Sunday, December 8, 2019

Greenery


Good Morning Friends.
Looks like we might have some
milder temps today in the 40's,
with rain coming in; not snow.

Last evening we hosted our vendor
party at our home.
Everyone loved the house....
Bob told them the
 historical society
dropped us from the home tour.
Everyone agreed it was a bad mistake.

Some said I should have done
my own tour and charged a fee for 
a charity.
That is a great idea...and I may think 
about it for next year.

Our Back Porch Store 
storewide Christmas sale was a hit this year.
We do 20% on most items.
Its an annual event that coincides
with the Merritine Christmas in town.

Although the Chamber of Commerce 
does not recognize our side of town
in its festivities, we always have
done something special for our customers.
Coffee, tea and cookies...
and the sales.
Maybe one day the town will realize 
there are more stores on the other street.
They even have a trolley
that just stops on the one street....
and they had the nerve to ask us to pay for it this year. 
Oh well.


Enough of my ranting.
Time for today's post.


Although the Christmas tree
was not yet established in the colonies.


Greenery and berries
were prevalent in a colonial home. 


With so many varieties of wild berries
and pine trees,


those were gathered up and placed
inside one's home for the
Christmas Season.


Boughs of holly, laurel, ivy
and mistletoe would be found.



The original mistletoe tradition was to pick
a berry and kiss someone,
not stand underneath it.
If mistletoe was not found, holly
was used in its place.
Once the berries were gone,
the kissing stopped.

Before being used to kiss someone,
mistletoe was used to ward off evil.

A fun fact about mistletoe.
It is poisonous to us humans,
but butterflies lay their eggs on it.
Birds can eat the berries.
Bees also love the pollen it provides.

Well off to clean up the house.
Finish laundry and work on 
my favorite items.

B U N N I E S

Always ahead of myself.
LOL

Do you have mistletoe or holly in your home?

What will this Sunday find you doing?

Greenery Blessings To All!
Janice

12 comments:

  1. Your house looks very beautiful with all the greenery and lights. It must have such lovely atmosphere. I do hope that next year you will have a tour of your house for the people of your town. Again, thanks for the history lesson.
    Hugs, Julia

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    1. Thank you Julia. It is nice sitting with just the lights on at night. Very magical. Janice

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  2. I bet your party last night was fun! There is something extra when a party is in someone's home that is all decked out for the holidays too. One year, we visited Williamsburg right after Christmas, which was my gift that year, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of their traditional colonial decorations and the nightly Militia march with the torches in the center square. We even managed to get a seat at Chownings(they don't do reservations) and enjoyed wonderful traditional Virginian Brunswick Stew. It was beautiful and fun to be able to step back in time during the Christmas Holidays. Your home reminds me of some of the things we were able to see.

    This Sunday, the temps outside are up again in the 70s and tomorrow and Tuesday is supposed to be 80! Never fails. I get my live tree up and it turns hot!! LOL!!

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    1. Visiting Colonial Williamsburg is probably as nice as visiting our Henry Ford museum at Christmas. Hopefully your tree won’t die in the warmer temps. Janice

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  3. What a great idea! You should do that! UGG, we as in the little shop I sell at are also on the other "side' of the river and we don't get included in anything....so we try to create our own too. I remember as a child, my mom had a "kissing ball" (plastic from KMart) hanging in the doorway, it was tradition to kiss someone under it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So you have the same problem as we do. We have so much in common it’s a bit eerie. I remember those kissing balls. Our Kmart is closing at the end of the month. I do remember those blue light specials. Janice

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  4. Our town started doing a merchants card punching game that includes all merchants no matter where in town they are. You stop by and get the card punched, vote on their window décor and then names are drawn for gift basket prizes. It's fun and co-insides with the annual Christmas parade, tree lighting and fireworks. I think you should do a home tour. Your decorations are magical! It could be really fun! (work, but fun!)

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    Replies
    1. That is an awesome idea! It was a lot of work, but starting in September it was not much of a rush to get it all done. Janice

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  5. Love all your greenery. I am still decorating...but getting close to finishing :)

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  6. Don't mock me but I still have last year's mistletoe hanging up in the hallway. I need to do something about that! Lovely post, Janice!

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  7. Lol. All good and hope you got lots of kisses throughout the year! Janice

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