After Christmas 2025

 

our cards to each other

Christmas 2025 is now behind us. Gradually the decorations will come down, we'll pack away the cards received (although more came in just today), finish up the egg nog, and try to pace our consumption of all the wonderful foodie gifts sent by both family and friends.

one of many gift boxes received

There are some serious dietary considerations among us due to surgeries in recent years. We have to keep a close watch on what we eat, the amount, and even the time of day it is consumed. But with those medical necessities in mind, we are still able to enjoy the season and appreciate the foodie gifts.

non-alcoholic egg nog is a treat

For Christmas breakfast we had our usual Cheerios but served in my Christmas dishes instead of the Corelle bowls.

Christmas dinner (lunch)

These same festive dishes were used throughout the day (although my portion of salmon is obscuring the poinsettia on my plate!). In addition to the salmon, we had green beans and Stovetop Stuffing (my favorite when it comes to dressing/stuffing). It was a simple menu but very tasty and just right.

I have a package of the most cute Christmas paper napkins that Denise gave to me years ago. They are so fun that I only use a very few of them each year. When I went to find the package on Christmas Eve, I couldn't find them! I know they're here SOMEWHERE because I happened to come across them just before Thanksgiving..... oh wait! I just now found them on the Internet. Here's what they look like:

you can order them from Etsy,
click here

Gary got us tickets for several upcoming concerts in the New Year. We gave each other gift cards for necessary services, a cross word puzzle book, and red and white blinking safety lights for our bicycles. 

fog on a lake along our bike route

We don't get snow, but at this time of year, fog descends in the morning hours for a wintery scene. We don't ride our bikes when the fog is really thick (nor at night), but the blinking safety lights are a good idea in any weather conditions. They make me feel like I'm seen.

Here is a T-shirt gift from me to you-know-who:

an Etsy purchase

I absolutely love it when Gary gets tickled. He tends to chuckle for a long time. This shirt made that happen. 

Before and after Christmas day we visited with family and friends (local, out of town and from out of state). We brought a friend with us to attend a Christmas concert at a local church, and we were part of the massive crowd standing in line to get seats at the mega church's Christmas Eve service. 

Plans for the last few days of 2025 include but are probably not limited to: 

~ packing away the Christmas decorations.

~ pruning back the gorgeous Hibiscus outside the lanai. She really showed off well this year with so many large red blooms, but in a few days we are forecasted to have nighttime lows in the low 30s. At this size, the bush is very hard to cover. Trimming her back will make protecting her easier. She has always come back in the past when severely pruned.

~ I'll be working my Sudoku puzzles ....

~ and when stumped with that, Word Search puzzles.

~ There are a few pages in Susie Larson's [excellent] advent devotional book that I did not have time to finish before Christmas, so I want to complete that.

~ and just wind down from 2025 to move into 2026. 

Internet art work

Until next time:

Now may the Lord of peace Himself

give you peace at all times

and in every way.

The Lord be with all of you.

II Thessalonians 3:16

A Quiet Christmas Week Afternoon

 

Signs of Christmas are in full display at our house now, and in our neighborhood.

There are symbols of the season in nearly every room of our home.

Some are prompts regarding what this is really all about.....

... with treasured keepsakes from many years.

This Fostoria piece was a gift 55 years ago. When we disposed of the old white Christmas tree a few weeks ago, I kept the lights and then tucked them into this glass to brighten the kitchen counter that overlooks our living room. (I remove the lid to keep it from getting too hot in there.)

This afternoon I spent time in the kitchen making egg salad for tonight's supper. 

I brought my computer laptop to the kitchen table and set it to play "ambient Christmas music" on Youtube. 

This particular link had a most delightful scene, presumably a coffee shop, with snow falling, and even an occasional truck or car passed by on the street. Easy listening, quiet, relaxing. (just Google it to find a nice selection)

One of my several Christmas-themed aprons that I sewed years ago became the appropriate attire (I know how to make a mess, so this is essential for me).

I did not bake anything today, just cooked hard-boiled eggs and combined them with mayo, pickle relish, some mustard, a little artificial salt and Splenda. Being in the kitchen doing easy things during this season is relaxing.

Gary was within easy view, on the lanai, working one of his crossword puzzles. You see in the foreground our tribute to loved ones who are no longer with us in body but most assuredly in our thoughts. This was Gary's idea when we married. We keep them out like this all the time.

Dear ones who remain have sent cards, newsletters, emails, and Facebook greetings. It was Gary and Edith's habit to display the cards on the dining table in full view so we can easily enjoy them as we walk past. They tend to stand out very well, contrasted against the ecru-colored table cloth.

This table runner of red and white poinsettias is a new-found treasure from Hobby Lobby this year. It reminds me of my mother, who loved poinsettias; and I like them, too.

We have received a lot of foodie gifts this year, which is a practical (and delicious!!) idea for those of us who (relatively speaking) "have everything" and don't really need anything. Chocolates, nuts, fruit, fancy breads, jams -- in the past there have been sausages and cheese. As you can see in the above snapshot, the chocolates tend to disappear FAST.

One problem that's been resolved this year has been how to make something orange look Christmasy. My predecessor collected three really nice bowl-and-pitchers. One in white, one in blue, and one in this peachy orange. In my shopping I came across some glittery rusty orange Christmas balls, so those were combined with white, copper, and gold balls and tucked into fake evergreen branches. Voila! Problem solved!

As I said at the beginning in this post, symbols of the season are in nearly every room. Just in case SOMEONE is tempted to question the santa hats on the headboard .....

.... he gave in when this showed up on his bathroom counter! In his defense I'll tell you that he had two older brothers who messed with the belief in Santa early in his life. 

Me, on the other hand, my mother finally had to sit me down and explain "the facts" because she was afraid my classmates would tease me about my ardent belief in the jolly old man. I cried. I did! And then she had to follow that up with revelations about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I cried about them, too.

Well, that was a long time ago and I have long since recovered from the shock. But I do believe in the birth of Jesus Christ, God's Son come to earth. Some may ask how can I believe Him when the fantasy stories are not real. I'm not sure I can really explain it. 

Maybe it's because I choose to believe. I also choose to believe the Bible is God speaking to mankind. He is real to me and He is real to all who choose to believe.

Without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to Him

must believe that He exists

and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Until next time, have a wonderful Christmas, however that is defined for you.

A Comforting Prayer

During this Christmas season 2025, I thank the Lord for progress that has come from many sources to aid my recovery from hard things life this side of Heaven brings. 

The following is a prayer posted by Sandy A. on Facebook from Faithful Grace that says it well. Not everyone feels the joy and peace this season is meant to be. This prayer is helpful.

from FaithfulGrace.com

                           

Lord, breathe peace into the memories that still hurt, the ones that replay in my mind and steal my joy even years later.

These wounds from the past feel as fresh as the day they happened, and I'm tired of being held hostage by moments I can't change or undo.

Teach me that healing doesn't mean forgetting, that I can remember without reliving the pain, that You can redeem even the memories that cut the deepest.

I confess I've tried to bury these memories, to pretend they don't affect me anymore, when really they're still shaping how I see myself, how I trust others, how I move through the world.

Help me bring these painful memories into Your light instead of keeping them hidden in the dark where shame and hurt continue to fester and grow.

Remind me that You were there in those moments even when I couldn't feel You, that You grieve what was done to me, that You want to heal not just the original wound but the ongoing ache it's left behind.

Give me the courage to let You into the tender places, to stop protecting these hurts and start releasing them to You, to trust that Your peace can reach even the memories I thought would always haunt me.

Let Your healing presence wash over these painful memories, taking the sting out of them, replacing hurt with comfort, bringing peace where there's been torment, until I can finally look back without breaking. Amen.

Until next time, grace and peace.

(I'm turning off comments for this post)

Gary and Barbara's Christmas Newsletter 2025

 

Christmas 2025 
Stetson Mansion
Deland, Florida

We hope our newsletter finds you well and able to enjoy this special time of year, however "enjoy" is defined by you.

Our annual Christmas/year-end letter sent to everybody we have ever known and loved is now officially replaced with a blog post. Increased postage rates and arthritic hands have played a big part in this decision. Also, social media enables us to share more pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe our snapshots will speak more than we write. 

Since our first date was just before Christmas, we can honestly say this is our 5th year to celebrate together. Scratching our heads, we wonder how time has flown by so quickly?!

While during these 5 years there have been some major surgeries and half a dozen ER trips, we have still been blessed with good times, a lot of laughter, and a surprising amount of travel.  Neither of us is getting any younger but we are making the best of every day, grateful to be able to say that.

On the subject of travel, we are never away from home for long, which makes it easier to pack a smaller suitcase, avoiding heavy luggage. 

We continue to ride our bicycles nearly every day, which is a wonderful benefit to living in North Central Florida. We bought a good bike rack so we can load up to explore some paved trails, but most of the time we pedal 4-5 miles through the multi-purpose asphalt paths in our +55 community.

We make trips to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell to visit the resting places of our dear ones. Christmas is an especially beautiful time to ponder memories and blessings.

In February we drove to the Everglades to ride an airboat through the grassy marshes, spying birds, turtles, and gators along the way. 

We drove down to Key West for a brief overnight visit. The weather in February is good for Key West, which translates to "a lot of people." The line to get our picture taken at the southernmost point in the USA was looong, so a passerby took this picture of us a few feet north of the monument. 

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at an outdoor seaside cafe. Yes, it's true, Key West has chickens walking all over. They were underfoot as we ate but they were not a bother.

Also in February we took a day trip to the Greek town of Tarpon Springs, sitting on the Gulf Coast at the mouth of the Anclote River. After a wonderful lunch literally on the water at Dimitri's (doesn't that sound Greek?!!), we took a tour on a boat that collects sponges from the river bottom. The diver gave a very informative talk on how that is done and then shared his helmet with any who wanted to try it on.

In April some of Gary's family did the traveling to see us. We had lunch at Crump's Landing in Homosassa, and enjoyed the mermaids at Weeki Wachee.

On another day of their visit we took them to La Chua Trail in Gainesville to see the gators. There were more than we could possibly count, sunning themselves on the beach.

This year we have visited two historical farms within an  hour's drive (or less of our home). We prefer to embrace the history of "old Florida" instead of the theme parks. 

Gary poked around the barn of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling and Cross Creek. The house tour was very interesting .....

The story was told that for her housewarming party, her dear uncle was not able to attend. He sent in his place a large bouquet of flowers, which she placed in the brand new toilet for her guests to see as they toured the home.

We enjoyed lunch at the rustic Yearling Restaurant in nearby Hawthorne where it is (quoting the Internet description) "well-known for serving local exotic carnivore edibles, as well as the usual fare." We opted for entrees that were not "exotic" but enjoyed the themed decor. 

A few weeks later we visited Dudley Farm National Historic Landmark in Newberry, Florida. The plantation was abundant with history as we learned how the family not only met their needs agriculturally but also contributed greatly to the development of their part of Florida.

Gary does his own laundry at home, so he felt very comfortable in this setting. (need I point out who is the comedian in this marriage?)

July took us to Camp Blanding in Starke, Florida to a World War II Museum. Gary explained to me the particulars of a properly made military bed. 

It was during this very interesting tour that we realized we should pursue the idea of visiting the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. 

So this fall we did just that -- took a road trip to New Orleans (NOLA)! The National World War II Museum is top-notch. Made up of some 7 galleries, it's an immersive experience that informs, shocks, and humbles the visitors. I think I've matured some from learning about that time in our nation and our world history. 

On another day we rode on the top level of the hop-on hop-off tour bus -- twice! It's an excellent way to get a birds-eye view of the city while listening to descriptions of everything we passed. 

On another road trip, we headed way up north. While everybody knows New Orleans sits on the Mississippi River, for this trip we were within an hour or so of where the great river actually begins. I thought it would be fun to get a Christmas card picture with the river behind us but later realized my hair was blowing straight up! So instead it's buried in this Christmas letter - ha-ha!

On this trip we visited family members, some of whom we had not yet met. This year Gary was blessed with his 4th Great-grandchild. Until this trip, he had met only one, the red-haired cutie who came to see us earlier in the year. In this visit we met the Minnesota Twins and their new baby brother. While the littles stole the show, we enjoyed visiting with all the adults.

On our way home from the north, we spent a couple of hours at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It had some mighty pretty cars in there!!! And the history of the Corvette was interesting, too.

Our most recent adventure was only about 60 miles from home. The Stetson Mansion, built by the creator of the famous Stetson hats, is another historical treasure. At this time of year it is absolutely, thoroughly and most abundantly decked out inside with Christmas decor. There are multiple nativity scenes in every room, as well as reminders of Santa Claus, the Grinch, snow scenes, and toys. 

Our home is not as thoroughly decorated as the Stetson Mansion, but it's plenty for us. It's our haven where we can shut the door on drama, stress, and conflict to enjoy peace, good food, coziness, and the blessings of love. 

That is our desire for you this Christmas season and into the New Year. Merry Christmas!

Composed/written by Barbara

Edited/proof read by Gary