Joy Sunday

If you are part of a Christian faith community you probably know that today is the 3rd Sunday in Advent...the Sunday of JOY!

Just yesterday I opened a box of goodies from my sister Nancy and one of the things inside was this 100 piece JOY puzzle.  It was the perfect little project for Joy Sunday.

Thanks Nancy!

And speaking of Joy....this one of my favorite Santas...he's bursting with JOY!

Little Tree Project

I put together a little 5 x 7  tree project as a gift for a friend...a new twist on an old idea. I think the pop of the green pine is a nice contrast to the dark blue.

I repurposed a weathered wooden canvas that had little indent on the front with goofy image I found at a resale store.  Using a piece of the blue ombre scarf I've talked about before I fused the fabric around a piece of stabilizer, added the trees and moon, and glued it in. Instant frame!

I will admit I'm going to be a bit sad when I use up this scarf fabric...it has served me well. It has such great color and texture and the gold specks make for a lovely starlit sky.

The evergreen is made from torn chunks of handmade paper which are glued right onto the fabric. 

I did a bit of a wonky blanket stitch by hand around the birch since the sewing machine that has the decorative stitching I use was in Lexington and I was still in Portland. It's a bit wonky on purpose...and because I did it at 9:00 at night. 

Find Paul

Margie's new apartment is on the 4th floor and looks out to a wooded area on top of steep ledge.  The rocky view is almost a nod to the mountains of Colorado she left behind so is quite delightful.  From her balcony to the right there is a little view of Casco Bay in Portland....so she can almost claim a mountain and an ocean view.

There was a little construction debris along the fence line at the top of the ledge that was driving Paul crazy...so while we were visiting today he headed out to do a little clean up.  So here's my version of find Waldo...but instead it's "Find Paul."  I took the photo from Margie's bedroom window.

And in the spirit of "I Spy"....can you spy the green bottle in the woods below? You may have to zoom in....I didn't want to make it as easy as finding Paul.

December Tid Bit

Did you know that this year the month of December will have 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays and 5 Mondays?  Apparently it only happens every 823 years....hardly seems possible and I found it oddly interesting. 

As of this evening I'm back in business and have a new iPhone and this is my first photo. 


I'm enjoying our simple Christmas tree at the condo. I skimmed off ornaments from the collection in Lexington....all the snowflakes, most of the baseball/Red Sox ornaments and all the ornaments I had given my boys over the years. I also added all my mesh light covers that I love so much.  I actually think they show up better on this tree with the white lights.  I wish someone still made them...I look for them EVERY year.



I'm enjoying the reflection in the french doors...and when I have my blinds open during the day I get another reflection on the sliders.  It's like having 3 trees!

Cherished Possession

One of my most cherished possessions is a glass cake stand I got from my mother.  It was a wedding gift to her and my dad almost 70 years ago on June 11, 1949 and it was constantly in use for birthdays and celebrations. I even remember my mom turning it upside down as a center piece using the base as a vase for flowers or greens and the underside of the top for things like easter grass and eggs. It was well used...and well loved.

As often as I can for any celebration I bake something I can serve on the stand. For the staff Christmas party last week it was a cranberry orange bunt cake.                                                        

I'm not really sure why I was the one who got it....but maybe it's because I have the best childhood story associated with it.

I don't know what year it was...I was older so either junior high or high school my parents were going to be away on my birthday. My mother, being the loving and loyal mother she was, baked me a cake, placed it the stand complete with frosting and candles, put it in a box, and took it to my grandmother's house where I would celebrate my birthday.  Well...it tipped over inside the box on the way and the cake was everywhere...candles all mixed in.  But she and my grandmother just piled it back on the stand and added new candles. It was the most memorable cake I ever had.  I even remember the gift I got that year....and I'm not sure I can name any other.  (a blow dryer)

A few years after Paul and I were married I found a cheese board with a glass lid that is the perfect size for the stand....so now I even have a cover for it.  I love my cake stand!

Attitude Adjustment

Attitude is an amazingly powerful thing and can make or break my day. I need this reminder because I was starting to feel a bit of a Scrooge like attitude creeping in....and that's not good for anybody. I've said over and over how I celebrate the joy in my everyday life....and if I have a sour attitude how can I possibly do that.  There's always joy....somewhere.

The most important task in front of me right now is helping Margie get settled and start to feel at home. Most of the work I enjoy....but there are a few tasks that are challenging so it's easy to have a bit of a grumpy attitude....like all the technology. 

But after three days of fiddling and fighting with cords and remotes and what seemed like hours of technical support phone calls I finally have both Margie's TV's working....and that feels good. I should celebrate that!

Yesterday the charging port on my iPhone stopped working.  After a technical support call and a visit to the crazy busy Apple Store at the mall (yes, the mall at Christmas time....) it was determined that it can't be fixed. It's not that old...but the warranty had expired so there's no choice but to buy a new one.  For reasons that are too complicated to explain I won't have a phone for a few days. We don't have a landline at the condo so I have no way to make or take calls or send or receive texts.....and I can't take pictures. But it is what it is....so I have to shift my attitude.

I can communicate with people by e-mail....and unless I have an emergency...I really don't need to talk to anyone.  As a matter of fact I don't mind being quiet. And it's actually possible for me NOT to take pictures....the world will not end. The very first lesson in the Consciously Creative class was to take time to observe the world without your camera....so you can really just look and be fully present with whatever is in front of you. So that's what I'll do.

This last story is actually Margie's...but I don't think she'll mind if I share it here because it fits right in.

Although there will be wi-fi in the apartments eventually...there isn't now.  So if Margie wants to check her e-mail or my blog she has to go to one of the public spaces.  It would have been easy to just let it go and not bother....but bright and early this morning she carried her lap-top down one floor and sat in the chapel so she could get on-line. Much to her delight the large windows in the room face east and she was able to watch the sun rise over the horizon. She stayed there for a good long while enjoying this meditative space recognizing that this inconvenience turned into an opportunity for joy.

I think we both have better attitudes at the end of this day. 

The images in this post are other people's photos that I collect on my Tumblr page....which is starting to look a lot like Christmas.  You can check it out here. Some of the images are animated and just a delight....and are certainly helping me shift away from my Scrooge-like attitude.

Fond Memories

Paul grew up a preacher's kid and is now a preacher himself.  He has such fond memories of playing with the family nativity set and had to duke it out with his sister to become the new caretaker.  Or is he the new innkeeper?  Margie and I uncovered it while we were unpacking boxes and I got to bring it home. I'm not even going to take the pieces out of the box....I'll let Paul have that honor. As I understand it...Paul's dad hand painted the whole set.

Speaking of box.....it's pretty cool that we even have the original.

All is Calm....

...all is bright.

Margie and I got the backing papers and boxes out of the living room and it's all set up for Christmas.  I have a few more things to do for part one of "project making a house a home"...but we're in pretty good shape for day two. We decided we won't do too much other decorating until after Christmas.  It will be good to pause and just get to know the new place and the people. Then we can dive into all the other boxes.

Margie brought just a few of her most meaningful ornaments....and there were just enough to deck out this little Charlie Brown tree I had.  A nice little Christmas glow in her living room.                                                                                                                          

One of the things I unpacked was a PEACE block puzzle I made for her years and years ago from Christmas cards. It's a perfect follow up to yesterday's post. There are six different images of peace that can be put together and it was fun seeing it again. 

I've probably made at least 50 of these puzzles over the years using different themes or photographs.  As a matter of fact I have one sitting on my coffee table at home that I'll share later.

Another treasure we found was a memento from a family reunion from 1995.  Inside the sweet little book was a picture of my sweet little boys.  All is calm...all is bright.

Peace

I'm at the end of a really long day after a really early morning after a really busy, but lovely yesterday.  Did you follow that...or did it even make sense?  Today was Margie's moving day.  She's in and functional and I'll head back tomorrow to try and get her just a little more settled. 

Margie has always been a woman working and advocating for peace.....so I thought this particular quote was just right for today.  Moving is a big deal.  She made the move across the country this spring...and now another move into a space she will learn to call home for a good long while. There will be a some noise and hard work for sure...but I do believe she is calm in her heart.  Or at least she's working on that. 

Welcome home Margie!

Kids In The House

Paul and I hosted the church staff party this evening so the house was full of laughter and Christmas joy.  And....there were kids in the house!

I had the frame set up on 100 piece Charlie Brown Christmas puzzle on my puzzle table hoping Owen would take an interest.  Turns out it was his younger brother Hugh who was the puzzle guy.

 

I was pretty tickled when I found him working on a second one later in the evening...all on his own.  This is a kid after my own heart.

I had a corner of the living room all set up for the kids...and Elisa was right at home.

I love having kids in the house!

Elisa's baby brother Oliver.....and

Hugh's older brother Owen...#awesome!



I'll be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow heading back to Maine....tomorrow is finally moving day for Margie!  Yay!

Old School Collection

Special little toys are fun at Christmas....and that's still true for a 59 year old woman. To fully appreciate the toys featured in this post....I recommend you follow the links to see them in action.

I have fond memories of playing with this old school waddle toy at my grandmother's house when I was young. When you set it at the top of an incline it waddles down on its own with the little babies in tow. It now lives at my sister's Angie's home in Missouri and I featured it in my final project for the Consciously Creative class last fall while I was staying with her.

You can check out my final project in the form of a Steller Story.  The waddling mother duck is featured near the end in two little videos.  When you link to the story click on the arrow to the right to turn the pages.  Be sure to have your sound on and work your way through the story. 

Why is this relevant now you might be asking?

A week or so ago I popped into the little antique shop where I purchased the sweet 1981 Christmas tree cross stitch I wrote about a few days ago. Much to my delight I found a little Donald Duck waddle toy.  I have two others that I've found over the years so now I have three which makes for a nice little collection. An old school collection. 

Shortly after Donald came home I made a little video of my three little waddle toys....you can view it on my Instagram page by clicking here. I felt like a little kid at Christmas time smiling ear to ear the whole time I was filming.

All three are now displayed on the top shelf of the bookcase.  

Decorating Tradition

I had to laugh at this comic my friend Becky sent me today.....I do love Pinterest.  It's such a good resource and great place to store ideas and inspiration. I will admit that much of what I pin lately is on private boards....just for me.  I just revisited my public "holidays and seasons" board....some good ideas and fun images there.  

One of my favorite Christmas decorating traditions isn't from Pinterst...it's from my friend Laura. I love hanging my glass ball collection in my dining room and celebrating it here on the blog has become a bit of a tradition. 

They're such a bright festive splash of color...I enjoy them well into the winter.

The view from below....a selfie of sorts. Maybe a new aspect of the decorating tradition.

A Fourth Thing...

...for yesterday's list of darn good little things.

This came as a text yesterday from my son Sam.  He was staying with me at the condo....he was in his bedroom and I was in the living room when he sent it. That alone makes me chuckle. He and I share a love for the Grinch and he knew this would make me smile.  It did.  

Three Little Things

Life isn't perfect...but it can be pretty darn good when you pay attention.  Here are three little things that helped my day be pretty darn good.

1.  The fact that I was greeted by several Christmas cactus blooms in my kitchen this morning....I didn't even notice them yesterday when I got here. The intricate details and layers of each bloom are amazing.



And....I didn't realize that there could be a secondary bud to follow on some of the branches.

1. As I was walking in to visit Margie this morning the sun was so pretty poking through the fog in between the silhouettes of the pines.  As the fog lifted it changed by the second and I couldn't stop looking.

 

3. I was thrilled when I opened the drapes at just the right moment to capture the last minute of color in the late afternoon sky through the woods.  In an instant the color was gone...but that was beautiful too.

I actually have a 4th little thing....but I'm giving it its own post tomorrow.  I hope you had a few little things today that made your day a little brighter.

Tree Day!

It's December 2nd.....the 40th anniversary of Paul's and my first date....better known as "tree day" at the Shupe house.  You can read the story behind Tree Day here in this post.

I will admit that sometimes the tree goes up when it works....and that happened to be a few days ago. Today was a big day at church...the 149th consecutive manger Sunday where we collect money and gifts for City Mission who distributes it to those who need a little help this time of year. It's an extraordinary event!

Right after church I headed to Maine...so you can see why the tree went up early.  But happy Tree Day anyway!

On my way through Portland I stopped at "Art on the Hill" one of my favorite craft shows. I had the best visit Lisa Cutler a nurse turned artist from New Hampshire. Her jewelry is fun and whimsical and her spectacular colors drew me right in. 

I came home with this funky beaded piece Lisa calls her "loopy necklace."  It's one long piece that can be worn a variety of ways...a bit of a clever puzzle actually. 

If you visit Lisa's Facebook Page you can watch a video of how it works....as well as photos of her beautiful jewelry and booth at Art on the Hill that drew me in.

"After working for more than two decades in the hospital, I revel in the tangible and beautiful results I see after just one day in the studio. A mass of gems and glass beads is transformed into something that will make someone else as happy to wear it as I am to create it.  I guess that making people's lives better, either through art, or through nursing, is what I do. And who I am." Lisa Cutler

I love making a personal connections with artists! I enjoyed our visit...and I love my necklace!  Thanks Lisa! 

And I had the good fortune to run into another artist while I was at the show...my dear friend Anne.  And....my son Sam is staying with me at the condo tonight. Another very joyful Tree Day!