It's Beginning to Look A Little Like Christmas

But the 45 mph sustained winds make me wonder if we're going to end up at the North Pole. We had 60-75 mph gusts, and many of them, today. There was enough dirt in the air to block out the sun. Not a fun day to be a rancher. We're bracing for one more day of the same tomorrow. It was over 70 today and our high will be about 32 on Sunday...minus the wind, please.

We have our tree, but it just got put up a few days ago.We're a real tree family and we usually make a  trip to the mountains to cut one, but this year we received an unexpected gift. Our North Camp fella went to Colorado to visit family for Thanksgiving and lo and behold, he brought us back a 9' fresh cut Christmas tree! His family had gone on their traditional tree cutting trip and he cut one for us. I could not have been more surprised or tickled! He actually made me cry. What an incredibly sweet and thoughtful thing for a single young man to do! He and DD are friends and I asked her if she didn't want to reconsider that friendship. LOL.

So his sweet gift was soaking on the porch for a few weeks before we put it up.

I didn't want it to dry out before Christmas, but I've made many, many trips to the shed hauling Christmas decorations to the house these past few days. I love Christmas! I love that we celebrate the birth of our Savior most of all although He should be celebrated each and every day. Still, I love decking the halls and pulling out the memories of the past 30 years of Christmases together.

I'm binding a Christmas quilt right now and hope to share it soon, but here's a peek into some of the spaces I've decorated.

My mud room / laundry room is the first room you walk in to and I like having a tree in here along with these Merry Christmas blocks I made a few years ago:

 My kitchen has gotten even cozier with the addition of Christmas decor, but I spend a lot of time here. A dear friend made this little table mat and it fits perfectly under my crock of utensils:

This poor Walmart cabinet has seen better days, but it gets spruced up a bit during the holidays:

I liked the plate rack when I bought it as I didn't have room for them in the cabinets.

I am thinking of having a replica built by the same gentleman who made this cabinet for me a few years ago:

I was looking for a microwave cart  for years to no avail and one day I went to pick up my sewing machine table that this dear man had made me. I saw their kitchen cabinets and he said that he had built them. I fell in love with them and when I mentioned a microwave cart, he said, "Something like this?" and turned me around to see this one. Perfect! So he built me one and I LOVE it. It holds my bread dough bowl and some canned jams and applesauce as well as the microwave. It also houses my silverware in the top drawer

And odds and ends - mostly canning supplies - in a top drawer behind the doors::

As well as my Bosch mixer, blender, pressure cooker, and stew pot on a handy pull out tray down below:

So I think a cabinet with a plate rack might be my next request as this one is getting close to collapsing.

Here's my kitchen window:

I made that valance over 20 years ago, but I've never found anything that I like better so it gets drug out every year. And my string of chile ornaments is older still:

Another favorite is this retro canning jar made into a snow globe by my mil 20 years ago too.

And you've already seen my hot water heater nook:

The rest of the house is ready too, but the only other pictures I have are of my cookie cutter nativity:

It's the first thing I set out every Christmas and the last thing I put up. I'll  try to get back here before Christmas, but if I don't, I want to wish each of you a Very Merry Christmas. May the magic of this season bring you and yours joy as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.