Are You Kidding ... It Can't Be Wednesday Already???

Oh my ... where has this week gone?  I have been faithfully chipping away at my To Do list, day by day, paying very little attention to what day it actually is.  Since I was last here a few days ago, I have accomplished a LOT.  Settle in and let's get caught up.

Saturday.  

Toured four beautifully decorated houses in downtown Fredericksburg during the annual Christmas Candlelight Tour.

Played hostess in the living room of one of the tour houses in the afternoon.

Spent the evening with our grandsons while our daughter and her husband went to her work Christmas party.

This is how our daughter found me (and Grandson #1) when they got home.

Sunday.

Met a greyhound hauler from Florida to pick up three dogs who were going to an adoption group in Maryland.

Missed the Greyhounds Rock meeting, because the hauler ran into bad weather on his trip north and was running late.  Participated in the meeting via cell phone after I dropped off the dogs.

Hung out with some very fun, very crafty women at The Empty Nest ... making Christmas decorations, eating, and lots of laughing.  Thank you, Janet, for hosting us!!

Monday.

Bug out of the house while the cleaning lady is here, and continue to chip away at the Christmas Shopping List.  Made good progress.

Put lights on second Christmas tree ... this one isn't prelit, darn it.

This is our prelit tree in the family room, with shims under the stand because the floors in this old house are uneven in places.

I still have to put the skirt under it.

Edit and print Christmas Letter.  Letters from some people are nauseating brag fests, but ours isn't.  I tried to eliminate the letter years ago, but this was met with protests from everyone on our Christmas Card list.


Tuesday.

Go to Shumate Auction tag sale.  It was the estate of a seamstress, and I thought I'd find some cool sewing stuff.  I passed on the machines, notions, and fabric (though there was one bolt of Waverly toile that I really, really wanted ... but had no use for.)  I left with a wonderful 6-board antique chest that will live in our guest/grandkid bedroom.

Address and mail Christmas cards and packages.  I only had two packages to wrap and mail, and about 30 Christmas cards.  The cards have glitter on them ... and so do I after handling them.

Make dog stew.  I supplement Ruby's commercial dog food with home-cooked veggie-meat-rice mixture ... cooking a large batch every few weeks and freezing most of it.  With only one dog to feed right now, this batch of stew will last for about 10 weeks.

Wednesday (today).

Finish the last few Christmas decorations and get the boxes and totes out of the entry hall.

Go to the vet to pick up a case of Dorothy's cat food.  (she eats prescription food to help with her tendency to develop urinary crystals.)

Write and mail Christmas cards that I forgot about on Monday.

Do laundry and pack for our trip to New York City this weekend.  This is a bucket-list item for The Husband.  We quit putting it off, and this year we have made time to spend a long weekend seeing the New York Christmas sights and a show with friends.  Ruby is spending the weekend with my parents, so I have to pack her things, too.

One of the other items on Monday's list was to de-shed Ruby, since I noticed that she was starting to blow her undercoat.

Even with all of this seemingly-nonstop activity, preparations for this Christmas are fairly relaxed.  I'm not stressing about shopping or decorating.  For shopping, I made a list and have stuck to it, for the most part.  The Husband did most of the house decorating while I was out doing other things over the weekend, and the place looks really nice.

Family room mantel

  

I love Christmas and all that comes with it!!  I expect that this year may be the best one yet!  (I say this every year.)

How are you doing with your Christmas preparations?

Meeting Myself Coming and Going

This weekend is going to be a wild one, with multiple commitments on both days and very little time to spend at home.  Fortunately, every single thing that we have to do is something fun!

Saturday afternoon, The Husband and I will be hosting at one of the houses in downtown Fredericksburg on the Christmas Candlelight Tour.  Historic Fredericksburg Foundation goes all out every year, and the homes are always beautifully decorated.

photo from the house we worked on 2012 Christmas Tour.

Because we are working the tour in the afternoon, we are taking the tour in the morning so we can see the other houses. 

photo from the house we worked on 2011 Christmas Tour.

Saturday evening, we plan to go out for dinner somewhere to take advantage of the fact that we will both be nicely dressed and looking very Christmas-y, then we will spend the evening at our daughter's house to babysit the grandkids.  Now that I think of it, I should take a change of clothes with me so I can get on the floor and play.

Sunday morning, bright and early, I will meet a hauler to pick up three greyhounds who are on their way from Florida to an adoption group in Maryland.  Transporting dogs like this has always been one of my favorite parts of working with greyhound adoption!

photo from a greyhound haul in 2012.

As soon as I drop off the dogs, we have to turn right around to make it to a meeting for Greyhounds Rock Fredericksburg, our charity that raises money for canine cancer research.  GRF meetings are always full of food and fun.  Our benefit in November was a great success ... this is the meeting where we figure out how much money we can donate to this year's beneficiary, The Mosby Foundation, and we start to plan what we will do in 2014.

Sweet Daniel, who died of lymphoma in May ... he didn't mind wearing those bunny ears.  He was such a good boy!

Sunday afternoon will be full of even MORE friends and fun!  I will be with the crew at The Empty Nest for crafts and girl time (and more food).

Whew!  I'm already tired from writing about this ... can't imagine how it will be after I actually LIVE it.  That's part of what Christmas is around here, though.  It's a season full of time with family and friends, doing good for others, enjoying decorations and great company.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Christmas Candlelight Tour ... Some Inside Information

When I told you in yesterday's post that I wasn't allowed to take photos inside the houses on Fredericksburg's Candlelight Tour, that wasn't exactly true.  Like last year, I was given permission to take photos inside the house where The Husband and I were volunteering.  There wasn't time for me to do as much as I wanted, and I was using my point-and-shoot camera so the photo quality is okay but not as good as I'd like, but I have a few photos to share so you can see some of the historic details and the beautiful decorations.  (I have supplemented my photos with ones that were published in the local paper.  Links to the newspaper articles will be at the end.)

I think it's easier to create a drop-dead gorgeous arrangement on your mantel when the mantel is as lovely as this one to begin with.

Dining room fireplace

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The table was set with family china and crystal, and decorated with boxwood and apples.

The corner cupboard dates to 1800.

This door leads to the beautifully newly-renovated kitchen.

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For a tour like this, it takes hours and hours, and dedicated volunteers to create and place the decorations.

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Look at the detail on the home's curved staircase!

The first-floor guest bedroom is a comfortable, welcoming space.  In here, the homeowners displayed two Union military uniforms and a family bible with notations from a relative who was serving in the Army during the war.

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Tour volunteers have access to parts of the house where the public is not allowed to go.  In this house, we used the basement rooms to hang our coats and purses, sit and rest, and grab a snack.  I sure wish that OUR basement was a welcoming and comfortable as this one ... maybe one day.

Even the basement utility room was lovely!  You can see the modern boiler to the right of this fireplace, with the metal flue coming around and going into the original chimney. 

As I suspected, touring these beautiful homes this weekend has me all motivated to fill our own house with Christmas cheer.  I worked at it most of the day yesterday, while watching football, and I'm well on my way.   I'll share the results with you in a few days.  In the meantime, I'm having special company tomorrow, so I have to hop to it and get this place in better order.

If you want to read more about the Fredericksburg Candlelight Tour, specifically about the house where The Husband and I were volunteering, click HERE to go to the article in the local paper.  Here is another LINK from this morning's paper, with more historic details and photos.

Sunday Snapshot ... Fredericksburg Christmas Porches

Yesterday morning, The Husband and I did our annual shift as guides for one of the houses during the annual Christmas Candlelight Tour in historic downtown Fredericksburg.  Every year, half a dozen or so houses are selected for the tour, and each is decorated and staged beautifully.  There is so much wonderful Christmas inspiration in these houses!!  (unfortunately, no photography is allowed INSIDE the houses ... but I can take all the photos I want outside.)

I'm still looking at porches, as I refine the design for the posts and gingerbread trim that I hope will soon adorn OUR porch. 

I loved everything about this porch!

This is the rest of the front of the same house.

The 'wreaths' on these front doors were actually picture frames, wrapped in ribbon.

This was my favorite front door!  The red door, with the lime green accents in the decorations, was stunning!  (The hostess on the porch told me that the color is called "Perfectly Red" ... it really is perfect.)

... and this was my favorite color combination.  The apple green of the front doors was a perfectly-coordinated punch of color to go with the white siding, grey trim, and pale blue porch ceiling.

This is the house where The Husband and I worked all morning.  He was on the porch giving the history of the house, and I was in the dining room ... where it was warm.

My favorite house on the tour, both inside and outside, was this one.  It's known as the Hurkamp House, and it was built in the same year as our house (1848).  As we toured the inside, I was practically bombarded on all sides by inspiration that I can use as we transition from the construction and restoration phase of our place to (hopefully, one day) doing some real decorating around here.

Working this tour every year, with its beautiful historic homes and elegant decorations, always has me coming home motivated to put OUR house into its best Christmas shape.  Later today, The Husband will drag the tubs of decorations out of their storage area, and I will see what I can do.  Stay tuned.