Who We Are

Friday, December 04, 2015

The Fireplace and Mantle

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie!  We have a lot of very special Christmas items surrounding our fireplace; I thought I'd share a little bit about those with you today.

The first thing you might notice is the perfect angels sitting on the hearth.

IMG_5287MagsCamFireplace
Maggie and me - being very, very good!

Right next to Maggie are Mom's Belgian sabots - wooden shoes left out for Saint Nicolas to fill on December 6th, Saint Nicolas Day!  We are supposed to put carrots or hay or other treats in there the night of the 5th for St. Nicolas' horse - and then he might give us special toys or small treats!  We haven't put anything in there yet - you know -- it could be too much temptation for someone.

Anyway, hanging under the mantle is a Nativity quilt that Mom made:

IMG_5059NativityQuilt

She couldn't find a pattern she really liked, so she winged that one.  That's how Mom does things.

Let's have a look at the mantle itself!  It's full of angels and Nativity type items!

IMG_5058Mantle

On the far left is a shepherd with his flock.  That and the music box of carolers you can just see on the far right Mom and Dad bought in Germany.  The music box plays "Stille Nacht". I'm told that if it was from here in the States, it would play "Silent Night" instead. (Ha roo woo roo!)

The Shepherd spinny-thing turns when you light the candles. Or at least it's supposed to, but there's a chance it got a bit "stuck" once upon a time and the blades caught on fire ... so the candles are mostly for show now. Enough said about that!

Here is the small crèche:

IMG_5060Mantle

Mom and Dad bought that in the Belgian town they lived in, Soignies, in their favorite shop - La Parapette.  There is a good chance Mom dropped a lot of francs there.  A real good chance!

The pottery angels are from right here in the Flint Hills of Kansas!  Other angels up there were all made by friends of Mom's and given to her!  The small Christmas tree has a star at the top that was also given to Mom - it is a small Nativity scene carved from Olive Wood; it is from Jerusalem!

IMG_5289MagsCamFireplace
"I think that's a wrap, isn't it, Cam?  Let's grab some carrots for St. Nicolas' horse!"
"Yummm... carrots!  I mean ... let's wait until tomorrow night!"

Yeah.  Best to wait.  We have to keep that "perfect angels" thing going!

I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas holidays as much as we are!

Cammie!

12 comments:

  1. OH MY CHRISTMAS STARS...YOUR MOM WINGED THAT QUILT TO PURRFECTION. YOUR MANTLE IS BEAUTIFUL..
    OH AND DID I MENTION THE LITTLE FURRY ANGELS SITTING BY THE FIREPLACE?
    HAPPY FRIDAY
    HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF

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  2. OMD the Pawfect Decoration for the center of the hearth.... TWO ANGELS...

    We love the "POTTERY" Ceramic angels and the Pitcher... We have Lots of thingys Similar to those... that were made in the town near where we lived.... BEFORE we moved to Pencil Vane E Ah.
    OH your mom's Pattern fur the quilt is EXCELLENT. She is OH SO Tailented.

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  3. You girls are purrfect angels! There are a lot of lovely things on your hearth. We like your mom's quilt and the pottery angels from the Flint Hills!

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  4. So pretty and peaceful...you girls AND the decorations! Somehow we think that one of those things will not be peaceful for long, eh?

    Kiki and Nala

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  5. I LOVE all your decor!

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  6. Everything looks so very nice. Mom keeps saying she is going to show some of our Christmas stuff too, but she never seems to get to it - something about little bipeds having too many days off from school:)

    Woos - Ciara and Lightning

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  7. that is a beautiful firefly - Mom says she misses our - we never ever used it but it was perfect for hanging all our Christmas cards on :)

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  8. OMD...What a wonderful selection of beautiful nativity items!!! Of course, the two perfect angels on the hearth are our favorite!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  9. Wow! Those two perfect angels by the hearth are such great decorations! BOL I love the nativity quilt your mom made; it perfect! The sheeps are nice and plump! BOL
    Oz

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  10. the Nativity quilt is really cute! we like all of your mantle ornaments!

    pip, smidgen, minnie, hollie, sharpie

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  11. Your home and Christmas decorations are so beautiful, girls!

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