January has arrived

 Merry New Year, Y'all!

(avove)Showing off their festive Christmas outfits LOL

John Sloane

Got the brand new calendar up! It went up New Year's eve, I couldn't wait, LOL.

John Sloane calendar

Wow, 2026 has arrived!

the big almost full Wolf Moon

Empty Crepe Myrtle branches against bright blue Winter skies, a haven for all our bird residents. We keep them well supplied with seeds and treats.

New Years Eve I enjoyed the ice cold shrimp I love:

And breaded scallops

And our annual ginger ale toast:

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I love getting out the fancy goblets once or twice a year! LOL

my Christmas shirt, fun to wear!

New Years Day

New Years day is always black eye peas with peppers, butter beans, whole green beans,  onions, etc, Corn bread drenched in butter, LOL. Some years I make the traditional "Hoppin John". Back in the old days, LOL, I would fry up cabbage too. And we always have ham. Usually cheesecake for dessert, this years was from the local grocery deli, and it wasn't very good, but the rest was. LOL

I made use of my leftover shrimp on New Years day! LOL

We had left-overs for days, much enjoyed.

 The very very LAST bits of the ham went to the chickens and Tammie and Bindie and Meezie and Callie the Barn Cat, and other animals outside. Everybody enjoyed.

pretty earrings, present from a girlfriend

Next we began enjoying and putting away the rest of our Christmas presents and Christmas things like this 1945 reproduction of the old Sears catalogue. I bring it out and enjoy it on a quiet evening in December each year. 

It's exactly like the original, the correct prices and everything, fun to think about

I did finish this book too:

it was pretty good and he has a whole series, which I MAY tackle, haven't decided yet as I have new books ordered already, which I will show y'all when they arrive. 

of course, there were lots of Bonanza presents! LOL (and books about the Pony Express, because we learned more about that on a Bonanza episode, LOL)

I got Mr. Front Porch this t-shirt..........I love it so much, now I WANT ONE! HA HA LOL

He also was happy to get Seasons 9 through 11 of our most favorite show......Bonanza

And so strange how these Ponderosa MAGNETS below ended up in BOTH of our stockings!? Hmmmmm.... ha ha LOL

I got this gorgeous Beatrix Potter scrapbook diary and finally got to sit down and enjoy it last night. It was adorable for young girls/boys, teens, even adults. I loved it, it was fun and full of neat things in pockets and envelopes to pull out and hold. 

A diary of her life, very interesting, she started it at age Sixteen

Tells all about how she wrote the famous books, including "Peter Rabbit"

I got this lovely little sky blue teapot and teas from a dear friend:

and lots of books to enjoy:

One of my most favorite Christmas presents:

a tiny Lady Head. She is blonde, has dangly pearl earrings, and wears her pearls. Maybe 4 inches tall.
I put her with my other three Ladies, she is the smallest. My others don't have the "real" jewelry like she does. 
I'm not sure but didn't the Lady Head vases come out around the 1940s? Or 1950s? I'll have to research that.....

We spent a few days still enjoying our Christmas decorations before we began the task of putting it all away

my Christmas tree ring

kitchen table runner

we put up two trees this year, one tabletop about 4 feet tall in the living room. and the "big tree" up in front window. Its very old, belonged to Mr. Front Porch's Grandma, so it's tricky to put together, but it made it another year! LOL

 We have plenty of trees here we could go and chop our own down, but we really didn't want to fuss with watering it, and needles falling off, etc.

Put away Lots of favorite ornaments and festive headbands too, LOL

And our Manger scene:

Yes, we have dogs, deer, chickens, peacocks, donkeys, zebras, all kinds of animals at our Manger. LOL One year even a dinosuar snuck in, LOL

and the Victorian House village that I put on the fireplace mantel in the kitchen:

I just love all the scenes and the windows! Each side is different. They were originally cookie/candy tins, I believe. I scatter faux snow all around them. 

and there are ice skaters and a Manger scene

and Christmas music packed away:

Below, a few of my favorites

We even had some "Bonanza" Christmas music this year, LOL....I found this online. It was fun. Yes, they actually sang on it. LOL

Finished up our Christmas movies:

 Loved all of them!

Here's another one of my favorite presents:

Its one of the OLD ORIGINAL windows from our house! So it's very special to me. Mr. Front Porch cleaned it up, worked on it, and painted it for me. I love it! Yes, it still has all the old glass in it, not broken. Alot of them are broken. This one we salvaged.

See those emerald green velvet britches (pants/slacks in "ladylike speak" LOL) I have on? Those were a Christmas present to myownself, ha ha LOL. I had no idea how many things they would actually GO with, and how comfortable they are! I could wear these every day and be happy. LOL

We also celebrated Tammie Jaynes's BIG BIRTHDAY......SWEET SIXTEEN THIS DECEMBER!

My beloved sweet girl, how can you ALREADY be 16!?

Sister Bindie Jolene is here to share!

She cant go on long walks on the trails anymore, and she enjoys her Sweet Sixteen wagon! Mr. Front Porch put this together for her for her birthday, so she can still get on our trails with us. she loves it!

the Candy Canes have now been put away........

Sure hope everyone's holidays were lovely, and your brand new year has started out well, strong, happy and healthy!