Happy New Year 2019!

Wishing the very best new year to each of my wonderful followers! What are you doing to celebrate New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? Do you make resolutions? See you next year!

      Lord, as the New Year dawns today,

      Help me to put my faults away.

      Let me be big in little things;

     Grant me the joy which friendship brings;

     A Happy New Year! grant that I

      May cause no tear to any eye.

      When this new year in time shall end,

      Let it be said: "I've played the friend,

      Have lived and loved and labored here

      And made of it a happy year."

~Edgar Guest (1881–1959), "Prayer for the New Year"

Donuts & Ice-Cream

We went out this evening to see if there would be a sunset worth posting. I have seen prettier.

On the way home, we passed the grocery store. This is what we came out with. We actually came out with four, and ate two in the car right away. I have also just polished off a pint of ice-cream. I really need to get it together. The best excuse I can give is that at least it is still the holidays. Each day, I plan to go back on my diet. And fail. So I hope with a new year comes more determination on my part, because my pants are getting tight.

“The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out.”  ~Author unknown

“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!” ~Author unknown

Wreaths - The Animals

Back at the wreath auction again. This time I am showing the ones featuring animals.

Is a spider considered an animal?

The holly wreath symbolizes the crown of thorns

worn by Jesus at Calvary.

It's red berries represent the blood He shed

for the forgiveness of our sins.

The endless circle is the eternal life

obtained through him.

Elephant Poo

Here is another elephant gift I got for Christmas. It is cute note cards and envelopes with a mom & baby elephant on them.

They are made from elephant poop. Don't believe me? Here, it says so on the back of the box.

I think this is done because if people can make money from elephant poop, they won't shoot them. It was an interesting Christmas. Would you use them?

“Elephants love reunions. They recognize one another after years and years of separation and greet each other with wild, boisterous joy. There’s bellowing and trumpeting, ear flapping and rubbing. Trunks entwine.”

― Jennifer Richard Jacobson

The Elephants

So what WAS the object I was holding in my previous post? This Christmas gift is a luminaria. Looks pretty plain now, doesn't it?

But look what happens when I put a candle in it!

“They say that somewhere in Africa the elephants have a secret grave where they go to lie down, unburden their wrinkled gray bodies, and soar away, light spirits at the end.”     

Robert McCammon

Christmas Day 2018

We spent the day with our family. Jazz got a kid's camera, and was documenting present opening.

Her pictures came out pretty good. Here I am with Anne. What I am holding will be another whole post.

Meanwhile, everyone was opening their gifts.

Yes, Anne Marie was here too.

The kitchen was a popular room during the day.

The aftermath

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself

Norman W. Brooks

Christmas Day 2018

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful blog friends!

Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. ~Eric Sevareid

Christmas is the day that holds all time together. ~Alexander Smith

Cold

The full moon is this weekend! The December full moon is called The Cold Moon, for obvious reasons. I was not able to get it rising, but it was still rather low in the sky.

“What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God’s—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning.”

Zechariah 14

Creatures Of The Light

The Louis Ginter Botanical Garden at Christmas is a wondrous sight to behold!

Here are some of their creatures of the light. These dragonflies are reflected in the pond.

And their large peacock.

It is not the Christmas lights that are important, it’s the Light of Christmas… ~Liz Palagi