2023 Christmas Gifts and A Movie

My friend, Linda, that I've blogged about many times, moved to the western side of the state to be near her daughter.  She lived in a house that was over 5,000 sq, ft. with a full basement underneath, and it was packed with treasures collected and accumulated over the 37 years she lived there. Many things were tea related.  She recently had an estate sale to downsize, and I purchased a Royal Albert 3-piece Old Country Roses Chintz tea set.

When my children asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I thought it would be nice to have some teacups and luncheon plates to go with it.  Since it's no longer being produced, the only way to acquire the pieces is through Ebay, Etsy, Replacements Ltd. [all pricey] or estate sales [if you're lucky to find the pattern].

This was my gift box on Christmas Eve from Lori, Steve & Jeremy and their spouses.

And this is what it contained...

and...

I haven't had a chance to watch Season I DVD's of the Gilded Age yet, but I'm looking forward to it when the hustle and bustle from the holidays settles down.  We don't subscribe to HBO so I haven't been able to watch any of Seasons I and II on television.

Izzy gave me an adorable teacup tac pin that I'll look forward to wearing to work, and a box of chocolate covered cherries [a throwback to my childhood days at Christmastime].

Ellie gave me a tea-themed, revolving carousel candle holder and a few more chocolate covered cherries.

You really can't see the carousel very good in the above picture so I put it on a shelf in the family room china cabinet.  The heat from the lit candle causes the carousel to revolve.

And granddaughter, Tiffany, sent this book.  They also posted two pictures on Christmas Eve that I'm sharing.

~ Photo taken on Christmas Eve in California ~

This is the first Christmas since Jerry and I have been married that we didn't exchange gifts. Neither of us could come up with any ideas or suggestions, so we just decided to pass this year.  

On Christmas night, Steve suggested we all go to a movie together - minus Jeremy who lives to far away.

When Steve was in grade school, I was a para-professional library aid at an elementary school, and the students loved British author Ronald Dahl's 1964 book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".  I read it to Steve and Lori when they were young, but it made the biggest impact on Steve, and to this day he still likes it.  Willie Wonka is one of the fictional characters in the book, and the movie, Wonka just came out on December 15th, so that's the movie we went to see.

The 6:30 p.m. showing was almost sold out.  Who knew movie going was so popular on Christmas? It was definitely a first for us, but we all enjoyed the movie very much, including the British accent of the actors.

~ Brooke and Brianna in their front row seats ~

~ Lori, Dave and Steve ~

And that sums up Christmas with my family.  Was Santa good to you this year?