Friday, December 4, 2021
Okay fine. Just don't knock anything over.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Christmastide 2021/2022 - Kalle Anke
Friday, December 24, 2021
The service we attended this afternoon was quiet short. It only lasted about 50 minutes and we were home not too long after 5:00. It was still somewhat light when we pulled into our driveway. Time for Kalle Anke! This year we watched Mickey's Christmas Carol.
Christmastide 2021/2022 - Christmas Eve Service
Friday, December 24, 2021
Can't believe it was two years ago we went to a Christmas Eve service. Covid got in the way. It's the first time I've been to any church service since then.
We went to the 4 pm service at St. Luke's and St. James over on Colfax Avenue. Dale said this particular church has only been back in-person since this past October.
It was a sweet service with a Christmas pageant which made me remember all the Christmas Eve pageants at Gethsemane. I really miss the place. Dale and I both mentioned afterward that it was nice to be back in church.
Holiday Season 2021 - Winter Solstice
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Got the tree up and the lights on just in time for the solstice.
Sylvester seems quite curious about it. Although he recently turned two years old this is actually Sylvester's 3rd Christmas. According to Dale, John didn't have a tree last year. John got Sylvester from a shelter in September of 2020 so who knows what his 1st Christmas was like. It's possible this is the first Christmas tree Sylvester has encountered. We'll just have to see how this plays out.
Holiday Season 2021 - St. Lucia's Day
Monday, December 13, 2021
The following is from a post from the Minnesota Historical Society which appeared on my Facebook feed and is also found on their mnopedia.org site:
"Happy St. Lucia’s Day! In Swedish and Swedish American culture, St. Lucia’s Day traditionally marks the beginning of the Christmas season. According to a Swedish legend, during a great famine, a woman "clothed in white and crowned with light" arrived on a mysterious ship on the coast of Värmland, Sweden. The woman distributed food and clothing to the needy, and was identified as St. Lucia, a 3rd-century Christian martyr."
"The main celebrations of the day occur at home, with the eldest daughter donning a white dress, red sash, and a crown of candles, serving a breakfast of coffee and saffron buns known as Lussekatter (“Lucia Buns”)."
"St. Lucia’s Day traditions were brought to Minnesota by many of the 300,000 Swedes who moved to Minnesota between 1845 and 1930. "
I'm including this information here because of our family's Swedish heritage.
Holiday Season 2021 - Sylvester Explores His New Environment
Monday, December 13, 2021
This morning I checked between the wall and the armoire for Sylvester but he wasn’t there. When I got home from work he was no where to be found. I was starting to worry I wouldn’t see him today. Dale found him in the basement after dinner and brought him upstairs. He was very outgoing tonight and seems to be getting comfortable. What a sweet guy.
Holiday Season 2021 - Welcome Sylvester
Sunday, December 12, 2021
Sylvester is a two year old cat we are adopting from John C. who is no longer able to care for him. This photo shows him crated just before the car ride to our house. He is a gentle and sweet cat and is adjusting well to his new surroundings (that is, if hiding between the wall and an armoire is considered adjusting well). According to Dale it can take about a week for a cat to get used to new surroundings.
I consider him an early Christmas present.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Holiday Season 2021 - Mom's Tree
Saturday, December 11, 2021
We've been storing Mom's Christmas tree at our place since last Christmas since she downsized to a smaller apartment. We brought it over today only to find we were missing a part of it. Without the top it looked more like a Christmas shrub than a tree. She was a little distraught since I wasn't sure where the other part might be since it wasn't anywhere near the other parts being stored in our basement. On top of that there's a shortage of other artificial trees this years so getting a replacement might turn out to be a tall order.
Anyway, upon returning home and doing a deeper search I ended up finding it. We zipped it over to her and she was quite excited.
Holiday Season 2021 - Snowmen Update
Saturday, December 12, 2021
About a week ago I set out the snowmen.
Today I moved them out to the porch to make room for MORE Christmas stuff in the dining room. Haven't decided quite yet what I'll put in their place.
Holiday Season 2021 - Happy Covid Variant Season
Friday, December 10, 2021
At least 5 classrooms at school are in at least partial quarantine. Our admin sent us home with Covid self tests. The latest booster shot is supposed to be pretty effective against the Omicron variant. Thankfully, Mom, Dale, and I got ours.
Holiday Season 2021 - Christmas Decorating
Saturday, November 27, 2021
With Mom visiting Pete and family in Virginia. Emma and I played some darts this morning (she won AND got her first ever bullseye.
Stephanie told me the kids really want the house decorated every year but have never really helped and she ends up doing it herself. This year Emma was really excited to help. Stephanie and I helped her find the Xmas stuff in the basement. She wanted to set up the manger scene first.
It was very sweet seeing Mom help her with the wooden part of the manger scene.
Emma arranged the figures all on her own.
Emma also set up and fluffed the tree by herself. Mom and I helped her put on a few of the decorations but she did quite a bit of on her own. Stephanie put set the TV to holiday songs on Amazon Music. I sang along to a few of the tunes while Emma finished up the tree. She was amazed that I knew ALL the words.
I finally admitted that all the songs were sing-a-long and had the words posted on the screen.
Stephanie got the stockings hung and also put up the Advent calendar. Part of the reason she's less than thrilled to decorate every year is that she ends up doing it all by herself. Well, this year Emma was old enough to really lend a hand. It was wonderful to she how excited she was and how she really enjoyed helping.
Monday, October 13, 2025
Christmastide 2020/2021 - Remembering: Stamps
Friday, January 29, 2021
"A Christmas card without a Christmas stamp is like a birthday cake without a candle." - Nigel Slater
Guilty! The Christmas cards I send are more often than not without Christmas stamps. However, this wasn't the case this year. I ordered two sets of Christmas themed stamps in late November online direct from the United States Postal Service.
The more secular set featured images from mid-20th century era Coca-Cola Santa Claus ads and were released in 2018.
According to the USPS website, "The Postal Service issues four new stamps and a souvenir sheet showcasing classic images of Santa Claus painted by famed commercial artist Haddon Sundblom. Each stamp portrays a close-up of Santa's face. The four images featured in the booklet are details from larger paintings created by Sundblom and originally published in ads for The Coca-Cola Company from the 1940s through the early 1960s. Sundblom is the man credited with refining the modern image of Santa Claus."
From the website Linn's Stamp News: "The tradition Christmas stamp for 2020 features a detail of the 18th century painting Our Lady of Guapulo by an unknown Peruvian artist. The painting is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the museum is identified in small type along the stamps bottom."
From the USPS website: "Enrobed in a pyramidal gown speckled with jewels and holding a scepter woven with roses and leaves, a crowned Virgin Mary looks down at a similarly adorned Christ Child in her left arm." This stamp was released in 2020.
The first Christmas stamp issued in the United States came in 1962 after many years of requests from postal customers for just such a thing. The stamp proved to be quite popular. According to the U.S. Postal Service 1 billion of these stamps were printed and distributed by the end of 1962.
Mom always had Christmas stamps for our family's Christmas cards. I remember her sitting at the dining room table with quite a station set up to get the cards ready. They had to be addressed and the circular letter she wrote had to be inserted in the envelope along with the card. People used to send out so many more Christmas cards than they do now. Pictured above is one stamp I remember from childhood.
Christmastide 2020: The 2nd Day of Christmas - A Walk Through the Cemetery
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Stopped by to say Merry Christmas to Dad on my cemetery walk. 
Dad, I think of you often but especially so over these past few days. My fondest memories sustain me in your absence but it's just not the same as having you here. I miss you so very much. Rest well and Merry Christmas.
Christmastide 2020: Christmas Day - The First Day of Christmas: Dinner with Mom
Friday, December 25, 2020
It's been ages since we've had Mom over for dinner. I think it's been since summer and we probably ate outside.
We all chatted for a couple of hours, then ate dinner and chatted some more.
We had planned on watching a movie but then Mom started getting tired. She had brought a gift over for us.
It turned out to be a beautiful edition of the four Gospels of the Bible. Lots of beautiful artwork throughout.
Dale made Julia Child's beef bourginoine for dinner. I was sous chef.
Mom wasn't up for dessert. Dale and I indulged after she left. Pumpkin. Pie.
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