I’d like to invite all of my friends and followers to join me for Christmas cookies and coffee (or tea if you wish). This is a rewrite of last year’s post with some new photos!
I will meet you at our front door. Come on in and you can see our living room.
When you first come in, you are greeted by my carolers.From the entryway you can look into the living room, where we always put a big wreath on the fireplace with red poinsettias for color.
And here is our Christmas tree, which we have in our solarium. We like real trees and usually get something 10-12 feet to hold all of the Christmas ornaments we’ve collected over the years from all the places we’ve been. This year my daughter and her husband came over to help decorate with our 50+ year-old ornament collection. I needed my son-in-law to put on the Christmas lights since Hubs is down and out with his back surgery for three months or more.
So have a seat in our family room, and I will get you some coffee and cookies, Try anything you like. I spent the last three days making ginger butterscotch, sugar, and devil’s food crackle plus orange and cranberry shortbread and some pretty powerful bourbon balls.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, no matter what or how you celebrate. I’m taking a few days off to enjoy mine with my family and get some rest from taking care of everything while Hubs is healing up, so I’ll see you in the New Year!
Merry Christmas!
Your home looks wonderful, though I wouldn’t mind betting half your Christmas will come in January.
Have a wonderful celebration, Noelle 🙂 x
Yup, the biggest present is after New Year’s! Merry Christmas, Sue and I’d be happy to make you a cuppa to go with the cookies!
I am so pleased for you all 🙂 ( And I’m good with the coffee, thanks 😉 Have a great holiday 🙂 x
Thank you for this delightful Christmas visit! Much love and many blessings to you and those who mean the most to you. May we offer a loaf of my sister’s pumpkin bread and a plate of hopscotches (peanut butter, butterscotch, marshmallow and chow mein noodle candies) for you to enjoy when you wish! <3
I need the recipe for those candies, if it’s not a family secret! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Christmas, Annette!
Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year Noelle.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
Same to you, David. Happy to make you a cuppa to go with those cookies!
Merry Christmas Noelle 🙂 x
Thank you, Alison, and here’s hoping you holidays are wonderful. I’m halfway through the fourth book, so more work will eventually find its way to you!
Look forward to it 🙂
This was a great post and I loved the pictures. Sending you wishes for a wonderful holiday with loved ones and friends.
May you have the same! Thanks for visiting and come back anytime! I usually have something homemade in the kitchen!
What lovely decorations! The wreath over the fireplace is stunning and I love your carolers. How lovely that you get to have an extended Christmas for when your son comes home in January. Safe travels to him and Merry Christmas to you all! I’ll take that whole plate of cookies please!
Would love to send you the whole plate and the boxes of more in my garage, chilling! The wreath over the fireplace used to be a real one, but it was so hard on my husband to make – so one Christmas my daughter and I bought a fake one and decorated it. It’s survived nicely and we occasionally add something new to it. Merry Christmas to you and the family!
Splendid and wonderful. Have a great Christmas, Noelle.
Thanks, Chris. I hope yours in wonderful, too. Enjoy the complete peace of one day a year..unless you have littles around!
Merry Christmas 🎄 ⛄️ x
Thank you, Cathy, same to you. I love your season imoges!
🙂
That’s really sweet, Noelle! Hope you have a lovely Christmas xx
You, too, Terry, and a new year filled with book sales!
Thanks for the lovely tour and yummy cookies, Noelle. Wishing you and yours a beautiful Christmas and abundant blessings in the New Year. <3
And the same for you, Bette! Where did 2016 go? Wishing you a ton of book sales in 2017!
Ditto, dear Noelle! <3 xo
I hope you enjoy a fabulous Christmas break with your family Noelle!
I know your Christmas will be a yummy one!
I collect Byers Choice Carolers too – picking up one or two in years when funds permit since her crafting on the kitchen table days, before most people had ever heard of Joyce Byers. So your mantle brought a big grin to my face.
The cookies, not so much, however. While I always have a mug of coffee by my side, I was frustrated that I couldn’t jump through the computer and snatch the entire plateful of those yummie looking treats! (The ginger butterscotch sound like they could easily become an addiction – two of my favorite flavors.)
Those are the only photos that showed up for me, however, and I would love to see your son and your tree. Perhaps when he returns in January? I know that will be your BEST Christmas present. EVER.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
I had a ton of pictures up, Madelyn, but my daughter said that because of the info in the post and the info embedded in the pictures, she was afraid that we would attract unwanted attention to our house. So she deleted them, dang. If you send me your email (to sailingawayng@gmail.com) I would be delighted to let you see them all. I think she and her husband are being overly cautious, but they are the digital experts. I can also send you the ginger butterscotch cookie recipe!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Sent! NOW, do something to keep that email address of yours from being pharmed!! — despite the fact that I must sound like your daughter – lol 🙂
xx,
mgh
Is your son coming home just as a break, or is his deployment officially over? If so, congratulations and happy returns (and thank you) to him… and if not, I’m glad you can see him for the holidays!
I’ll take some tea and cookies, please! 😉
Ariel, I wish his service was over, but alas, he will be off after a month’s leave for more training before being deployed to the Middle East again. Such is the life of a military family. Wishing I could send you some tea and cookies for real!
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Thank you! Love this!
You’ve me happy!!
& a happy new year!
Thanks for inviting us into your holiday home Noelle. The coffee and treats were delicious. Wishing you a Happy New Year! 🙂
The same to you! Here’s hoping 2017 is a great year for readers and writers!
I’ll drink to that! Cheers! 🙂
It looks positively enticing. Happy new year, Noelle. May 2017 bring everything you even wished for.
You, too, Sylvia. Have a nice wine for me!
Merry Christmas to you and yours too Noelle! Thanks for the cookies! 😀
You’re most welcome. Always happy to share recipes!
Those cookies look delicious! I can’t quite decide which one is my favorite. I guess I’ll have to have one of each 🙂
They were particularly good this year, according to my daughter who of course is totally unbiased! Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful tree. I love vintage decs.
We call each Christmas tree our ‘memory’ tree. We have ornaments we have collected from all of our trips overseas and here in the US, plus ornaments from friends and family! A great way to recall our wanderings and we add one each year.! We had n ornaments for our first Christmas tree, so I decorated with with red and white checked bows…
Wishing you and your family a belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2018! X
Thanks, Little Mermaid, and back atcha! Hope 2018 is a bumper year for you!
I hope you enjoy the holiday season, Noelle. I’m sure those who visit your house will. Everything look gorgeous and delicious. And Happy 2018!
Thank you, Olga! Hope you have a wonderful New Year. This past year was a tough one, so I’m hoping for something better
but aging is tough and never reverses itself, dang!
Those goodies look every inch the comfort food they are for the holidays. I bet they were delicious! You have a lovely home Noelle =)
Thank you! This year Christmas was a marathon – Hubs had a serious back operation in early December and I was running to get everything done and take care of him. Things are quieter now, but it’s also time to de-decorate, which I hate. Happy New Year!
I hope your husband recovers very well. It must be tough for you with his operation and the holidays and all. I’m sure everything went well. Oh yes, the de-decorating the house. Yikes. I’m glad we only put up a Christmas tree this year. Happy New Year!
The tree is the last thing – still there. Not sure whether or not to leave it up for my son, who gets back from Afghanistan in a week or so…
Our tree too is still in the living room, maybe I will take it down this weekend. If I ever find the time haha. I’m sure your son will appreciate seeing your Christmas tree after spending all that time in Afghanistan.. You must be really happy he’s coming back =)
We are indeed happy to have him back. The tree coming down will depend on my energy level to dedecorate it! BTW, Frances was my mother’s middle name. Nice!
And in our household, we haven’t even talked about dedecorating our tree haha. Nobody seems to wanna move it yet. Really? Wow, I used to not like my name. There’s not a lot of Filipinos who name their kids Frances so I used to think it was weird. But now I think it’s ok 🙂
Good! My Mom was a special person – I’m sure you are, too!