"It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." A.Holmes

Monday, December 1, 2008

Spot on Christmas Village, or "Ve Yust Go Nuts At Christmas"

~The Christmas village, our Christmas village. ~~This is the sun room (below) we decided to turn into our little Christmas village. Our collection of miniature houses , barns, establishments and all the little things needed in a picturesque village , well, our collection has begun to get a bit out of control. We have positioned the little properties on the buffet, end tables, shelves, table, the floor under the Christmas tree. But really...one needs a place to put a town or small city, doesn't one ? ~Seems like this should have been simple, right ? But you do not see the bush sized geraniums and tree sized Dracena and big Aloe Vera plants I had to re-locate to other parts of our home to accommodate the village that has grown into a town and threatens to become a city and if left unchecked could possibly become a Metropolis!
~I would NOT re-locate Belle though, she whistles "Jingle Bells" and "Thy Loving Kindness" randomly throughout the day. If per chance you call our home you are likely to hear her in the background. She waits just for us to answer the phone to launch into her ear piercing renditions of "Jingle Bells". But I digress. So here is my almost empty sun room waiting to be turned into a winter wonderland. ~Hubby decided our little growing town needed some city planning and he built a shelf to go on top of the antique presently in the sun room. This holds practical kitchen items and we will need access to it throughout the holidays. Here below is Hubby's shelf, painted white, and it is sitting on top of the board that will be placed directly on top of the antique , with the shelf on top of it. ~Here on our dining room table is but half of the village pieces waiting to be opened for another Christmas season. We keep the little houses and village pieces in their original boxes. ~I think this is working out fine. Hubby attached small blue lights under the shelf, and in the evening they cast a faint blue star like kind of light down on the village. I later put batting and figurines all around the village, but I will show pictures of that later. I think our little village is shaping up, but boy oh boy, this is an all day activity that I like too much to turn into a chore. So I put on music I love and make myself a treat to eat and take my time. I remember I love all the things we do every year for the Christmas season. And that this village takes so much time to put up and then take down and put away that it will be up and enjoyed til mid January. ~Hubby really loves the little village. His father too loves little villages. Hubby is the real collector in our family and as we both come from a Scandinavian American background...don't even begin to suggest that maybe, just maybe "ve yust go a little nuts at Christmas". Hubby wants even more little houses and establishments. I think next year we might get another level for the village and have a train running around it..and then we can build the shelves ALL around the sun room and we could have..... ~....well, we could have that metropolis! But then where will the plants go? Maybe Hubby will build that green house we have talked about! That is a topic for another post, preferably the post that documents the building of the green house we had planned to build 2 years ago but circumstances prevented. Anyway, for the rest of this month I will be posting family traditions, decorations and recipes and what Christmas means to us. ~And you purists out there, we know Jesus was probably not born December 25. We know many of the Christmas traditions did originate from pagan festivities. But we do NOT celebrate them as such.We take comfort and joy in carrying on traditions our family's did. There is a lot to be said for the continuation of family traditions and passing them onto the next generation with love. And also to be able to tell our children and grandchildren and friends the story of Jesus, His birth, death and resurrection......and start the true story with the Nativity, with looking at and reflecting on the Nativity scene or creche under your Christmas tree or on your mantle. ~So for this month please forgive us as "ve yust go nuts at Christmas"!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kathy, these villages are adorable. My Mother collected these houses and we became creative about where to set them up! Nalley has a train that goes round one village and oh how the cats love to de-rail that train!

Unknown said...

It's beautiful, Kathy

Candy Duell said...

Wow, it is beautiful. I love the little houses, and yours are just picture perfect. Enjoy!

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

I love it !!! You tell it so beautifully!!!The pieces are really nice. I do so love the idea of carrying on the family tradations. I too continue with this. have a great week..m..

LindaSue said...

Beautiful just Christmasy perfection! Of COURSE Jesus was not incarnate on December 25 - for many reasons we celebrate at that time but it is not a big deal - in fact He never said to celebrate His birth at all - but it does feel right do rejoice and share the love -- yep - I'm all about share the love this season! Thank you for sharing your village - looking forward to seeing what marvels unfold next.

Pamela said...

Absolutely stunning! My mother used to put up a little village at Christmas, too. It was one of the highlights of our time together, deciding where each little building should go. Thank you for bringing back such a good memory for me.

Connie said...

Oh my goodness! That's quite a collection. So lovely. I bet your grandchildren love seeing these. :D

KathyB. said...

Mildred, are you going to show us your mother's collection of village houses and Nalley's train?

Thank-you Toni !
Candy Duell, do you have any little houses ?

Mary Isabella and Kiley too ! What traditions do you carry on with your family ?

LindaSue, thank-you for your positive comment on celebrating Christmas..the reason we celebrate, because we love Him and we love our families and cannot really separate faith from life in ANYTHING we do...from cleaning the house, to our entertainment choices, to our motives and reason for all things...our faith, whatever our faith, will tell.

Pamela, do you put up a village at your place ?

Daisy, the grandchildren do love it, and all 8 of them are very, very good around the village. We have had it up since last week before the 4 granddaughters and their Dad came to stay and NOTHING was broken, but all was looked at. Hubby and his father are the biggest kids though when it comes to looking at the Christmas village!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful this is! I wish i had a Christmas village, maybe I need to look into that...hmmm.

Your RE Broker said...

Ohhhhhh I love looking at all Christmas decorations and your soon to be metropolis is lovely! It reminds me of the villages on display during the holiday season at the 5-star hotels on Guam! I could stare at them for hours and wouldn't realize I had been standing for hours. I love reading about all your family traditions...all your stories are heart-warming.

Anonymous said...

Whitney would LOVE this! :-D She has been begging me for just one little light up house to put on the desk in her room this Christmas...I can't afford to buy one right now so I'm planning to go shop the clearance with her after Christmas and pick one out for next year! :-) I remember how much I loved to imagine the lives of all the little porcelain people when I was a kid, and I especially loved the ice skating scenes.