Holiday Decorations

It's Christmas Eve. The holiday baking is done and the presents are wrapped. We never got a tree so we don't really have much in the way of decorations. We hung a few ornaments on the chandelier that we acquired between last Christmas and this Christmas:

• The Barbie ornament was found at a garage sale.
• The Mach 5 and View Master ornament set are from the 2008 Hallmark collection so they were on sale.
• The two small retro ornaments were in a gift basket that Dan won at a school raffle.
• The Chimpanzee was purchased at a store in Escondido that was next to the motel we stayed at.

The items in the other photos were found at a garage sale by Dan's sister. They are called Snow Stick. You are supposed to wet them with a sponge and stick them to your windows. I decided not to try these on our windows. There are two different sets. One religious and one assorted Christmas designs. The Holy Family had been used so were not there but there were shepherds, angels, and the Magi. The other set had bells, holly, a candy cane, and the scary jack-in-the-box. Maybe I will try them next year.

Nutrcracker Suite

Here is one of the 45 rpm classical music boxed sets that my dad gave to me. The sets are from the 50s and vary in the number of records in them. My example, The Nutcracker Suite, has three made of clear red vinyl. The Beethoven's Ninth Symphony set had eight records while the Mikado is a two volume set with a total of eleven records.

The artwork on the box sets vary as well. Some like the Nutcracker set have very creative illustrations. Others are rather bland with just the name of the composer, the piece, orchestra, conductor, and some of the performers. The sets also came with inserts that have a some information on the composer and piece being performed.

My Dad collected these record sets when he was in the service. He liked them because they are compact and he moved around a lot. He also has a 45 rpm record players with the auto changer that I will probably take as well even though it needs some work. These records are fun to listen to but it's a bother to keep changing the records with the player I have now.

December Again

Well it's December again and I'm not ready. I've been trying to organize things and making a bigger mess. We haven't got a tree or started to decorate yet.

Actually, I just put up a festive fireplace screen I got from my parents. My parents are going to be moving soon. They are moving from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom apartment. My sisters and I have been helping them go through the things they have accumulated through the years. That means I've been adding to my accumulation of stuff. So far I've taken the rocking chair they got the year I was born, my mom's cookbooks and cookie cutters, my dad's collection of 45s in boxed sets, lots of books, and some of my old artwork from school. I also got some art supplies, dad's artwork, and an unfinished painting of his that he thinks I should finish (oh! the pressure!)

I've posted a photo of a wonderful pin I got from my parents back in 1975 for our first Christmas in that house. The pin is two inches tall by 1 and 1/4 of an inch wide.