Decorating, Ho!

The first day of Christmas decorating always goes by slowly because before Christmas goes up, Thanksgiving has to come down. I guess I should have started earlier, but I really felt guilty starting before Advent.

Ticked because my alarm did not sound this morning. My timer app has quit working after working perfectly last week. And I really wanted to wake up, because I was having a horrible dream about the reorganization at work.

So, what I got done today:
     •• The ceppo is up (drat, doesn't fit on the new shelving, so don't know what I'm going to do with the little feather tree);
     •• Santas are up, so the new shelving is decorated;
     •• Kitchen is decorated;
     •• Console leading into the dining room is done;
     •• Mantel is cleared off;
     •• Decoration on landing is done;
     •• Porch is finished;
     •• Lights are in the windows downstairs.

All Thanksgiving is put away.

And the Christmas cards are written out. I just have to put together the newsletter.

[Later: Okay, I put up the prims on the pass-through and decorated the feather tree. I'd do the table but I need to pull out the iron to press the table runner. I'm not doing that at 8:30 at night!]

Listened to First Sunday of Advent choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3 today, from St. John's Chapel in Cambridge. So lovely!

 
Ruth & Skitch Henderson's Christmas in the Country, Judith Blahnick
I don't usually buy Christmas books with so many recipes in them, but this volume was picked up used and I couldn't resist the beautiful photos of the Hendersons' Hunt Hill Farm, which still exists as a trust. I remembered Henderson as Johnny Carson's bandleader; he worked with many Broadway stars and singers, a few of who are shown in photographs. But the best thing about this book are the glorious color photographs, some of the Hendersons' feasts, but most of the snowy farm in Connecticut where they founded a cooking school. There are commentaries for each Sunday of Advent and St. Nicholas Day, and even of the German customs that Ruth Henderson brought from her family, all the way through Epiphany. For the cooks in the crowd, a great variety of recipes, some from other countries, but mostly all-American treats. Most appealing to lovers of the country, cooking aficionados, and nostalgia freaks who remember The Tonight Show's orchestra leader.