Wrapping It Up

 It was a very stormy Christmas Day, and my parents and brother weren't able to come for gumbo, but we did have our younger son and daughter-in-law.  We were also so very fortunate that the tornadoes were just to the north of us--sort of a Christmas miracle.

We leave the decorations and tree up until Twelfth Night, and I thought I'd share some of our home with all of you!

 I got back as far as I could squeeze myself in the corner for this shot of our living room.

Christmas cards from years past bundled and displayed on a tiered stand...

 Reindeer awaiting a Christmas night fire!

The secretary was dressed up!

Sideboard in the hallway...

China cabinet...

On the tea cart...

Little tree (made of a tomato cage) on the courtyard (along with dead plants!)...

Fresh greens and candles in an old wooden cheese box on the table.

I hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas, and are enjoying some down time today (and the rest of the week)!

I'll be visiting these fabulous hostesses this week:

Inspire Me Monday ~ Create With Joy

Masterpiece Monday ~ Boogieboard Cottage

Mop It Up Monday ~ I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Mosaic Monday ~ The Little Red House

Show Me What You Got ~ Our Delightful Home

A Return to Lovliness ~A Delightsome Life

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday  Coastal Charm 

Time to Shine ~ A Diamond in the Stuff 

Table Top Tuesday ~ A Stroll Thru Life 

One Project at a Time ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons

Tuesday's Treasures ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Show Me What Ya Got ~ Not JUST a Housewife

Be Inspired ~ Elizabeth & Co.

Welcome Home Wednesday ~ Vintage on a Dime

Wordless Wednesday ~ Create With Joy

What's It Wednesday ~ Ivy and Elephants

Primp Your Stuff Wednesday ~ Primp

Wow Us Wednesday ~ Savvy Southern Style 

Show & Share ~ Southern Lovely

Home Sweet Home ~ The Charm of Home

Home and Garden Thursday ~ A Delightsome Life

Vintage Inspiration ~ Common Ground

My Romantic Home  ~Show and Tell Friday

Flaunt It Friday ~ Chic on a Shoestring

Saturday Nite Special ~ Funky Junk Interiors

My Favorite Thing ~ Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Under the Table and Dreaming ~ Sunday Showcase

Sunday's Best Party ~ My 1929 Charmer

It's Party Time ~ It's So Very Cheri

The Tablescaper ~ Seasonal Sundays

Papa Noel Comes To The River Parishes!

Image from The Times-Picayune

The forecast storms managed to stay away until Papa Noel's way was lit along the River Road in St James Parish tonight!  

What a sight!  After church, we joined the mob:  thousands of people, thousands of cars, and over a hundred bonfires up and down the levee! If you missed the original post about this lovely tradition, you can find it here.

Sadly, I am most definitely NOT a very good photographer (especially at night), but some of you indicated you were interested in seeing the fires lit, so....

Imagine this spectacular sight all up and down the River Road, for about eight miles.  There were fireworks, too.  Maybe in the New Year, I can learn to take pictures at night!

In addition to the thousands of cars, there were TOUR buses winding their way down the narrow River Road with the rest of us; THIS is the way to go!

No Louisiana celebration would be complete without a 'brass band.'  It sounded like Mardi Gras!

Once again, Merry Christmas from the Headmistress, the Headmaster, and staff!

We are awaiting major storms tomorrow; we are so happy that the weather held off tonight!

Allumant la manière pour Papa Noël

South of Baton Rouge, about halfway to New Orleans, the River Parishes have a charming and quite old tradition of lighting the way for Papa Noel (Santa) so he can find the children who live along the Mississippi River.  For years and years, families have been building huge structures that are lit every Christmas Eve up and down the levee.  We have never seen this lovely celebration, but hopefully this Christmas Eve we will be able to along with my younger son and his wife.

Today, though, we thought we'd make a 'dry run' so we would kind of know where we were going and to see the structures before they are lit.  Most of the ones we saw were in Paulina, a little bitty town in St. James Parish.  Each family has a particular area of the levee where they build their bonfires, and we were able to see some already built, and some still under construction.  It looks like HUGE fun, and from what I understand, Christmas Eve is bumper to bumper traffic along the River Road, with great houseparties going on (if you know someone)!

So, here, for your viewing pleasure, are some of the ones we saw today:

Most were the traditional 'teepee' style structure, and some had willow branches around the outside which, I assume, aids the fire (they burn for hours);

Some are built as real structures--I think I might be able to live in that one!  But up it will go on Christmas Eve!

As you can see, some folks can be very creative!

The Headmaster insisted on having his picture made with Santa in a pirogue, which had eight alligators pulling it (sorry, no pics of the gators)!

And this one was especially poignant.  

If we can get our act together after church on Christmas Eve, we'll give this trip a try.

En attendant, le directeur et je tiens à vous souhaiter à tous un Joyeux Noël!

*In the meantime, the Headmaster and I wish all of you a very 

Merry Christmas!*

Saturday Nite Special ~ Funky Junk Interiors

Under the Table and Dreaming ~ Sunday Showcase

The Tablescaper ~ Seasonal Sundays

Masterpiece Monday ~ Boogieboard Cottage

Mop It Up Monday ~ I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Debbiedoo's Newbie Party ~ Debbiedoo's

Mosaic Monday ~ The Little Red House

Show Me What You Got ~ Our Delightful Home

Little Nativity

Many years ago, I happened upon this charming little bitty Nativity.  I think I paid, like, $2.00 for it.  It is porcelain, and is so, so tiny.  I just loved it, and I still do.  I have other Nativity sets, but this one is ALWAYS displayed.  I think the largest one in the set is maybe 3/4 of an inch!

The interesting thing about this is that, several months after purchasing this for next to nothing, I found the exact same set in a shop on Royal Street in New Orleans for $25.00!!!  Needless to say, even that long ago I recognized I had a huge bargain.

But...I love this set.  It's so dainty and fragile.  The three kings are regal; the little shepherd boy

 has his little lamb.  Mary and Joseph look down on the manger;

 and the Baby Jesus is so precious.

  This little bitty set always makes me smile, and as small as it is, always sends me back to the reason for this glorious season.

Thank you for allowing me to share this sweet set with you!

Reindeer EVERYWHERE!

They're EVERYWHERE!

On the kitchen counters;

I lucked up on this wonderful piece at an after Christmas sale years ago; it was marked down so low, I felt like I was stealing it!

on the hearth;

I have had these precious things for about 30 years; they were purchased at a local shop (they are paiper mache) and have 'necklaces' of greens and red bows (also purchased years ago at the Junior League of Baton Rouge's Hollydays).

and on the sideboard!

I love these reindeer; found them at the Dollar Store FOR a dollar a couple of years ago.

Will Santa have ANY to drive his sleigh?  I'll just bet he will!

Hoping that all are having a great week!

Sharing with:

Vintage Inspiration ~ Common Ground
The Charm of Home ~ Home Sweet Home

My Romantic Home  ~Show and Tell Friday

Under the Table and Dreaming ~ Sunday Showcase

The Tablescaper ~ Seasonal Sundays

Chasing Christopher Radko

Many years ago, I began to collect ornaments by Christopher Radko.  I'm sure you are all familiar with him and his story (which you can read here), and know how beautiful his ornaments are.  The fun part for me, though, was finding them.  Yes, this was a long time ago, and long before he appeared on QVC!  When I traveled, I'd always make sure to seek out the local Christmas stores to see if they had any of these treasures.  And, one at a time, I would purchase them.  It was a very slow process, as they were quite pricey, but I thought they were so beautiful, reflecting a true old world style.

This great guy was my first; he's so, so different looking than the ones I find now.  

This is a sweet stocking from the Little Gems collection; I love these small ones.

A great Santa with a tree;

Hurricane Katrina commemorative ornament;

Oops!  My #2 Assistant, Midnight, deciding which ornament to play with NEXT!  Please note the wooden ornament already on the floor; I put those on the bottom!

A sort of upside down jester;

A little gingerbread house.

The 'newer' ornaments just don't seem to hold the charm for me that the older ones did; also, they're too easy to find now, thus taking a lot of the joy out of the 'chase.'  (And, that's really OK.  I probably have 40-50 of these, and storage in this house is at a premium!)

I have some other ornaments that I hope to share later.  I'm just beyond overjoyed tonight that I finally got this tree decorated!

Hoping that everyone has had a good weekend.  A lot of you will have snow this week...ENJOY!

I'll be sharing with these lovely hostesses this week:

The Tablescaper ~ Seasonal Sundays

Masterpiece Monday ~ Boogieboard Cottage

Mop It Up Monday ~ I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Show Me What You Got ~ Our Delightful Home

A Return to Lovliness ~A Delightsome Life
Inspire Me Monday ~ Create With Joy

Table Top Tuesday ~ A Stroll Through Life

Show Me What You Got ~ Our Delightful Home
Creative Cain Cabin:  Christmas Decorating Party