…………To all of my friends of the Jewish faith……I’d like to wish them all a Happy Hanukkah!…It’s very rare that Christmas and Hanukkah are on the same day!…..It’s a special day that we all celebrate together!!!!….Be well and be safe in the New Year!
Posted by Louis Dell'Olio on Tuesday, December 24, 2024
……………This year my Christmas Table has a TARTAN THEME…..There is a TARTAN TABLE CLOTH…..TARTAN NAPKINS that are in red or green beaded napkin rings……and TARTAN DISHES with a red soup bowls in the center. They sit on Gold chargers which sit on Red place matts….At each place setting is a small NUTCRACKER guarding their place!……There is a lot of RED GLASS on the table….water glasses and wine glasses, a water pitcher….red glass salt and pepper shakers Jac and I got many many years ago in Cape Cod…..There are lots of red votives scattered all over the table…..ALL ON REMOTE CONTROL!……..The CENTERPIECE is a large RED GLASS VASE filled with assorted greens, berries and gold pods that I spray painted, and a large tartan bow…There are four glass Christmas trees on the table…One large GREEN and RED and one smaller GREEN and RED…I put votives under them to light up at night……There are lots of different sized Gold bud vases on the table with greens and berries…..My two favorite seasonal salt and pepper shakers are the two silver SCOTTIES, that just happen to be wearing tartan coats!…..My gold flat wear goes with the gold theme, and the gold pine cones I spay painted are scattered about the table……For light, in addition to the red votives….there are gold STAR LIGHTS on stands from NEST & FLOWERS, and Gold candle sticks of different heights with GREEN and GOLD candles….At night, with all the lights and candles on in the room, and the Christmas tree all aglow and the mantel and wreath all lite, and the fire place roaring….it does look like a Christmas Wonderland….When having a dinner party…..I like to make the dishes in the kitchen and serve them to my guests so the table isn’t disturbed……Who ever wants seconds can help themselves, or I’d be happy to get it……but my dinner parties are usually casual….with gentle back ground Christmas music from Danny Wright, and the fireplace going. I usually have desert, and after dinner drinks around the large glass table where dinner conversations continue…….as we all enjoy the fire.
…………………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.