December's Song

 The month has dwindled down to the last hours of the year. Weather wise we are heading into a wet  end of the year. New Years plans are to cozy up and watch the ball drop at midnight, and hell yes we plan on yelling Jumanji! Oh what a year it has been. Resilience & perseverance have been the key words in my mind to describe this years journeys. Here is the rhyme & reason to our December's Song.

A LETTER OF HOPE

{M} was required to write a letter to Santa as one of his assignments. Needless to say when he read it out loud in class quite a few fellow students were offended at his ending statement. My children learned about the truth a few years back when we had fallen on really hard times. They were more mad that we had fibbed every time when asked about Santa, Easter Bunny, and etc. But this right here is a letter of hope from a 10 year old boys heart.

CHRISTMAS CRAFTING

This mini over the kitchen table chandelier was inspired by a grand chandelier in Whimsy's Muse shop at the Texas Renaissance Festival where I work seasonally. Mine was made with grapevines from the yard and Dollar Tree accoutrements. Thinking about doing this for other holidays and seasons.

Holly Fairy wings. I originally made these to wear as part of my Christmas garb the last day of work but it was too cold and I needed to cloak up which would make wing wear impossible. These are Tink wings from the Dollar Store which I bent into holly leaves, painted with Christmas Green acrylic, and attached sparkly red ball ornaments as berries. Displayed on one of my dream catchers.

Bath soaks for Solstice and gift giving. Himalayan sea salt, lavender from the garden and crushed rose petals from roses given as gifts throughout the year on romance occasions. I did a limpia bath soak in this on Winter Solstice.

Love & Luck Bath Soaks

BAKING & MAKING

This year I made gingerbread and royal icing from scratch using a Pioneer Woman recipe. The kids prefer we do it the old school way next year, which is graham crackers and frosting from a jar. Some made houses, some made spouses, a plane was made for good measure.

WINTER SOLSTICING

Welcome Winter Solstice & Merry Yule. May we open our doors to a new season of change, sweep out the old and welcome the new beginnings that hibernate in the cold dark days of Winter.

Our Halloween  pumpkin from the porch has finally been made into celebratory food offerings. Pumpkin pies, breads, and soup was made.

So much puree, we had to bag up for the freezer for future meals.

Pumpkin Puree Face Masks are a must.

Our decaying fruit in the house was dried out.

Pinecones were slathered in peanut butter and strung up in the trees for the birds.

I spied some squirrels enjoying them as well.

Solstice Fire. Flickers become flames and the light shall illuminate. Hope quote for 2021.

This is the best picture we could get of the Saturn / Jupiter conjunction to create The Christmas Star.

{M} however captured an amazing picture of the moon.

CHRISTMAS EVE LIGHT WALK

On Christmas Eve we drove to College Station Texas and walked through Stephen C. Beachy Central Park. There is an option to drive through but we braved the 45 degree weather by foot. Many different light displays to behold. When we got home, the kids were sent to bed or at least their bedrooms, and the Renaissance Man and I put on "It's A Wonderful Life", while we did our "Santa" duties.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Christmas morning was spent opening gifts. The greatest gift this year is having a full nest at the moment.  Our family is healthy and thriving, that is all my heart can ask for. I do have a Universal wish for Peace & Prosperity for this upcoming year. As I write this last post of 2020 I'm grateful we still gather as a blogging collective to continue to share our lives, I'm sending love & light to you all.

🥳CHEERS TO THE NEW YEAR 🎉