Pineapple House | Christmas Tour 2019

Today is the day that I invite you all over for a little Christmas tour! 

I've been doing Christmas house tours since the first year I starting blogging, so this is my eleventh! When you come in today, try not to notice me over in the corner finishing up my wrapping, okay? Or I might be baking when you arrive. Or practicing the songs for the Christmas cantata. I'm sure I'll be scurrying around, so just come on in and have a look. 

Although . . . I could very well pour us both a cup of coffee or tea and it would be a long tour as we chat our way through. Oh yes. I'm sure that's what I'll do! 

You'll probably come in the back door, so we'll start in the kitchen. 

My Christmas decorating theme this year is greens and fruit. 

Oh wait. My Christmas decorating theme is always greens and fruit, you say? Well, yes. You're right.

I have a mix of old and new in the corner shelf. "Old" is the cornhusk nativity that I have had since my oldest children were small. New are the pieces of redware that I have collected this year. The patterns aren't vivid in this photo. I'll take better photos and show you another time.

Do you love the little LED lights? I put some on this little rosemary tree. (I promise you that they don't look so green in person.)

Fill your cup here! 

This is the new part of the kitchen, the south wall. I promised to tell you all about this last stage of our kitchen renovation, and I haven't forgotten! But this little sneak peek will have to do until January when I'll do a full post. 

Let's bring our hot drinks into the dining room. 

More greens? More fruit?

Yes indeed.

I had fun with my new stepback cupboard for Christmas!

Shall I tell you a story about this little arrangement? 

Bekah and I were working on this vignette. We narrowed it down to the blue willow platter, the pewter candy dish with pomegranates, and the small creamer with berries, letting the pewter bowl of pomanders serve as the star of the show. We decided that it needed to be nestled in greens, so we tried every wreath that we had but they were all too big and the bowl was dwarfed. We needed a smaller wreath. 

Bible study was starting in one hour, but we decided to make a dash to Target! We were planning to purchase one of the Hearth & Hand wreaths. We were thinking about the pretty juniper wreath with blue berries. As we rushed into Target, Bekah picked up a little cedar wreath from The Dollar Spot and I grabbed one too. They were three dollars each.

Well, they were sold out of the smaller juniper wreaths, but we chose a pretty cedar wreath that we thought would work well. It was $24.99.

We made it home with a minute or two to try out our wreath before leaving for Bible study, but . . . sadness. Our smaller wreath was still too big. On a whim, Bekah pulled out her $3.00 wreath and tried it. Hmmm . . . not quite right. But when I layered my own $3.00 wreath on top of it, it was just right! 

So here were are. Our vignette completed by two $3.00 wreaths. 

The light on the sideboard is a recent purchase. I actually paid more than I thought because I misread the price tag. But, despite a little sticker shock, I am glad that I bought it because I love it!

Now that our coffee cups are empty, let's step into the living room and find a comfy seat.

After briefly considering doing something different with the mantel this year, I went with the familiar Della Robbia arrangement. It is so easy to repeat something that works. And with such a short Christmas season this year, I did a lot of repeating! 

This is the wool tree that my friend Barbara and I made in a workshop several years ago. It's in a new spot this year. The cupboard that I usually set it on is out on the sun porch, replaced by the stepback cupboard. You know how that decorating chain reaction goes . . . 

I always put this olive wood nativity that Ryan brought us from Israel in a conspicuous place.

Continuing our tour, we'll take a peek into some of the rooms down the hallway.

Here is Bekah's lovely room . . .

The guest room has some simple touches.

The library has a tree on the desk and some Christmas puzzles, books, and a Playmobil nativity.

The bathroom has a tree and some holiday soap.

We'll walk out to the sun porch, but we won't stay long. It's cold out here! Besides, there's not much to see. I didn't put a tree on the porch this year nor a centerpiece on the table. I filled an old box with pine cones and called it good.

That concludes our Pineapple House Christmas Tour for 2019! Thank you for coming along with me again this year!

Can I leave you with a song that I've been enjoying this Christmas season? I had forgotten all about this song (it's an oldie-but-goodie from 1987) but it just came to me one day and I found it on YouTube and have listened to it over and over. It is a song that is full of JOY about His coming!

"Prophesied! Now alive! Jesus is born!"

Today

Today is a big day. 

It is exactly one week before Christmas and there is much to do. 

It is our sweet daughter-in-law's birthday. 

It is the day that I meet with the lead teacher of our ESL group and plan some lessons for the new semester . . . some of which I will be teaching myself. 

It is the anniversary of my first date with Ron. Forty-three years ago he brought me to his Sunday School class Christmas party. The rest is history. 

It is the day that Kati will have an anatomy scan  and (probably) learn the gender of this dear baby. 

December 18. One day. 

And I am struck with how much the past is intertwined with the present and with the future. 

There is lots to ponder, lots to rejoice in, lots to look forward to.

May we always be mindful of how important the moments of our days really are. 

Dear Lord, direct my steps each and every one of those days!

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they were all written,

The days fashioned for me, 

When as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

Psalm 139:13-18

Gingerbread Loaves for Gifting

This time of year, I like to have a few goodies ready to give . . . for hostess gifts or a little something for a friend or neighbor. Sometimes I make cranberry orange bread. Sometimes I make Marry Me Toffee. Sometimes it's pecan shortbread. One year I got ambitious and made these little sponge cake houses. 

This year, I wanted to make gingerbread, but I wanted it to be in a loaf form . . . not cut into squares and not cookies (although I have a super yummy gingerbread cookie recipe). I didn't find exactly what I wanted in an internet search, so I put together ideas from several different recipes and this is what I came up with. I love the spicy flavor, and the texture is just right, so I'm saving this one! 

My recipe makes three mini loaves. I doubled to make six loaves. Of course, we wanted one for ourselves. Quality control, right? Or maybe a little slice is just right with a cup of tea or coffee. Either way, it was just as easy to make six. :)

GINGERBREAD LOAVES

(makes 3 mini loaves)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and salt. 

Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together brown sugar and butter. 

Add molasses and vanilla; mix well.

Add eggs, one at a time, until well-mixed.

Add flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition. 

Spoon batter into three greased mini loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

(You could also make one full-sized loaf. Increase baking time to 45-50 minutes.) 

Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack.

After your loaves have completely cooled, you can wrap them in plastic wrap or cellophane and tie with baker's twine or ribbon for giving. 

If you're not ready to give (or eat) within a few days, place wrapped loaves in a resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.

Happy giving!! 

"Mary Did You Know?"

A little after-dinner music at our house this evening . . .

Full-Size Tree or Tabletop Tree?

I have heard it said that "tabletop trees are for old people." 

But are they? 

I showed you our Christmas tree in my last post. It is a seven-foot tree that we purchased the first Christmas we were in Pineapple House, replacing the slimline tree we had in the small living room at The Farmhouse. 

This is our forty-second Christmas as a married couple, and we have always had full-size trees. I still remember the excitement of going to purchase our very first Christmas tree at the local Drug Fair. When our oldest children were in elementary school, we began getting fresh cut trees from a local tree farm. Then the year that our freshly cut tree had some sort of blight and dropped so. many. needles that it was nearly bare (and a fire hazzard!), we bought a new artificial tree just a few days before Christmas. We've had an artificial ever since.

We love trimming the tree every year (especially since the children started stringing the lights) and decorating it with garlands and treasured ornaments while Bing Crosby's White Christmas album plays in the background. It is a family tree with no theme other than "family history" and it's just right.

But (getting back to that "tabletop trees are for old people" idea) . . . 

I fully intend to have a tabletop tree when our last child has left the nest!  

(Which is okay, because I am old, right?)

I even have an inspiration photo, torn out of a 2008 Country Living magazine. 

How cute is this tree?! I can fully imagine this kind of set-up in the Pineapple House living room! And it doesn't even feel like a concession . . . more like a goal! 

So what do you think? Do you have a full-size tree or a tabletop tree in your home? Are tabletop trees really for old people? ~smile~   

Slow Decorating: The Christmas Tree

We began decorating for Christmas early last week . . . and then we fiddled around with it for days! 

A little here.

Thinking.

A little there. 

Looking at old photos on my blog.

More thinking.

Perusing old magazine clippings I've collected over the years.

Tweaking.

That's how we roll, Bekah and I. 

(Does anyone else decorate s-l-o-w-l-y?)

But (other than the mess), we enjoyed the process! We played Christmas music (including lots of throwbacks to the 80's and 90's). We burned Woodwick candles for their evergreen aroma and for their cozy crackling sound. We may or may not have made a coffee run.

Slow isn't always bad! 

Before I talk about this year's tree, let me share one of the songs we played on repeat as we decorated. Oh my. Such a glorious message! "You are the long awaited One! You are Emmanuel!" 

Our first completed project: the Christmas tree.

We had talked about doing a theme tree this year. Not only was Bekah on board with it, it was her idea! It was going to be Colonial with dried fruits and pomanders, cranberry and popcorn garlands, dried flowers. But the Christmas season sneaked up on us and we didn't have all the things we needed, so we put that idea on hold until next year. 

Bekah "fluffed" the tree and strung the lights, but when she added the strings of red wooden beads that we've used for years, I just wasn't feeling them. So for this year, I decided to use plaid ribbon as a garland. I cut my ribbon in four-foot lengths and wove them through the tree. It was easy and it's a fun change . . . but I'll still look for faux cranberry garlands for next year. 

There was another change in this year's tree. We are missing  Kati's ornaments because she took her treasured collection to her new home! (You can read about our ornament tradition here.) So Bekah hung all of hers, and Ron and I dug deep in our box and pulled out some old ones . . . and somehow, we have enough!

Here are some favorites . . . 

This one represents our annual "Girls' Day Out" tradition.

One of Bekah's three piano ornaments

The chain saw man, representing the many, many years that Ron cut firewood to heat The Farmhouse.

One of my favorites. (I love sheep!)

Kati gave this one to us on our first Christmas at Pineapple House.

Granddaughter Maddie made this felt nativity.

Bekah loves Polish pottery.

This is Bekah's 2019 ornament, in memory of our dear Pinky who passed away in March.

To complement the plaid ribbon garland, I pulled out my plaid tree skirt. It was approved. :) 

Curious minds want to know:

Have you ever done a themed tree? How long does it take you to decorate your house for Christmas?