It's Beginning to Look . . .

I'm sure, you can all guess where this next line is going. 

Yes, it really is starting to look like Christmas, briefly outside, and definitely inside our NH apt. Since we're not traveling this holiday, we're making home as festive as possible.

On Saturday, Mother Nature provided a day of wintry weather that left a coating of white by early Sunday. The snowfall total was cut down by the rain that preceded and followed the snowfall.

The nasty weather outside gave us a full day to decorate the tree, which had been set up a week ago, and other areas. As noted in a previous post, our plans to get a real tree year were dashed by a management directive of no live trees, effective in 2020, so we have several pine-scented holiday candles. (To answer a comment from a previous post, we have always burned candles and there hasn't been any directive to the contrary.)

This is part of our varied collection of various sized stuffed moose toys. Some of these populate the area around the tree skirt and have been placed in other areas of our living room.

Years ago, the collection of toy bears was much larger, but the collection was whittled down during moves and space considerations. The large colorful bear was a Christmas gift from my brother (many) years ago. It formerly would be in my car during holiday travel, but this year resides on the LR loveseat.

In past years, a Dept. 56 New England village was set up on the window sill and extended to an added table. This holiday, it's in hibernation as the Christmas tree has center stage by the window with decos placed along the sill. It's a varied collection as we like toys.

The window sill is hosting a varied holiday assortment this year, including Charlie Brown and friends and the Grinch and Max. All these items were collected over the years and has been cut down over the years during various moves. We used to have a larger collection (tis true).

There's several Boyds Bear figurines — penguin, frog, of course, and several bears including our blog namesakes, Beatrice and Grenville bear. (In case, you ever wondered about our choice of blog aliases.)

These nattily dressed penguin figurines were gifts from a friend years ago and are always on display together. It might have something to do with birds of a feather . . .

Speaking of groups, here's another penguin collection that sits on a bookshelf year round. 

Snowmen are very popular in our household. A large collection will be on display outside the apt once the holiday season has ended. The ones below are not part of that group. 

The sax-playing snowman was a new purchase this year, just because, and plays Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and its cheeks turn rosy. (There's more on that song later in this post.)

This music box figure was a gift from a NJ friend, Ann, who since passed away. Seeing it, brings back memories of our friendship. Perhaps, you have similar memories of a holiday gift.

The window sill includes a varied assortment collected over the years from thrift store or craft show buys. The angel above was a holiday gift from family years ago, and seeing it we can remember them this year.

Our stockings were hung by the TV with care 

as we don't have a fireplace there. (sincere apologies to author Clement C. Moore)

The Nativity set has its own special display place and holds memories as well. All of the main pieces in this set belonged to my late mother. The creche is from a formerly owned set that has since donated to a local thrift store. They told us it sold within a day.

To end this post, here's the backstory on the classic, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. it was written by songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine for the 1944 film, Meet Me in St. Louis. 

Martin later said it began with the melody which he described as a madrigal-like tune he liked, but couldn't make work after a few days. So, he tossed it in a wastebasket. Blaine, who had heard the tune, urged him to salvage it because it was too good to throw away. Together they worked on the words; however, the film's star, Judy Garland, claimed it was too sad and reportedly said, If I sing that, little Margaret will cry. (Child actor Margret O'Brien played Tootie Smith, her young sister, in the film.)

The film's producer (Arthur Freed) said it the scene was supposed to be sad scene, but they wanted an upbeat song. Actor Tom Drake (who played the boy next door, John Truett) told Blaine he should finish the song because it was a great song and that he would be sorry if he didn't do it. Blaine finished the song and his completed version was in the film.

Because those lyrics are even more appropriate this holiday season, here's the movie clip of Judy Garland's character, Esther Smith, singing to her young sister, Tootie. Garland's version of the song, which was released as a single by Decca Records, became popular among U.S. troops serving in WW II.

Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight (hopefully). 

If all else fails to cheer you, bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies as I did last weekend and it sure cheered Grenville up.