We have had absolutely beautiful fall weather since early September. We continued to have warm temperatures in the upper 70s and upper 80s and we even set a few daytime and overnight high temperature records. During that time, the trees displayed their beautiful fall colors.

Unfortunately, the beautiful weather included no measurable rain for the entire month of October. We made up for that with 4+ inches of rain last week, then 7 inches of rain last night, and severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings both times. I think that gets our area out of its drought status! The storms were followed by a cold front, so I don’t think we’re going to experience any more days in the upper 80s this year. It was wonderful while it lasted, but now it’s time for hot chocolate and snuggly sweaters and blankets.

*The title quote is attributed to William Cullen Bryant

With Christmas not that far in the future, I started thinking about our holiday decorations. Ironically, now that our children are grown and Ted and I are retired, it seems I no longer have time for craft projects. That’s a shame, because I enjoy doing a variety of crafts. It surprises me how many holiday decorations I’ve made over the years.

Before we had children, I worked for the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Tabulations for the first computerized decennial census were in progress, and computer punch cards were everywhere. My office mates and I (and lots of other people with access to used punch cards) made Christmas wreaths from them.

Years later, my friends and I became interested in pinecone Christmas wreaths. FYI, cemeteries are great places to find free pinecones. They plant a lot of evergreen trees in cemeteries! I made two wreaths for our home and eight more as Christmas gifts.

When our kids were little, I knew they would enjoy an Advent calendar, so I made a calendar and the required 24 ornaments. When she had children of her own, Kari and I made Advent calendars together so she could hang one in her house as well.

I gave one of the calendars to Thom. Some of the ornaments showed wear, so Katie made replacement ornaments for their children to hang. The tradition continues!

My mother taught me to knit and crochet. I enjoy knitting, but crochet? Not so much. Still, when I see a pattern I really want to make, I’ll crochet. One year, I crocheted Christmas angels.

I admired the tatted Christmas ornaments that Ted’s mother made, so she taught me to tat. I’ve made countless tatted ornaments for myself and to give to others as gifts.

One year, I saw a ceramic Nativity set I liked, and I decided that I should make one. I’d never worked with ceramics before, and most people seem to start by making a mug or an ashtray. I didn’t want either one, so I reasoned that making a 15-piece Nativity set wasn’t any different than making a mug or an ashtray–I just had to do the same things to more pieces. I made a Nativity set for Ted and myself and two more to give to our parents as Christmas gifts that year.

Another year, I made felt appliqúed stockings for our (at the time) three children. After Kari was born, I thought she should have a matching stocking, but there was no way to match the older felt stockings, so I made counted cross-stitch stockings for all four kids. Surprising and gratifying to me, they still hang them. I can’t speak for Thom’s stockings because I don’t have a recent picture of his Christmas decorations.

Jeff lent his counted cross-stitch stocking to his grandson, Ollie. Does that make it a “heritage” stocking from Ollie’s great-grandma (me)?

Kathy hangs both stockings–the felt appliqúed one and the counted cross-stitched one.

Kari hangs hers near a table-sized Christmas tree.

Just thinking about these projects makes me want to make something new, but now that the children are grown and I’m retired, I don’t seem to have the time. How can that be??!! I think I should set a 2025 goal to make some new craft projects.