It has come to my attention that I have been blogging for close to 4 years, where has the time gone. With that in mind I felt it was time for an update as so many things have changed over the years! Along with my love of Longaberger I have a passion for quilting, crafting, family and day trips with my gal pals! I hope you enjoy your time here and please comment on things you love! Blessings, Anita
A lot of folks are busy getting ready for New Year's Eve Parties, parades and football. However, me, I spend my morning and early afternoon taking down my Christmas decorations and packing them all away for another 11 months. It's such a sad thing. When they make there way out of my shed in November I am so excited and eager to get the house decorated. But now the reverse is the case. So up at 7 am and the process has begun ...
"Stuff" is everywhere ... Christmas quilts to be tucked away, storage container ready for Christmas decor to pack inside
This is actually pretty clean, I have most of the tubs packed up and on the patio ..
Here are 9 of the final 12 containers, a sled and a reindeer ...
And three huge bags full of garland and greenery.
Now to finish the out side. Oh yeah ... My favorite almost son in law will be here tomorrow to help pack up the tree and store the containers. Oh how I love that boy!!
Since the early 1990's I have been a fan of American author Susan Branch. She was born and raised right here in Southern California. But, by her mid 30's she relocated herself to New England, specifically Vineyard Haven on the quaint island of Martha's Vineyard.
Harbor View Hotel - Edgarton, Martha's Vineyard ... let's go ladies!!
Susan's first book "Heart of the Home" was my inspiration to the way I keep my home and live today. We share a love of home, hearth, family, cooking and creativity. Since that first book their have been ten additional books. Covering everything from babies, holidays, summertime, girlfriends and now her most recent book "A Fine Romance."
This book is written in the style of a daily journal. It covers the span of her two month trip to the English Countryside with her husband, Joe. The entire book is written and illustrated by Susan's own hand. Visiting the English country side has always been a dream of mine, it resides on the top of my "bucket List" of dreams to fulfill.
Just a few of her experiences included a visit to
Hill Top,
the home of author Beatrice Potter, Heaver Castle - the childhood home of Ann Boleyn;
Mother of Queen Elizabeth I,
Heaver Castle and surrounding grounds ...
and my favorite dream visit the home of Jane Austen; author of Pride and Prejudice et,al.
Her home, church where her father was the Vicar and Ms. Austen herself!
My dear friend Paula sent me this wonderful book for Christmas and I am thoroughly enjoying my journey along with Susan, Joe and a few of her British girl friends!
A sampling of Susan's writing and art work ... isn't it so lovely!
Along with this wonderful book I was also given the November/December 2013 issue of Yankee - New England's Magazine. Featured in this holiday issue is who else??
Well, Ms. Susan Branch that's who! If you have the opportunity pop into your local Barnes and Noble Book store and pick up a copy and read a bit about Susan for yourself.
Oh my goodness ... my daughter is selling products for a company named "It Works" so today we did a facial on me. Oh, this was very interesting. I have had numerous facials in my many years but nothing like this one.
I made sure my face was nice and clean and then I settled into my comfy recliner as instructed in the directions ...
Here I am! Clean face, no make-up (thank GOD for make-up) and a nice cold glass of Moscato ...
Next my daughter gets out my facial "wrap" ... yep, we place a wrap on my face for 45 minutes, I am to lay quiet and relax (and sip my cold wine!)
OH my, I am absolutely gorgeous! You have to admit I have no vanity ... not one ounce ... This mask wraps around my entire face ... now to lay there for 45 minutes ...
Actually, as I look at this picture I realized I look better with this on then off. At least this way you can't see the wrinkles and sun damage!!
TaDa!!! All done! I took my own picture and I look silly, but look at my amazing skin! You are all so jealous!
You all know the song "A Partridge in a Pear Tree?" Do you know how it came about? In brief the song was sung as a secret, symbolic way to share the story of the Christ child. Some say he is the Partridge in the Pear Tree, The Two Turtle Doves are Mary and Joseph, the three French Hens are the three kings and so on. Is this true?? Is this factual?? I don't know but I love the symbolism of it all.
In the Christian culture the 12 Days of Christmas begins on Christmas Day with the birth of Christ and ends 12 days later on the feast of the Epiphany. This is also the root name of my daughter "Tiffany." In history this is the time we were to celebrate gift giving and decorating for the festivities of his birth.
As we celebrate the second day of Christmas lets not be so eager to remove our decorations, hold on to our trees a few more days and rejoice in the birth of our savior.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is the festive Christian season, beginning on Christmas Day (December 25), that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This period is also known as Christmastide.
This is different from the Octave of Christmas, which is the liturgical
time from Christmas Day until the Solemnity of Mary on January 1. The
Twelfth Day of Christmas falls on January 5, but the Twelfth Night can either precede or follow the Twelfth Day depending on which tradition is followed.[1] The Twelfth Day of Christmas (5 January) is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the feast of Epiphany and Twelfth Night overlap.[2]
The Twelve Days of Christmas are immediately followed by the Feast of
the Epiphany, which celebrates the visit of the Wise Men (Magi) and
their bringing of gifts to the child Jesus.
Many different saint feast days fall within the twelve days of
Christmas, but they are not part of the Twelve Days themselves. The
Twelve Days is a distinct period focused on commemorating the Nativity
of Christ. Different traditions follow slightly different days and
traditions. St. Stephen's Day, for example, is December 26 in the Western Church and December 27 in the Eastern Church. December 28 is Childermas/Feast of the Holy Innocents. In Britain and the former colonies, December 26 is also known as Boxing Day,
a secular holiday. Currently, the twelve days and nights are celebrated
in varying ways around the world. Some give gifts only on Christmas
Day, some only on Twelfth Night, and some each of the twelve nights. In
many Latin American countries, the Feast of the Epiphany is accorded a
great celebration.
On the second day of Christmas my true love (the lord) gave to me ... 2 loving parents to guide and cherish me ...
Many of us have ancestors from across the ocean as well as Canada. In those places December 26th is a very significant day. It's Boxing Day!! In brief, a day when the fortunate box things up to give to the less fortunate. To help you better understand the tradition I am sharing a post with you which those in the "know" tell me is pretty accurate.
As an adult ... many years ago now, it became my tradition to do my own form of boxing day. I will go through my closets and remove the clothing etc. that has not been worn for a while and pass it on down to those in need. In more recent years I have also donated socks, underwear, diapers etc., to places that will use them to assist those who can not provide these necessities for themselves.
Many times, after the joy of Christmas is over we tend to forget those in need, I challenge you now to do your own "boxing Day" with a twist, ... do it any day you like!
Topical Press Agency / Getty
A group of orphans receiving gifts in East London, 1921
If you're looking for something that explains the origins of
Boxing Day, well, you're not going to find it here. The
day-after-Christmas holiday is celebrated by most countries in the
Commonwealth, but in a what-were-we-doing-again? bout of amnesia, none
of them are really sure what they're celebrating, when it started or
why.
The best clue to Boxing Day's origins can be found in the song "Good
King Wenceslas." According to the Christmas carol, Wenceslas, who was
Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was surveying his land on St.
Stephen's Day — Dec. 26 — when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the
middle of a snowstorm. Moved, the King gathered up surplus food and wine
and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant's door. The
alms-giving tradition has always been closely associated with the
Christmas season — hence the canned-food drives and Salvation Army
Santas that pepper our neighborhoods during the winter — but King
Wenceslas' good deed came the day after Christmas, when the English poor
received most of their charity.
King Wenceslas didn't start Boxing Day, but the Church of England
might have. During Advent, Anglican parishes displayed a box into which
churchgoers put their monetary donations. On the day after Christmas,
the boxes were broken open and their contents distributed among the
poor, thus giving rise to the term Boxing Day. Maybe.
But wait: there's another possible story about the holiday's origin.
The day after Christmas was also the traditional day on which the
aristocracy distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees — a
sort of institutionalized Christmas-bonus party. The servants returned
home, opened their boxes and had a second Christmas on what became known
as Boxing Day.
So which version is correct? Well, both. Or neither. No one, it
seems, is really sure. Both the church boxes and the servant presents
definitely existed, although historians disagree on which practice
inspired the holiday. But Boxing Day's origins aren't especially
important to modern-day Brits — Britain isn't known for its religious fervor,
and few people can afford to have servants anymore, anyway. Today's
Boxing Day festivities have very little to do with charity. Instead,
they revolve around food, football (soccer), visits from friends, food
and drinking at the pub.
Boxing Day has been a national holiday in England, Wales, Ireland and
Canada since 1871. For years in which the holiday falls on a weekend,
the celebration is moved to make sure workers still get a day off
(except in Canada, where it remains Dec. 26), but since visits to
Grandma and other family obligations are fulfilled on Christmas, there
isn't anything left to do on Boxing Day except eat leftovers, drink and
watch TV. Just as Americans watch football on Thanksgiving, the Brits
have Boxing Day soccer matches and horse races. If they're particularly
wealthy or live in the country, they might even participate in a fox
hunt.
The annual Boxing Day fox hunts — which have been held all over the
English countryside for hundreds of years — were imperiled in 2005 when
Parliament banned the traditional method of using dogs to kill the prey.
Despite the dogs' limited role (they can still chase the animal, but
they can't harm it) hundreds of thousands of people turn out at Boxing
Day fox hunts around Britain.
The Irish still refer to the holiday as St. Stephen's Day, and they
have their own tradition called hunting the wren, in which boys fasten a
fake wren to a pole and parade it through town. Also known as Wren Day,
the tradition supposedly dates to 1601, to the Battle of Kinsale, in
which the Irish tried to sneak up on the English invaders but were
betrayed by the song of an overly vocal wren — although this legend's
veracity is also highly debated. Years ago, a live wren was hunted and
killed for the parade, but modern sentiments deemed it too gruesome.
The Bahamas celebrate Boxing Day with a street parade and festival
called Junkanoo, in which traditional rhythmic dancers called gombeys fill the streets with their elaborate costumes and headdresses.
And of course, there's the shopping. England and Canada's Boxing Day
evolved into a major shopping event in the 1980s — the equivalent of
post-Thanksgiving Black Friday. But this year, many of the sales started
earlier in an effort to boost the slumping economy.
Boxing Day has evolved from a charitable day to an extended Christmas
afternoon. It's a holiday with presents that have already been opened
and a dinner that has been eaten. It's a holiday best spent lounging
around in brightly colored sweaters, wondering, lazily and
lethargically, what to do next. Come to think of it, it's a wonder
Americans haven't adopted it yet.
Wow, it just comes so quickly ... Christmas that is. It seems like it was just Halloween and then bam, it's Christmas. Tomorrow night we will attend mass and celebrate the birth of Christ, the man that took the fall for all of our sins, allowing us everlasting life.
So this morning while I was reading my facebook page I came across this post and I saw something I hadn't seen before ....
A single Bell reminding us to "Believe"
This is the message we received in the movie Polar Express, to "Believe" in the magic of Christmas, i.e., Santa etc. This simple little bell reminded me to "Believe" in the Christ child that gave me everlasting, unconditional love and life.
May you find the joy you seek in the reason for the season ....
My daughters wedding is just three months away so in spite of the hustle bustle of Christmas we have to keep moving forward with the wedding plans. So today she had an appointment to have her make-up done for the wedding. Somehow when I was married I did my own make up, my own hair and decorated my own car .... oh how things have changed! Now someone does the bridal parties make up, hair and so on and so on.
The two of us headed out the door at 8 am, first stop McDonald's for coffee! Then off to the mall to return an ugly dress (and do I mean ugly!) Next stop Walmart where she returned some other un-necessary items and I got gas. Then over the hill we went into the Chino Valley to visit the make-up artist!
It takes a lot of tools to create beauty ....
At least 9 brushes, 4 tubes of something, 5 blushes/eye shadows sharpeners, lip liners etc, etc!
Denise was her technician and she knows all the tricks of the trade!
She is focused ... a hand full of tubes that do all sorts of wonderful things.
After the foundation was on Tiffany popped into another room to have her eyebrows waxed, ouch!!
TaDA all done! I thought it looked awesome. However, Denise was not so happy. She didn't like how the camera captured to color tones so Tiff will need to go back (oh poor her) for another practice run.
My dear friend Tanya met us there at 11:30 for a facial ... she needed a potty break so I snapped this very flattering picture! She is going to KILL me when she see's this. Hehe
Last night a few of my Longaberger customers and I loaded into our cars and headed out for a Candy Cane road trip! Yep. in the town of Ontario on a small quiet street is nestled Logan's Candy Store. They have been there since 1933 and are still making candy canes the old fashioned way ... by hand.
We began the evening with dinner and then headed north to Logan's.
I treated each of the ladies with a treat bag ... the tinsel bows are headbands ...
Here most of us are all decked out for a Christmas outing. Our next stop is Logan's!
We had a rainy night to deal with but that didn't dampen our spirits.
We're here!! Whoo Hoo
L to R - Ronna, Kim, Jewel (with a lot of co-operation from the crowded shop we got Jewel in the store with her wheel chair) Corinne in the blue and Susan. Kim arrived ahead of us and made sure Jewel had a spot up front to get a good view.
One of the owners shaping the candy cane into their traditional shape! The candy cane above her head is gigantic and can be located in the Guinness Book of World Records and the longest candy cane. It was made 36 years ago right inside this tiny little store!!
Corinne is in deep concentration while they make the canes. They handed out warm bite sized pieces, oh my they were so yummy.
Ronna peeking over Susan's head ...
Kim, Corinne and Susan, we're ready to load up the fuel filled sleighs and head further north to see the holiday lights in Alta Loma ...
Here is a huge Green Bay Packers Football dude mixed in with all the lights, I took him for my Packer fan Amy!!
Someone's front window display ...
This was divine timing. We were slowly cruising the street when we see a large herd of teenagers coming towards us. As they got closer we realize they are carrying band instruments. They quickly file into this driveway and within seconds the director is shouting out orders and they begin to play!! OMG, it was so awesome. Right there in the rain these kids with full marching band instruments were playing Carols. I love Christmas!
SANTA!!
One of the many villages ....
Up the street a little further we hear another group of musicians playing and singing more Carol's. I am so loving all of this!
I love this ... simple, organized and a huge star!
A pooped out Santa sleeping on the slivered moon! So cute.
So pretty ...
And ... I couldn't leave this beautiful, upscale neighborhood without taking a picture of this ..
OMG! They even have special trash receptacles!! I'm sending a pic to the city of Fullerton, I think we should have these too!
Merry Christmas! If your neighborhood decorates, get out and enjoy the season!
What s way to start off my blogging .... First, I was out at my curb at mid-night digging through my trash. In the dark, stinky trash with a light drizzle falling on my head. I have somehow lost an important item and I was convinced I tossed it out by mistake. After 30 minutes of digging I finally gave up. I am so bummed. I feel asleep about 2 am and I didn't get up until 9:00! For me this is LATE.
I get up and get ready to start my day and the radio in my bathroom is playing a nice rhythmic static. Mind you, it's very old and needs to be replaced, but a week before Christmas!! Come on, give me a break. A bit later I turn on the small TV in my bedroom to check out the awesome news of the day. No SOUND! Really, it's old and dying as well, but on the same day! OMG.
OK, let it go, no big deal. So my hubby, Betsy the blog dog and I head out for coffee. Yum, feeling better already. We make our stop at Jack in the Box for Joe and yikes, NO power! He and Betsy are devastated. We head home ... the garage door will not open .... we have no power .... I get out and try all the doors (5 of them) They are all locked, the house it secure. We sit in the car and brain storm. I decide to get out the extension ladder and climb up on the roof to access the sliding door that we can see is cracked open ... not a good plan. I get up there, the roof is wet and slippery and I'm wearing slippers! A perfect set up for me to slide off the roof. Back to the warm car to make a new plan. Hummmm, I think my office window is cracked open .... let's check, sure enough it is.
After making a nice mess I make my way in through the Plantation Shutters, TV, rolling filing cabinet and my office chair I'm in the house!! Success.
My access into the locked up home!
Now, I'm inside, I go let my hubby and puppy dog in. As I walk back inside guess what? Yep, the power came on! This has not been a good day and it's not even noon!
I am soooo excited!! I have fixed the issues with my blog and I am on line once again!
I can not begin to catch you up on all the things I have been up to BUT tomorrow is going to be a blast and I will be sure to share photo's and details!
I have posted a sample picture to test my computer skills so I will share it with you. This is my newest holiday crow! He is a BayRay's Child creation and I just love him! I tucked in a small branch of red berries in celebration of Christmas.
Mr Crow resting in a basket of quilts ....
Another shot ... he flew up on top of the Cranberry scoop to get a better view of the Christmas tree!
My name is Anita Taylor and Betsy is my 6 year old Boston Terrier and constant companion. It doesn't matter if I am hosting a Longaberger Basket event in the home, quilting in my sewing room, cooking ( her favorite) or re-doing our home decor for the 100th time Betsy is always near by. She loves to talk snd has a lot to say! If you don't believe me ask anyone who know's her. As you visit our blog you will view things from two perspectives, mine as well as hers.
