Christmas 2021- Buffalo Plaid and Gnomes!

 

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas, my friends!

Anybody else notice that for Christmas this year it seems that buffalo plaid and gnomes are simply everywhere! I told you in my last post that we bought a new Christmas tree this year but then, I needed a tree skirt to go around it.  After looking at the prices of tree skirts, the buffalo plaid blanket that my son gave me last year for Christmas suddenly became my new tree skirt!  Buffalo plaid, it is not only used in decor but is on pajamas, shirts, jackets...why, it's everywhere! Yet, why it is called buffalo plaid and where did it come from? You know there must be a story behind it!

If you remember, I have written a post about "plaid" and "tartan." In America, we say "plaid" but in the UK, it is called "tartan".  Of course, you should know that the tartan is from Scotland.  Therefore, when those from Scotland came to America, they brought their tartan cloths with them, made into blankets.  The Gaelic word for blanket is "pladjer" and the Native Americans, turned that into "plaid".

Okay then, the man we should thank for the Buffalo Plaid is a Scottish man named Jock McClusky, who was a descendant of "Rob Roy" MacGregor.  (Click on that link to learn more about him.)   Jock McClusky settled in Montana in the late 1800's and he was unusual at that time due to his fair dealings with the Native Americans.  He was most respected by many different tribes.  Jock McClusky would barter with them for buffalo pelts, offering things in exchange but the most coveted by the Native Americans were the blankets, especially with the red and black pattern.  (The Native Americans most appreciated the deep red, considering it to give the owner special powers.  And Jock McClusky, didn't tell them any different!)  There, doesn't that just give you a warm, fuzzy feeling for Christmas! The story of how the native people were treated here in America is very often a very sad thing but I think the story of the buffalo plaid is a good one and so now, when you see this familiar red and black pattern, you will smile and think, oh, that's nice to see, especially at this time of year.

"Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.... that is a book that I read years ago and I highly recommend it.  OH, and one more..."Indian Givers: How Native Americans Transformed The World" by Jack Weatherford.  If you read one or both of these books, you will thank me!

Gnomes? Why are they so popular this year? I have no idea! Trends always amuse me!  I have read that gnomes are supposed to bring you luck and let's face it, after 2020 and 2021, we can use all the good luck we can get, right?  

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Last year, I heard this hymn "The Shepherd's Carol" for the first time.  It was from Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge.  I loved it so much.  I have it here for you.

The Shepherd's Carol by Bob Chillcott

 

We stood on the hills, Lady,

Our day's work done, watching the frosted meadows

that winter had won.

The evening was calm, Lady,

The air so still.

Silence more lovely than music

folded the hill.

There was a star, Lady

shone in the night.

Larger than Venus it was

And bright, so bright

Oh, a voice from the sky, Lady

It seemed to us then

Telling of God being born 

in the world of men.

And so we have come, Lady,

our day's work done.

Our Love, our hopes, ourselves

We give to your son.

                    Merry Christmas to you all.  Peace and Joy! 

White or Bright?

 

Our Christmas tree! Do you like it with white lights or with colored lights? I only have to push a button and it will go from one to the other! (I can push another button and they will flash from white to colored but I don't like flashing lights on a Christmas tree, so that's not going to happen!) My ornaments on this tree are mostly snowflakes and stars and some little crocheted circles that I made myself along with some things that my son made as a child. (Can you spot "Joseph's Coat of Many Colors" along with "Jacob's ladder"?)  Now, the crocheted circles are ones that I made this year. I was going to try to make little round ornaments, but I really didn't have much time, so I thought I would just crochet just enough and leave the back "open" so to speak. (After all, you only see the front!) Here's the thing though, when I turned my little white crocheted circles around, they looked very much like TOILET BOWLS! HA!) It made me laugh!  

Here is the circle ornament on the tree...

And here is me an old lady turning it around for you...

Now, I am sure you must be saying, "Why don't you just keep going and close it up and then it wouldn't be like a toilet bowl?" Well, I suppose I could but then, it wouldn't be funny, would it? I think I like looking at it, all sweet and round from the front and then, I turn it around and it looks like a gleaming white toilet!  I am easily amused!

Okay then, tell me if you like the white lights or the colored lights?

 Richard prefers the colored and I like the white. When I am home first, I turn on the colored lights for him.  When he is home first, the turns the white lights on for me! Honestly, I like them both but the white is just very calming to me with all the white crocheted pieces on the tree....

Stay tuned, my next post will JUST as fascinating, I promise! LOL!!!

These three little trees are real ones on our front steps. They look really good when it is very dark.  Hey! Kinda like me! HA HA!

And just to let you know that I am still noticing things in nature...on my way home from work today, I looked up in the sky and saw a black vulture flying over and his (her?) wings were perfectly in front of the moon. A black vulture has wings with white tips and that bright white was the same white as the moon... See, I enjoy color but a very bright white is beautiful too.

December "Purple Snowflakes"

 

December! It's time for me to show you the song that they have this year for the December films on TCM.  The song that they have used is "Purple Snowflakes".  You will never guess who wrote it! You don't have to guess, you know I will tell you!  It is by Marvin Gaye! There, isn't that a funny thing for me to learn after I have been going on and on about Motown? It was not only sung by Marvin Gaye but he wrote the song as well!

Here is the video from TCM. (TCM- Turner Classic Movies.)

Of course, the lyric that comes to my mind is from the wonderful song "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" sung by Burl Ives..."I don't know if there'll be snow but have a cup of cheer".  We sometimes have snow here in Georgia but honestly, I would just as soon see it in photos or hear about it in a song!

Anyway, "Purple Snowflakes" is such a lovely song, don't you think so too?  Marvin Gaye is one of those that we lost at a young age, just 44 years old.  Still, I am grateful for all the songs that he left with us.

Hope you are all doing well during this month of December!

Our backyard in Feb. 2014!