getting ready for Christmas #4 – vintage postcards
For a few years, I have hung examples from my collection of postcards on a string above the fireplace. I have postcards for all the major holidays – New Years, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween and, of course, Christmas.
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This year, when I hung my Christmas postcards, I could only find six. I need more, I decided, and went on eBay to find just three more.
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By the time I finished my bidding and winning, I had 14 postcards to add to my collection.
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After I had hung some of the postcards over my fireplace, I discovered 7 other postcards from a collection that belonged to my grandmother. So now I have 27 vintage Christmas postcards. The eBay extravaganza was not necessary at all, but, oh, it was fun!
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three of my new postcards – notice, I now have two of a set of ‘robin’ postcards – will I go out to find three more I know are in the set????
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Vintage postcards, mailed in 1922 (left) and 1926 (right)
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
getting ready for Christmas #3 – a countdown to Christmas
In our house, we usually do a countdown to Christmas. Ours is a countdown through Advent, beginning on the first Sunday in Advent and marking off the days, one at a time.
Most years, I have a Jesse tree, a tradition in some Christian homes. This celebrates the long genealogy of Jesus who was of the house of Jesse, the father of David. When my son was little, we had bread-dough ornaments each illustrating Biblical events. When he grew older, and as the ornaments started to show their age, I put red and green ribbons on our Jesse tree. The Jesse tree itself is a two to three foot tall branch from a birch tree. A memory I have through the years is of ironing those ribbons to remove the wrinkles of the year gone by.
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We also have a fabric Advent calendar with pockets for small treats. Most years we put mint sticks in each pocket. This year we couldn’t find our usual mint sticks, so we wrapped sticks of chocolate, one for each day in the calendar.
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This year, I decided to create something new to use for our countdown. On Pinterest, I have seen several examples of countdown ornaments created from tags embellished with various trinkets. So I made twenty-five of these, since this year Advent and December both began on December 1st.
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I printed tags with the numbers spelled out and fixed a small memento to each one. Most of these are trinkets I have kept in odd drawers over the years – mismatched earrings, buttons, acorns, feathers, shells, Christmas pins and so on. I threaded a ribbon through a hole punched in the tag. Each day since December 1, I have hung a new ornament, tying them to the bar of a drying rack we have in the living room.
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The ornaments are pretty and remind me of the days ahead and the days that have come and gone.
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Do you count down the days until Christmas????
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
Christmas lights in Cornwall (day 56)
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As I continue my virtual bike trip along the Cornwall Coast, I am heading towards Day 60 when I will reach Lizard and the southern-most point of England.
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7-56 December 9, 2013 30 minutes 3.0 km (from Coverack to Ponsongath)
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On the 56th day of my bike trip, I could not seem to find an image to paint. Then I took a side road northward and was inspired by a string of coloured lights across a walled courtyard. Perhaps they were not lights at all, but brightly coloured clothespins on a line. In any case, I saw my painting in my mind’s eye!
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It was only after I painted this and showed it to my husband, I realised I had painted a string of Christmas lights! The lights in the Street View image could have been patio lanterns, but my paint brush was thinking Christmas!!!
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December 10, 2013 ‘lights near St. Keverne’ Jane Tims
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One of the light bulbs in my painting has burned out and has not been replaced.
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
return to the shore (day 54 and 55)
For a few days of my virtual travel along the Cornwall coast, I haven’t been seeing much of the coast. This is because my route took me inland, to skirt the tributaries of the Helford River. Now, though, I am travelling along the coast again.
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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7-54 December 4, 2013 35 minutes 3.0 km (from Porthoustock to St. Keverne)
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This is the famous Lizard Coast, called, not for the serpentine rock in the area, or for any reptile, but after the Cornish word meaning ‘high court’ (Lys Ardh). I have seen a few references to the Lizard, including this sign in St. Keverne …
sign showing a lizard in St. Keverne (image from Street View)
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7-55 December 6, 2013 35 minutes 3.0 km (from St. Keverne to Coverack)
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I haven’t attempted many people in my paintings, but in the watercolour below, I tried to capture a couple of the many people I saw enjoying the walk along the coastal road in Coverack. With artists’ licence, I paired two people who in real-life have likely never met one another !!!!
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December 10, 2013 ‘walking in Coverack’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
a moment of beautiful – ice windows on woodland pools
the space: pools of water in the Grey Woods
the beautiful: patterns in the thin ice
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While we wait for a lasting snow in New Brunswick, ice defines the season. On every pool of standing water, ice-windows have formed. I love the patterns these make against the amber-colored water! These are photos of ice windows taken last spring, after the snow had gone.
Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
horses in a field (day 53)
7-53 December 1, 2013 35 minutes 3.0 km (from north of Porthallow to Porthoustock)
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This week on my stationary bike trips and my virtual tour of Cornwall, I saw this group of horses near Porthallow. They stood so serenely in the field, I decided to paint them.
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As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not always comfortable around animals. I like horses and I have ridden, but this little story will tell you how afraid I am. When my sister went to England years ago, she asked me to take care of her horse for the summer. Marengo was a kind horse, and never did anything to frighten me, but my approach to feeding him probably made him wonder. I would go to one end of the pasture, count out his ‘leaves’ of hay and spread them for him to eat. By the time he got to the hay, I would be running to the other end of the fence to measure out his oats. That way, I could feed him but never have to stay near him! What a dreadful story. Most girls would be delighted to have care of a horse for a whole summer!
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
getting ready for Christmas #2 – a Christmas village
I’m in a crafty mood today. My inspiration came from Pinterest.
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First I made some paper houses. I copied a charming design from Pinterest and did a quick rendition with Paint. Then I printed the house parts on cardstock, cut them out and glued them together. The original design is shown at www.behance.net/gallery/Christmas-House/6431227 .
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Then, using wire and rope, I made three ‘bottle-brush’ trees to go with the houses. The method of making various versions of these trees is found at http://www.fynesdesigns.com/handmade-bottle-brush-trees-yarn-twine-garland-rope/ . Mine are rather rustic-looking.
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Then I added some Epsom salts for snow and I have my little Christmas village.
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work station – I made a terrible mess and had to vacuum afterward
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Christmas village – two of the houses and three trees – I’d like to add a little church and some sparkles on the trees
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If you have never gone on Pinterest before, have a look at some of the Christmas decorations I have found in my explorations www.pinterest.com/jane4757/noel-2013/
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Jane Tims 2013
water and glass (days 51 and 52)
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Today, I’ll let my paintings speak for themselves…
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7-51 November 29, 2013 30 minutes 3.0 km (from St. Anthony-in-Meneage to south of Flushing)
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December 1, 2013 ‘swans on Gillan Creek’ Jane Tims
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7-52 December 1, 2013 35 minutes 3.0 km (from south of Flushing to north of Porthallow)
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December 1, 2013 ‘reflections in Porthallow’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
a moment of beautiful – an ice lantern
the space: our living room on a winter evening
the beautiful: an ice lantern with cranberries and periwinkle vine
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As Christmas approaches, candles are among my favorite decorations. For the past few years, I have made ice lanterns (also called ice candles).
I use a square plastic container that freezes well. In the center, I place a paper cup weighed down with rocks. Then I fill the outer ring with cranberries and greenery (this year I used the green vines of Periwinkle, Vinca minor, from our garden). Then I fill the ring with water.
This goes in the freezer, or in colder weather, out on the porch. Once the water has frozen, I put hot water in the paper cup, to free it from the ice. Then I run cold water over the outside of the bigger container to free the ice lantern. I light a tealight or flat candle and put it in the center space.
The shimmering ice lantern will last several hours. These lanterns will also last a long time outside in cold weather.
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Jane Tims 2013
a closer look at trees (days 48, 49 and 50)
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One of the natural history lessons learned during my trip to California concerned the oak. On a trip to ‘Safari West’ near Santa Rosa, our guide pointed out the scarred trunks of various trees. The bark was embedded with acorns! The Acorn Woodpecker places the acorns in holes in the bark of these trees, storing them for a later source of food. The storage trees or ‘granaries’ are used over and over through the years!
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acorns planted in a ‘granary’ tree by the Acorn Woodpecker
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Perhaps as a result of seeing so many new tree species in California, I have looked more closely at the trees I see in Street View as I cycle ‘virtually’ along the Cornwall coast. Identification is usually difficult since the images do not show details. However, occasionally a leafy branch is close enough to see the leaves clearly. So far, I have seen the Common Ash, the Field Maple, and the English Oak. In the image below, you can see the lobed leaves of the English Oak.
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lobed leaves of an English Oak along the road to St. Anthony (image from Street View)
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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7-48 November 21, 2013 30 minutes 3.0 km (from Mawgan to St. Martin)
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November 26, 2013 ‘oak on Fords Hill’ Jane Tims
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7-49 November 23, 2013 35 minutes 3.0 km (from St. Martin to Helford)
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November 26, 2013 ‘maple and oak near Helford’ Jane Tims
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7-50 November 25, 2013 30 minutes 3.0 km (from Helford to St. Anthony-in-Meneage)
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Oak and Ash along the road to St. Anthony (image from Street View)
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
