Like so many, I'm sure, our boxes of decorations contain many items of memory and family significance. There is the wired bundle of tiny kindling - winter fuel - given to us by a family member who died young. There are decorations made or chosen by our children, a few given to me by children when I was teaching, and there are even one or two pieces, now rather tired, from our own childhood.
I really missed the ceremony of buying and decorating and the chance to think on these memories. A stand-in had to be found. My solution was a visit to our nearest supermarket to buy this bouquet - a poor substitute with no scope for decorations - but, together with Christmas cards, it has lent a suggestion of festivity to our home. I placed it in one of the stoneware vases I threw in pottery classes about 25 years ago for a small hint of our past in the Hertfordshire house where we bought up our children.
It comes today to say thank you for visiting my blog over the past year, even when I don't post very often. Sharing work, thoughts and experiences with you all is one of the pleasures of the internet for me and I send a special thank you to those of you who commented and provided useful advice. I will visit all your blogs with my usual enthusiasm in the year to come.
Happy New Year to you all. May 2016 bring you happy memories and a fulfilling time artistically.
I love your holiday stand-in. Works for me! Simple is better in my book. Hope you received those little paintings by now. And hope you have a really wonderful 2016. See you online! xo
ReplyDeleteThank you Connie - simple certainly has its merits! Happy New Year to you too and happy meetings online!
DeleteMargaret
Thank you & new year's greeting to you as well. I so appreciate those like you who take the extra thought & time to put together blog posts no matter what their frequency rather than just pop some quick thought or pic on FB or Instagram. Those social platforms have their place but cannot take the place of what a blog can offer.
ReplyDeleteFor reasons quite different from yours, I skipped dragging out the boxes of decorations this year and let the cards coming in take their place. They are arranged in front of my fake fireplace, center stage for a change. I think I didn't want to face some of the memories my decorations invoke having lost two family members this year. It lifts my heart to gaze instead at the greetings from the living.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment - it is lovely to hear from you. I've just added you to my list of blogs I follow - I don't know why you weren't there - so we will meet again in 2016.
DeleteExcellent! I will endeavor to keep my blog interesting for you. :-)
DeleteYour festive bouquet has become a little holiday shrine! Hope you have a peaceful, joyful and creative 2016!-Julie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Julie. May 2016 bring you continued success and pleasure in your work!
DeleteWishing you all the very best for the upcoming year, Margaret. Loving blogging and the friends one finds there!
ReplyDeleteThank you - and all good wishes to you too. Lovely meeting you online and exchanging thoughts. Here's to more in 2016!
DeleteThis is a delight...beautiful bouquet and even better knowing the pot has your hand in the making! I visit often here and so enjoyed your travel photos...thank you for sharing. I wish you a very happy new year!
ReplyDeleteIt is always good to hear from you. There are still a few more photos that I want to post from my recent travels now I have time to reflect on what I saw. But we will be home (certainly in the UK) till the spring so nothing more distant till then. Meanwhile, I'm mulling over thoughts for the next longer trip, whenever that is. I just find it so exciting ... irresistible in fact!
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