It Must Be Getting Close To Christmas ~

The Christmas Village is up, and when evening sets in the lights of the village make it appear to be a living miniature town. Magical ! Must be getting close to Christmas.

Baking seems to occupy every bit of spare time, but the cold and rainy days outside cause the kitchen to call out to us.."come bake, be warm, and eat"! Must be getting close to Christmas .

My husband makes his traditional Berry Butternuts, something his father did, and still does, but with the many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren my dear Father-in-Law has, he cannot possibly bake these yummy cookies for everyone anymore, so it is a good thing his grown children continue this tradition. A yummy good thing~ Must be getting close to Christmas. I have already made several batches of lefse for two different occasions. For all my married life, 37 years and then some, I have made lefse for Christmas. Lefse is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. I make it the night before , so all my Christmas Eves are spent making it, then cleaning the kitchen and setting the table , making sure there is butter to spread on the lefse, and also making sure there is a mixture of cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on it. Then the lefse is rolled up like a jelly roll and eaten. Hot coffee, rosettes, ( another Scandinavian treat ) and some cheese and fruit are all that is needed to complete this breakfast usually eaten after we open gifts and before we prepare for whatever else we will be doing Christmas Day. The lefse griddle is still out,ready for more use ~ as are the rolling pin and lefse turner...must be getting close to Christmas. "While lutefisk requires some getting used to, most people take an immediate liking to lefse, Norway's unleavened soft bread. Somewhat thinner than a commercially prepared tortilla, lefse rounds are also much larger and softer than the Mexican bread....While a great variety of lefse types exist in Norway, potato lefse dominates almost exclusively in the United States. Like lutefisk, lefse now serves as a badge of Norwegian ethnicity..." 'Keeping Christmas, Yuletide Traditions in Norway And The New Land' by Kathleen Stokker ~~~~ My Grandmother taught me how to make lefse many years ago, when I was a young girl and I am very thankful. I had no idea then of how precious this gift of teaching me how to make lefse was, but I know I need to teach this to my Grandchildren, just as I need to know and teach the real reason I celebrate Christmas. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David......" It must be getting close to Christmas!

The Little Family Plans a Party...Tea Time Tuesday

The Little family planned their upcoming Christmas party during tea time today. Grandpa Little and the children especially love tea time when there are sweets to be eaten with tea. The tiny tea set was purchased on one of our many trips to the Oregon Coast. We knew the Littles' would appreciate it.

The Little family live on the bottom shelf of the china hutch in our dining room. You can see the hutch in the back right of this picture.

Mr. Little thinks they need to make sure there is plenty of honey on hand at the Christmas party because after all, they are inviting the Bear family. The Bear family live in the miniature log cabin that sits atop the dining room armoire, and we all know it is very good policy to make the bears at your party happy. The Little children enjoy playing with Baby Bear, and they like sweets as much as he does. They all love to wrestle and play with Grandpa Little and secretly suspect he is Santa Claus. Look at how detailed this tea set is. The rim of the creamer is scalloped. There is a tag underneath the tray that says "MADE IN THAILAND". Every bit of this tea set is so perfect, the little handles could actually be held by tiny fingers, the coffee pot can pour liquid through it's spout. Here you can see the hutch , the Little's home, reflected in the mirror.Please join us next Tuesday for the Christmas party with the Bears' and the Littles'. I hope there is honey... To see more Tea Time Tuesday participants, and probably a lot of Christmas decorating and treats, please click onto the links below~ and enjoy!

• Martha's Favorites *
• Artful Affirmations *
• Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor *
• The Silken Purse *
• Breath Of Fresh Air *
• Rose Chintz Cottage *

Surprises For Me! Tea Time Tuesday

Don't you love GOOD surprises? Unexpected gifts in the mail are GOOD surprises!

I received this elegantly beautiful teacup from LindaSue of Buhl-a-land*, The cup and saucer are made by Royal Grafton, the pattern is 'Majestic'. I think the name fits, the color is a rich red embellished by gold, on white. Perfect especially for the Christmas season~

LindaSue writes a delightful blog about the life she shares with her beloved husband and their animals in Texas. She says life is always good on Buhl-a-Land* because of God's abundant blessings! Another gift arriving by mail is a lovely miniature of 'The Old North Church' , made for the New England Village Series, in 1988. I received it from Mildred at Mildred's Photo For The Day* , and it is very special as it once belonged to her beloved Mother. Mildred knew I would appreciate it after reading another Tea Time Tuesday post in which I featured this church on one of my teacups. You can click here to read it, Liberty Blue Tea Time*. Mildred is a very special and sweet lady who shares her life with her beloved husband , 3 cats, and Harriet...although Harriet is a dog, she is not JUST a dog. You have to read Mildred's blog to know a bit about Harriet! They live in a beautiful home called The Circle Of Love. I made an Oslo Kringle (recipe here*) and had a few pieces with my tea while I thought about the Christmas decorating and gift wrapping. I really do like this time of year. Oslo Kringle is very easy to make, especially if you need a quick and tasty treat to serve unexpected guests. The candy kisses and sprinkles are optional, but so festive, don't you think? Thank-you Mildred and LindaSue, for your thoughtful gifts AND especially your friendship!

To read more wonderful tea time blogs please stop in a visit these ladies~

• Lady Katherine at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor*
• Martha at Martha's Favorites*
• Terri at Artful Affirmations*
• Pam at Breath Of Fresh Air*
• Wanda Lee at The Silken Purse*
• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage*

"There is a mystery to the ways of friendship. Even when two people are willing, friendship doesn't always blossom. Still, when we see a door to friendship open with someone who is already in our lives, we miss by not stepping through. After all, finding a friend is like discovering a treasure. Finding a friend in someone you already love is like finding a treasure in the rafters of your own attic-one of life's most joyful surprises." Emilie Barnes 'The Twelve Teas Of Friendship'

Snow ~ Beautiful Snow

"A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together." Author Unknown

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? J.B. Priestly

"Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word." Psalm 148:7,8

Thanksgiving With Some of My Favorite People and Dogs

Thanksgiving was celebrated over the mountains and through the woods, 6 and 1/2 hours away with our oldest son and his 4 daughters, pictured above.

My beloved Beatrix was with us...

..as was my husband's dog Hawk. We had a wonderful time of family, food, and fellowship ~ and LOTS of snow! "As the season turns toward December , we are settling in. The woodpile high, the freezer filled, heaters ready to be lit,snow tires on - we can face the world with a smile." Gladys Taber Now, on to December and the hustle and bustle of Christmas!

Transition Tea

It is Tea Time Tuesday once again. My how the Tuesdays fly by. I am calling this my Transition Tea because I am in the midst of holiday transition, from autumn and Thanksgiving decorating to winter and Christmas decorating. We have been gone for almost a week and there is a lot of catching up on all the needful chores along with the fun of decking the halls with boughs of holly and baubles. Since I have not had time to bake, and no time to sit down for long, I made some tea in my new / old teapot, and sipped it out of one of the accompanying teacups. ( Do you like the Christmas tea cozy I made ?) This is one of 6 Japanese Lusterware Teacups and saucers I won in a bid on E-Bay. I have fallen in love with Lusterware and this inspired me to check out the china on sale via E-Bay. I have never bid or bought on E-Bay before, but I found this set and the price was very right. I bid, won, and received a whole snack set with teapot, sugar and creamer, plus the cups and saucers of this Lusterware and will feature it all in another Tea Time post. Some of the Lusterware was marked 'MADE IN JAPAN', some was not. I read this in an article on Lusterware by Harry Rinker. "Sometimes all pieces in a set are not back-stamped. The profit margin on ceramics was slim, and a factory could save a little labor cost by not marking every piece in a set." I also found some pieces marked with lettering that seemed to be gibberish, clearly read letters spelling nothing I could understand. I like my black, peppermint, or green tea straight. No cream or sugar. "The teapot must be boiling hot when the tea goes in. And the tea should steep four or five minutes. Thin slices of lemon pricked with cloves are all right; so is colored sugar. But for a family tea, we pour it out and drink it without anything in it. Just tea." Gladys Taber

Pour yourself a cup of tea, put the Christmas music on and visit these ladies for more Teatime Tuesday offerings~

• Pam at Breath Of Fresh Air
• Martha at Martha's Favorites
• Lady Katherine at Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor
• Terri at Artful Affirmations
• Wanda Lee at The Silken Purse
• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage

"A cheerful heart has a continual feast." Proverbs 15:15

Have A Thankful Thanksgiving~

Have a thankful Thanksgiving,and be thankful you're not a turkey! Our turkeys are not aware of how thankful they should be this Thanksgiving. We could not find the time to prepare them for the Thanksgiving table , so they will happily gobble and eat their fill of grain , thinking turkey thoughts, dreaming turkey dreams. Our days around here are full of keeping the house warm and water in the animals' troughs. The power went out in the early hours this morning and came back on this afternoon. The weather forecast is for much of the same below freezing temperatures through Wednesday.( We are colder than the North Pole is right now!) Because of the uncertainty of electric power and that the rest of the week will be full of cooking and enjoying family, I will not be blogging for a few days. Happy Thanksgiving to you! ~"It is good to take time to be thankful, for it is all too easy to let the world's trouble sweep over one in a dark flood and to fall into despair." Gladys Taber ~" The Pilgrims made seven more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." H.U. Westermayer ~ "Thanksgiving Day comes , by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." E.S. Martin ~ "Thanksgiving , after all, is a word of action." W.J. Cameron