From the January archives, part 2

 

 As readers no doubt recall, I left off with 2016 in my posting from the January archives.  We'll pick up with this one from January 2017: Winter in a jar.  This was a fun project that involved epsom salts, snowflakes and a vintage photo.  I wasn't satisfied with my results, but this decorating idea could be tweaked endlessly.

From the same year, this little study of Psalm 143 might encourage you greatly as it did me.

From 2018, Best Squash Soup is a true favorite just perfect for chilly weather.

Courage was my word for 2019, and I think this is a pretty timely post for where we find ourselves today.

From January 2020 I'm sharing A pretty winter decoration some of you still in the throes of winter (like me) might like to adapt.

 

From 2021 I shared an encouraging read for moms and grandmas in troubled times.  It resonated with many of you then but I think it's worth sharing again today for those who missed it.

Also from 2021, One Day at a Time shares an uplifting poem perfect for the new year.

A really nice dishcloth pattern is also from 2021.  If you missed this and like to crochet dishcloths, you might wish to check it out.

In 2022 I shared about making a Christmas cookie recipe book.  A fun look at the one I made.

 

From 2023, Strengthening your prayer life might be a blessing.  I'm enjoying some of these posts again myself!

Graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

 And that's it for now!  I think 2024 and 2025 are fresh enough in people's minds that I needn't share posts from those years.  Enjoy your browse through these January posts from years gone by!

Three wintry questions

 

 In the interests of a quick, simple and enjoyable blog post here at midweek, I'm borrowing just three questions from the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.

I picked questions 1, 2, and 5.

1. What kind of winter person are you-snow lover, fireplace snuggler, winter adventurer, or indoor hibernator? Elaborate. 

 I'm a little bit of all four, I guess.  I do like snow, and especially enjoy watching it fall.  I hate driving in snow, but I don't mind walking in it if I have proper footgear.  We don't have a fireplace, but do have a wood stove in both home and cottage, so snuggling up to those is a definite option.  There is truly nothing like wood heat.  I don't mind a winter adventure like a walk, a drive, or even an easy hike, but nothing more adventurous than that, thank you.  There are times when I feel like hibernating indoors, but that said, I do try to get outdoors every day in winter, whether to walk or just get some early morning light.

2. The Pantone color of the year is cloud dancer, described as a gentle, billowy off white shade. The color symbolizes 'peace, clarity, quiet reflection, renewal, and a soft reset'. Of the terms just listed which do you need most in your life this winter? 

Quiet reflection and renewal.  I would also love to do a gentle 7-day home reset.  Our little cottage in the woods, below, is a magical place in winter and invites times of reflection and renewal.  It's very seasonal though so we tend to pick nights with warmish temps to stay there.

5. Thomas Wentworth Higginson is credited with this quote-

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year." 

Agree or disagree? Tell us why. 

I agree completely, both regarding actual winter and also the wintry seasons in our lives.  The Bible contains many references to winter, snow, and ice, and I am glad that we have actual winter to show us what those look like.  I am thinking especially of Isaiah 1:18 which pictures salvation as a fresh fall of snow: 

"Come now, let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

And I do believe too, that it is very often in the wintry seasons of our lives where we learn the lessons of faith and beauty that Thomas Higginson alluded to.  Those are the times we learn to lean on God and to trust His workings in our lives, and we find that those seasons have their own unique beauty.

And there are the three wintry questions and my simple thoughts and answers to them.

 

Just a bit of midwinter decor

  No time for much of a post today, but my simple winter decor is making me smile and I just wanted to share.  Above is a small winter village.  We usually bring out some of our lighted houses after the Christmas tree comes down.  The tree stands in this spot where the pine chest and village are now.

Above, my February sampler.  Love it!

Above, two free printables framed and displayed in the front hallway.

Probably my favorite decorating spot is atop a bookcase in a corner of the living room.  The runner, which has sparkling silver threads in it, was handwoven by my friend Patty.    The little deer is actually a candle holder from my childhood.  The crewel skater was stitched by me in the 1970s.   The cardinal is a keepsake I found in a kitchen drawer at my childhood home, the pitcher a thrift store find.  Tag and beaded heart made by me.

A corner of the garland over our picture window.  Always snowflakes and icicles for the winter.  The pretty Christmas balls were hand-painted by granddaughter Julia.

The opposite corner.  A chickadee and cardinal have flown onto the garland!

Two shelves of my dining room hutch.  Another very favorite place to decorate!

The topmost shelf.  Bottle brush trees in Colonial Homestead teacups.  I have had the pine cone teapot for years, but this is the first time I've thought to put it on the hutch.

 Above is a corner of the lowest shelf of my hutch.  That is a 1950s Christmas card, a sketch of a local lakeside barn.  Even though the card is old and discolored, I love it.  The barn is still standing and still beautiful.

 Icicles on one of our dormers.  Aren't those pretty rings of ice amazing and beautiful!?  I can't take credit for this bit of "decorating" though -- all glory to God!

A chilly Hodgepodge

 

Taking a moment to join in with Joyce and the gang for the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.  Here we go ...

1. What's a winter memory you treasure (can be from any winter in your lifetime)? 

Probably my most treasured winter memories are from childhood.  We lived at the edge of a farm field which contained perfect hills for sledding (or sliding, as we always called it then).  Every day after school, no matter how cold it was, if the hills were in good condition, we were out there.  We had runner sleds, aluminum flying saucers, and eventually even a toboggan and a bobsled that someone gifted to my brother.  We wore longjohns under our pants and wool snowpants over them, thick socks and buckle-up boots over our shoes -- and of course, sweaters, jackets, hats and mittens.  Sometimes scarves as well.  

We would stay out until it got nearly dark and we were soaked right through.  Then we'd go in, hang up our wet clothes down cellar, and drink hot cocoa with big spoonfuls of marshmallow fluff.  

2. Tell us about the last time or a recent time you were caught up in red tape. Does it send your frustration level off the charts or is it something you've come to expect when dealing with any sort of bureaucracy?

Can't think of a good answer to this except that whether dealing with the state, the town, or any governmental body, or even the medical establishment, or insurance companies, often the right hand does not seem to know what the left hand is doing.

Nothing to do with red tape, but below is my finished January sampler -- part of a set I've made of the three months of winter.  This is my first year displaying this one.  Love it.

 

The little "Snow Day" pattern was included and I made that one first.

3. Do you eat/like fish? Do you cook fish at home? What's your favorite fish dish? Ever been ice fishing? 

We do like fish.   Below is a plate of fish and chips, which is probably our favorite fish dish.  I don't cook fish at home too often.   Probably fish chowder would be the dish I'd be most likely to make at home.  Nope, never been ice fishing, though it's a big sport up here when conditions are right.

4. Did you watch any of the US President's Inauguration coverage on Monday, Jan 20? On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being not at all and 10 being very very) how interested are you in politics in general? Do you follow/keep up with/ get involved with local politics? 

We did watch a good bit of it.  Were invited to the home of friends for a watch party, which was fun.  I would say that we are quite interested in politics, maybe an 8 on a scale of 1-10.  We do keep up somewhat with local politics -- especially on the county level.  And not politics, but patriotism and love for our country propels my hubby to participate in a local flag wave that's happened every Saturday morning in our town for nearly 230 consecutive weeks.

5. What's the coziest thing you own and what makes it so? 

I am going to say our vintage soapstone wood stove. I don't have a good photo of it, but it's in the background of the photo below.  We used to have a different, century-old wood stove in that spot, but moved it to our camp and installed this one, from my parents' home in our kitchen instead.  Oh, it is so cozy.  You may know that soapstone is a material that holds heat beautifully.  The nice flat top of this stove means that we can also use it to heat things -- like a little pot of simmering fruit and spices -- or to warm up leftovers or a cup of tea.   Usually in winter we have used our wood furnace (forced hot air, with ductwork to all of the rooms) exclusively, but this year we are using the kitchen stove as well and it is really making a difference to how much wood we use.  Surprisingly, we are using less.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Although we didn't get a ton of snow, we are in a deep freeze here at the gateway to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Fifteen below zero when we got up.  It is all the way up to 2º now.  Perfect conditions for making ice art like that below.  I made these in a heart shaped cake pan using some very large rose petals from a bargain bouquet.

 
And there is this week's chilly hodgepodge!

On Christmas Eve day

 

 It's cold and snowy for Christmas Eve here in New Hampshire.  We live pretty much in the middle of the state, just below where the White Mountains begin and just above the beautiful Lakes Region.  Not far from the iconic view above, in fact.

Yesterday morning we woke up to negative temperatures -- 3 below zero! 

Then last night it snowed and is in fact snowing now on Christmas Eve morning.  It's "warmer" today -- 15º when we got up and all the way up to 20º now, at 9 am.

Yesterday I was browsing through an older (2010) Victoria magazine -- one of their "Holiday Bliss" compilations.  I read the following:

"There is a special kind of contentment in watching the world go by from the coziness of our own space, as the snow falls and the wind whistles just beyond the windowpane."

And it's true!  I've experienced that so many times and noticed it again yesterday.  We don't have a fireplace, but a wonderful soapstone wood stove in our kitchen kept things so cozy that, whenever I stepped out onto the screened porch to gather cookies or fudge for a gift plate, the bitter cold was an outright shock.

The delightful photo above, of two granddaughters in our kitchen in December 2022,  shows our soapstone stove, just behind Ari in her Santa hat.

The Victoria writer went on to describe moments outdoors during a light snowfall: 

"Letting the snow land gently on your nose and hair, breathing in the cold air, and relishing the stark landscape are singular pleasures of a frosty winter's day.  The promise of your home, glowing from the inside with light and warmth, makes a chilly afternoon stroll even more meaningful."

Again, very true.  If I were to step outside right now, the first sentence describes exactly what I would be experiencing.

Yet I couldn't help but think a little more deeply about this.  Cold and snow and whistling winds are all very well when you can step back into your nice warm home.

But what if your home was washed away?  What if your only shelter is a tent?  What if your loved ones are not only missing from your Christmas table, but ... missing altogether?  It's cold here in New Hampshire, but ...

 
A recent Instagram post by Heather Mills Schwartzen -- @to_sow_a_seed on Instagram -- reminded me that  That's her graphic you see above.  You can read her post here: Cold as All Get Out.  

Heather wrote: 

"You haven’t forgotten, have you? The shocking images of homes swept into raging waters, the pleas of family members searching for loved ones? They’re no longer in your news feed but friends, Appalachia is still recovering from Hurricane Helene."

"Families are still displaced.

People are still missing.

Areas are still largely unreachable.

Cleanup is ongoing."

 "We covet your prayers. There is much still to be done, three months on. Appalachia is strong and resilient and full of resourceful people. Pray for safety, provision, and that all this hurt will ignite a deeper desire to know and serve the Lord. He will be glorified!"

She goes on to describe efforts to help, and I will share some of the post below:

 
After reading this, Mr. T and I were moved to donate to  Samaritan's Purse and their rebuilding efforts in North Carolina and Tennessee.

We then followed the link to Heather's Amazon list and went shopping.  We  had a limited amount to spend, but it went far enough to get a warm sleeping bag, a child's jacket, four pairs of kids' gloves and a set of twelve hats.  We will check back next month and shop again as I'm pretty sure there will still be needs.  

And we have added the folks affected, and those working to help them, to our everyday prayer lists.  As Heather mentioned, prayer is our most powerful weapon in all times, but especially now.

Won't you do the same?

A bit of winter decor

 

Now that it's almost Valentine's Day,  I'm going to share the smidgen of winter decorating I did.  The area pictured above is the top of a shortish bookcase in a corner of the living room.  Some of these same items were here for Christmas decor, but they are lovely and wintry and so they remain -- the card back center, from our good friend Kristina; the beautiful winter pitcher is by Hallmark and was a thrift store find a couple of years ago; and the little cardinal, for whatever reason, was found in a kitchen drawer at my childhood home.

The crewel picture of a skating boy was made by me in the 1970s; the winter tag was made by me a few years ago; the little house in a jar was made by me from a repurposed candle jar; the blue snowflake made by a crafting friend; and the "January" garland was made by my friend Judy.

Inquiring minds might like a closer look at a couple of things.  Below is the back side of the January/winter tag.  It was my first attempt at tag making and I still love it.

This is the front of the tag.  I repurposed a little snowman charm from a defunct necklace.

This adorable project was so much fun to make.  Find out how I did it here: Winter house in a jar.  I'm still astounded that I was able to pull this project together. 

Top 2 shelves of my winter hutch.

A blurry photo.  It's hard to photograph things in jars.  This one was repurposed from a mason jar with no lid, a figurine from a broken snow globe, and a page from an old hymnal.  The song is "Whiter Than Snow", but that's impossible to see from this photo.

A fun Christmas card from my daughter's family and some of my glitter houses.

"Snow" card made by my friend Judy; a cross stitch made by me

The two oldest grandgirls are now adults, but I've always liked this fun snowman photo of them.  The Fire King "Kimberly" mug just seems to fit with winter decor, and the cabin plate was a thrift store find.

And there is some of my simple winter decorating!

Saturday six

 

Just popping in on a Saturday afternoon to share a few blessings from this week.  Here goes:

1.  The opportunity to have our missionary friends Bill and Karen visiting our church last Sunday to update us all on their ministry in Papua New Guinea.  It was a wonderful day of fellowship.

2.  The blessing to be able to volunteer this week at The Wilds of New England.  It continues to amaze us that God is using us even in a tiny way in this wonderful ministry.

3.  Everything going smoothly in all of our projects -- my hubby's painting, carpentry and floor installation projects and my own work in the kitchen which helped keep volunteers and staff well fed.  It took a lot of detailed planning but I am praising the Lord that everything went so well.  We prepared lunches and dinners in the Inn, below.

4.  Lots of time with people!  Getting to know our fellow volunteers and staff a little better as we worked together and also shared meals around a table. Two phone calls with my friend Jennifer this week; it was good to stay caught up with her even while out of town.  Instagram messaging with my daughters and even a message from granddaughter Emily.  Getting to attend a discipleship Bible study on Tuesday night.  Having a wonderful, iron-sharpening-iron visit with my younger friend Cassie after supper last evening.

5.  Being able to go out for brunch yesterday with our friends Terry, Bill and Karen.  What a treat that was!  It meant taking a few hours out of our time at TWNE, but was well worth it to be able to get our widowed friend Terry a little time with these dear ones she remembers from years gone by.  It was a refreshing time for all of us.

6.  Small amounts of free time so I was able to do a little bit of crochet and counted cross stitch,  and even a little bit of blogging.   I was also able to have a truly blessed quiet time each morning and do some studying ahead for Sunday Scripture posts.

It was a busy week but a good one.  Hope all of you had a good week as well!