It's December and my thoughts are streaming ahead to Christmas. I'm listening to the "log" show and mulling my thoughts instead of wine. I have gifts stashed away for the ones I love, plans to pick up special purchases over the next few days, thoughts in my brain about having friends over for my annual Christmas party... The lights are ready to be flung over the shrubs out front; red for the crab apple tree, magenta for the little azalea I planted when it was small, green into the kiwi bushes and yellow for the quince tree... there are strings of blue to put around my front door once the swags of artificial fir have been stapled into place again, and I can hardly wait to put up the wreath in it's place to welcome guests to my door.
Today I purchased enough butter to make my Christmas cakes, a few cookies, perhaps some almond danish... just enough to eat and some to share. There are cute plastic zippy bags with Christmas gift tags on the front so you can write "to" and "from" on them, load them with goodies and pass them to friends and coworkers... I have enough wrapping paper to outfit Santa for the season, tags and bags and tape and ribbons... and canning jars to make Christmas pudding in, too. I'm looking at making something large and green from boughs in my garden to place on my front porch and welcome those who visit. I have the perfect planter in the back garden to use for it, and lots of time over the next couple of days to gather my greenery....
I love all the greenery associated with Yuletide; fresh cut Fraser firs from a farm... oh, my.... fir boughs and ivy masses, holly sprigs and mistletoe. Of all of them I love the holly the most. I tried to plant holly near my front door when I first moved here over 20 years ago, but with one thing and another the plants were left dry for too long and not planted soon enough, so they died. When the children were small I picked fresh holly with the neighbours permission and I placed it around the front door. At the end of the season I tossed the dried sprigs under the azalea beside the door and left them there until clean up in the spring. And now, hidden underneath in the shelter of the big azalea shrub are a dozen small holly bushes. Even though I have masses of ivy growing in my back garden it's the holly by my door that cheers me the most. Holly with shiny, dark green leaves that are sharp with the prickles that make them a deterrent to small hands. I have been given to understand that growing holly is finicky. It doesn't transplant well, grows very slowly, and needs to be cross pollinated to bear fruit - most holly purchased at the garden center has been grafted with a male branch to be sure and produce those bright red berries everyone expects. I was always told that holly planted by your door wards trouble and brings luck. After all that has gone on and all that was removed from my garden in the last few years I'm delighted and intrigued by the discovery I made this summer. So I have little miracle holly bushes; such a pleasure.
I'm getting ready for another series of "firsts" this Christmas; first time without my Mom to call or invite or tell my joys to; first time with my son back in the house, but living separately as an adult; first time since I was divorced - first time to make a turkey to share on Christmas day and ask those I love to partake... Tonight I have made some plans for the next few days; where to shop, what to mix, when to make things, who to invite here... and while I'm making my lists and checking them more than twice the "log" show is crackling on my 50 inch plasma screen in 720p.... no smoke, no smell, just the quiet sound of resin pockets bursting in surround sound. I'm thinking about mulled wine, but in the meantime I'd really like a caffe mocha vodka valium latte to go... and add a stick of cinnamon ....
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