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Musings: to meditate, think, contemplate, deliberate, ponder, reflect, ruminate, reverie, daydream, introspection, dream, preoccupation, brood, cogitate.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Out and About - December 2014


December is always filled with anticipation!  I love Christmas!  Even though I feel like the Grinch or Scrooge sometimes because I'm overly tired, overly busy, or overly anxious about what I hope to have happen I can't imagine a year without Christmas!  

This little bundle of joy has made leaps and bounds in her means of getting around.  She was rolling to a sit-up at the beginning of the month.  By the end she was crawling and able to push herself along on a little push car and wave goodbye!  This is a new feature I've discovered:  GIFs!  It stitches pictures together into an animation. . . .


We went on the annual Holiday House Tour in Frederick.  Because they would not let us take photos I'm showing you instead the oldest and, in 1983, the largest Gingko Tree in America!  It has since been topped and can no longer lay claim to being the largest.  Still, it is too large to get all of it in my photo. . . .
Then on the 19th my youngest son treated me to a candlelight dinner at the historic Reynolds Tavern in Annapolis, followed by a walking tour of the town.  Our costumed guide was fabulous--complete with British accent.  She told us about Christmas 1783 when George Washington came to Annapolis to resign his military commission. . . . 
 . . . .as she led us past the town's tree and other landmarks.  She told us about the Christmas traditions of the period and other fascinating tidbits.  It was a most enjoyable time. . . .
Our last stop was the Hammond-Harwood House.  You can see a gingerbread rendition of it.  The portrait is of a former occupant of the house with her doll.  The doll is still in residence.  The portrait was featured in the American Girls Felicity book #3, A Christmas Story. . . .

My son brought me home and stayed the night so he could join us in getting our tree the next day and to help me make the decorations and hang the lights. . . .
On the 23rd we went to a potluck just a short walk through our woods. . . .
Our cutie-patootie arrived later in the evening.  Here she is the next morning exploring the bottom drawer in the kitchen just like her Daddy did when we moved here when he was 2.  Dressed for Christmas Eve festivities she fell asleep mid-morning in her Daddy's lap. . . .
Because we were going to the 6:00 church service I put out a selection of finger foods at 4:30 to keep everybody satisfied until we could have our traditional Christmas Eve fondue later in the evening.  I had tea sandwiches of cucumber and cream cheese, chicken salad sandwiches, the vegetable dip leftover from my neighbor's potluck, mini-quiches, scones, and smoked salmon and cookies were brought to add to my feast.  We had sparkling juices, egg nog, and hot tea.  I can't believe they all were ready to eat at 8:30 again. . . .
On Christmas Day we often go to the Bavarian Inn.  The restaurant is gaily decorated and the staff is dressed up in German costumes.  This photo is off their web page.  I've only ever been there on Christmas Day so did not realize how green and lush it looks. . . .

Here is a collection of what we had to eat (minus the salad which I forgot to photograph). . . .

We ended our holiday celebration by going to our oldest son's house on Sunday.  Here is Olivia June on her push car waving goodbye. . . .

. . . . and her First Christmas ornament. . . .

Before I say goodbye to 2014 I want to invite you to check out my newest Blog for 2015:  Another Perfect Day 365

If you decide to follow it, you can sign up via e-mail in the place indicated.

.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!

16 comments:

  1. What a lovely Christmas you enjoyed, Cathy! Olivia June is just the cutest and seems to be such a happy little one. I will check out your new blog pretty soon. I have just ventured into the world of blogging and you can find me at thejoyofhomewithmarthaellen.blogspot.com I have so much to learn. My feet are just getting wet--I hope to record the goings on in my world. I received a new camera and have much to learn about photography. Happy New Year to you and your family! ♥

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    1. Olivia June IS the happiest child! I'm so glad you have a Blog now. I've put you in my sidebar so will look forward to reading your blog.

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  2. Another lovely entry ~ you had a wonderful Christmas ~ and I had a wonderful time looking at the link to the Bavarian Inn ~ especially their menus. I do so love reading menus!
    You have such an array of images ~ I enjoy so many of them as particular favourites ~ the lovely tree at Annapolis, the gingerbread mansion!!! Olivia June and her first Christmas ornament, and your tree ~which I think is practically perfect~
    Happy New Year from Across the Pond ~~~

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    1. Thank you, Deborah. A Happy New Year to you from this side of the Pond!

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  3. I enjoyed reading all your Christmas activities. You have a thoughtful son! Your Christmas Eve sounds like ours as far as food and the Christmas Eve service in between. This year I spent the entire service with the littlest walking outside the sanctuary. She is just too active. Little Olivia is darling! Fun age!

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  4. I will tell my son you said he was thoughtful. ☺ Olivia was bouncing about on her mommy's lap, but was quiet for the most part. Any music gets her to bouncing. I can't sing to her when I'm rocking her to sleep because it makes her bounce!

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  5. Olivia June is so precious, I miss a baby in the house.
    I love seeing all your photos, the old house is beautiful with Christmas decorations.
    Your table full of food is so pretty & festive, what a beautiful spread.
    Happy New Cathy to you & your family.
    Fondly Michelle

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    1. Dear Michelle, Your wish for a "Happy New Cathy" is probably a mis-type! ☺ But actually, it's NOT really. Because I intend to become just that! My new Blog, Another Perfect Day 365, is part of how I plan to achieve this "happy new Cathy." I'm also reading a book (which I will read in increments) called "Enough Already - The Power of Radical Contentment." So see, your wish for me is right on the mark. I wish for you all that you need this year. ♡

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  6. Oh, what a wonderful holiday you had! SO many fun things to do--- the home tour looks so fun, and you've visited such lovely places! You're so lucky to live somewhere with such rich history, the colonial era through the early 1800s is what I love best, but there's none of that here in Oklahoma. Everything looks so festive and pretty for Christmas too! And hehe, I HAVE the Felicity doll-- she may have sparked my love of the era! Probably got her when I was around 11 or so!

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    1. Hi Heather, I will keep that in mind when I complain that our history does not go back as far as Britain's! I AM, indeed, grateful to live on the East Coast where I have easy access to so much history. My own ancestor on my father's side was here by the 1740's and I have some documentation of his life through Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette which I cherish. Some day I say I will use the facts of his life to write a Felicity-like story. It would begin in Philadelphia and end where I live because I only discovered about 20 years ago that he moved here in the early 1780's and the woman his son (my direct descendant) married was born in this county. I moved here 46 years ago not realizing I was actually "coming home." History can be very exciting!

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  7. You had a very busy and lovely Christmas, Cathy! And look at Olivia on that push car! I can't believe how much you packed in over a few short days. I also can't believe how beautiful your holiday table looked. I've never managed to achieve anything even close to that! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you, Kristie, but you probably never achieved anything even close because you are a more sane person than I am.

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  8. Happy New Year, Cathy & family! Sure looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. Especially your new little peanut who is just getting cuter every time we see her. LOVE those little leopard-print leggings Olivia's wearing seated on her pushcar. Tres chic! With an elegant name like Olivia she's just got to be naturally stylish. Her Christmas outfit was darling too. That must be one of the nicest things about having a little girl. Your own live baby doll to play with and dress. Not the same with boys, as I'm sure you know. My mom always told stories about her little boys bringing worms, dead fish [our backyard was literally Lake Ontario] and other expired critters in the house to show her. LOL. They'd be so proud and happy and Mom was just trying not to scream and squirm [she hated crawly things]. My family does a similar thing on Christmas Eve. We have all kinds of finger/appetizery foods in the afternoon before church, then after we come home to whichever sibling is hosting that year, we do our Christmas cocktail [a new one each year] and annual massive buffet. Followed by presents. Followed by [tons of] desserts and Irish coffee. The Irish coffee was initiated by my Dad many moons ago after the youngest of us turned 18. He always said coffee at that hour of the evening HAD to be Irish because without the whiskey, it would keep everyone from sleeping [but with it, a restful night was virtually assured]. LOL. This year we were all feeling quite ancient because now all the grandchildren are old enough for Irish coffee too. Boy, you certainly live in an interesting part of the country, Cathy. Neighbors with a log cabin, a dulcimer society nearby, and more history than you can shake a stick at! I love checking out all the places you "take us" and sometimes roam the Internet for hours. Even the restaurants. Once they retired, my parents enjoyed doing a lot of the same things you and Ken do. Driving vacations, roaming the countryside, stopping for gardens and estates and historical spots and antiques and farmers' markets and festivals and nice old [non-franchised] restaurants. Well I've gotten chatty [duh] so I'll just close by saying again, here's wishing you and yours a very safe, happy and healthy New Year in 2015!

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    1. Janet, I love your chatty comments! I always learn something from them.....like Irish Coffee on Christmas Eve. It sounds like a good tradition to start! And I can see where having grandkids in the family be old enough to drink it WOULD be rather disconcerting because of what it means. ☺ I agree about dressing little girls, only Olivia June is not mine to dress! I can only hope she'll be wearing one of the dresses I give her on one of my visits. I may just have to have a fashion show and take photos!

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    2. Yep, we were all totally disconcerted - the perfect word - this year when we realized Ryan was old enough for Irish coffee too. It was Reality - riding up and poking us all in the bee-hind, so to speak - LOL. OMG - a fashion show starring Olivia June would be THE cutest thing on wheels. Maybe you could take her for some snowy, wintry weekend - giving her Mom and Dad some time off - then play dress-up if it's too cold to go out in the snow... OK take care and talk to you soon!

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