December – 2025

December 9, 2025December 10, 202520 Comments

It seems like Christmas merchandising starts earlier and earlier every year….these were out in front of the grocery store in mid November. Would you pay $120 for this – it’s way too busy looking – and is that a dog in the middle?

Amazingly, there were four of these overpriced jumbo size urns and they all sold.

I made my own again this year, but I had to buy the pine boughs as we had sold mom’s house in March and I didn’t have access to her pine tree. The first thing the new owners did was cut it down, as at 25 years it had grown too big. Apparently the neighbours were happy too as now the coyotes don’t sleep under the tree on cold winter nights! A few days after, we had a howling wind storm and the urn fell over and I had to redo the whole thing – something that would never happen with those jumbo urns.

It’s been nothing but bad weather here since early November and I’m sick of winter already. And to make things worse, a polar vortex has settled in, and it feels as bitterly cold as January.

My neighbour’s urn is a thing of beauty, especially with the snow on it.

The kids are liking the snow though – the first snowman of the season.

The night of the Santa Claus parade was freezing, so it was a challenge to stand there for 40 minutes. But as the parade is just down the street, I have no excuse….plus it’s a tradition, so you just have to layer up.

My favorite is the hippo float, because the song is so silly – I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. The Grinch is popular too. They’ve been recycling the same floats for years, but you can’t go home, even if your feet are numb, until you’ve seen Santa!

Day after day of the same depressing weather makes you want to stay home and drink tea….

and read books. But it’s either feast or famine with library books – these all came in at once – but there’s no way I can read eight books in three weeks before Christmas.. So far I’ve gotten through Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets (very good), and Wellness by Nathan Hill, the December book club selection (not so good). Both were 800 plus pages in large print. I’m just starting The Widow by John Grisham which has a long waiting list.

Sometimes the best thing you can do when the weather outside is frightful is to curl up and take a catnap. This is Felix – he’s camera shy. He lives on the east coast but I will get to meet him after Christmas. If I ever got a cat I would want a tuxedo cat, as they have such character.

I’ve started my holiday baking – chocolate-peanut butter-oatmeal cookies, which I only make this time of year, because of the two cups of sugar….

I bought some new plaid Ralph Lauren kitchen towels – which are much too pretty to use! I’m going to try a new recipe this year, Pecan Christmas Cake, as my cousin gave me a sample last year and I liked it better than regular Christmas cake. I’ll be blogging about it if it turns out.

Otherwise it’s been hardy foods like beef stew which I made – it was okay – and chicken stew which I bought – which was even better – especially with sourdough bread.

Of course the best meal of all is one where you just have to show up! I’ve already had two turkey dinners, which is good because I love turkey and could eat it every week, and it’s even better if you don’t have to cook it yourself. One was my retiree Christmas party, and the other was in a restaurant which advertises the 30 days of turkey every December.

I received an early and unexpected Christmas present – an L’Occitane four-sided house advent calendar. What a pleasant surprise to find on my front doorstep, and what fun it has been to open a new window every day for 24 days. L’Occitane is a skin care company located in Provence, which sources it’s all natural ingredients locally. Everything smells lovely, and French women are known for taking good care of their skin. According to Wikipedia their manufacturing facility in Provence has 1000 employees and 3000 stores worldwide. The advent calendar has sold out online because…..

….every woman should have a chateau in the south of France! And let’s face it, this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to Provence. (I can’t wait to see what’s in the chimney on Christmas Eve!)

I’ve done some shopping….and if the weather would cooperate I could finish the rest, avoiding the weekends of course. I bought six of these cute light-up-swirling-snow cardinal lanterns for $20 each. Last year it was plaid scarfs – I’m way past the stage of trying to find the perfect present for everyone. If you don’t like it, re-gift it. There’s one for me of course, as cardinals are for remembrance.

Mom’s cardinal music box lantern plays I Wish You a Merry Christmas.

I’m partial to lights and sparkly things and anything pine scented.

The indoor decorating is finished as it’s been too cold and windy to walk, so at least going up and down the stairs retrieving the boxes from the basement gets some steps in.

The outdoor decorating is done too – I braved the cold in small doses with several hot chocolate breaks.

The plaid plates were brought out for a pre-Christmas lunch – if you invite people over for food then you don’t have to go out! Restaurants are too crowded this time of year anyway.

Wishing everyone the Joy of the Season…..Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

After an extensive grooming session, Felix is nestled all snug in his bed, with visions of seafood dancing in his head.

How to Deck the Halls Like Scrooge

December 17, 2017April 12, 20184 Comments

We need more Christmas decorations – said no one ever. Well maybe the pagans during the winter solstice. Ever since the time of the pagan festivals we have felt the need to bring light and festivity into our homes during the coldest darkest month of the year. While the pagans may have been content with a few laurel wreaths with lighted candles and some boughs of holly strung through the drafty halls of their medieval castles, we have evolved into a much more sophisticated consumer of all things bright and shiny. Christmas decorating has become a big business all on it’s own.

It wasn’t always so. This was the Christmas decorating of my childhood.

Does anyone remember stringing cards along the wall or decorating the windows with a can of artificial snow? Christmas trees were simpler too (and real), and their decorations were a hodgepodge of bright colored baubles collected over the years,

and often made of glass. Of course every year one would break and there was sure to be a sibling argument over which child would be blamed? If you look closely you can see that plastic angel on the tree below.

: Christmas tree angel & me

I still have that family heirloom, plus the fuzzy candy canes, a glass partridge from the 1940’s I inherited from a great aunt and the tin-foil covered star my dad made in 1932 when he was seven, which always held the place of honor at the top of the tree.

Glass Partridge 1940

Last year I went on a downsizing frenzy and cleaned out my whole house (watch for January New Years Resolution blog). I got rid of tons of tacky decorations, except for a few favorites for sentimental reasons. I organized what was left in the basement storage area so it was easier to find things, and patted myself on the back for having all that space. Then at an outdoor craft sale in Sept, I saw this adorable little ladder – it was a husband and wife team, he did the wood, she did the decorating, and for only $15. The husband told me they didn’t make any money on it, they just liked to craft together – how could I resist?

I spiced it up with a red plaid bow – 2 boxes of ribbon – Winner’s $10 – because our topic is how to save money while Christmas decorating, or rather how to justify buying new decorations when we already have way too many…

Things were fine until December…but that is always a dangerous time of year – the stores are full of such glittery sparkly things. I did splurge on a Lemax skating rink (Canadian Tire $45) in mid-November as I had always wanted one, but was unable to wait for a sale as previous years they had sold out. I realize you can buy these online, but you can’t actually see the little figures whirling around.

I placed the rink on a silver placemat from the dollar store ($2), and wove some ribbon lights ($11 Michaels with 40% off coupon) around the base, (ribbon lights are also good for along a fireplace mantel), then I sprinkled some artificial snow around. ($2 dollar store).

My other splurge was a glittery crystal Christmas tree (like a lava lamp), ($50) which I had bought as a present for someone, but when I went to wrap it up, it looked so nice I decided I had to have one too. It is important to be charitable to yourself at Christmas too.

I bought a glittery green garland ($4 – dollar store, where else, by now I own stock), for around the base, but see how pretty they look together on my dining room table, and the best thing is they can keep small children (and big ones) entertained for hours. There is something mesmerizing about light and motion.

Thrift shops are good options for wreaths, (someone else’s clearing out project), especially if you will be putting them outside. I found these three wreaths for $2 each, and put one on my front door, with some ribbon. (Can you have too many wreaths?)

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But the blue wreath, (75% off after Christmas Sears), was too pretty to put outside. Continuing with our thrifty theme, these outdoor wreaths for the picket fence were $5 each, with an ornament and some plaid ribbon added for a festive touch.

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I have been known to stock up on bird cages at Michael’s when they go on clearance, (so much so that once a five year old visiting my house for the first time, asked me if I liked birds.) You can do a lot with bird cages, both outside,

and inside – this one was $25 at a Big Sisters craft sale, but I am sure you could make it for less….just add some greenery, a bird and a string of lights.

I saw this idea at the entrance to a restaurant last year – take any festive container (I used a blue bowl to match the balls), line it with a strand of lights, and add some pine cones and Christmas balls.

My biggest scavenging find (literally), came when my friend offered to help me do a Christmas urn with some greens she had foraged in the woods – those years of buying pathetic looking greenery for $7 per bundle are over! I would say her results were much more professional than any of my previous attempts. She used real berries on hers (which had quite a horrible smell), but I used artificial on mine.

If you can arrange a little snow, it looks even better….

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There is a reason those partridges prefer pear trees…..shelter from the storm.

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Not that much snow……maybe this much….

Just enough snow to make it look pretty but still allow Santa to get here.

Santa’s boots

Anyway, I hope this gives you some ideas for cheap and cheerful Christmas decorating.

One final thought, when I was in Canadian Tire early in the season I saw the nicest Nativity scene.

I was tempted, but it was huge, $400 and I didn’t own a church, plus there were no animals or shepherds, but then I remembered I already had the nicest nativity scene ever. My dad built the barn for it in 1952….that is his homemade star on top. Remembering the reason for the season.