It's Beginning to Look a Tiny Little Bit Like Christmas.

 

 

Amazing what you find under the Tree.

Santa Trickster Arrived Early

 

I woke up the other morning to find that Santa Trickster had arrived early at my house.  Dressed in a Pig Costume he came down the chimney and got

 

STUCK ON TOP OF OUR PIANO!!!!

My second Misses Carruthers book is now available through amazon.com

Here is an excerpt from my new book.  Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter one Stir-Up Sunday

"Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people..." As the sermon continued, the five little sisters squirmed and wiggled. Only Faith, the eldest, tried to keep still.

"Shhh…" whispered Mrs. Carruthers. She pulled her youngest daughter, four-year-old Thisbee, onto her lap to try and hush her.

Faith put her arm around Agatha and held her tight while Mr. Carruthers gathered the twins onto his lap. Soon Elspeth fell asleep against his shoulder.

At long last the church service was over, the family left and returned home. Excited, the girls could not stop talking about "Stir-up Sunday" and the Christmas Plum Pudding. They were all going to help make it!

Cook had been busily assembling the ingredients. Faith was allowed to crack the eggs. Lilith and Elspeth combined the bread crumbs, spices, and flour. Agatha vigorously stirred together the butter and sugar. Thisbee added the dried fruit.

"Stop eating all the currants, Thisbee." said Agatha, who herself had been known to sneak a taste.

Soon the entire family was taking turns, stirring and making wishes. Finally Mr. Carruthers added the silver sixpence and Cook wrapped it all up in a cloth and put it in a pan to boil. Agatha stared at the pot. She kept on staring as the rest of the family drifted away, out of the kitchen, into the nursery to play or into the library to read.

Agatha was still watching the pot a half hour later when Cook, finished with some other chores, came to check on the pudding.

"What? You’re still here? Run along, you silly. The pudding won’t be done for hours. And after that, you know, it still won’t be done because we won’t actually eat it until Christmas Day."

From the parlour came the sounds of piano music. Faith was playing Christmas carols.

"That sounds very nice, my dear." her mother told her. "I think if you keep practicing you should be ready to play for us on Christmas Eve. What fun it will be to gather around and sing."

"Oh, no, Mama. I couldn’t. You must play as you always do." protested Faith.

"Oh, Faith." piped in Lilith. "Why don’t you play? Why don’t we have a Christmas show? We could perform on Christmas Eve instead of doing a game of Charades."

Elspeth was nodding her head excitedly. "Yes, yes. Let’s do it! I’ll write the script. We can all be in it and for the grand finale, Agatha can sing while Faith accompanies her."

"That’s a fine idea." their mother began but Agatha had just come in from the kitchen.

"What’s a fine idea?" she wondered, dropping down on the rug in front of the fire.

"We’re going to do our own show for Christmas." Elspeth proclaimed. "I’m going to write a wonderful story. We’ll have parts to act out and Faith will play the piano."

"What part will I have?" asked Agatha. "And what about Thisbee? She’s too little to have a part."

"No I’m not. I’m not too little." said Thisbee angrily. "What’s a part?" she wanted to know.

Their mother chuckled. "You are all going to be in a Christmas play." she told her. "I’m sure Elspeth will think of something special for you to do."

"Yes." agreed Elspeth. "It will ALL be very special. And now I have to go find some paper and start writing. Come on Lilith, let’s get to work."

The twins trotted out of the parlour and headed upstairs to the nursery. Agatha tagged along after them.

****************************************************

The days passed and the Carruthers sisters became more and more excited as the household started getting ready for Christmas. Besides the play, there were decorations to arrange, greens to put up, and ornaments to make.

Big sister Faith was helping little Thisbee make some Christmas decorations. She took an orange and showed Thisbee how to make scented pomanders which they would use as ornaments for their Christmas tree.

"See Thisbee." she explained patiently for the second time. "See how you take the sharp pointed end of the clove and stick it into the outside of the orange. Like this." She demonstrated, then placed her hand around Thisbee’s tiny one and guided her with the task.

"Oh, now I see." said Thisbee. "Like this?"

And, proudly, she added clove after clove until the entire orange was covered with cloves.

"Yes. That’s perfect." her sister assured her. "Think how nice they will look hanging on our tree at Christmas."

In another part of the parlour Mrs. Carruthers was helping the other girls.

"Take a square of paper, fold it in half, and then cut a curved piece off at the top. The two sides should be equal." She showed them how to join up the circle so it formed a cone shape.

The girls followed her example, making several colorful paper cones. Later, on Christmas Eve, these would be hung on the tree, filled with candies and nuts.

Poetry Lovers: enjoy these books.

After the Thanksgiving feasting, skip the pumpkin pie

 and instead indulge in these tasty morsels and dainty tidbits.

 

 

 

You can go to amazon.com

to dip into these poetry treats.

Just use the "Look Inside" feature

 to see a few of these poems.

 

Vignetta Tomes: Traveler Beware!!A new species has been recently ...

Vignetta Tomes:  Traveler Beware!!A new species has been recently ...:   Traveler Beware!! A new species has been recently discovered rampaging through concrete jungles, lurking in dangerous canyons of as...

Happy Veterans' Day

Presenting a hand painted portrait of the LIBERTY BLUE TURKEY, a rare and very valuable wild bird that once roamed the North American continent providing many environmental benefits. Now it is almost EXTINCT! If you catch a glimpse of this glorious beast consider yourself fortunate indeed.

 



I've Always Loved Autumn

 

I’ve Always Loved Autumn
　

I’ve always loved Autumn --

leaves falling from Heaven --

warm, cozy, yet exhilarating.

Whirling crazily like

snow in a Snow globe --

more magnificent than manna.

　

Summer’s final golden gift

before winter.

　

10/29/17

����������������������������������������������������������������

 

The Dance of the Leaves 　

Floating, gliding,

Drifting, riding

On the breeze.

　
Soaring, whirling,

Spinning, twirling

From the trees.

　
And in a trance,

I watch them dance.

It’s autumn!

　

December 1971

����������������������������������������������������������������

 

 

 

 

 



BOO

 

GrapebamBOO that is.

 

 

 

And here's Headless Barbie returning for another year's haunting.

 

BOO, indeed.

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Haunted by the Ghosts of Halloweens Past???

Happy Hauntings indeed
 when you scan through the photos
 in your dusty old photo albums.

1970



1971

 



 

 1973

 

 

 1974

 

 

1973

 

mid 70's

 



 

 1975

 

 

1975

 

 

1975

 

 

1975

  

 

 1974

 

 

1976



 

 

 1991

 

 

 2001

 

 

 2002

 

 

 

 2003

 

 

2003

 

2003

 

 

2007

 

 

2007

 

 

2007

 

 

2007

 

 

2008

 

 

 2013

 

2014

 



 

2015

 

 

 

 ??????????

 

what, waha

this isn't from my photo album........

...............................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiny Pathetic Harvest

My tiny, pathetic harvest.

Hey, it's better than nothing.

Found In the Forest!!!!

Foraging in my Fairy Forest,

 finding festive Fall frivolities for friends.

 

 

 

 

Two Fairy Wands

underneath the ferns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look, it's a

Hallobambooween Tree.

 



Autumnal Augeries

 

Here's a sampling of my poetry

 over the years.  These poems were inspired by

 one of my favorite seasons --- Autumn.

a giant mushroom from my side yard

 

Orange and Ocher

 

Orange and Ocher -
Autumnal ephemera
Fades into winter

 

November 2003

 

 

Orange Changes

 

Drive
I-5
north
to Seattle
in the fall.

The trees
are starting
to change color
and some of them are
spectacularly orange.

 

1980s?

Orange Eyes

 

I need the autumn
and its orange eyes
to warm me
with embers like a kiss
or caresses from the skies.

 

8/20/83

 

Orange Priests

 

Orange Priests
in leafy robes
wave benediction
with the autumn breeze.

Hopeful supplicants,
the pilgrims come
to worship at this place.

 

10/31/89

 

 

lovely birch leaves in my side yard

 

  

Autumnal Jewels

 

Autumnal jewels,

adorning all the landscape,

dangling from each tree.

 

October 16, 2005

 

 

AUTUMN

Days are growing shorter;

there’s crispness in the air.

Leaves of red and yellow

are falling everywhere.

The wind blows much harder

and the rain pours down each day.

Wear your warmest jacket

because winter’s on the way!

 

March 1971

 

 

Autumn Prayer

 

Thank You, God, for autumn days

And leaves of gold and red.

Although the nights are frosty,

We keep snug and warm in bed!

 

1971 purchased by Concordia Publishing (Happy Times

but never published)

 

 

The Dance of the Leaves

 

Floating, gliding,

Drifting, riding

On the breeze.

Soaring, whirling,

Spinning, twirling

From the trees.

And in a trance,

I watch them dance.

It’s autumn!

 

December 1971

from my book of poetry:

Gnarled Roots

oak tree in my backyard

 

 

Quarrelling Squirrels

 

Under the oak tree

we see quarrelling squirrels.

They bury a nut.

 

9/22/09

 

 

Quilt

 

A quilt on the line

waving wildly in the wind.

It’s almost winter.

 

September 22, 2009

 

 

APPLIQUE

 

Black lace, gray velvet.
The oak stands out against the
Dusky autumn sky.

 

1975

from Gnarled Roots

 

 

 

 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Halloween

 

 

 

My adorably cute grandson in 2002.

 

 

 

 

Pumpkincat.  Painting, acrylic on canvas.  2014.