On the First Day of a Feminine Christmas
No artists thrills me more at Christmas than Tasha Tudor and her idyllic depictions of children during the holidays. They tug at heartstrings that thread through my Christmases and make me long for the lovely people who no longer fill my rooms. And it is because of the honoring of them that I enduringly keep Christmas alive to the best of my ability and budget.
An artist who is a close second favorite is Trisha Romance. Her piece above, Christmas at the Cottage, touches me from every corner and not the least of which are the industrious children enjoying a quiet family hour on an afternoon leading up to Christmas Eve. Or perhaps it is Christmas Eve and father is about to return home at last and fit himself into that cozy chair near the tree.
Christmas alternately makes me feel bittersweet nostalgia and over-stimulated angst. But it is the former that drives the latter. Without the memories I am trying to recreate, I would never be able to keep up the pace the Advent weeks bring.
So you shall find me searching for the recipes my grandmother used and plucking evergreen boughs and Sweet William from the yard. I want to buy a pedestal bowl just like Nana’s and fill it that delightful mixture of nuts, raisins, and sugar that said it was Christmas Day at last and dinner was cooking in the oven. I wander aisles of stores and shops, looking for sugary mini-churches and cottages like the ones my mother placed on our mantle to form the poetic snowy villages that set our imaginations soaring. I’ve trawled catalogs hoping to find colorful ribbon candy that tellingly shattered like thin glass whenever I pilfered it from the milk glass bowl by the picture window. That’s the window my mother sprayed white “snow drifts” on that looked so real we had to poke our fingers in it just to see if it was cold.
By carrying on the traditions that meant so much to us as children, we keep our loved ones close at Christmas.
6 Comments
Swami Ratnamurti Saraswati
I live in New Zealand and advent calendars are not actually used here. But I love the sound of them. I too have secret things that recall Christmas of yesteryear: very Down Under things like home made pavlova. My son had Christmas in London tow ywars ago, and said that it was the most magical Christmas ever.
Karen
I have a short list of "it wouldn't be Christmas without…" and baked goods are all over that list! Rum Pecan Ring leads the charge, but spritz cookies, candy canes, mincemeat bars, and pumpkin pie are runners-up. Are you familiar with Becky's Christmas? One of Tasha's most beautiful memoirs of Christmas past. Love Trisha Romance–I've visited her Canada home and it's exactly as she paints it! It glows with love and beauty! Thanks for this and can't wait to read the rest of this annual tradition…in fact, it's not Christmas without the 12 Days of Feminine Christmas!! Hugs, K
Ann
Love Tasha Tudor…and Christmas! Getting ready to make my mom's sugar cookie recipe today. Just would not be Christmas without them!
Donna Macdonald
EXACTLY what I mean, Ann!
annette
Another Tasha Tudor fan club member here! When my daughter was little I lavished her with every possible book and Advent calendar done by Tasha. xo
Donna Macdonald
I have a few Annette. Take Joy is my favorite. Thank you for your comment!