Christmas Recovery Program

Dear Reader,

'Twas a few days after Christmas, and in our cottage snug
A lot of us seem to have gotten a bug!

The little ones especially have had a case of the sniffles for the last few days, even though our Christmas goodies consisted of no sugar, only medjool dates (so lovely and they taste like caramel) and other dried fruits. Good health consists of more than diet alone, we have been reminded, and we truly miss our sunshine and fresh air! The dry air caused by heating also contributes to sore throats and coughs, so we have been doing our best to humidify it. We mist our houseplants several times a day, and put water on the stove to simmer (adding air-cleaners such as cinnamon, orange peels, etc.).

Tea is becoming a daily institution, with a lovely mix of garden sage, summer savory, and mint being our favorite. And when tea doesn't help, Dr. Christopher's Anti-Plague Formula gets the job done in a hurry (Like Dr. Christopher said, anything that nasty HAS to be good for you!)!

As the novelty of being snowed in wore off after Christmas, we are glad to be blessed today with melting temperatures, with the snow piles melting slowly but surely. The drift that was higher than our bedroom windowsill is down about a foot, and the highway in front of our house looks less like a skating rink than it did.

We did spend a lot of time being entertained by watching various automobile acrobatics during the past week, with at least two cars a day sliding off the road and being rescued by kind folks in big trucks (Should've put one of those on our Christmas list this year!).

Christmas was spent with just the children and us, listening to the wind blow and making sure the animals were fed and warm.

Every Buddy loves a nice warm straw bale!

We made a few feeders for the birds, and peanut butter pine cones, and feel happy to be able to help our feathered friends during the cold time of year.


We read the Christmas chapters from "Farmer Boy" and "The Long Winter" on Christmas Eve, before the girls put on their annual Nutcracker ballet and we read Luke chapter 2, to remind us that Christmas need not consist of much. The girls only wanted one thing each (And AnnaMarie said to take whatever money would be spent on her and give it to orphanages), and I made them sleeping caps, buckwheat pillows, and a few toys out of socks.

Tasha REALLY likes what I made her!

We received a surprise visit from Mr. Claus (Frankie loved it!)

The Candy Cane Dance (They really worked hard on it!)

Tasha as Coffee

Frankie puts on his own show (Never go on stage with kids or dogs!)

Clarice the chenile sock poodle and her friend Bullseye

Our dear anoymous friends finished their Twelve Days of Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Marie Curie?

Frankie's new "horse"

This is my recurring Christmas fantasy, to have just a few homemade presents. But alas, instead of new mittens and a stick of candy, we end up with the amount of presents in the "A Christmas Story" movie!

Joseph and the shepherd girl.

Don't ask me how it happens, but I think grandparents might have a bit to do with it ;). I guess the "Won't the children feel deprived if the presents don't equal the tree in height" gene must have skipped us, somehow! The older girls are used to it by now, and are so sweet about giving away the things that they know they will have no use for. I try to have a positive outlook on the whole thing, but am still working on the details, especially when I've spent months going through our possessions and clearing out the excess!

I was invited to a lovely Christmas tea!

Oh well, there's always NEXT year, right? I'm just glad the grandparents are so loving and generous. It could be worse!

My present that I bought and gave to my husband to give to me (Don't they say that a present is a gift you give yourself?)- all of Organic Gardening Magazine, 1972

Thank you so much for stopping by, and we hope that you and yours are still enjoying the special feeling that Christmas brings, to help prepare us for a new year. May you feel the love of Him whose season this rightfully is, and may we make each day of the year a Christmas in our hearts.

Love,

Marqueta

"Oh! The blessed communion of saints; one member has the benefit of all the other members' gifts, prayers, and ministrations. One prays for all, and all pray for one. What one has, the other enjoys also. It may be truly said of them, All is yours. There is no envy, no haughtiness, no strife or harm among real saints; for why should I envy what is my own? Why should I despise that which serves for my necessary assistance?-and why should I strive against and hurt him whose hurt is my own? Is there any strife between the members of our natural body? By no means; if one be injured and suffers, all the rest run to its relief, and are neither tired nor angry, if the healing does not follow immediately. O Lord, unite us all in hearty fellowship and tender feelings for each other; and stop all open and subtile divisions which are fermented by lofty spirits, who always boast of mighty things, and to be wise above the rest. Suffer not a self-conceited and a party spirit, which is the spirit of the world, to influence the members of thy body; but bless and grace thema ll with true humility; then we shall live in a solid union and uninterrupted harmony."

~Bogatsky's Golden Treasury, 29 December