This is such a fun time of year. Putting up decorations, listening to favorite holiday tunes in the car and while puttering around the house. My Sweet Babboo put up green garland and holiday bells on the veranda this year. We don’t do much because no one comes up here. These decorations we can see in the daytime as we come and go for errands and events.
Cloudy and rainy days were good for bird watching. Here, a titmouse is happy to have a meal.
The goldfinches are wearing their winter drab colors. Here one is sharing the bounty with another titmouse.
A downy woodpecker came by for a meal at the new suet cake.
Waking early one day last week as is usual for me, I noticed the sky at dawn as the sun was coming up over the east mountain. The pink, purple, orange and gold colors were gorgeous, and I had to go out onto the veranda in 28-degree cold to get a photo. I love the architecture of the bare trees against the colors in the clouds. I paused, in spite of the cold, to appreciate the scene in the Japanese tradition of honoring the moment as it only happens in this way and in this time once.
Cold temperatures this week have helped put me in a holiday mood. I’ve been sewing and crafting, listening to holiday music and watching Christmas movies. I have a stack of them, perfect to have on the TV while baking sugar cookies, finishing a quilted wall hanging, or stamping cards. I add to the collection just about every year. This year, when a friend said she had never seen The Holiday (with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black), I gave her my DVD and ordered a blu-ray for myself. Have you seen that one? It is so good, buy it on Amazon or rent it on Amazon Prime, or see it on cable channel AMC (next showing on Tuesday Dec 16 at 3 pm) if you can tolerate the commercials.
This past week, I began the annual holiday movie marathon with the older 1940s selections, then watched The Christmas Card, I’ll Be Home for Christmas and Borrowed Hearts while working on the Santa Panel. Next up was Recipe for a Perfect Christmas while stamping cards. Those are in the collections dvds, along with another favorite The Most Wonderful Time of the Year with Henry Winkler. You can get some of these on Blu-ray as well.
My Sweet Babboo insists that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, so we might watch that too. This week, I’ll catch up the more modern movies like The Santa Clause, Home Alone and Love Actually. I’ll save A Christmas Carol with George C Scott for the weekend before Christmas. In my humble opinion, it is the best version of the story ever made. We traditionally watch White Christmas on Christmas eve.
I’ve just about finished my shopping, and started wrapping. I did a post on Making Packages Bright on using ornaments, light bulbs and holiday picks to dress up a package with little effort. I like to add garland, and wire ribbon here and there to add something more to a gift. This photo was from a few years ago.
Speaking of gifts, I received an extraordinary one this week from a dear friend. She has an embroidery machine with a huge hoop, and she did this gorgeous church with a starry background on organza. The edges are finished with a satin stitch. It is mounted on a glass block, and she put battery operated lights inside.
On the back of the glass block, she did a second embroidery with my initial for everyday use. I was just amazed at the artistry, and I will treasure it.
Yesterday was baking day, as it isn’t a holiday without cookies. Have you made my Cranberry Egg Nog Biscotti? They are delicious. If you give them as gifts, they pack well and freeze nicely,too. The recipe along with a downloadable pdf is on that post.
I didn’t have any cranberries, so I left out the nutmeg and rum extract, and put in cinnamon chips and some toffee chips instead.
After the first bake, cut them into bars for the second bake.
I topped them off with a vanilla candy melt drizzle. They turned out pretty good!
When the biscotti were done, my Christmas Vanilla Sugar Cookies had rested in the refrigerator long enough to bake. I cut out tree shapes and baked them.
I love this recipe, and the decorated cookies are so festive! See that post for the full tutorial, or download the recipe pdf – Christmas-Vanilla-Sugar-Cookies
Not up for a big baking day? Make my recipe for Just a Dozen Sugar Cookies, to have just a few.
Leave a comment on this post with the answers to these questions, and you will be entered to win a copy of The Holiday DVD, as I have another new one to give away. What is your favorite Christmas cookie? What movies do you have to see every holiday season?
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From My Carolina Home 
Carole this is a fun post! I play Christmas music constantly and love Christmas movies. My favorite is White Christmas. The bird photos are great! Merry Christmas season!
The photo is beautiful, and I also love the glass block with the church and initial. I have an embroidery machine with large ho
I love your veranda decor. Yup — put it where you can see if if no one else can!
And that sunrise is out of this world. Right now I’d be so happy with 28 degrees in the morning!
My favorite Christmas cookie? Definitely decorated sugar cookies, though those little nut balls in powdered sugar (there are tons of names for them but my cousin’s recipe we call Jingle Balls) is a very close second! As for holiday movies — where to start! “White Christmas” is essential; so is “Love Actually” and “The Holiday” for newer ones. For the earlier classics, “The Bishop’s Wife” and “Christmas in Connecticut,” along with any version of “A Christmas Carol,” including the musical “Scrooge.” Now I’m wondering what I’m leaving out! I have never seen “Die Hard.” Maybe this year.
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for the recipe links!
That gift your friend made you is just awesome! I know you treasure it. I love everything about this post and want to try all the recipes! Since you are a “Holiday” fan (my favorite movie!), you have got to check this out: there is a replica house that you can rent in Elijay, GA which is not that far. Search Rent the Holiday House in GA and it should come up right away. I love it but don’t think I could use that tub HA! Sounds like more bathrooms upstairs though. I looked at available dates and they are pretty booked, even as crazy expensive as it is. Oh well, it just wouldn’t be the same without “Mr. Napkin Head” coming over! Please keep doing your blog – I really missed it when you took a break! Merry Christmas and here’s to a healthy, happy New Year for you and your Sweet Baboo! Mary Anne
Your home is beautiful 🤩
Carole, as you know, I always read your blog posts yet haven’t commented in a while. There is something about that sunrise picture that brings a sense of calm. Thank you for sharing. As for Christmas, I love to bake and make several kinds of cookies. One kind always has to be Scottish shortbread. My mother and all her family came from Scotland, and the story I grew up with is that shortbread was only made at holiday time because you used butter which was very dear (pricey), and some would be given to friends/neighbors as a sign that you were wishing them good health and prosperity in the coming year. As for movies, well, A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott is my favorite adaptation, too. I also like Love Actually and, yes, my son and I would always watch Die Hard!
I love seeing outdoor decorations at Christmas that are visible in the daylight! He did a nice job. Thanks for the fun morning chat and recipes. Movie – White Christmas is my all time favorite. I think we will start the movie marathon this week. Cookies – Snickerdoodles; with a touch of nutmeg in the batter and in the cinnamon sugar mix too.
Carole, the beauty of the sky over the mountains and the bare trees is stunning. Thank you for sharing.
My favorite Christmas cookie is one I baked with my mom as it’s a two-person effort – – Thumbprint Cookies. These are a shortbread coated in crushed pecans with a dollop of different fruit jams in a little thumbprint-made well.
My favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas but I also have to watch It’s a Wonderful Life.
Merry Christmas to your and your sweet baboo.
lol I agree with your husband Die Hard is a Christmas movie but I’m sick of it – have seen it too much over the years. I love shortbread type of cookies and the balls with chopped pecans rolled in powdered sugar.
Beautiful sunrise. I love the George C Scott Christmas Carol & Henry Winkler movie. We haven’t started watching Christmas movies yet, probably this week. We baked cookies last week, so you know I’ll have to make more if there’s any possibility of having some on Christmas.
We’ve been seeing the goldfinches in their winter colors, too. Beautiful sunrise photo! I’m going to have to try making your biscotti recipe – those look yummy. Since I have a husband and two sons, of course they say Die Hard is the best movie of all time, lol! I don’t watch too many Christmas movies, but another friend recommended The Holiday, too, and I did enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the Call the Midwife holiday special!
Carole,
your sunrise photo is gorgeous. Another entry for the fair?
My favorite Christmas movie is It’s a wonderful life. I also really like Holiday Inn, even though it has all the holidays, not just Christmas. My favorite Christmas cookie is my grandma’s peanut blossom. We always called them star cookies, since she put a chocolate star on top. I can no longer find the stars so we use Hershey kisses. I’ll be making oatmeal raisins, my husband’s favorite, snickerdoodles and probably peanut butter cookies in the next few days
enjoy the football games today!
Love the Holiday. It’s a family favorite. I also love mexican wedding balls. Today i’m off to a cookie exchange. Your gift from your friend is amazing!
I like most cookies, but during Christmas I like Gingerbread for the spices.
My Must See Movies include a lot of classics-White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (both older & newer versions), Mrs. Santa Clause (with Angela Lansbury), An American Christmas Carol (with Henry Winkler), plus a number of your favorite movies.
We don’t decorate much outside but do pull out a number of decorations inside that have been favorites through the years.
we woke with a few inches of snow, temperatures in the 20’s and blustery winds. Bird seed is out. We’ve been being visited overnight by the local deer population. We’re in the suburbs but do live near a park that is home to a number of deer.
I’m finishing a bit of sewing this wee & baking starts next weekend.
Merry Christmas to you & your hubby!
Such a heart warming post, Carole 🙂
The birds are just so beautiful and sweet. I love the many ways you have to feed them. Your friends gift to you of the embroidery is really stunning! She gave some lovely thought to her art.
I am planning on baking treats this coming weekend to give to neighbors…and eat too much myself 😉 Your biscotti looks like a fun thing to bake. My favorite cookie for Christmas is this ginger molasses cookie that my neighbor baked and shared the recipe a couple of years ago.
As to movies, I like those you shared and love to watch Little Women. And I watch too many Hallmark Christmas romance movies throughout the year just for fun 🙂
I hope you have a lovely holiday month. Thank you for sharing so many great things throughout the year. Your creativity and generosity is always inspiring! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Your sunrise picture is beautiful. Today is cold and windy and there was ice and snow last night so I’m having a lazy day LOL. I like a lot of holiday movies but the cartoon ones from years ago are my favorites especially Rudolph and The Little Drummer Boy. I watched Home Alone last night and I like Jingle All The Way. My favorite cookies are Ice Box Cookies which use graham crackers with a filling with nuts and coconut. I also love chocolate chip. I hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas.
I don’t have any “must see” movies or shows. I do enjoy seeing most Christmas movies. A few favorites are the “Peanuts Christmas” movie, the original “Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol,”. I actually enjoy most Christmas movies.
I don’t know what is considered a “Christmas cookie” as I make sugar cookies anytime of the year which is my husbands favorite cookie with lots of frosting. He is also partial to peanut butter cookies and no bake cookies.
I love that Church scene lighted block that your friend made for you.
The glass block is so cool!
I saw The Preacher’s Wife with Whitney Houston recently which is a Christmas movie, and I like it a lot, but not as a Christmas movie. Mostly I like the parts when Whitney is singing gospel.
I saw part of Scrooged with Bill Murray for the first time the other night, which is a more modern version of A Christmas Carol. It was an interesting take, but I didn’t like the ending.
Your sunrise photo is stunning! My favorite Christmas cookie is biscotti and now I can’t wait to try the cranberry eggnog version! And it’s not Christmas without a movie night with “Four Christmases”!
Rising early can reward you with some lovely surprises and sunrises which can have you reaching for the camera. Looks like it’s on fire, thank goodness it was only a feeling.
You must feel like a very special lady receiving such beautiful pieces of embroidery. They are perfectly beautiful. I’m just a little bit green- eyed. :))
All your food offerings look crazy good. Always in the market for a new and different Biscotti recipe and you have it. Will be giving that one a whirl!
Do you take yourself off visiting over the Christmas season? Now that our kids live in two different countries- one in Australia and one in America- us two empty-nesters just put our feet up and enjoy ourselves. Nobody comes in and nobody goes out. There might be a Christmas movie tucked there as well.
Although we are having slightly cooler weather now we have experienced some temps in the 30sC last week but this week is cooler so I shall cook up a storm and get a lot done and stacked away or frozen so we don’t have to put too much effort into the Christmas noshing. It’s a lovely time of the year 🎉🍾 Not to mention those sneaky little parcels nesting under the tree!! 🌲
Mary :))
Hello Carole,
The sunrise photo is absolutely beautiful. I am a scrapbooker as well as a quilter, and if this was my photo, it would be an 8″ x 10″ featured all by itself on one 12″ x 12″ page! Your packages are so festive looking. I am partial to foils and many of mine are shiny!
My daughters and families had our annual cookie bake day on Saturday. Each one of us was responsible to make one type of cookie. I did the GF (gluten-free) cutouts and my three girls made snowballs, spritz, and haystacks. All were made totally GF, since we have 3 people with celiac disease. We have been cooking and baking GF for about 20 years already. All is very good.
Christmas movies. I just mentioned to my husband that we need to get out the old favorites and work our way through the list. I love The Holiday also and sometimes watch it during the year as well as a number of Hallmark Christmas romances. Some other holiday favorites are White Christmas, Polar Express, Holiday Inn and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
You are so blessed to have a friend that made you such a lovely gift! Have a wonderful holiday week!
Your sunrise photo is amazing. I’m going to save it for a quilt fabric palette. All your baked offerings look so yummy. I am going to try the Dozen Christmas Cookie recipe. There are only three of us so this will be perfect.
Wow, Carole, the gift from your friend is exquisite. I can’t imagine working that much detail on organza! It’s beautiful!
Your gift from a friend is stunning. I loved my Mother’s shortbread, made for Christmas and Easter only. My favorite Christmas movie is It’s a Wonderful Life.
I have listed your movie list for a “to watch list” and planning on The Holiday today.
Thank you for a super blog to read and enjoy. Merry Christmas. Alexandria
Oh that cranberry eggnog biscotti recipe sounds delicious! I always have to make Snickerdoodles at Christmastime — they’re a favorite around here. I usually make Peanut Blossoms too and what’s Christmas without a Chocolate Cream Pie (my son’s request!). The Santa Clause is the movie we just have to watch during the season. There are so many to watch but that one is a must! Merry Christmas!
Hard to choose a favorite cookie. I make a fruitcake cookie that I just love. Not a cookie, but our family favorite are cheese balls. These are a cheese biscuit recipe made into balls with a date and a pecan, a little hot pepper powder. Yum! I’m going to try the cranberry eggnog biscotti. I still make the old Tang Russian tea but don’t add sugar. Sweet enough without it. That’s the best medicine for respiratory illnesses. I always look forward to your blog. Merry Christmas!
Oh, I don’t have a real favorite Christmas movie. Love them all. However, I’m a big Hallmark channel watcher and enjoy watching every night, ( nobody to worry about getting tired of them!)even the ones I’ve seen many times.
My favorite Christmas cookies are sugar cookies.
As for movies, we love The Holiday, Noelle, and While You Were Sleeping. Sometimes we watch Die Hard and RED as Christmas-adjacent movies.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday! If you draw me for the movie, please draw another name. We already own The Holiday. 😉
Hello Carole,
Just finished The Holiday – so sweet! Thank you for the recommendation. It’s right up there with my favorite Christmas movies, Love Actually and Die Hard, which I’ll watch soon, snacking on my favorite Christmas treat, Sugar Cookies!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!