Yippee, It's Solstice Time Again!

The winter solstice is like my own seasonal version of hump-day.  I'm so darn glad that it's finally the shortest day/longest night of the year. As in, let's just get it over with and move on. Now I can look forward to just a tidbit more light each morning as I head out to pick up my walking partner(s) and hit the hills. Even if the morning are butt-chilling, quad-freezing cold (note to Santa: if they make heated long johns they're at the top of my list. Just don't tell Stacy and Clinton), we'll have some gorgeous sunrises to admire!

The cottage is decked with color inside and out to combat the bleakness of long dark nights and a slumbering garden bereft of flowers.  My scrappy Christmas quilt is my favorite of all the wall-hangings I've made.  I can never decide which of the thirty-six squares is my favorite...but this animals star has to be tops for sheer silly cuteness.

 

No silver trees or monochrome decorations around here. Just an explosion of red-and-green, colored lights, polka dots and holiday cheer! 

No one will ever accuse me of being subtle or a trend-follower during the holidays.  It's kinda like "Mrs. Santa meets Buddy The Elf" as I commit whole-heartedly to kitsch, tradition, and COLOR.  It's a disease I get every December and I hope I never find the cure!

I could gaze at the reflections in my "soapbubble" ornament for hours on end.  Sigh.

Can you ever have too many Santas, snowmen, angels, snowflakes and reindeer?  Honesty compels me to answer, "Yes" as I'm donating the ones that didn't make the cut to our SPCA Thrift Store. The ones that remain may be overkill to you, but they're the perfect number for me. And that's what makes decorating and blogging fun...I can admire the burlap stockings and simple mantles at your house and turn around to enjoy my own version of the North Pole!

One thing you definitely can't ever have enough of: nativity lambs. Or nativity sets.

I'm going to feel like a kid as school lets out and I'm free to use the precious daylight hours to sew another doggy stocking, bake our favorite cookies, stir up some Five Minute Fudge, build a roaring fire, take Kharma for some extra-long hikes (because waiting is just so darn hard),

and generally revel in the holiday spirit.  Here's hoping you enjoy your Twelve Days of Christmas as much as we will!

Merrily,

Thanks for stopping by--especially all the late-comers like me from Funky Junk!