It’s cookie time again! I mixed up my Annie Hall Butter Cookie dough yesterday to make these candy canes, hearts and trees; it’s in the fridge, chilling, to be rolled out when my nieces get here this weekend. ♥
What I love about this season is the colors, the twinkling lights, coming in from the cold, to the warm kitchen filled with cookie smells, pine tree smells, our walks out to the water in the morning, crackling fires, candlelight, secrets, jingle bells, all the old movies on TV. . . they get my heart going pitter-patter.
Yesterday we went to watch our girlfriend Martha (the multi-talented singing Martha in the video I did after our Thanksgiving dinner) and our other girlfriend, Annalee, give a Gingerbread House demonstration at the kitchen shop downtown on Main Street.
Martha makes Gingerbread Houses every year; she’s a Gingerbread House artiste, has made castles out of gingerbread — she gallantly volunteered her time to our local kitchen shop to give us a basic lesson on how it’s done. ♥
S W E E T !
She’s made Gingerbread Houses with Annalee, the daughter of our friend Annette, for the last three years! Annalee is now an expert too.
Martha wrote this little How-to Book.
It’s full of expert insider tips for the important details of Gingerbread-House making.
Because, the details on these houses, the kinds of cookies and candies used, the chimney, the trees, gingerbread girls and boys, candy cane decorations, scalloped roofs, shutters, and fences are what makes these houses so fun. Lowely, our other girlfriend/neighbor who was there, had an idea to have pink cotton candy coming out of the chimney like smoke! Cute! Someone else thought of doing a wedding house, with all white and silver candies and decorations. There was a springtime-house discussion that had white and pale-blue bunnies jumping all over the yard with pink sugar polka-dot icing on the roof. Martha has made houses as gifts for her friends that match their own homes! The sky is the limit with the imagination and these little houses. ♥
It’s so much fun to watch . . . They made it look easy! I really don’t think you could make a mistake that would actually matter!! These two girls were so cute, I wanted to make a Christmas decoration out of them and put them on my tree. ♥
They made M A G I C for all of us! This is what I call community spirit! Thank you Martha and Annalee! When it was over we wandered around the kitchen shop (where we are in these photos) and I noticed the place was like a watercolor palette.
The color was wonderful! So much fun! Had to take pictures, I knew you would love to see it! And then, while I’m at it, speaking of color . . .
This makes my heart skip a beat, I feel happier just looking at it!
Afterwards, we decided to walk through town so I could take pictures to show you. Rainy Day is famous for the painted snow globe they create in their window every year. ♥
Our Main Street is only three blocks long, made up of year-round stores owned by hard-working local people. When it comes to community spirit and cheering the place up, our town may be small but its heart is as big as New York City. ♥
I know lots of you have been to the island and wonder what it looks like during the Holiday season. So here you go: that’s Claudia’s on the right, looking up past Jane’s store, The Beach House; and then across the street to Gerda’s, Timeless Treasures.
Fred Fisher brings his sweet faced horses and wagon into town and takes people for rides; they clip-clop down Main Street to the ferry and up Beach Road, sleigh bells ringing.
Once a year, Tim Clark sets up his Christmas trees and wreaths in the middle of town.
Emily goes all-out decorating the windows in her darling vintage shop called Mix.
Just past Mix, there’s the harbor and the ferry.
Here’s Two Susans Shop, right next to Leslie’s Drug Store.
I read this wonderful thing the other day, written by Seth Grodin and it made so much sense to me, all about the why and wherefores of community and giving, and why the little things matter so much. . . I think you’ll love it as much as I did. It’s short. 🙂 And really smart.♥
I bought this rose yesterday, just one, big enough to handle a whole room with all that gorgeous color! Couldn’t resist taking a picture. Couldn’t resist giving it to you! ♥
This morning after I discovered that the storm we were having had blown the kitchen door wide open, freezing me all the way to my studio, I turned up the heat, and made myself a toasted English muffin. I slathered it with homemade marmalade that Rachel brought with her when she came from England for Thanksgiving (thank you darling Rachel! ♥) and slipper-scruffed my way back into the studio with it and my tea. Life is good. Have a wonderful day girlfriends! xoxo
Of course, the first thing we need is little trees among the Beatrix Potter People. 
While we’re decorating, one of the most magical movies ever made, The Bishop’s Wife, is on TV, and 
Lately, Jack is running around with this red pom pom in his mouth, making him my very favorite decoration! And PS, basically, he is not attacking the tree! Every so often he will smack at a low hanging ornament, but so far, that’s really all!!! Fingers crossed.
Out of the boxes come our stockings, hung with care . . . and every day we open another little door on the Advent Calendar sent to us by our girlfriend Siobhan in England.
This old stocking is from Joe’s childhood; it belonged to the pets in their household. It’s hard to read, but all those crossed out places are pet names; up close you can see them: Inky, Trisket, Puddikins, Nosey, Georgia, and Susie. Probably our most valuable Christmas decoration; definitely the most loved, should be insured by Lloyds of London!
We have Old St. Nicolas, in his everyday hat, looking a lot like Heidi’s Grandfather.
My summer hurricane lamp is appleified and turned into Christmas candlelight.
And speaking of apples . . . my absolute favorite dessert this time of year has a festive wreath of fresh cranberries and crunchy top — the recipe’s in my Autumn Book; I know many of you have made it, but I can’t rest in life until everyone has! 
While it bakes, I rearrange the shelf on my stove, which is now fully decked with this tiny creche to go with the miniature house and little tree.
And hang a Christmas hand towel in the guest bathroom.
And then it’s time to decorate the tree!
. . . Light the fire, and Joe starts bringing down decorations. We decided to use both colored lights and white twinkle lights this year. I threw blankets over the furniture to kind of protect it from the boxes of decorations, which always end up lining the back of the sofa.
It’s covered with all our favorite old ornaments; this little paper angel with her gold curls, the delicate glass icicles and gold bead garlands, the rocking horse I bought across from the old Mission in San Luis Obispo in the 1970’s, the red glass hearts tied with ribbon, the pink glitter moon, and white pine cones that fit over the twinkle lights and send off the most wonderful glow. On top of the tree, like every year, is our golden angel.
All our memories of Christmas gone by come tumbling out of these boxes.
The little peek through the curtains makes me think, “who must be the cozy people who live inside this house?”
Back in to put another log on the fire, which is simply another opportunity to PLAY.
I think we’ll be getting used to this; the weatherman says today is our last day of 55 degrees, he said to “get ready,” because all that cold everyone is feeling in the Midwest, is coming our way! We are ready! We’ve brought in wood, the bird feeders are filled to the brim, we have acorn squash, potatoes, onions and good chicken stock; there are clean sheets and heavy down comforters on all the beds; we have family coming this weekend including four and seven-year-old nieces who should be cozy in the Peter Rabbit room, and their darling parents; there’s cookie dough chilling in the fridge, ready to be rolled out and cut into shapes. I can’t wait until the girls see Jack!
