Saving Linus, Saving Memories

Tenderly repaired forever in our hearts ~ with a smile

Leaving Christmas behind is always a melancholy time for us, which is not as sad as it sounds. It's comforting to know that all of us in our little family hold exceptionally fond memories of every Christmas we've shared. It's not anything earth shattering, the way we celebrate. In fact, we're pretty low key. We don't do anything extravagant. No Nutcracker. No trips to ski lodges or the Hawaiian beaches. Our gifts are mostly handmade or thrift store finds and not many of those. We enjoy the little things that, for the most part, defy definition or explanation. Special recipes, cooking together, playing games, listening to Christmas music nonstop for 3 weeks.

Decorating the house with our small holiday treasures is something we look forward to the most. I think it's because we tend to find ourselves in a different house each year, but these special finds we make along the way show up like clockwork each year once that beautiful Christmas tree enters our home.

So, here's the little story of Linus. We have a set of Peanuts Gang ornaments. They don't go on the tree. They stand on a base of 'snow' surrounding Woodstock perched on the Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the center. I think they are from 1994-ish. Years ago poor Linus lost his head. Too precariously affixed to his body I believe. We have fixed him so many times, with no luck. So, this year, before packing him away, I resorted to the unattractive but most sensible fix - the glue gun. He needed some heft. But I didn't want the glue detracting from his look, and hence, our memory keepsake. So, I decided to give him a cozy scarf and it turns out we all love him better this way anyway. Besides, it cracks us up. And laughter is the best medicine. We all know that.

Looking forward to smiling at him upon his return 11 months from now. Sweet dreams, Linus.

Until next time.

ox
joon

FriDaY FuNDaY ~ Pai Natal Silliness

A week of reflection. I am finding it very hard to grasp that the first month of the year is gone. As you see, we still have some seasonal storing tasks before us. Scout & I thought my readers would find this teeny nesting doll set as delightful as we do. I wish I could have gotten a close up of the painting on that smallest little dot there on the end but the light wasn't in my little corner of the sky today. Some very thoughtful new friends gave these to Scout a few years ago, not knowing that she does have a small <--- no pun intended, nesting doll collection. These will give us a laugh every year, without fail.

I don't plan on having a video clip every Friday. It's purely coincidence that one of our favorite recent laugh fests happens to be John Malkovich reading Twas the Night Before Christmas on SNL. Hope you'll enjoy it. This one is about 5 minutes long. Be sure no little ones are watching with you. I believe in keeping the spirit of Santa Claus alive and circling the globe.

Seriously, how adorable are these cuties? Hope wherever you are and whatever you're doing we've added a little to your Friday Funday.
ox joon

ps. That's Scout's first ever pysanky egg. She made it at the Maker Faire.