The holidays are quickly winding down. This afternoon was my last presentation of 2018 at Shore Pointe Assisted Living. The subject was 'The Many Names of Santa Around the World.' I enjoyed the research and learned we can thank the Dutch who settled in New Amsterdam [New York] for introducing us to Santa. He was called Sinter Klaas then, however.
Over the past few months my daughter has become quite fond of Cardinals, so two of her Christmas presents were Cardinal related - a Lenox Winter Greetings Cardinal mug and a porcelain Cardinal perched on a snowy branch. When I walked into the foyer of the assisted living facility today I found it decorated with Cardinals, so I couldn't resist taking some photos.
Garlands of Cardinals decorated the entire staircase.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas and Santa was good to you. In this post I'll share the gifts I received. My hubby gave me a beautiful 3-piece teal velour outfit from Chico's [pants not shown].
For my birthday last year he gave me a tea set by Grace Teaware in the Snowman pattern.
Steve and Sharon gave me four matching dessert plates.
Jeremy and Samantha gave me a Chico's gift card and a tin of the Pioneer Woman's Favorite Recipes [Food Network's Ree Drummond].
Izzy gave me a 10-piece cosmetic brush and manicure set.
It's always fun to get surprises in the mail, and my friend, Mary Jane, sent me A Year of Tiny Pleasures calendar.
Some of the days are tea related - for example the simple pleasure for Jan. 4th is the first cup of the day, so she attached a packet of Winterthur Afternoon Tea.
January 7th's pleasure is dunking your biscuit [cookie] without losing it in the tea. She enclosed a Harney & Sons White Vanilla Grapefruit sachet and a tea biscuit.
She coordinated little gifts to go with several dates throughout the year which required a lot of thought and creativity. A BIG thank you, Mary Jane!
Another surprise package that came in the mail is a 2019 calendar with photos of tea treats made by a friend who is an extraordinary cook and baker, along with an ink pen that also functions as a stylus and flashlight. Printed on it is the phrase, "Drink tea and think of me."
Enclosed was a copyrighted card she made with a poem on the back from her grandmother's 1890 autograph book. "Drink your tea and think of 'me'... Drink it hot, forget me not." Thanks, Martha!
My sweet neighbor popped over right before Christmas with delicious gifts.
The small box in front came from Victorian Trading Company.
It contained two packets [8 in each] Sugar Tea Doilies [Edible Lace].
~ Shari's Berries and Shari's Gourmet Pretzels ~
And a tin of individually wrapped Mrs. Fields cookies. I used them as prizes when we played It's a Wonderful Life trivia game on Christmas Eve. They're yummy.
Last but not least, a gift subscription for Tea Time magazine. I LOVE Tea Time! Thanks, Lori!
As you can see it's been a wonderful Christmas, and I'm so blessed. Now that my presentation is over I have two days with absolutely no commitments, and I'm going to enjoy them to the fullest. Since December 1st I've had the pleasure of serving tea to 448 guests at The Whitney. I didn't keep a record of how many cups of tea that equals, but last week's three days [Wed. - Fri.] I prepared over 700 cups of tea, and that makes me happy!
You sure received a lot of nice gifts. Glad you had a good Christmas. Wishing you blessings,good health and happiness in 2019.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn