Beholding Seasonal Loveliness

I often look at Christmas decorations elsewhere and wish I had the talent and patience to create my own displays to appear even half as pretty as those of others.  

I keep wishing. 

Still, even at this house, where hodgepodge rules, if I avoid the forest and concentrate on the individual trees and other neat stuff amidst the grand scheme of our household clutter, I can still appreciate some beauty. 

It's the little things, people often say, that make the biggest difference.  Sounds like a good mantra in my case.  

Little things around our house, when we look up close and personal are pretty and lovely to behold. 

I love the angel crafted by a family member for the Lovestead Christmas tree a few years ago.  Her radiance atop the tree in the glow of Christmas lighting definitely sends forth a message from above.

My daughter-in-law Debbie bought me a card at a Mennonite craft sale several years ago. It has a simple scene depicting a beautiful remote winter setting which epitomizes the pure charm of a country Christmas.  

The card goes on our tree every year because it reminds me of a fun day I spent with Debbie in the Bonners Ferry area and of an ideal scenario when we conjure up an image of the perfect Christmas escape from all the troubles of the world.

Of course, on this year's tree, the black-and-white ornament hanging below the card, sent to me by my friend Mow, a longtime lover of Border Collies----certainly no explanations necessary.  

It's just a perfect symbol for the Lovestead where the Border Collie Nation has most recently sprung back to happy times. 

Our tree this year, for reasons obvious to all who know that we'll have Mr. Liam helping us celebrate Christmas, sits on a table ABOVE the dog dishes.   

Our inside space is limited, so dogfood dishes placed below the tree----definitely a necessity as opposed to having them in the middle of the living room or in the kitchen for us to trip over.  

Besides, the doggie toys, including the newest---one of Bill's toeless socks---are in the living room.  

Now that I have a four-legged black-and-white vacuum cleaner, I must keep the kitchen floor free of obstacles for wiggly sweeper to do his work. 

Anyway, the little grand fir---with luck and prayers---will remain on the table next to the sliding glass door.  

Yes, it turned out kinda pretty even with a klutz for a decorator, and, no, I did not curse one time while putting it up.  

I'm thinking table trees might just replace the taller variety in the future, especially after yesterday's period of decorating bliss. 

Of course, we don't know where we're going to put the Christmas gifts, and I'm thinking they may just take a bye this year from sitting under the tree.  That decision most likely will also contribute to the holiday bliss. 

A few years ago, Bill's sister Margaret gave us that pretty angel in one of the photos below.  

She sits in an open spot in the garden window, surrounded by none other than pill bottles, empty flower vases and a box of Annie's sleepy time tea.

Again, the space considerations provide the perfect excuse for the somewhat cluttered scene.  

Nonetheless, in her designated center of attention at the garden window, she emerges as a glorious force, all but erasing visions of glaucosomine-chondroitin or Advil or Sleepy Time, etc. 

Let's remember, she IS, after all, a symbolic, majestic tree in the forest and we all know the old saying, or do I have that thought exactly backward?

Who cares?  

We're approaching Christmas time, and beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder whether it sits in a garden window, hangs on a tree or appears as an unexpected gesture of kindness.  

It all counts---even the Border Collie Nation plus one eyeing a SQUIRREL.  After all, seeing beauty in a variety of ways makes for a good day. 

Happy Monday. May you find beauty in your travels throughout the day.

GO, ZAGS.  Hate to wish ill will on the Saints from St. Martin's, but sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  

After all, if the ZAGS win, I'll behold another thing of beauty on this Monday.