Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Epiphany and the New Year


I want to thank each and every one of you who expressed kindness and prayers on the passing of my step-son.  On Sunday morning at 4:00am we quite unexpectedly lost our little Elle.  Most of you will recognize her as my avatar.  We will miss her more than words can express...

But today we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord.  Epiphany is the climax of the Advent/Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th, which is the Twelfth Day.  The Magi have arrived and the Son of God is revealed.  Let us all give thanks.

Tomorrow I will take down our tree.  We always leave our tree up until Epiphany. I don't have any "daytime" pictures of my tree but as you can see, I'm not shy with the lights.  Last year I dispensed with oodles of ornaments in an effort to de-clutter and simplify my life. So what do I do this year????? Why, become dazzled by those shiny aqua colored "shatter-proof" (known to most of us as plastic) ornaments.  Only $15.00 for a huge tub full.  Sigh..............




Since my husband teaches guitar, banjo, and mandolin there are lots of cute "music" ornaments.




My favorite are the three little poodles. I've had them for about 30 years.  Someone visited once and tried to tell me they were lambs.  Sorry - in my world they are poodles.

This funny frog is in honor of my girlfriend Jody who passed away almost 10 years ago. Her nickname was frog because of her "froggy" voice. I miss her...

My nativity figures are about 60 or 70 years old.  They were hand-painted in Italy and originally came from a dime store.  Will wonders never cease!!



The beautiful wise men were made by my Mom shortly before she passed away.  They are made from fabric and paper mache.

I'm making lots of plans for 2010 and can't wait to share them with you.

8 comments:

belinda said...

I'm still praying..
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Your tree is outstanding...
In fact all of your home photos are and I could get real comfy there. hahaha
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I am looking forward to hearing about your plans. I've been thinking about some plans myself....

Blending Family said...

Your tree is grand! If only we could keep such trees throughout the year lol

Adrienne said...

Belinda - you are welcome anytime. Do you do windows?? heh

Adrienne said...

Blending - maybe we could just change out the decorations. It could be a Valentine tree, then a 4th of July tree, and so on. Would save tons of time!

Susan said...

Dear Adrienne....Please accept my condolences on Elle's passing. Our animals are such a part of our hearts. Your photos are great. I love the poodle/lambs (wonder what how they would sound if they could talk...ha!) Thanks for sharing such a lovely post. Sincerely, Susan from writingstraightfromtheheart.blogspot.com

MightyMom said...

looks fabulous!!

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

My sincere sympathies to you and your family on your recent losses. May you find peace in our Lord's love! Thank you for honoring His birth season all the way until Epiphany by keeping your tree up until the 6th. We, too, feel the same and wish others did too. I'm sure you know the true meaning of the 12 days of Christmas which END on Epiphany and not on Christmas day. Your tree is 'che bella'! Love, Roz

Lola said...

God Bless you Adrienne.

Even amid your sadness you welcomed the Christchild beautifully to your home.

I love aqua.
You're tree is so beautiful.
The nativity is beautiful. Your mother did a wonderful job on the Magi. (Was she crafty? And is that where you got it?)


And the poodles are precious! I love poodles. All sizes and any color. Never had one though. Every mutt I ever had more than made up for not being very chic with sweetness.

I too have 'decluttered' my Christmas stash twice just this past year. And still I purchased MORE. 75% off maybe but still I should have resisited.

I have my eyes on some oldfashioned Satin Christmas ornaments. I grew up with royal blue satin ornaments amid all those homemade and keepsake ornaments. I just can make up my mind as to what color to order.

Thank you for sharing