Christmas Tour 2023 Part 1

 I didn't do a tour last year and I missed it for myself. I love looking back as I am a reflective evaluator by nature, so this year I am doing a picture heavy post. I will do a life update at the end, so scroll on through if you feel as though you have seen it already. I did make some changes in the dining room.

The Christmas cactus has started blooming. This was a week ago when it first started poking those little blooms out. It fell over 2 years ago and this year it is filling in all those holes.  The plant is about 9 years old and was a tiny thing from Walmart I believe.

Then looking into the house. I took these one morning so it is kind of dark in the rooms that I am sharing today.

Nothing has changed here and it is still one of my favorite spots in the house. Oh and the camellias (the flower on the table is a camellia) are late blooming around here this year. They are all loaded with blooms and I simply can't wait for the explosion of color on my street. I did see one little red one Tuesday on my walks.

Moving into the hallway not much changed. I am still loving the little banister sashes I made and am choosing them over the traditional garland drapes. I think that was one downsize that is here to stay. 

You may have noticed the herons got a new color ribbon this year. It is the most delightful Christmas green and I am loving it. You will see more in a minute.

Next up is the Auburn tree and the start of presents being wrapped and stored on the pool table. Gus is past the point of shredding them, but I love sorting them all out on the table and seeing what I still need to buy.

The other set of banister sashes and a wee bit of ....

of decor to draw your eye to the stairwell. It is hard to see, but just a little red truck.

Now, turning to the dining room, there is a new table runner. Mother fretted over all her decorations and I have to say the girls got most of it but the table runner was left and I decided to use it this year. 

This led to the ribbon color change which I actually am loving so much.

The sconces got the green ribbon this year as well as a few other things like the corner of the rocker which I have not pictured.

Lights off.

Lights on.

I added a bit more green and some real pinecones in the bowl of ornaments on the table to pull in all the green.

The last stop on the tour for today is the guest bathroom where I added that green to the top of the tree and a little tartan which I so love on the lantern with a favorite little pot of ornaments.

This end of the week post is sort of working for me, so maybe next week I can share the remainder of the tour. There is a change in the living room. It doesn't take me long at all to put up Christmas since all of it is things I have had for years. My issue is finding time to communicate with others. I have never been worse than this year on reading all my favorite blogs and commenting. It is a season of life and not the easiest one if I am being truthful. 

Mother received her procedure to deaden the nerves in her lumbar region on Monday. It has a long name, but we will just skip that. The doctor said in could take up to 7 days to start working and the amount of help it provides is a wide spectrum for each individual. It seems to have helped and I am grateful for that. It will last from 4-6 months. I am just hopeful it can give her some good days. She has 3 appointments next week, so more running. 2 are orthopedic and one ENT. Run, run, run!

Jeff has had a variety of issues which are quite troubling. This Parkinson's diagnosis has been a gut punch to our family and honestly more so for him. I went to my doctor in Pensacola yesterday and spent most of my time talking about Jeff. He reminded me this is a marathon. Marathons are hard. I was a runner at one time. 

I am stitching and reading when I have time. I did go back and make me one of those ornaments with the reindeer and cardinals. It is hanging on our tree making me happy. I hope to share some stitching with folks before Christmas. 

I take each day as it comes thankful that I live near my kids and that I get to see grandsons often. Lindsay is good about always getting us to take our picture. Last Sunday, we were all there for the same service time. Typically one kid goes early and one late which matches them to a Tee, but they were both at the same one with us. Hence, family picture.

Fall is everywhere in the Panhandle of Florida. This is truly such a pretty time here. The next picture was taken Tuesday late afternoon.  Yesterday it was bright and sunny and lots of color across the bayou. It is cool this week, but it looks like fall anyway.

That is it for this post. 

Remember to hug your people.