"I Don't Wait for Christmas"

[House Beautiful 1983]

"And as soon as that Thanksgiving turkey

becomes a big pot of soup,

I zoom into Christmas with great expectations.

I don't wait for Christmas,

I create it."

Dee Hardie

The picture above is the side door of the house of Dee Hardie, my Christmas mentor. Isn't it just as beautiful today as it was when it appeared in the 1983 issue of House Beautiful magazine? And the boxwood wreaths are one of many she made each December from the bushes on the front lawn of their Thornhill Farm. Dee said that after she pruned the bushes she patted them and thanked "them for their winter kindness." She wrote that she could "whip up a wreath in twenty minutes." I have to remind myself that this is the woman who also wove her own Nantucket Lightship Baskets so it would probably take me quite a bit longer. I wish I could have had private lessons in making both the wreaths and the baskets but one thing my Christmas Mentor taught me was to begin getting ready for Christmas much earlier than I had ever done. 

When I was a child I doubt if my parents even thought about Christmas until a couple of weeks before. My father remembered his oldest brother hitching the horse to the wagon and going to town on Christmas Eve to buy a few sweets for the young kids, and that was Christmas.  

It doesn't happen that way anymore, does it? And I can't say that I'm sorry it doesn't. Like Dee Hardie, I prefer not to wait for Christmas. It's much more fun to "zoom into Christmas with great expectations." Around our house, there is still so much to be done. R.H. wonders if I'll ever get it done in time, but I assure him that I will, with his help. 

I'll even have time to watch all the old Christmas movies and read the old Christmas books. Like this one, Elizabeth Yates' Once in the Year.

Sorry for the blurriness. I was behind the camera on that one. Here is one R.H. took that shows the charming illustrations of Nora S. Unwin. 

"Martha was making Christmas cookies and Peter sat on the stool in the kitchen watching her." Yates' story is a version of those about the age-old question, "Do the animals talk to each other in the barn on Christmas Eve at midnight?" Here is a link to some old 1947 copies of the book that I found.

I hope you don't mind me showing you some of my old favorite Christmas books in these December posts. I am choosing ones that I haven't yet seen on Pinterest. I want to be able to include them on my Christmas Books board, and this is the best way for me to do it. And there might be one or two of you that collect vintage Christmas books who would like to add these to your collection. 

Meanwhile, I'm busy like you all are, trying to get ready for Christmas. We don't have any of the big boxwood bushes that Dee Hardie had at her home in Maryland. What we do have is lots of holly and ivy and sumac with pretty red seeded branches so that's what we use here. 

Please don't forget to join the bloggers listed below on Monday December 9 to Saturday December 14 for the Tis the Season Blog Tour!

Monday December 9, 2013

Jemma of At Home With Jemma

Chris of The Cafe Sucre Farine

Tuesday December 10, 2013
Poppy of Poppy View

Wednesday December 11, 2013
Sherry, Jess, and Nel of Red Rose Alley
Patty of Home and Lifestyle Design

Thursday December 12, 2013
Melanie of Comfy House
Brenda of Cozy Little House

Friday December 13, 2013
Melinda of The Refeathered Roost

Saturday December 14, 1013
Kathryn of The Dedicated House
Dewena of Across the Way

And before Thanksgiving memories slip too far away, I thought you might like to see a picture of my sister Jenn's Thanksgiving table.

My sister Deb took these beautiful pictures. Don't you just love the pink glow?

And isn't my great-niece beautiful?