I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Christmas day, whether you celebrate the holiday or not. Even though I am spending the day by myself, with only my dogs for company, I still felt the need to get in the holiday spirit by doing a bit of decorating. I brought the 3-foot tabletop tree in the photo above with me when I arrived here in Santa Fe last year, and bought just a few decorations for it recently since the majority of my holiday décor is still in Georgia (pre-pandemic, I had no idea that the rest of our move would be postponed until 2021!). The lovely dog ornaments that I purchased from Pottery Barn are well complemented by inexpensive red ornaments and fairy lights from Walmart:
I also set a holiday table, and featured the Holiday Pups plates, mugs, and serving platter I bought from Pier 1 last year. The company is trying to make a comeback online after they had to close all of their brick and mortar stores earlier this year, but so far they are not offering the delightful dishware they used to carry - I hope this situation will change, as I really miss their unique and fun tableware for every season. I added the Christmas pudding teapot and the paulownia wood votive tray I purchased this year to my table setting as well:
For Christmas Eve dinner I had store-bought tamales (chicken and green chile-cheese, one of each), with a gingerbread pig for dessert. I was at a loss as to what to have for a side dish, until I remembered that I had a microwaveable bag of cauliflower florets and a container of hatch chile con queso dip in the fridge. Warm queso dip served over steamed cauliflower went quite well with salsa-topped tamales (consider this my Foodie Fridays recipe post for the week!):
I bought another wreath from Lynch Creek Farm to replace the autumn wreath I got from them in November. This one features pinecones and magnolia leaves (a nod to our Georgia home where we have several magnolia trees in the yard), and I added the bow that adorned the autumn wreath to my new one. Despite the tremendous Christmas rush this year and all of the resultant delivery delays, Lynch Creek Farm came through and got the wreath to me well before Christmas day:
All in all, I can't complain too much about my solitary Christmas. The dogs and I had a nice long walk this morning with a neighbor and her dogs. I talked to my husband and sister later in the morning, and received text replies from both of my brothers (who are not the most reliable communicators). I have spent the day doing leisurely activities, and may even start a new jigsaw puzzle later this evening. Christmas music is softly playing on the radio in the bedroom, and "A Christmas Story" has been on the living room television all day. I have a slice of pecan pie (a gift from another neighbor) with a cup of decaffeinated tea to look forward to after dinner. My horse is blanketed and well fed for the night, and the dogs are sleeping soundly after their short evening walk and dinner. And now I am warm and comfortable for the night in my new Christmas sweatshirt and favorite old L.L. Bean puffin slippers. The strings of fairy lights on the tree, mantel, and foyer table are gleaming, as are some fragrant candles scattered about the house.
Could I ask for more? Of course it would be wonderful if I were with my husband for the holidays, could travel to visit my siblings, and could invite neighbors over for dinner or a party. And if I must quibble, it would be nice if one of the New Mexico television stations featured a Christmas Yule log video (I love watching the Yule log when I tire of holiday movies), and I wish we subscribed to the Sundance Channel because they are showing "White Christmas", my absolute favorite seasonal movie, all day. But since when do we ever get everything we want? When I talked to my husband this morning, we discussed all the things we will do next Christmas, and I realized that one of the best things about the holidays is looking forward to what we will do next time. That is the way life goes and what keeps it interesting, and I really would not have it any other way! Enjoy the holiday you are celebrating this year, everyone, and keep dreaming about the holiday celebrations to come!
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| Season's greetings from Jack o' Claus (a new holiday tradition here at our Santa Fe home)! |
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