Worn Out!

Greetings to my blogland friends! I have missed you all this past week:).

We have just returned from a long visit with my mother at Sweetbrier Cottage

http://sweetbriercottage.blogspot.com/

It was bitterly cold in Georgia where she lives so needless to say I was happy to return to warmer temps here in the Lowcountry.

Upon our return home yesterday I was greeted by sunny skies and blooms galore on our rose and camilla bushes.

Wouldn't it be nice to see them?

Yeah, I thought so too. I received this wonderful camera for Christmas from hubby which currently has pictures of these gorgeous blooms; however, I have yet to get the software loaded onto my computer so the picture of the camera with the pictures of the flowers on it's memory card is the best I can do for now (no, I don't know how to load new software onto the computer:).

I am not the most technologically adept person, get the picture-lol!

Anyway, as you can see Kramer is worn out from the trip...

as is Lizzy...
Calvin is tired but won't take a nap for fear he may miss something...
while Kasey sleeps on the bed.
Just a word to let you know that I love you all as you have given me much joy, inspiration, and friendship in the past year.
I look forward to the posts ahead in the coming year:)!

I leave you with some pictures of Kasey enjoying the Christmas Day plunder of toys:).
Kasey, you can't have all the toys, you have to share!

She seems to like the squirrel best.
Happy New Year from all of us at The Victorian Parlor!!!

Merry Christmas!

"'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"

Matthew 2:6, NIV

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2: 13-14, NIV

"But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Luke 1: 30-33, NIV

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Matthew 2: 1-2, NIV

Sunday Wisdom

"But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Luke 1: 30-33, NIV

A Lowcountry Christmas

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" so the song tells us.

I haven't done much decorating this year but I did put a few things out.

A Santa plate holds sugar in the kitchen.

As I sit and type this I am drinking my Christmas tea while the sounds of the King College Choir ring out in the background.
The Christmas edition of Victorian Homes magazine awaits me.

Three contemplative cherubs patiently wait for the upcoming Christmas celebration while holiday candles send scents of pumpkin, pine, and apple cider wafting through the air.

My favorite Christmas books are displayed.

A collection of Grinch figurines add whimsy to the oak china cabinet

(The Grinch was always my favorite Christmas cartoon:).

Santa and Rudolph grace another shelf.

Red birds in the dining room...

beneath sparkling winter wishes...

are serenaded by a chorus of angels nearby.

The wonderful thing about a Victorian home...

is that it feels like Christmas year round with colors of burgundy, green, and gold and cherubs to behold:).

Even the china cabinet has Christmas touches.

A Scrooge nutcracker tops the TV cabinet along with a Christmas arrangement of berries and pine sprigs.

It definately feels like Christmas within...

However,

outside it is a typical Lowcountry Christmas with roses still in bloom.

even the Pentas are sporting Christmas blooms.

Here is our Santa tree frog who paid us a visit last night:).

As I visit so many of you I have enjoyed reading about the weather and the Christmas celebrations in your corner of the world.

It fascinates me the differences we all experience.

Although most of you are enjoying snow or frosty temps we here in the Lowcountry are finally fealing a bit of a chill to the air with temperatures in the 40's and overcast skies.

May you all have a wonderful week of Christmas celebrations as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas from the Victorian a Parlor!

Fuzzy Faces, Bear Faces

Recently I adopted Miss Josephine, one of the Bumpkin Bears by artist Catherine Young

http://bumpkinbears.blogspot.com/

Here is one of her other creations, Hammish, my Christmas present from hubby last year.

Hammish was very excited that his little sister, Miss Josephine, had arrived safely wrapped in pretty pink tissue paper:).

Here she is sitting in Hammish' lap.
Can you see the family resemblence?
They are very happy to be together with their sweet, fuzzy bear faces.

Of course, the other bears, bunnies, and critters of the Terra Cottage Township were very excited too.

They are planning a tea party to celebrate the arrival of Miss Josephine.

Speaking of fuzzy faces, here is Kasey's lovely fuzzy face.

Calvin has a cute fuzzy face too!

Kramer's handsome fuzzy face:).

Hmmm, here's another fuzzy face. This fuzz was grown for the filming of 'The Conspirator' and had to stay until filming was over.

Well guess what-today was the day!!!

Bye, Bye beard,

Bye, Bye fuzzy face!

Hello smooth face,

I think I'm gonna smile!

Even Lizzy prefers daddy with a smooth 'bear' face:).

Sunday Wisdom

"John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

Luke 3:11, NIV

Kramer Chronicles-Hmph!

Hmph! I was just at

http://sweetbriercottage.blogspot.com/

where my grandma posted about all of the granddogs but she forgot me!

I'm a dog too! Yeah, I know, people say I'm a cat but they're just confused!

Let's talk about this for a minute because we need to clarify some things.

First, I can stretch farther.

I sit on the couch like the dogs.

I can sleep in contorted positions!

Here's Calvin doing the Kramer crouch (not as well as me I must say).

Look at these paws! They're paws of steel!

I can even do the Kramer crouch standing up!

I can be very tall,

I can stretch really far,

I can even dance! Step to the front, two, three,

to the side, two, three.

"Do a little dance, chase a little toy, jump up tonight, jump up tonight!"

I am a master of disguise! Can you see me now?

How about now?

I know, pretty clever, huh? The chair has two extra legs!

All I have to say is...the next time there is a post about the dogs don't forget me!

And that's all I have to say about that.

It's time for a cat nap:).