Each Little World

GBBD: 12.12.2021

It's December in Wisconsin so it's not exactly the moment to find flowers in my garden. We are not buried under snow like last year, however, and so I did unearth a few things hidden under the leaves yesterday afternoon. It's foggy this morning with a forecast of rain and possible severe storms. The temperature at 8 a.m. is 52°F.

I clipped enough Helleborus niger flowers to fill three small Heath vases that I put in my bathroom. I used their colors as the theme for a bit of holiday decor. 

The buds in this vase on the other side of my vanity sink haven't opened yet. 

I love the pattern on this vase against the tissue holder's faux shagreen. 

I used Hellebore foliage in two of the vases. 

In the third I put a leaf from a Hepatica and a frond from a Hart's Tongue fern.

I've been cutting Hellebore flowers from one plant for over a month. Each one lasts at least two weeks so I should be able to enjoy these right up to Christmas. 

Christmas weather

It looks like Christmas indoors at our house. I started decorating the day after Thanksgiving. 

I am making a point of reading in the evening, ensconced in my grandfather's chair in the red room with the my glittery pink tree aglow.

"The Animal's Merry Christmas" was one of our favorite books as kids. So I had to buy a copy when it was reissued a few years ago. I read a couple of my favorite stories and then turned to some I remembered less well. "Green Christmas" is a long poem where the animals say

"When the ground is bare of ice and snow,

And stars are bright, and the winds don't blow.

Hurrah for Christmas and still no snow."

In the days when I used to drive or fly out East to spend Christmas with my family, nothing would have made me happier than a dry, green December. Pretty much the weather we're having now. The temperatures the next few days are all going to get up in the 40°s, culminating in a potential high on Wednesday into the 60°s. It's a weather pattern that I no longer desire and can barely enjoy. 

These days I agree with the townsfolk in the poem:

"It's not like Christmas without some snow!"

Sigh the townsfolk, wishing the wind would blow — 

I don't need any blowing wind, but I would be happy to have the seasons resemble those I grew up with; before we unleashed climate change upon ourselves and our world. 

New Year's greetings

    

Linda and Mark

wish you a safe

and saner 2021.

We're looking forward

to less social distancing,

more hugs,

and life with Joe and Kamala

The "Backscratchers Chair" by Rumi O'Brien

with Linda's childhood teddy bear and Mark's donkey.

IVOM: The un-Christmas display

A number of pre-COVID months ago, one of my favorite local artists, Richard Jones of Studio Paran, closed up his glass studio to my great disappointment. Thus I was thrilled when he sent out an email saying that his website was still up and was featuring all of the treasures he'd found as he cleaned out his studio. I treated myself to this unmatched grouping of a pair of candlesticks and a vase. It graced the table for all of our meals — regardless of the changes in table settings — all last week. 

Richard's containers are beautiful with nothing in them. I thought that this one could easily be overwhelmed by its contents, so I opted for just two flowers; different species — Hydrangea and Chrysanthemum — but the same color.

Our Christmas Day dinner featured blue and white dishes and accoutrements. I added this pair of intensely colored Foo dogs to the mix to make it less traditional.

This turned out to be Mark's favorite combination; a total surprise to me. We continue to enjoy it on a clean table ready for a new week of holiday dinners.

Christmas pleasures

Bursts of sunshine

A new painting: "Arkansas Blacks" by Jonathan Wilde. I bought that apple variety at the farmers market this summer. 

I baked two kinds of cookies, candied orange peel with an 1801 recipe and dipped them, apricots and walnut-stuffed dates in chocolate. It was deliciously enjoyable with no deadlines for parties or shipping or anything but our enjoyment. 

Best wishes for a pleasant and safe holiday for all of you and your families.

December companions

My angelic ceramic chorister always comes out to celebrate Christmas. She's a tiny little creature and likes to be near the comforting presence of the big gilded Buddha. 

If you look closely you will see my name painted on the angel's sheet music. My mother's best friend from college made this angel to celebrate my birth.  Though we're both the same age, unlike me, her hair hasn't lost its color!

Snowy vignettes

Though these photos of the garden were taken a week ago, right after the storm, so much snow remained on the evergreens that Mark and I finally went out at the end of last week to clear some of it off. With shrubs, wire cages and rocks all disguised by snow cover it was not easy to navigate the garden. But we did unearth most of the evergreens and never fell down!

Every year Mark puts pairs of bamboo stakes along the both sides of the driveway as a visual aid to mark the edge. That way he won't accidentally maneuver the snowblower into the border plantings. 

My tall Berberis 'Orange Rocket' all splayed out from snow.

Acer triflorum is so open in form that it holds little snow; just enough to look lovely.

An industrial saw blade (one of a trio with text painted on them) hangs on the fence next to my work area. 

This guy is displayed on the side of the house above the storage area for our ceramic pots. 

Bamboo hoops marking the edge of a flower bed along the back of the house. 

The Arcosanti bell is outside the back door and notifies me when the wind is rising. 

The view from the other side of the weeping White Pine adjacent to the bell.

The weather continues to be cold with high temperatures for Christmas Eve and Day barely making it out of the teens. Without snow cover, those temps can be fatal to a number of my plants. Here's hoping enough snow stays on the ground to protect everything.

Holiday decor: On the wall

For the past ten years we've hosted friends for brunch at our house on New Year's Day when the coffee shop that is our weekly meeting place is closed. We use that event, and the winter holidays in general, as the impetus to rearrange our art. Though we will be the only ones at our house this year, we decided our spirits needed the boost that new art and arrangements provide. 

Mark replaced his three photographs above the Chinese wine tables in the living room with new landscapes. I got to pick a trio my favorites. 

This was a fairly quick and easy project as he just used the mats and frames from the previous photos and rehung them in the same location. 

I set up a display on the table surface below the photos with lots of sliver and gray to complement the photos. 

Mark's preference was to leave it just as it is here; very industrial and sparse. 

No way! I intentionally opted for pairs of pots to hold plants. That's heather in the smaller galvanized pots.

The slightly larger pair of pots got red Cyclamen. I intended to get white-flowered varieties but could not get a pair in the size to fit the pots, so I went with red. 

It occurred to me later, that white flowers would not have shown up against the white wall very well. So red flowers made more sense; though I could not find a pair with matching foliage. Normally I put together much more asymmetrical combinations, but I went with pairs since we had so many.

We've been lighting all the candles in the living room (eight of them!) most nights. It has been such a boost to our spirits, that I just ordered more candles so we can enjoy the light all winter.

Holiday decor: Down and dirty

At Thanksgiving Mark and I decided it was not enough to make a nice meal to acknowledge the occasion and mark the day as different from every other day we've all been struggling through. We set the table with my grandmother's china and glassware; all of it more than 100 years old. We even got dressed up. 

All that is another way of saying that it seems equally important to celebrate Christmas, even if it's just the two of us home alone. I am being very restrained compared to years when the house was full of holiday guests. There's greens from the garden by the front door (above), shoved into a rolled up tube of chicken wire. A selection of evergreens is one of the big benefits of the winter garden come December. This is my version of quick and easy / down and dirty decorating.

Decorations on the fireplace mantle, of course; what else is it for? Two tiny houses in red and gold by local artist Chuck Bauer were already in place and seemed perfect for the holidays with the addition of a pomegranate.

It was a no-brainer to leave a red painting by Mark along with a 19th century miniature portrait both of which have been hanging on the fireplace wall for months. That way, all it required to look like Christmas was a tree and a pair of votive candle holders. 

The 2' tall tree — with a sturdy metal framework, base and star topper — is covered with deep red beads. They are shiny but not glittery. This is one of a pair purchased many years ago from the Wisteria catalog in its first year. Notice how the base sticks out a bit over the edge of the mantle. Turns out the mantle is only 6" deep, which is surprisingly narrow for many of the objects I want to display there. That's a measurement worth remembering when I am trolling the local antique mall. An activity that I really miss and can't wait to do again. 

Remembering my dad

Happy 100th birthday!

Jack Brazill

Dec. 24, 1919 — Jan. 24, 1998