Can you imagine traveling for days by donkey, subject to climate and road conditions, very pregnant? No Holiday Inns along the way, not even a Motel 6. And once you get to the “big city”–that being Bethlehem–you can’t find a place to stay. As an afterthought, an innkeeper tells you there’s room in a stable out back. If you don’t mind the animals.

This couple is young. Desperate. They have no other choice. But I wonder. . .

As they went from one inn to the next, and the contractions came closer together, did Mary think to herself, This is God’s Son. Surely He will provide a nice place for us to stay now!

Was she disappointed with God’s choice of birthplace? Sharing a room, if you could call it that, with cows and donkeys, the sweet smell of hay mingling with manure. Her Child’s first cradle a hay box. Strips of cloth to wear instead of footie pajamas. No doctor or nurse. Not even a midwife. Just an anxious young husband unfamiliar with female issues.

Perhaps I look at it with modern, western eyes. Maybe Mary was just thankful to have a place to lie down and a kind husband to help her through this unfamiliar, painful, joyful experience. But a stable?

And yet, this crude setting with all the familiar characters and animals has endeared the story of Christ’s birth to millions of people over hundreds of years. If they’d gotten a room in the inn, would it have been as special?

I wonder.

Nativity scene. Stable reflections. — Oh come let us adore Him!

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: Rosemary Walnuts

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: In Pursuit of Perfect Pines

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Symbols and Traditions

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Simple Wreath Ornaments

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 7: Christmas Literature

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: Maple Fudge

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 9: My Ragtag Collection of Ornaments

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 10: Festive Simmering Potpourri

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 12: The Real Christmas Light

A Rural Girl’s Favorite Things Christmas Gift Guide

Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas

Posts from a year ago:

The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 11: It’s Okay to Say ‘Merry Christmas’

23 Dec 2018

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 10: Festive Simmering Potpourri

by amy@amyharkemoore.com | posted in: The 12 Posts of Christmas | 0

Inside: Night has settled in. The Christmas lights are glowing, and there’s a light, spicy scent wafting through the house. Festive simmering potpourri. Let’s make a batch.

Festive simmering potpourri. — A festive scent to fill your home.

The house is quiet, and the lights on the Christmas tree are softly glowing. A light scent fills the room. Cinnamon and cloves with a hint of orange and cranberry. Nutmeg and rosemary round out the fragrance.

This potpourri is easy to make, and you likely have the ingredients on hand already.

For this Festive Simmering Potpourri, you will need:

1 orange cut into slices
1 cup of cranberries
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons of whole cloves
2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
1 quart of water

Assemble the following in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. You can also put the ingredients into a Crock Pot and keep on warm or low, or simply make the potpourri in the Crock Pot to begin with, though this will take longer for the scent to permeate the room.

Check the water level every so often and add a little more to replace what has evaporated. The potpourri will last a couple of days if you store it in the refrigerator when not in use.

Enjoy the lovely scent. Particularly after dark when the house is quiet, in the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

Have you ever made a simmering potpourri? Tell us about it in the comments.

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 2: Silent Night’s Story

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 3: Rosemary Walnuts

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 4: In Pursuit of Perfect Pines

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 5: Symbols and Traditions

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 6: Simple Wreath Ornaments

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 7: Christmas Literature

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 8: Maple Fudge

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 9: My Ragtag Collection of Ornaments

A Rural Girl’s Favorite Things Christmas Gift Guide

Slowing Down to Enjoy Christmas

Posts from a year ago:

The 12 Posts of Christmas (2017), Day 10: Simple Ornaments

22 Dec 2018

The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 9: My Ragtag Collection of Ornaments

by amy@amyharkemoore.com | posted in: The 12 Posts of Christmas | 0

Inside: Unpacking my ragtag collection of ornaments every December is a sentimental journey through the memories and seasons of my life.

I admire a beautifully decorated tree with matching ribbons and shiny ball decorations. The kind from the cover of women’s magazines or standing sentinel in the center of the mall. These theme trees are lovely, but my experience in decorating is quite different. . .

I open a shoebox over thirty years old. Inside is my treasure. My ragtag collection of ornaments gathered over many years.

There are the ornaments from our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Mike sawed flat disks from the trunk, and I glued on leaves and berries from his mom’s holly bush. That was thirty years ago, all of the berries long gone, and some of the leaves as well.

Hearts made from raffia and yarn predate those. I remember making them a few years prior when I needed something to do with my hands, trying to get through a bout of depression.

On a lighter note I have salt dough ornaments I made from Christmas cookie cutters. An angel, Santa, a stocking–and dozens of white doves. Yes, dozens! They come from an even earlier time when I was trying to make crafts to sell. I thought if I put a price of 50 cents a piece on them I could make some money. . . What was I thinking? So they’ve been with me for years and years. And years. I can remember back to my meticulous days when I insisted all of them had to be hung on our tree, and poor Emily had to help me hang them. She and her father used to tease me about those white doves.

Ragtag collection of ornaments. — My favorite cow ornament. Thanks, Kay!

Family members have greatly contributed to my ragtag collection. Mom gave me a set of antiqued tin ornaments she made a long time ago that I absolutely love. Emily’s school projects have added several stockings and reindeer, a snowman, star, and gingerbread man that is now missing a pom-pom. And if a prize exists for the most ornaments and Christmas decor made and given by a relative, my aunt Kay wins hands down! If it weren’t for Kay, nearly a third of my Christmas trinkets and baubles would be gone. Among the many I’ve received from her are rabbits, Santas, and cows. (That’s what happens when you have a dairy farm.) The cows are a particular favorite of mine.

Friends have given me ornaments as well. Toward the top of my tree, far from kitty paws, hangs a delicate glass Uncle Same Santa from a writer friend, Donna, who shared my feelings about country and patriotism.

Collection of ornaments. — My Danish pig!

A pig suspends from a lower branch, thanks in part to my Danish friend Andrea. Another one just like it is on the other side of the tree–one for me, one for Mike. She also sent three Danish hearts, a traditional ornament there. She had purchased these at a craft bazaar to send halfway around the world from Sejer Island in Denmark to me. Two Christmases ago, one of those hearts had inadvertently been left out of the shoebox that was packed in a larger storage container. That spring I found out she had cancer, so I put that little ornament in a picture frame next to my lamp table and prayed for her often. She died of pancreatic cancer a few months later, so these ornaments are especially dear to me now.

ragtag ornaments for our tree. — Santa made from paper twist. In the background an ornament from our first tree.

Beyond the salt dough I’ve made quite a few ornaments from paper twist–which used to be more in style in the late 80s. Santas, angels, and a mini nativity. Also baskets made from jute and tiny dried flowers. Simple Christmas card cutouts with lace, too. I remember back when Mike was working with Mom’s scroll saw, cutting out shapes and a leftover piece looked exactly like a goose–a happy accident! So I painted it and tied a bow around its neck.

It’s been a while since I’ve made ornaments, and working on the mini wreaths for the post a few days ago was just what I needed. Fun, relaxing, and simple. I think I might add a few more to my ragtag collection. The others are getting lonely.

While my tree will never grace the cover of a home decor magazine or be admired from a mall or downtown building, mine is rich in memories, shining bright from the love of those who care about me. Who says that isn’t beautiful?