Designer

…………………This is a good tale!……………The porcelaine bust of the lady at the left…is Jac’s  great great GREAT grandmother…….She lived on a large farm her family owned  on the border of Germany and the Netherlands. There were two busts of her that Jac knew of….the white one in the picture, and a fully painted one in color….Jac’s grandmother had the white one in her home and the painted one was with a distant cousin…..When Jac’s mother moved in with us so did the bust. It sat on her Mom’s dresser in her bedroom for years…..When Jac’s mother passed…..Jac was obsessed with the thought of what was going to happen to this treasure. She knew her sister didn’t care about it, and if her sister had it….what would happen to it if her sister passed away……Her mom had been communicating with a distant cousin, Frank, who lived in Berlin with his family. Jac’s mom, inherited the farm from her mother that belonged to Jac’s great great great grandmother [the bust], and the farm had remained in the family…..Jac’s mom remembered…as a little girl….picking currants, gooseberries and blackberries with her grandmother on the farm……Jac’s grandmother had given this distant cousin, Frank, permission to use the farm as a getaway from Berlin. The farm was many hours away, but he and his family spent their summer vacations and Christmas Holidays there….Frank came to visit us once at our house when he was on a business trip to NY….Jac and her mom were so happy to spend the Saturday with him. He was and is a lovely person……Jac, who was to inherit this farm, that was really far from any major city, discussed with her mother what to do with this farm……They decided to GIVE it to Frank as a gift! Frank was overjoyed with the news….Due to the farm’s remote location….they knew they would never make much money even though there was a lot of land, but taxes had to be paid, so they would gift it to Frank….He sent pictures of the place, and the work he had done to it….Jac and her mom knew they did the right thing…….Now back to the bust….Jac worried what would happen to it…..She came to a conclusion…..She would send it to Frank, and have him put it in the farm house where she was from……FULL CIRCLE!!……Frank who’s family were relatives of Jac’s great great great grandmother was thrilled to get it and have it as part of the history for his new home…….so we shipped it to Berlin……after we took many pictures of it [the one above]…..and Frank took beautiful pictures of it in the window of the farm house with the church steeple behind…..This made Jac so happy….Jac knew she had done the right thing by returning the bust to where she was from………NOW, FOR THE PORCELAINE ORNAMENTS!!!!!!……They were sent to us by Frank as a present with a note…..They were MADE IN THE SAME FACTORY WHERE THE PORCELAINE BUST WAS MADE!!!!……..The factory was over 200 hundred years old and is STILL producing porcelain art works, plates, ornaments etc etc…….I am still in touch with Frank and his wife Monika….I just received a Christmas card from them with a lovely note…. They were terribly saddened by the news of Jac’s passing 7 years ago, and always thank her for the marvelous gift of the farm…..that they can hand down to their children and their children’s children………….Now….that’s an amazing tale!

……………….Jac and I discovered PATRICIA BREEN ornaments many ears ago……She specializes in Santa ornaments and Snowmen, but does other categories too…..I have noticed they, year after year, have gotten more and more expensive! I thought they were expensive when we bought them so long ago, but now they have skyrocketed!…..The details are amazing….I’m very very careful with these ornaments, and they are the first on the tree and the first off. They each have a box and are wrapped in tissue and stored away…..Jac and I loved our Patricia Breen ornaments and always made a fuss over them each time we unwrapped them to put on the tree………….All good memories.

………………Yesterday, I had a Christmas visit from my nephew Chris, his girlfriend Danielle, and her son Nick…….They arrived about 2:00pm so I had some snacks prepared…..assorted cheeses with fig and walnut spread, crackers, cheese sticks and Italian bread, veggies and dip….shrimp….and of course a plate of cookies….There were other things to nibble on too…..Nick had just flown in from Texas, where he goes to university, and plays football….so of course we watched Kansas City trounce Houston on TV…..but…..Nick never made it to the end…..he fell asleep in front of the heat of the fire place….That’s him in the lower right photo under the blankets…….We had a 5:30pm dinner reservation at a restaurant in Westport Ct. called….”ZUCCA”….Bottom two center phot0s….Everything was delicious!……Then back to my house for some Raspberry Cheesecake with fresh whipped cream…..Nick who is 18, had a party to go to, and us older folk were getting tired, so they all left at about 8:00…………….Oh to be 18 again!….or at least have the energy of an 18 year old!!!!

………………Jac’s mom collected bronze ornaments from the Franklin Mint……..This is just some of them….The Mint is still producing them every year!…..Jac inherited them from her mom and they always take a special place on the tree……..They add a beautiful glow.

………………My Christmas tree is finished!….It took me three days to decorate……First, I do the top of the tree completely…on a ladder….so I do it slowly……….The second day I finish the rest of the tree, and on the third day I add the icicles, and NEW this year…the LED CANDLES….that slightly flicker…..Also new this year is the NUTCRACKER TREE SKIRT…..Nutcrackers have become a small theme in the Gathering room….there are even nutcracker ornaments on the tree and one at each place setting on the table…..Over the years Jac and I collected many many ornaments….then one year, when the tree was in the living room, it fell over and many ornaments broke!…..That was heart breaking for the both of us. Some of my dear Linea Ladies sent Jac and I a surprise package of ornaments to rebuild our collection. They all hang proudly on the tree….Wherever we went, no matter the time of year, we searched for special ornaments until we FILLED the tree….and then bought more!…..Every ornament has a story, and I can still remember most of them…..It truly is an international tree as ornaments coming from England, France, Germany Austria, Italy, China, Japan, Amsterdam, Vienna, Hungary…the even Russia……and I’m sure I’m leaving a few out! I found the fabulous wool tartan throw that had been stored away  on the third floor for years and years…While cleaning out the third floor rooms. I spotted this tartan throw, and a red and black wool Buffalo check throw that reverses to a camel cashmere throw I got from ETRO ages ago!…..I thought they would be perfect in the Gathering Room incase someone got chilly and wanted to wrap up. The tartan one almost matches my table cloth……..Sometimes it pays to go through draws you haven’t opened in years!