A New Christmas Song! (New To Me, That Is!)

 

Music! It is wonderful at any time of the year but isn't it very special to hear all the songs of Christmas? I think I have told you before that the song "Away In A Manger" is sung to a different tune in the UK than the one that is used in the USA.   As I was working on a crochet piece this year, I kept singing that song and I even sang it using the two different tunes! The one phrase that kept coming to mind was "his sweet head"...  If you see the following photo, you will know why!

My friends, I worked very hard on trying to make Baby Jesus! (You start at the head -and it took me a while to get it right- so you can see why I kept singing that song part!) It was an awesome project and I felt very happy to work on it. I completed the head and body and since that took me so long, I set it aside.  It got closer and closer to Christmas and even though I didn't have time to do any other figures, I was determined to make a manger for the Christ child.  Yes! I was able to make the manger and I had Baby Jesus resting there in time for Christmas. 

Now, for the rest of this story...

Richard recorded some things for me on TV that he knew we would enjoy watching together.  I was very pleased to hear "Away In A Manger" done beautifully from "Royal Carols: Together At Christmas" from Westminster Abbey! It was a lovely service.  If you can, you should watch it too!

The other service was from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There was a song on there that I had never heard of before. THAT song is the one that I want to make sure you listen to the words, keeping in mind of me trying to work on Baby Jesus and then, his manger.  The song is "Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head".  (I know, I know.... can you believe it?)   "Jesus, Jesus- rest your head, you have got a manger bed".

From what I understand, the song was a folk song from Kentucky. Had it not been for John Jacob Niles who was not only a composer and musician but also a collector of folk music, we might not have ever known this song. (I had never heard of it until I heard it this week on TV!)  I truly hope that you love this song as much as I do! It is so peaceful and lovely.

Wish me luck in making this Nativity Scene. Please note that the photos that I have shown you are from the crochet magazine.

We had a bit of snow the day after Christmas. You know I had to ask Richard to take this Christmas ornament (Max, The Grinch's Dog!) and pose the figure as if Max were going down Mt. Crumpet! Yes, my husband is a saint, if you are wondering.  LOL!  I am sure I have told you before but I will tell you again that I read the book "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" so much to my younger sister and brother that I know the book by heart. It was a joy to read!

Of course, it is warm today with high in the 60's with pretty blue skies.  The photo below is from the lift at Stone Mountain, which was taken in October but I promise today was just this sunny. I just thought this shot was interesting, don't you?

God bless you all and a safe and happy new year to you! Peace to you always.

Dear Friends- Merry Christmas!

"Our fireplace spells out this greeting

For dear friends like you to see,

We've also hung a New Year wish

For you on our Christmas tree!"

In case you can't see that Christmas greeting on the mantel, it says "Merry Christmas"!

That is a photo of a Christmas card that was sent in the 1940's from Oliver Hardy and his wife, Lucille!  Oliver Hardy, you must know from the great comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy.  (Another great pairing of a Brit and a Southerner from the USA!) They were such great friends also and that is a very nice thing to remember about them, I think.  There is a small but very nice museum in Harlem, Georgia dedicated to Laurel and Hardy. (Harlem is a small town where Oliver Hardy was born. If you are thinking that Harlem brings to mind the famous Harlem neighborhood in New York City, this small town in Georgia was renamed "Harlem" in honor of the famous one in NYC. I think the original name of the town was "Sawdust"!)

Richard and I just had to pose with these wooden cutouts of Laurel and Hardy!  Isn't it funny? This was the summer and we were just about melting here but hey, I have to give y'all a photo to laugh about sometime, don't I?

"Santa Claus Is Back In Town"!  If you want to watch a fun film, be sure and watch " The Christmas Chronicles" with Kurt Russell! (Just saying, I LOVE Kurt Russell! Richard knows this about me! LOL!) If you don't have time to see the film, I have the BEST song from the film! It was acutually performed by Kurt Russell. (It also made me think that had Elvis lived longer, he would have been great in this role of Santa Claus.) Kurt Russell portrayed Elvis in a TV film once. It was wonderful! Of course, Kurt Russell is a huge fan! If you ever watch the Elvis movie "It Happened At the World's Fair", Kurt Russell is the cute kid with the red shirt that kicks Elvis in the shin! (He paid him to do so, in order to get attention from the pretty nurse!)

Now, if you watched that video, I do hope you enjoyed it!

"Is there a piano in this joint?"   HA!!! (A special thank you to our musical son, Christopher for telling us to watch this film. He KNEW I would love this song!)

Stay warm, everyone!  It is so cold today here in Georgia that those lovely walks we like will have to wait. (Our high was at midnight last night, and this dang Polar blast came in blowing a gale and it will struggle to get to 20 degrees today and with the wind chill...let's don't even think about it!)) Never mind, the high will be 50 again by Wednesday! 

So, my dear friends, I do hope you all have a lovely Christmas and that the peace and joy of this time will remain with you all through the year. 

December Hope and LOVE

December 2022 has been decidedly different. It has been DREICH! (Dreich is a perfect Scottish word for a gloomy, grey day that seems that it will last FOREVER. Thanks to Adullamite in Scotland for this word. I totally get it now!)

Not today though!  I was so hopeful to see that big, beautiful sun I can't tell you how much nicer it is! I am looking out upon a beautiful sunny day with just a few puffy clouds here and there. Once it warms up just a wee bit, I will be out IN it!  This past week almost half the USA was covered in snow so I guess I should be thankful here in Georgia for rain and gloomy skies.  Why, it even snowed in London and in Eastbourne! Two places that I have written about in England! I have seen Eastbourne in the snow but not London. The snowy photos of London have been so pretty! (Please don't think I want it to snow here, the traffic is bad enough but with snow...it is even worse!) No, I like snow in photos and on Christmas cards and that's about it!

What has the weather been like for you all? Does it affect you as much as it does me?  My Daddy always made sure he had one of the weather almanacs to consult.  There are different ones in the USA. My Dad used Grier's Almanac which was a local one for the state of Georgia. (I just looked it up. It began publication in 1807 but due to the death of the owner it closed up in 2021. That is a bit sad to me.) Before we had 24/7 news with weather radars giving us up to the minute forecasts, people either looked at the sky or read one of the weather almanacs.  Most people here might have heard of the "Old Farmer's Almanac" which was started in 1792 in Boston, Massachusetts by Robert B. Thomas.  What a fascinating man! I have a quote from him here...

"We must strive always to be useful, with a pleasant degree of humor."

I wrote that quote above on the same slip of paper with another quote from an author that I have always admired: Robert Louis Stevenson. (Yes, another Scot!)  Here is the quote:

"Continuing to fail in good spirits".

There, those two sayings seem to go hand and hand, don't you think? 

We have had some Christmas cactus plants for a few years now and they were not doing well AT ALL. I wanted to just put them down on the curb and hope someone would take them away! My husband decided to put them outside for air and sunshine and when we noticed buds on them, we were happily surprised! I think I have read that one of the best traits of a gardener is hope. It works for us all!

                                                 Hang in there!

So, I am wishing you all the best.  Hope and Love!

Enjoy the video! Darlene Love!