‘Tis the Season, for the memories, for the things that matter . . . and for the MUSICA! Happy Monday! Rabbit-Rabbit!
Being my camera-loving Mother’s daughter (except and because of the fact that that we no longer have to buy film), I have 
over a hundred-thousand photographs in my iPhotos … so many they don’t fit on my computer, I have to keep them in a separate hard drive with a ton of memory. They’re filed by category, under headings like “Holly Oak,” “Family,” “Quilts and Sewing,” “Birds,” “England,” “Tablesettings,” “Children’s 
Letters,” “Tea and Dishes,” “Heroes,” “Decorating,” and “Tiny Vases” ~ 135 categories! There are innumerable subheadings too, like “Diet,” “Time,” “Courage,” “Happy,” and “Dreams.” They’re also filed by color. So if I type “GREEN,” into my Photo Search, over 100 photos come up, all green, from green fireworks to my green Girl Scout badges. The color headings include lots of photos you haven’t seen because they haven’t necessarily fit into a story. I can’t wait to show you BROWN! Brown sounds so boring but it’s NOT! But today, in honor of the season, we are going to do RED! It’s my biggest color category, almost 300 photos, and as you might guess, over half of them have to do with this wonderful time of year!
This is one of the pictures Joe took for the back cover of my Christmas Book.
“I love bright red drinks, don’t you? They taste twice as good as any other color.”
―
You can see, the silverware and flowers aren’t even on the table yet, but I didn’t care, I had to light the candles to see what they were going to look like on that tablecloth which is actually a bedspread! Just thinking about that bedspread this morning . . . where is it? Need it!
Right now our kitchen table is a gathering of little piles with addresses and cards . . . this to there, and this to there . . . spreading cheer where we can.
As you can tell, I love this radish. As a lover and collector of whimsy, here was never a more perfect photo to add to my RED pile than this one.
Food is Love
It’s not a very big book, and it’s almost full … not every dinner party gets in, but every so often, I write down the whole thing, what we ate, who was there, what we were thinking . . . For the memories.
See what I mean? RED is everywhere in the Christmas season!
Even the tiny bits of red stand out in these guest-room towels!
And this old guy. Years ago we had a person making dishtowels for us, but he retired and so that was that, but not before I got this one for my collection! Joe modeled for me, that’s how I drew Santa… “His eyes ~ how they twinkled! His dimples ~ How Merry!”
‘Cause, when I can’t make them, I draw them . . .
Making the cupboards shine . . .
with sparkly glasses . . .
Symphony in RED, my Mom, Me, and my Dad. I’m mashing, she’s thickening the gravy, he’s got the salt. The perfect number of cooks in the kitchen, if you ask me.❤️
Joe’s handiwork . . .
Reflections . . . I don’t know what it is about them, but they feel like magic . . .
Roses.
Heaven and nature sings . . .
“…and so many orchards circled the village that on some crisp October afternoons the whole world smelled like pie.”
―
Need I say more?
Sometimes the RED is very subtle . . .
And sometimes you really don’t have to look for it!
I am not allowed to throw out a poinsettia. I have to hide them to throw them away, because Joe will even take them out of the trash if he sees them. So, see the little one on the left? That came limping in from the previous year.
Just good RED.
And embroidered RED for the bread basket.
And my boy with his Christmas feather!
Through the pantry window to the barn after fresh snowfall, I should play the song, Isn’t it Romantic . . .🎶
Cheese Blintzes and Cherry Sauce!
5. You make magic, like Santa Claus . . .
Spiced Pecans and best old stove, heartbeat of the house.❤️ MAS MUSICA!
My other boy at work in his village . . .
A heart-shaped strawberry. Nature does make the most whimsical REDS.
In my next life, I will paint my house cranberry red just like this! I think I should even aim for this very one!
“But Jo, I think I will be homesick for you, even in heaven.” ❤️ Beth, Little Women
This slipped into the RED category because of his cheeks!
The pear is actually a candle. I think this and the book was a Giveaway from a few years back.
A Valentine from Joe. I do wear it sometimes, like on Christmas morning, when I want to be festive, even though it goes up to my knuckle! Do not think it is a real, what? Cranberry diamond? Because it’s not. It’s just sweet as pie.
Making memories…
I mean, did someone say RED? Remember when we went to Vermont for a sleigh ride?
Then there’s this . . . it snowed on our first Thanksgiving in this house, which was exactly thirty years ago this last Thanksgiving! ❤️
Just a picture I never get to use, but I love it. That dishtowel is hanging on my stove right now!
There’s that cranberry cake! Tea party, cozy fire, sugared fruit, vintage tablecloth . . . 
One of the other Photo-Categories I love is “GLASS” ~ 132 photos of sparkling pitchers, lamps, candlesticks, sugar bowls, and etched champagne glasses. These Star Bobeche are perfect additions. AND they are our Giveaway for this very RED Letter Day.
For the Lucky Winner, a pair of Star Bobeche will soon be flying your way, from me to you, just in time for decorating! Vanna was downstairs earlier, she climbed into the barrel filled with all of your names in her flannel Santa Jammies and kitty-cat slippers. She stirred the little slips carefully, and for a very long time, but finally, she did come up with one name (one, is not enough, I wish I could do fishes and loaves and have them for EVERYONE💞)… BUT here is our grand and I do mean grand WINNER:
G I N E T T E W H E E L E R
Congratulations Ginette … I’ll be emailing you, please write me back with your address and your Bobeche will be on the way!❤️ 
I’ve been listening to and watching Little Women while writing this post . . . tears and joy and the spirit of Christmas.
“Jo, your hair will grow back and it will be as lovely as ever, but you will never be more beautiful than you are right now.” ❤️ Marmee
Love you, dear ones . . . Deep Breath, do what it takes to make your hours turn into Red Letter Days.❤️ A little cup of tea here, a little pet-the-pet there, a little baked potato with lots of butter here. 💋 Use your powers for good . . . XOXO
Cookbooks, wooden spoons, and recipe boxes (with mom and grandma’s handwriting on recipe cards) make evocative Thanksgiving table decorations. I love using stuff I have around the house. A table with lots of little framed 
photos works too. Makes for lots of happy conversation. Also, you can make placemats out of old photos (enlarge on copier), that’s fun too ~ you can even use them as place cards, “find your photo and that’s where you sit”. (I’ve forgotten to take pictures of my table settings in the past, I try not to let that happen anymore!)
I love it when they play Little Women on TV on Thanksgiving. It’s such perfect background “music.” Reminds me of simpler days and the things that really matter. The smell of dinner cooking is enough to set the entire mood of the day. And isn’t it wonderful, it’s not about gifts?! Only the little ones that really count. Like home. And P.S. Something special for PLU (people like us) . . . 
hugging trees that cause magic: have a turkey-sandwich, pumpkin-pie picnic outside, or surprise the lady down the street and have your whole family go to her house and plant bulbs. 
