Update about blogCa

Who knew all this would happen afterwards! The winter garden in my living room.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Celebrations abound!

 The count-down towards an event...whether Solstice, or Christmas, Hanukkah, Virgin of Guadalupe, Kwanza, or the next new year beginning...this is a month of celebrations.

Yule log



Gift giving is a wonderful way to remember those we love. It can also become the root of hectic shopping. I hope we can all forget that for a moment, sigh and maybe consider how to do it more consciously. Just have in mind the person you are giving it to...imaging their face as they open that present from you. It is the season.



December 12 is the Saints Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (celebrated especially Latinos or Catholics) Her story (miracle) is how a goddess (later to be named the Virgin of Guadalupe) sent a young indigenous man to tell the new conquering religion to build a cathedral on a sacred spot where the older culture had always venerated her as a goddess. 

A friend's decorations for Christmas.


Ann Baily won the gingerbread contest in 2022 at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. "When Dreams have Wings." 
Governor's Plaza, Santa Fe NM with Holiday lights!

And speaking of holiday lights...here's one of my favorite displays in Black Mountain NC. (There will be more coming this month!)


On E. Cotton Ave in 2022...don't miss the bears! (I'm not sure what display is being given here this year, as they had major damage from some storms last year, but it is known as the Christmas House.)


Today's quote:

Magic doesn't sweep you away; it gathers you up into the body of the present moment so thoroughly that all your explanations fall away: the ordinary, in all its plain and simple outrageousness, begins to shine -- to become luminously, impossibly so. Every facet of the world is awake, and you within it.
David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology

Today's art:


Bear Quilt  she used french knots to quilt layers together..hand pieced..hand appliquéd..hand sewn and hand embroidered...Anne Francis.

16 comments:

  1. It's all lovely, but Oh! that gingerbread house.

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    1. Yep, not your standard gingerbread house. This year the competition is geared down since so much damage happened in Asheville. Hopefully next year will be back to standards.

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  2. Wow, I love the bear quilt. The Christmas lights in NM are gorgeous. Lovely images and a festive post. Take care, have a great day.

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    1. Thanks Eileen, I try to save photos I see that I think people would like to see on the blog...but actually they are just photos I like!

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  3. ...this is my favorite time of year.

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    1. Besides the frowns at the check-out counter, there are lots of smiles to share.

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  4. Now we at least have the happy lights!

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    1. (Second try to reply, first is in la la land) I agree Iris, and hope that the lights do bring joy!

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  5. The quilt is stunning! What a work of art.
    Lots of lights everywhere this year, it seems. I love it.

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    1. I have to do a nighttime patrol to see what my little town is showing!

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  6. I love the bear quilt! What a beauty!

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    1. Me too, as all who have ever done any hand work with fabric will appreciate it!

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  7. The bear quilt is absolutely beautiful!

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  8. Quite a collection of ways to celebrate the light in the darkness, Barbara! :)

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There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.