a holiday tradition, please leave your calling card 2018!

   

Happy New Year's Eve! 

Here are a few shots around the farmhouse from this past month!
The $15k Christmas wreath;) finally made a return on the barn- after its three year absence 😲 (despite my bitching disapproval, Dan put it up himself, but this time with the help of Big Blue, the tractor, securing the ladder's base.)
You can read the story HERE

It's been a lovely December, but no snow😥😥  We get amazing night skies living on the hill- both to the west and the east; sometimes you can't decide which way to look!  Candles on stakes lit in the garden bed in front of the dining room.

Christmas lights on the front porch.
Nothing says "Christmas" like a Patriots flag;)!

View from the back meadow.   A wreath is on the folly gate at the cutting garden.  The entire upstairs in this photo is the master suite!  On the left is the bedroom, in the center is the bath and on the right is the closet.

Below is the barn room fireplace with a very simple mantel of fresh garland and an antique iron bakers rack tray (I kept one of the trays from the rack that I sold years ago.) 
Someone on Instagram asked to see our Christmas tree;  I replied that I hadn't put one up in probably 15 years (actually more like 17.)  Another person asked if there was a reason for that which got me thinking about what made me stop.  It was the year that we realized that the stress and anxiety, and the "illusion" of the perfect Christmas made us sad and not enjoy the season.  Dan feeling like he had to go to the "mall" (we have never been mall shoppers) and find a Christmas gift only added to that stress and angst.  We decided to do what we could to change the way we felt about the holidays.  ("If you change the way you look at things the things you look at change."  Dr. Wayne Dyer) That was the first year we decided to stop exchanging gifts on Christmas, since we certainly didn't need anything and I didn't want Dan to have the added stress of finding an unnecessary gift.  The Christmas tree seemed lonely and sad without any presents under it, so I simply stopped putting one up.  (I will say though, that the last couple of year's trees were gorgeous- no ornaments, only white lights and the 197 crystals that I removed from the chandelier in the dining room, the same one that hangs in the farmhouse.)  Making the decision to cut out anything that dimmed the spirit of the season for us has made us enjoy Christmas again!  We simply focus on what is important to us and take away all the societal stresses and expectations, and that has worked for us!

Fresh wreaths on the antique iron gates in the barn room.




Our Christmas card on Instagram this year!  Ella is in our neighbor's truck, but Louise (on left) and Magnolia were having NO part of getting in the back of the truck.  After this photo we went into the barn to visit with the horses, hinny and chickens!

The girlies in the living room.

     As you might recall from Christmas' past, this antique Victorian brass tray is a favorite of mine that I like to bring out this time of year.  It was originally silver-plated, but now only hints of silver remain on the solid brass tray.

  It is marked...  .

MA
from
Mary and Nannie
Christmas
1881

Over the years I have spent hours wondering who was MA?, who were Mary and Nannie?, what was their Christmas like the year this beautiful tray was given as a gift?, where did they live?, and on and on...

Just as I wonder about these three people whose names are engraved on an antique tray that has a presence in my home, I also wonder about you, who also have a presence here. 
Some of you I know, as you leave me dear comments or send emails....but others of you remain a mystery. On my site meter I get repeat visits from places that are near and dear to us, and places that are far away and magical. Dan and I often talk about and wonder who all of you are!

One year I mentioned that I would notice a regular visitor from a tiny town in Oregon and that we would love to know who that person was, as Dan's father (who died when he was two) is buried in a cemetery in this small town.

 Several days after Christmas that year I received an email from the woman.  I cried as I read it to Dan.  She wrote that she lived within walking distance of the cemetery where Dan's father is buried, that her son learned to ride his bike there, and that she and her husband often take walks in the cemetery.  To know that someone across the country just happened to find my blog, and now visits our home, and to know that that person lives so close to Dan's father's resting place, and that this all happened because we share a love of houses is a sweet and dear connection that makes the world seem that much smaller. 

You just never know the connections that we all have to one another... . 

It was the custom in the period of this Victorian tray, that guests would leave their printed "calling cards" in trays at the homes they visited. 

It has become a Christmas tradition on the blog to put out the tray and invite you to leave your

 "calling card" and tell us who you are, where you live, and/or anything else about yourself that you wish to share.  I would also love to hear what kind of things you would like to see on the blog!

 We would love to hear from each and every one of you- those who visit regularly, and those of you who usually come and go quietly!!

Please leave your calling card in the tray!