Merry Christmas!

The Christmas season is here and I am hard at work getting everything set up for our first holiday party! My grandson's birthday is December 2nd and we are having his party at our house this weekend. I am going crazy setting up all of the Christmas decorations - old and new - in our home! Our first firewood delivery of the winter is coming this Saturday so I will have the fireplace working overtime this year as we have been told that we are in for a lot of snow! We are the only house on the block (and maybe in the neighborhood) that can basically heat most of our home with just our fireplace! So if the electric goes out during a storm - we are ready for it. Several years ago - during the last BIG snow fall - the electric went out all over our area and I had neighbors yelling across the street - as we were out there shoveling snow - asking if we had a huge generator in our backyard that was supplying electric to light our house! When I turned around and looked back in the windows - I realized that all of our candlelit chandeliers in the house made it look like we had electric power! I just had to laugh! It was great fun walking back into our warm and candlelit house that afternoon - with a pot of stew on the hearth - knowing that we could make it through the day or so of cold weather using just our ingenuity and old time 'electric' lights. The power came back on some time during the night and by the next morning we were able to crank up the heat - but decided - at least until the sun went down again - to turn down that heater and snuggle before the fire. As we piled on more logs and listened to the crackling fire, we watched the birds feeding on the berries on our trees and felt warm and comfy. Here in Delaware, we don't get a lot of years with huge snowfalls, but when we do get the snow - it is a doozy and it looks like we are in for a big snowfall this year.
As I get out all of the Christmas things I am astounded at how much we have collected over the years! I plan to put some of our things on ebay and my website this year and start consolidating our collections! Times they are a changin and it's time to start living with less. It used to take me a day or two to get everything placed and ready for our annual Christmas party but this year, I am on Day Three and I don't even have the trees up and decorated! I usually get everything out and then decide on what will go on the mantel and different areas around the house. This year, in our travels, my hubby - the Christmas collecting person in our house - found this old vignette that someone had made - it reminded us of the Philly Flower Show and our entries in the Miniature Settings category - so he had to buy it! This little vignette has changed how I plan to decorate this year - older and fewer things placed around the house. I have several 'older' Santas that I used to collect in the '80s and '90s that will be going to new homes and some of the plastic light-up Santas will be leaving, too. Some of the hard plastic Christmas decorations will be up for sale and I will be putting some of those items here on a new blog! As soon as we can decide which ones will be leaving home - I will get a seasonal selling blog up and running - look for it by the beginning of next week! If this works, then I plan to continue a seasonal selling blog that will sell vintage things and new - made in the USA - things! Not quite sure of the name yet but I am leaning towards Holidays at Winterberry Farm - what do you think?
I like the idea of a site dedicated to the holidays! They are so much fun and vintage collectibles seem look better in your home whether you have a primitive home or a modern one. I also think that vintage collectibles are something that you can pass down through the family - I have already given my daughter and her family some of my vintage decorations and I hope she continues the tradition. Well - it's back to decorating! I'll be blogging again soon - and I will have more pictures to post of - hopefully - my decorated house complete with trees!