~Joyous New Year~

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce
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Wishing you health, happiness & joy for the New Year!
Doreen

~A Snowy December Afternoon~

Days like today are one of my favorite kind of days....it's been snowing all day..the trees are softly laden with snow....it's just dark enough outside to make the lite candles and lamps glow with warmth...the fire is softly crackling and the house is quiet except for the occasional chirp of a bird at the window feeder. I've sat quietly at the dining room table enjoying the snow and letting new ideas form & slowly come to life on paper.



The heavenly hustle & bustle of the last two weeks has settled and the house is quiet again...the kids headed back home bright & early this morning before the storm arrived.


Jenna & Ben needed to prepare for their trip to Florida on the 9th and Kurt & Aneesa headed to the slopes of White Face. Kurt & Aneese will be back to stay again in a few days and Jenna & Ben will be here on the 7th to stay for a couple of days before their trip...Reese will be staying with us while his parents are away. So...in a few days..the house will be busy again..but for now...I'll enjoy this quiet, snowy & beautiful December afternoon.Wishing you a most pleasant evening,
Doreen

~Merry Christmas~

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown

Wishing all of you a truly wonderful & joyous Christmas...I am truly blessed to know each and every one of you.

♥Doreen

~It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year~

(From left to Right; Cristen, Darlene, Tina, Aneesa, Me, Mom & Jenna)

Good morning. This picture was taken yesterday at my niece Cristen's home..she had her first annual Christmas Cookie Exchange...it was so fun! I know you all must be ever so busy with your final lists of things to do before Friday...but I thought....while the house is quiet........the kids........home from college & here for the next two weeks....which makes me SOOOO very happy....are still sleeping....... I would share a couple of my favorite things, associated with Christmas, that always makes me smile & remember what a wonderful world we really do live in.

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"Love Actually"

~This is the opening of the movie "Love Actually" and to me...it says it all~

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

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AND


Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus.
I read this every single year...I LOVE it...how could this not inspire you & make you believe in something greater than yourself?

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? "VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.



Enjoy the Season & all the magic it has to share!
Doreen

~December 15th Offerings~

Good morning. It is snowing ever so lightly this morning as I write this post :) It's so beautiful! We are suppose to have snow on and off throughout the day and then a big ole cold snap is due to arrive.... brrrr!!

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Now, on to the business at hand.......:)

I have three new offerings available today...One sweet snow gal on The Primitive Gathering;

Miss Cristallo ...which means "crystal" in Italian

She's made to be a tree topper.....her clothing is made entirely of aged crepe paper and her body is made from creamy wool roving. I LOVE her! I t's going to be hard to part with her..she has a LOT of character this gal!!! As you can see..she does not have a mouth...I tried to give her one....and no matter how I did it..she was not happy with the way it looked..she did not want a mouth...so therefore..she does not have one!!!

Now..my next two offerings are available on Early Work Mercantile;

I love making sheep this time of year...to me...Sheep & Christmas just go together which is, I guess, the reason I always seem to make so many this time of year.

I have a sweet "Cotswold Manger Sheep" & a handsome "Vintage Batting Cotswold Sheep "

Stop by & have a look if you get a chance :)

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As of 5pm this afternoon...I am officially on vacation until January 1st!!!!! YIPEEEE!!! I'm so excited (as if you couldn't tell) I'm going to finish my Christmas shopping, wrap presents, bake, enjoy cocktails in the evening by the tree with my husband..go cross country skiing with my friend Julie....AND.....on Friday.....Mom & I are traveling up to see the kids....Jenna is having her first official cookie bake in THEIR home....so Mom & I are going to leave bright & early Friday morning, do a bit of shopping on the way up.....& we'll be taking the Ferry over from VT to NY :). Jenna said she is going to make us a nice cozy dinner..we'll sip wine by the fireplace and enjoy their 12' tree and then on Saturday we will make chocolates, fudge & cookies! I'll be sure to take lots of photo's to share with you!

On Sunday when we return home...we will have another cookie bake to attend ...my sweet niece Cristen is having her first cookie bake in her new home! Oh how I do so love this time of year!

Enjoy the day everyone
♥Doreen

~And The Winner Is~

~Julie Bailey~

Congratulations Julie! And thank you all so very much for entering :)

~Tis The Season Of Giving Giveaway~

Tis The Season Of Giving.....And So I Should Like To Give To You..................

A Blackened Beeswax Snow Folk
&
A 10 foot Paper Chain

To enter all you need to do is leave me a comment or email me at vermontharvest@earthlink.net.

~A winner will be drawn on Sunday, December 13th~

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your.............

~Friendship~
~Kindness~
~Support~
~Compliments~
~Encouragement~
~Laughter~
~JOY~
~Enlightenment~
~Inspiration~
~Patronage~
~And So Much More~

From the bottom of my heart.....know that each of you add to the blessings in my life!

♥Doreen

~Joyous December To You~

Good morning everyone. IT SNOWED....IT FINALLY SNOWED!!!! Oh what a lovely site it was...blowing & swirling about..it was beautiful. It didn't last very long...but this morning we have a lovely dusting of snow on the ground. :)...now all we need is a good olde fashioned snowstorm!!! I'm waiting.........not so patiently......:)!

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I have just three new offerings to share with you this morning. I had a show this past weekend...a wonderful show....(Thank you to all my wonderful customers..old & new for making it such a success) which cleaned me out.....SO... I had to work feverishly on Sunday & Monday to finish up these three offerings.

Father Christmas is available on Simply Primitives. He is made from creamy blackened beeswax..I just love how very detailed he is.
The next two items are available on Early Work Mercantile & My Website.

~Early Paper Chain~

I LOVE making these paper chains. I had a tree decorated with a paper chain, tiny white twinkle lights & my beeswax sampler ornies and I had a gal come up to me and say..."I'll take the whole tree"!!! They really look stunning on the tree or piled into an olde wooden bowl or trencher.

And last but certainly not least is this sweet, young
"Cotswold Sheep"i do believe this gal may just be my favorite sheep creation so far..her face is so sweet & lovely.
And now I must run and pick up the house real quick then jump in the shower...I am going Christmas shopping this morning...I'm on the hunt for a Wii...among other things!

Wishing you all a most wonderful first day of December!
Doreen