boxes, and I did that for years until I realized how much easier it was to be able to see things. Also, because a lot of my ornaments are vintage, I prefer sturdier containers for storage.
Every year I start with good intentions of making everything super organized so I will never forget where anything is. And every Christmas that follows I still can’t remember where everything is!
I have collected a lot of ornaments over the years, so this is the time of year where I also periodically evaluate things that I am not using to free up storage space. This year, the things that are going to go away are the vintage metal ornament trees. They are wonderful for displaying ornaments, but I have ultimately decided I prefer little tabletop feather trees if I am going to display ornaments on smaller trees.
I have found over the years that the easiest way to deconstruct and clean up from Christmas is to do it a little bit at a time. So day by day something else gets put away until it’s all put away.
Before I go I am going to share one last photo. It’s a little VW bug and a Christmas tree Christmas ornament. It is my new favorite ornament and it came from the Christmas open house for Life’s Patina at Willowbrook Farm. Meg buys the best ornaments!
Thanks for stopping by.
