Welcome to the Cotswolds again.  I completed half my shopping for dinner now it’s just Publix for the rest tomorrow and then finish my house cleaning Friday and prep some stuff Sat for Sun.  All my gifts are bought…except one which I’m doing tomorrow…the tree is up the décor is overdone and today we’re doing A TYPICAL CHRISTMAS….it works–I hope.  Don’t forget to watch for his Scottishness at the end.

“Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.” — Zuzu Bailey (Karolyn Grimes) It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

        10″ CLEAR FROSTED GLASS COCA COLA DINNER PLATES   $10.85

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262772773228?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2648

 

 

 

(First today is my office…draped with gold garland with tiny presents hanging from it and more of those decorative bags with snowman and Santa kitty.)

So what is a typical Christmas….I think in this big diverse world that is hard to explain…for we are much more in contact with the rest of the world and we see what others do and their décor and traditions so that this while making our knowledge more the same leads to a diversity of use of that knowledge which can make it more different from street to street in the same town or even house to house on those streets.

My typical is over decorating as you have seen in my previous–as well as today’s blogs–I use secular themes though I have had nativities and religious icons and scenes, its just lately I seem to have gone more to snowmen and penguins which have very little traditional or legends and more just fun and pop culture.

More traditional of course is the nativity scene as of course this day is celebrated as Christ’s birthday…But it is more likely a date determined by the Romans based on gods worshipped by the troops.   (infact:  The modern Armenian church……to celebrate Christmas on January 6  http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/       Showing that while the main date celebrated is December 25th this is not typical among Armenian Christians) though it is typical in most Christian countries and with the majority of Christians where ever they live or find themselves on December 25th.

(Here I used wrapping paper with a paper wreath and this garland including bulbs.)

”Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind and that’s what’s been changing. That’s why I’m glad I’m here, maybe I can do something about it.” — Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn)

Mircle on 34th Street (1947)

(Even a little addition to the calendar.)

When  I think of Christmas décor of course there’s trees…from a live one to an artificial in the US.    According to the American Christmas Tree Association:   78 percent of U.S. Households Will Display Christmas Trees This Season, so even though we’re in the majority there are 22% who won’t….so trees while common aren’t the all inclusive or typical for everyone. And even if they have a tree it could be real or not.  In fact since their invention and introduction in the 1930’s by a company that made toilet bowl brushes: ” artificial trees have continued to gain widespread popularity. In 2007 alone, almost 18 million were sold here in the U.S.”  http://www.moneycrashers.com/real-fake-artificial-christmas-tree-types-facts/   In India where there aren’t a lot of fir trees Mangos are often used….I have a mango in my back yard and it just doesn’t look very Christmas tradition, let alone festively orientated for any holiday I can think of.

People all over the world decorate Christmas trees though it is believed the current traditions started in Germany in the 15th and 16th century.   And they put toppers on these trees….I use a star but according to Wikipedia the most common topper is

An Angel

then stars (I’m in second place again…how typical)

and “less common tree-toppers include paper rosettes, ribbon bows, Father Christmases or Santa Clauses, Christian crosses, Christmas owls, and sunbursts.”   So we don’t even have a typical tree topper…I thought the owl was an interesting one as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tree with an owl on its top and what exactly is a Christmas owl as apposed to a say New Years owl?…..interesting.

Oh and in Germany it is more typical for the tree to be put up and decorated on Christmas Eve than the days or weeks we see other places especially here in the US.

And the possibilities for all the décor for the tree is as limitless as the imagination.  In fact HGTV has a site (http://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/design-101/18-festive-christmas-tree-themes-pictures) which includes 18 different tree ideas from a Hawaiian Theme with features multiple star fish shells to a tree made out of books with a star on top.  One is set up in a metal cart which allows you to move it from room to room which is new to me but according to the article is becoming more TYPICAL.

(As you might have noticed I decorate everything.)

“Look, Charlie, let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know.” — Lucy Van Pelt

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

(Even my printer isn’t safe…snowmen for me can be typical but there’s so many alternative and I have them all or as many as I can find)

While we in America typically but probably not all—put stockings on the mantel…or if no mantel then assorted other areas where the big guy might drop in on Christmas night for a great surprise on Christmas morning this isn’t typical everywhere–in France children, for instane,  put their polished shoes in front of the fire place or chimney in hopes that Pere Noel (Father Christmas) will leave sweets in them.

In Holland presents are handed out on December 5th, while in Serbia it’s the Sunday before…..much earlier than the Christmas eve or day traditions in the US (unless Christmas is on a Monday for the Serbians)–In Japan instead of under a tree or in a stocking presents are put on the kid’s pillow on Christmas eve night while they’re sleeping.

(This is a reindeer that use to light up…it doesn’t anymore but I still use it for my décor and that’s just tissue paper to add a little sparkle to my office chair—when I’  not using it.)

“Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved.” — Adult Ralphie as narrator (Jean Shepherd)

A Christmas Story (1985)

Check out the latest on the print shop:  http://www.ibtimes.com.au/outlander-season-3-print-shop-scene-just-filmed-behind-scenes-pictures-1536647

Claire, Brianna and Frank more on season 3:  http://ew.com/tv/2016/12/20/outlander-first-look-claire-brianna-frank/

More about the baby:  http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1602731/outlander-is-adding-a-baby-and-she-looks-adorable-see-the-first-picture

“That’s what Christmas memories are made from, they’re not planned, they’re not scheduled, nobody puts them in their Blackberry, they just happen.” — Kelly Finch (Kristin Davis)

Deck the Halls (2006)

GREEN POTTERY DECANTER AZTEC GOD KAHULA BOTTLE VINTAGE (262769349072)   $4.99

(here are three snowmen candles that fit together and a  couple my mom made:  A Santa where she stuffed and sewed together an existing pattern and  a crocheted Doilie like item with a trumpet attached)

“Christmas is just about my favorite time. Ever since I was a little kid, I always felt like it was my own personal holiday.” — Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney)

Ernest  Saves Christmas  (1988)

Boyds Bear Zoe the Angel of Life 1997 (262766948111)    $4.79

(Santa hats make nice décor…more garland and stockings…even some artificial pine pieces in the cup—a Santa teedy in a doll’s chair and that poinsettia was crocheted by my mum and is accented in a glass dish with a few small bulbs)

“It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year we are the people that we always hoped we would be.” — Frank Cross (Bill Murray)

Scrogged (1988)

           

ORVIS 100% COTTON STRIPED OXFORD STYLE WOMEN’S SHIRT     $12.83