HOPE 2022

May your hearths and hearts burn bright with Hope for 2022…

Scherenschnitte

Scherenschnitte

By Pamela Dalton, NY

My son got me this beautiful German papercut angel duo for Christmas.

 Once I signed up for a course on this art, aka Scherenschnitte, but it was canceled due to lack of interest.

 Imagine!

We are so enjoying the presence of our children here, one from NY and one from Montreal. 

The days race to departure and this mom  is trying to savour and slow them. Games, walks, food and lots of laughter… 

I have to say: though I enjoy cooking sometimes, I spent too much time Christmas Day preparing dishes. Though we’re enjoying leftovers now I was so exhausted by mid-afternoon that I was glad when the day ended. Note to self: do it differently next year.

NOW I am able to meditate on Christ and the wonderful gift of His here-ness. So grateful!

As covid peaks again, may we appreciate the present day. Inhale, exhale, thankful…

                         ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Christmas : Love Came Down

 

May your Christmastide be full of thankfulness…

Celebrating that glorious day when Emmanuel, God with us, God among us♥️

This is a poem I wrote and posted last year but it echoes my thoughts this year too.

I do not want a pristine Christmas this year

I want Mary, Joseph, and Jesus 

completely surrounded 

by the absence of family. 

I want the scent of blood and afterbirth 

and animal sweat and manure

(heavy and dank from a hotelier 

who had to prepare rooms for an onslaught

of census guests, not to muck out a shed 

for the birth of the King of kings).

 

I want shepherds with sand and grass 

clinging to the haste of their sandals

perspiration staining the arms of rough cloaks. 

And later, kings, diminished 

by an arduous journey resembling 

more mendicants than one percenters.

 

I want the moan of Mary in the cramping pain \

of the spent uterus

the dumbness of Joseph, struck 

by his paternal uselessness

the fumbling mutters of the shepherds 

still reeling from those loud, blinding angels

and kings, struggling to apologize 

for the gifts, not fit for [this holy] scene. 

 

I want Jesus, wailing at being dislodged 

from his throne and the embryonic bliss

I want the Creator of the world wrapped

in ragged strips of cloth, now stained with urine and stool. 

 

I do not want a pristine Christmas this year. 

I want one I know. 

Come

Emmanuel. 

 

Love Come Down

Here are a few Kings Landing pics not included in my other post. Have a cup of tea, reflect on the beauty of the season. The beautiful simplicity of Love Come Down. Simple and Enough forever.

I left New Brunswick to collect my daughter from her Montreal apartment; bringing her home for Christmas.

Our son will be there when we arrive. 

Merry Christmas 

 

Christmas at Kings Landing

KINGS LANDING CHRISTMAS 

One of my favourite places has kicked it up a notch at Christmas 2021 by opening the historic site for two weekends of the holiday season! The day was brisk but clear and the company of my spouse and three  friends just perfect. Enjoy a look at Kings Landing,New Brunswick.

Each doorway was bedecked so beguilingly…

Hubby jokingly staging an outhouse visit…

Stone homes make my heart pitter-patter

The old ribbon caught my eye

We attended a portion of an Anglican service complete with carols…

This tea pattern… woah!

The simpler the better…

The St John River hugs the site and is just beginning to ice over

The gingerbread men emerge fragrant and enticing 

These made the most wonderful little gingerbread men. Coming from the hearth added to the taste but I made them at home and halved the recipe. The remaining directions are: refrigerate at least an hour, roll out to about 1/4 inch and cut into shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until just done. 

My hubby loves this clock- and it all wrapped up in a bow for him!

The birth and death room: found in most middle class homes of the era

Anglican church

Through the berries

The door to Kings Head Inn. The site offers Christmas meals with period entertainment, candlelight, story telling and sherry. 

This is the result of a cookie swap. New Brunswick is in love with butter tarts at Christmas. I made German
Vanillekipferl- a buttery cookie with vanilla sugar and ground almonds but I used pecans.