With Christmas preparations in full steam ahead mode, one really needs
to stop and smell the pine and fir trees now and then. My dining room
table vignette was casually gathered together yesterday. It includes fresh
fir branches. I also recycled a few of my autumn pumpkins stored in
the potting shed after Halloween . . . . . my favorite grey green one,
and two golden beauties which I've spray painted nickel silver for the
holiday season.
Yesterday my special friend Jeannette and I managed to meet for a pot of
calming hot tea at a favorite coffee shop - and shared a delicious Asiago
cheese scone while catching up on news. We exchanged Christmas
gifts and one of my pretties is a candle with the fragrance named
'Tree Farm'.
Awaking to a heavy fog early this morning, I stumbled into a still dark
kitchen and lit the candle (Jeannette thoughtfully added a cute box of
old fashioned matches) on the island. In minutes I was transported
to the the winter woods of my childhood. It was lovely.
Do special scents at Christmastime bring back childhood memories for you?
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The aroma of a fresh Christmas tree ~~ an immediate transport to childhood! Happy Holidays, Mary!
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen. Enjoy yourself too.
DeleteYour table is beautiful Mary. Peppermint from candy canes, tangerines in my stocking on Christmas morning and pine from the Christmas tree are the scents I remember from Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny - and for the lovely card just received!
DeleteIt's always the scent of fresh Christmas tree that brings it home for me, mingled with oranges. I think many of us have the same memories!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a happy time dear - our childhood English Christmas memories are much the same I'm sure!
DeleteDearest Mary,
ReplyDeleteThat was a lovely reading about your tea with Jeannette and the special scented candle she gifted you with.
Yes, the smell of fir is very special and with fond memories.
Hugs,
Mariette
Mariette, I just know your childhood memories must be special. Hope you make more this year.
DeleteIt was very special when we went with Dad to the woods, collecting some special mosses for the nativity to be placed on... those fragrances, together with the gathered greens will never leave my nostrils!
DeleteMary, it sounds like a lovely break to your busy season enjoying tea with Jeannette. Your table looks beautiful! I love the idea of spray painting the pumpkins! I left mine outside for the deer. Enjoy the season my friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Elizabeth. I do enjoy decorating for the Christmas season but have cut back a bit this year. The pumpkins were still so lovely I just couldn't throw them out - I've painted them before and enjoy them on the table for a while longer. I saw them in one of those Scandinavian magazines and thought them beautiful!
DeleteAs always, I love your vignette Mary. The silver candlesticks, the silver pumpkins, and especially the music tree. I want to make one! There is a lot of old music here... Tree Farm is a perfect name for a Christmas candle, and I bet it has a delightful scent. I remember the smell of the Christmas day roasted chicken (a rare treat back then, with one of our hens decapitated in the process!), and the spicy smell of Christmas cake and pudding. Yum! xxx
ReplyDeleteI've got an English Christmas pudding at the ready - luckily our World Market store received a load of European foods and specialties at last - things are arriving so late due to the shipping problems from Europe!
DeleteThat's an interesting question. My entire world smells like Christmas all year through. Still there are wonderful aromas that take me away. Your time out with a friend sounds marvelous.
ReplyDeleteYou, like us, do have a lot of pine trees around you in Maine Vee. Although Raleigh is called The City of Oaks, pines are everywhere too. Must say they are a lot more Christmassy than those Saguaro cacti in AZ though haha! Happy holidays dear.
DeleteDear Mary,
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to share tea, a scone, and gifts with a friend. For me, it's the scent of the fresh Christmas tree as I walk by, and mandarin oranges. We could only get them at Christmas time and they came in a wooden box, from Japan, each one individually wrapped in green tissue paper. My mother would put a bowl of them out several days before Christmas, along with a big bowl of nuts in the shell, and the nutcrackers. The oranges disappeared quickly over the next few days, and a second box was purchased.
Happy Christmas preparations, Mary!
Ummmm, Mandarin oranges do smell so awesome - I need to look for some.
DeleteWe always had a bowl of unshelled nuts at Christmas - I loved cracking them, and of course eating them!!!
Your table setting is gorgeous! I wouldn't have thought to use pumpkins in Christmas decor but by spray painting them silver, they fit in perfectly. Knowing you and your creativity, you'll still be able to use the in your fall vignettes, too.
ReplyDeleteYou have to tell me/us about that paper music Christmas tree. How cool is that?!
Isn't it great to go out for tea and talk with a friend? One of my best friends lives right down the street and we try to do that about once a month.
Thanks Melanie. I'll post on the paper trees later - I made them a few years back.
DeleteI've missed regular meetings with girlfriends during the pandemic. Now we are all vaccinated things are opening up again. But, the new variant has reared its ugly head so who knows what might happen after all the holiday get togethers of those who refuse to get vaccinated! We were in Target a couple of days ago and were so upset to see so many people without masks - even though our city ordinance requires them to be worn inside all public places. I went to speak with a manager and she said they cannot enforce it and I was just one of many who complained.
Oh yes Mary, once the live Christmas tree comes into the house, it all comes together!
ReplyDeleteThe Nativity set takes pride of place on top of our old cabinet.
A group of Santa’s and Crabtree & Evelyn Noël candles on the coffee table and other bits and bobs!
But the fragrance of pine needles brings memories of past family Christmases!
I love this time of year the most!
. . . . I love this season too dear Shane. Bringing out the family Christmas 'treasures' no matter how old and worn, is always a bit of a tear-jerking job with many memories of Christmases past, but so lovely too!
DeleteBaking! My Mum's Christmas cookies freshly baked, and then of course on Christmas Eve the unmistakeable scent of our traditional meal of Wiener sausages and spuds salad :-)
ReplyDeleteThe scent of firs and other coniferous trees is my favourite in late spring/early summer, when the sun shines on the Black Forest, its rays filtering through the trees and making the sweet warm honey-like scent come out.
I know your mum must be a great cook Meike.
DeleteThe conifers always smell good don't they - plus don't require us to rake up leaves, something we're doing daily with all the oaks right now!
What a great idea to spray paint your pumpkins. Mine were looking great when it was time to bring the Christmas decor out and it was hard to toss them. I did set them into the woods behind my house hoping the deer would find them.
ReplyDeleteSo nice that you could meet up with your friend and enjoy a relaxing time in this busy season.
I do love the smell of the Christmas tree. When we stopped buying real trees I found a candle that was pretty close to the scent. I also like to run my fingers through the rosemary as it reminds me a bit of the tree smell.
There's something really nice about silver pumpkins Kim and I too hated to just throw them out, so recycled them for a little longer over Christmas. I don't think the deer would like them though so will have to dispose of them in the yard waste bins later.
DeleteDear Mary,
ReplyDeleteAll looks beautiful. I don't know how you do it especially since you are not feeling well. I'm glad that you took time off to have a cup of tea with your friend.
Gina it's tough going if I try to do too much - a lot of resting between chores! I'm so missing walking any distance but hoping that will change if I can get relief from injections soon!
Delete"Asiago cheese scone"...okay, trying to concentrate on what else Mary is writing...nope, no good...All I can think of is that scone! LOL
ReplyDeleteIt was delicious, I've never thought of using Asiago - but do make cheddar scones sometimes. Hey Rain, like you, I'm a cheese-a-holic!!!!
DeleteSpruce and pine always bring back memories of my childhood Christmas on my parents' farm. However, I think vanilla will always have a special place in my memory, as my mother loved to bake, and her kitchen was often filled with the scent of vanilla. Your home is so charming, Mary. xx
ReplyDelete