My Very Own Greenhouse

(of a sort). My mother loved and collected Dept 56 porcelain houses, so much so that my sister and I were left to deal with over 400 of them after she died. She had gotten some for me as Christmas gifts, but I am not much of a collector of tchotchkes, so I don't think I ever displayed them. My boys were small and fragile porcelain houses don't do well with little boy hands trying to play with them. (Someday I'll tell you about the T. rex, velociraptor, and pterodactyl that visited Jesus in the manger.)

But now the boys are grown, I've sold all the excess houses, and kept a few special ones. I don't decorate nearly as much as I used to, but these pieces are important to me and don't take me too long to set up. 

There is the North Pole Weather & Time Observatory, the Candy Cane & Peppermint Shop, Tassy's Mittens duplex with Hassel's Mufflers & Woolies, along with some elves, Mrs. Claus and Santa, and Santa's sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

But my favorite piece is Mrs. Claus' Greenhouse. It was one of my Mother's last gifts to me, and I really love all the details,

like the snow in the corner of the panes, the clay pots piled outside, and the poinsettias and plants growing inside the greenhouse. 

Even at my advanced age, I can almost imagine that I can fit inside and garden along with Mrs. Claus. I'd love to have a real greenhouse so I could have the ideal conditions and space for all the plants I'd like to grow, but Mrs. Claus' Greenhouse is the next best thing!

Bright Spots

Far too often I pay too much attention to the tragic, unjust, or awful things that are going on in the world. There are plenty of them but doom and gloom all the time doesn't help anyone's sanity, let alone their happiness. I took a look around and started paying attention to all the bright spots that are really there every day, just waiting for me to notice them.

I paid attention to the literal bright spots in the colorful embroidery on the shirt I was ironing.

It was fun to find a bit of Ryan's childhood in our barn when I was putting oil in the mower. I discovered this bag with special marbles inside, and when I sent him the pictures he remembered hiding them from Justin about 19 years ago. 

John harvested about 20 pounds of carrots from the garden so I decided to make carrot souffle and a carrot cake. This shiny, new, sharp peeler made the chore a delight. 

You have also provided me with plenty of opportunities for moments of happiness. Sarah shared her cheerful blossoming sunflower; Carole managed to make me laugh at the impending sense of doom so many of us are feeling; I love the photo that Kat shared of Vivi and her chicken's first egg, and Kym gives us hope and poetry on Fridays. 

So, thank you. For reading what I write, for commenting, for providing friendship, support, inspiration, and so much more. I appreciate all of you and the welcoming blogging community, and I'm grateful for all of the bright spots. If you have any bright spots of your own to share, I'd love to hear about them!