winter barn

Happy Winter! Happy slow return of the sun!

My mother's barn is snug and cozy in the snow. My family and I spend tons of time there:
cooking, creating, and having overnights. It hasn't been quite the same without my mother. She spends part of the year teaching nursery school in California, and although so much of her spirit remains while she is away, no one can cast a spell as magically as she does. We hadn't anticipated seeing her until the Summer. What a painful long stretch for all of us! Life is always filled with the unexpected, and that is especially true where my mother is concerned. So without further rambling on about the miraculous details... it smells like cookies are baking at the barn! My mother surprised us a couple of days ago with the best holiday present ever... HER! It's been nine years since I've seen my mother on Christmas, and I'm absolutely giddy!! For five days the barn has been constantly filled with heavenly smells, because she can't stop cooking for us! Old carols from the 50's are always playing, and she's been looking for fun ways to dress up little corners for the season.





Instead of getting a tree, she decorated her candelabra with lights and vintage spheres.


We helped her add little dolls from her collection, and my daughter thought it was the prettiest "tree", ever.
Upstairs, she draped large vintage lights around her drying rack and displayed this "tree" in the window.
We spent one evening taking out the decorations from my childhood and reminiscing.

My mother saved many of the ornaments that I had made, and I'll have to take some pictures for posterity sake. Please don't forget to save some for your children. I can't tell you how amazing it is to hold those little bits of history thirty some odd years later! I'll be signing off for a while to enjoy every bit I can, but don't be surprised if I pop in to share a picture or two! Hope your holidays are warm and wonderful!