merry christmas world
Tag Archives: christmas
hate has no home here at christmas or anytime, chester county. please.
Hate should have no home here, Chester County. Not at Christmas or at anytime. The photo you see is READER SUBMITTED. It came to me a little before 9:30 AM on Christmas Eve (this morning as I write this.)
It was in response to a message I received overnight after midnight and posted this morning:
Hello. I came across some racist graffiti in Exton. It’s under the underpass at rt 100 and 30 bypass. It’s new as I travel the area frequently and don’t think it’s more than 2 days old. Not sure how to have it removed.
Apparently they tried to call the police yesterday, but calling the non-emergency number after hours, is well, after hours. That is the problem with a centralized 911 system – you can’t just get someone from a local police department easily on the phone. In the old days, you could just simply call a local non-emergency number to report things like hideous graffiti.
I don’t expect a Christmas miracle out of West Whiteland Township on Christmas Eve, but either they or PennDOT need to remove this as soon as possible. Hate should truly have no home here, especially at Christmas. Say a prayer for the person who did the graffiti because they need to lose the hate in their own heart that drove them to tag in such an awful way.
2017 has been a brutal year. My Christmas wish is for peace at Christmas and in 2018. All of this hate from coast to coast in the United States accomplishes nothing…except it foments more and more hate. Somehow it needs to stop.
This graffiti in Exton isn’t art, nor is it a political statement. It’s just hate.
Please stop the hate. Hate has no home here at Christmas or any other time.
christmas 🎄 lights…exton
christmas 🎄
I love my Santas! I have collected them for years, and none will break the bank (most barn picked or from tag sales). To me, they are just part of what makes a house a home at Christmas!
Joining the Santas in this windowsill Christmas tableau is the beautiful amaryllis I received as a gift at Thanksgiving.
It’s the little things that make the season special.
Thanks for stopping by!
christmas bluebirds
I love my own personal Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom that lives in our woods and in the gardens. This year I have some new winter residents, Eastern Bluebirds. I first saw them a month ago, and then I saw them again just now. It’s official, I’m in love.
These are the things that make living here in Chester County, PA so darn special. These are the things we need to conserve and preserve. These are the things that all the wanton development spoils. Tyvec wrapped stick frame construction with nary a tree to be seen can never, ever replace the simple joy of seeing bluebirds in your garden.
Anyway, if you enjoy the birds one of the things you can do is participate in Cornell’s Feeder Watch. It’s fun! (My husband doesn’t know it yet, but I signed us back up!)
holiday decorations
I always decorate my chandeliers for Christmas. I decided to do them for Thanksgiving as well this year.
The design style started with a strand of cranberry colored wood beads that I bought a while back at a barn sale. When I looped them through my chandelier the rest of the design sort of came to me.
So I bought an additional two strands of beads for this chandelier and the craft store also yielded pinecones strung on twine, which saved me time and effort.
I think the effect is simple and pretty but not too rustic. When it comes time to decorate for Christmas I will add birds and some hanging snowflakes to this and it will look just beautiful.
My husband of course seems to think I am just trying to get a “jump on Christmas” as he put it. Now that isn’t exactly true, but I will not deny that this helps me get some of my pre-decorating done for Christmas.
If you are interested in beads like this, as well as a pre-strung pinecones you can also find them on Amazon and eBay and Etsy. They are not terribly expensive and I think it gives such a nice look.
Happy day before Thanksgiving!
christmas is coming!
I had an appointment in Wayne so I stopped at Valley Forge Flowers, more specifically The Barn at Valley Forge Flowers.
I love Christmas and I noticed they were literally decking the halls so I had to go in and check things out. They have some fabulous Christmas ornaments and holiday hostess gifts if you are in the market for them.
Especially take note of the fabulous German ornaments in the section known as The Cottage at Valley Forge Flowers. And like a complete dork, that’s the one photo I neglected to snap!
Please note that my opinions are my own and I have not been compensated in any way or given preferential treatment for writing my little review of a fabulous shopping experience. I am just a happy customer!
christmas night
Christmas is over.
Laughter and echoes of voices linger around corners.
Music still playing,
The stillness of night .
Velvety December sky
Dancing multi colored lights
And to all a good night!
remembering the soldiers at ebenezer at christmas
My friend Cathy messaged me yesterday:
“Hey do the soldiers at Ebenezer have wreaths for Christmas?”
I said no, and look what she did yesterday? Isn’t that awesome?
I also thought I should mention we did have a licensed structural engineer have an initial look at the church ruin. No it was not paid for by the A.M.E. Church, but they do have the report. There are certain steps that need to be taken to stabilize the ruin, but they need to give permission before anything happens. They have had the report for weeks I am told, but have not responded to further contact by anyone which is disappointing.
Sadly, I find the ignoring caring people sadly predictable behavior. It seems to be what they do and not just in the case of Ebenezer.
But the church has never disavowed ownership of Ebenezer (well they can’t an be telling the truth can they?) and as per what I have been told that they actually do bear responsibility here no matter what.
We now have volunteers who care and if we keep up a schedule we can keep the graves cleaned up. We are hoping to get someone to use the equipment like was used at Duffy’s Cut to comprehensively map out the graveyard.
It is Christmas Eve and time for all of us to be with loved ones. Remember the old souls at Ebenezer A.M.E. in your prayers and thoughts.
Stay dry on this very rainy Christmas Eve and thanks for stopping by!
christmas spirit
Christmas is a beautiful and magical time of year.
One of my closest and best friends stopped over this morning. We were talking about Christmas and how it is hard for people. For some it is the Christmas of today can’t measure up to the Christmas of yesterday, or when they were children.
I totally understand that sentiment. But where I think people go off the rails is dwelling on how good certain Christmases were compared to others. It is not a competition.
Don’t do that to yourselves.
Use the memories of really awesome Christmases to INSPIRE you to Christmas present. What do you believe? If you believe in the magic of Christmas you will get there.
We have all lost people and naturally we get nostalgic. Some memories are just bittersweet. For me my moments often come while decorating the Christmas tree, which is probably why I like to do at least some of it myself.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.”
You see my late father loved Christmas. He had a whole science to decorating the tree. He’s been gone 11 years and I can still hear him in my head telling me where to place ornaments. And the moments that get me every year? When I open up the Christmas ornament bins and I see his strong cursive handwriting on a box slowly deteriorating with age.
“Pine cones.”
“Golden Apples.”
Instantly I am one giant puddle for a couple of minutes. I have my moment or two and then I am better.
My other moments come when I first get out the bowls to start my Christmas baking. I remember the year I burnt the cookies.
December 2010.
It was then, a couple of days before Christmas, when my sister tragically became a young widow when my brother-in-law lost his battle with peritoneal mesothelioma. It was a swift, ugly battle discovered too late to save him. I still have that e-mail message from a few days before he died where he told me to save him some cookies.
Those are my moments, and they are bittersweet. But these were two people who both loved Christmas. So I have those sentimental slightly teary moments to myself and then I get back to making my Christmas as good as it can possibly be. And I love decorating for Christmas.
This year has been a bumpy ride. I got a flu shot December 2nd that pretty much laid me out for two weeks. And when we went to put up the tree we discovered that mice had chewed through the wires that make the L.E.D. lights light up where the tree was stored in the basement. It was a super bummer to take the tree out of it’s box to realize we had a tall and useless piece of green plastic. Actually, I was pretty irritated and I stomped my feet a bit.
No, we do not use live trees any longer. They dry out too quickly and I would rather see my live fir trees outside. So our unexpected Christmas expense was another tree. But once I started to get my ornaments on the new tree, my Christmas spirit equilibrium was restored.
Christmas is about giving and receiving. And good will to men. The good will to men part has been difficult in this country in 2016 no doubt. But can’t we put it aside and celebrate the season just a little?
W.T. ELLIS
“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.”
What are your traditions? My neighborhood has a wonderful tradition: we all exchange little family gifts. Different each year. Ornaments, cookies, savory treats, tins of cocoa.
As my one neighbor said recently:
More like when I was growing up, we decorated our tree closer to Christmas tonight…. (It was ALWAYS on Christmas Eve.)…. As I am no longer a child, I am blessed to live near wonderful neighbors and we exchange a little something with each other every year and it is lots of fun! ….This season means so much to so many and for everyone I hope it means a little more kindness and love as you live your lives looking toward December 25th!
My neighbor is my inspiration today. So I hope she doesn’t mind I borrowed her thoughts. But it is so true that the simple things that make us happiest I think when it comes to Christmas.
Every Christmas will have common threads and every Christmas will be different.
Enjoy the spirit of the season. In a few days I get to see a friend I have not seen in years. She had moved away and we lost touch. To me this will be one of my best Christmas presents. I will also have our family with us. That is what it is all about. The people who give your life meaning. Whether they are still here with us physically or not.
Merry Christmas.