Wordless Wednesday

You tell me. Is this the product of....
A creative decorator?

Or a lazy butt who didn't feel like going to Target to get extra storage for the last bit of garland?

I know it seems early for Valentine's Day but I just can't do snow decorations in GA.

Wordless Wednesday

You waited patiently all week. So here it is - The Magic Seed all grown up.

No Meatballs Here!

Sorry Ikea fans. On this trip to Sweden there are no meatballs or furniture with funny names. Man I love Ikea! No, this time it's just your traditional Swedish Christmas. But prepare yourself because I am pretty sure you are about to encounter some traditions that very few of you have ever heard of much less experienced!

Christmas in Sweden begins with the lighting of the first Advent candle. The first widely held celebration though is on December 13th for the celebration of Santa Lucia. Lucia was a Christian martyr who legend tells took food to persecuted Christians in Rome. She wore a wreath with candles on her head so that she would be hands free to deliver and serve. In her honor the eldest daughter of the home will dress in a white gown with a red sash, wear an evergreen wreath complete with lit tall tapered candles, and will serve her parents a breakfast of coffee and Lucia buns. She is accompanied by the other children of the house who also dress in white; the girls with glitter and the boys with pointed starry hats. {Side note - when I pictured the Orangutan in said outfit I had a moment but that's just me!}

The Christmas tree is not brought into the home until the two days before Christmas. It is decorated with candles, apples, Swedish flags, and small gnome figures. many of the decorations may be made of straw. The decorations made of straw are meant to serve as a reminder of the birthplace of Jesus in the manger. The homes are decorated with red tulips and the smell of gingerbread biscuits called Pepparkakor lingers through the home.

You are familiar with the term smorgasbord right? Well welcome to its origin. The buffet with is served on Christmas Eve is complete with fish dishes such as lutfisk (dried, lye soaked codfish) herrings and salmon dishes, turkey, Christmas ham, pickled pigs feet, and many other meat dishes. The finisher to the meal is the Risgryngrot - a special holiday rice pudding that contains one whole almond. It is told that the person who finds the almond in their pudding will marry in the coming year.

After the meal there is a visit from Tomte - a gnome that lives under the floorboards of the home or the barn and cares for the family and livestock throughout the year. Some legends tell that if one takes very good care of the livestock during the year Tomte appreciates the help and provides a gift accordingly! (I think I just heard mothers around the blogosphere suddenly adopting Tomte!)

Christmas Day begins with a service at church and is followed by a day of family and rest. But the holiday season does not end until January 14th or Knut's Day. On Knut's Day the children may dress up as Knut and play practical jokes while they snack on the edible ornaments from the tree. Then the trees are returned to nature to rejoin their fellows.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to close my mouth as I read about these traditions. Maybe I am revealing my closed mindedness but I had no idea just how many very different versions of Christmas there really were. There is one thread that I have found in all of the traditions and customs that we have come across. There is always a time set aside for rememberance and family.

I know we have crossed over into the dreaded ten day countdown to Christmas and I know that there are probably some stress levels climbing even as I say that. But please take this moment and this reminder to look at who and what is around you. Remember the Reason for the Season and make sure to take time today, tomorrow and every day to show those you are fussing over and for what they mean to you. The paper will be gone in two weeks. The presents will be mixed in before the month is out. Take time for family!

God Jul! (Good Yule!)

Off to the Emerald Isle!

Ahhh, Ireland! The one place I would love to visit for a year! I'm a European mutt so you may get more information about the European countries that you every wish to know but I promise I'll try not to bore you. (Did I mention that I should have a guest post for Germany? Stay Tuned!!)

Now a little poll for you? How many of you put candles in your windows? Did you know that that is an invitation for strangers to enter in Ireland? Ok, maybe not "invitation" but it is traditionally an indication that strangers are welcome - perhaps a nod to the inkeeper in the Nativity story.

Much of the decorations put up during the season are natural. True pine wreaths, holly branches and sprigs, pine cones, ivy and definitely a real Christmas tree are all among the decor for the season. This may account for my love of wreaths and garland in my decorating (althought mine are all fake - oops). And if you have a Nativity may I suggest that you consider adding an Irish tradition this year? When did Jesus truly arrive on the scene? On Christmas Eve, correct? In Ireland they wait until Christmas Eve or even Christmas morning to put Jesus in the manger.

The day after Christmas is called St. Stephen's Day in honor of St. Stephen, the first martyr in the Christain faith. In South Ireland it would not be uncommon to see "Wren Boys" on St. Stephen's Day. Originally it was a day of hunting wrens because of the legend that a wren is the tattletale who gave away Stephen's location to those who were hunting him. Then it became a day for young men (think frat boys here) to dress up in straw outfits and march from home to home drumming and playing whistles and reciting the poem:

"The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
Although he is little, his family is great,
I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat."

Originally they would be given a penny or some pittance from the home which they then put toward a party! That was sincerely frowned on by the church so now the Wren Boys collect for charities.

Now here is a tradition I found that all women should embrace regarless of their ethnic background! January 6th (no, not Dia De Los Reyes!) is called "Women's Christmas." It is the day that all the decorations come down and the season is closed. But here's why I say we should all embrace it - the men give the women the day off! That's right ladies! The men take down the decorations and clean up the holiday mess. All in favor? Unfortunately for us it didn't really stick and women do get honored but still pretty much do the work - but you don't have to tell your family that!!

Now what would our stop be without a nod to all the food? As a starter you would see smoked salmon or prawns. Then you have goose or turkey with all the trimmings (potatoes of course!) and the finishers would be Christmas (plum) pudding or mince pies. On a side note, mince pies and a Guinness are the traditional offerings for Santa as well as some apples or veggies for the reindeer.

After dinner it is traditional to see a Pantomime or go to the horse races. Although the truly brave souls head for water and go for a Christmas swim. Only in Ireland!!

**Information was heavily gleaned from DoChara, an absolutely fabulous site that made me fall even more in love with Ireland!**

What is a Tannenbaum anyway?

So I think with this post I am back up to date with posting. The Comp Crash of 08 as we are referring to it (more child friendly than the blue streak I was emitting yesterday) put me behind the ball. So now to just catch up with all of the other participants and let you know what I think and it's party BACK ON!! Woo Hoo!

On the way home from church on Sunday I saw someone with a Christmas tree on top of their car. No kidding! Before December even gets here? I so don't want to vacuum that house on the 15th! I'll give you 3 guesses what we're talking about today!

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Drum roll please.....And the query of the day is....

Do you decorate for the Holidays? Do you have a themed Christmas tree? Share pics! Do you think there is such a thing as OVER decorating?

Do we decorate? Does the Zoo decorate? Really? We sure do! Are we over the top? Not by a long shot!

But we do have rules. No decorations before Thanksgiving. In my book Thanksgiving is very important and I would say that this year it is even more important than in years past. Soap box moment – make sure you take time to be thankful before you move on to Christmas.

We usually have some kind of theme to our tree – not really by choice. The Lion inherited all my decorations when we got married so he got a snowman, snowflake tree by default. Four years later we finally moved on. Poor guy. He sure is tolerant! Last year we did an old fashioned tree. The exhibits and I made homemade ornaments out of baking soda clay and cinnaclay and I painted them up. We dried oranges, grapefruits and apples and even went so far as to attempt stringing popcorn and cranberries. Not as easy and delightful an experience as one would have hoped. It was Lion’s favorite by far so there will be a repeat of it this year. The great thing is that it won’t be exactly the same because all the fruit starts new. And of course Auntie B added more to our Hallmark collection as well!

Is there such a thing as over decorating? Oh my YES!! I had the perfect picture for you to illustrate but since the Comp Crash of 08 I can't scan it in. Let's just say that mini Santas, mini snowflakes, candy canes (all by the dozens!), two Nativities, three sleighs with reindeer and about seven different versions of Santa grace the front of a singlewide trailer. And that happens every year and gets bigger every year. Did I mention that the folks across the street from this particular house used to try to compete? Yeah it was a landing strip heading into our little country town in PA!

We try to keep it simple. White lights in all decorations. Two simple wreaths over the garage and one above the fireplace. Daddy’s Japanese maple landing beacon (800+ lights on a 3 foot tree) in the front yard. Garland on the banister railings and mantle with stockings. And the tree. Not a lot of special candles or centerpieces. No huge yard art displays complete with inflatables. Just a simple decorating philosophy.

Need some more decorating ideas? Head over to MomDot and see what the rest of the crew is up to. Think you can top theirs?

All this Holiday Partying Got my Wheels Turning!

The blog party wraps up on Wednesday with the big prize pulls for the daily prizes and the Christmas of Dreams on Thursday. So I was thinking about the Christmas of Dreams and how so many people have said in their entries that they would want to share the package with other people.

With the economy at the center of all the news, it has become clear that it's a global problem. Everyone is struggling to make a Christmas this year. I decided a while back that I was going to try to make a homemade Christmas again this year. But I wanted to try to do something other than the same things I did last year. I want to try to find a little international flair for it. So for the next few weeks (after the blog party) and leading up to Christmas I think I might make my own little party here at the Zoo.

I am going to try to do a little research and learn different traditions from different cultures. Maybe I'll find some really great little decoration or gift ideas for all of you. We'll see what we can come up with. Know someone who lives in a different culture? Think they might be able to "school" me? Invite them to pop by! I'd love to have a guest blogger share some real life experience! (I'm talking to you Roomie!!)

So let's see what we can learn together this holiday. Shall we make it a global celebration?