Happy Holidays from New Mexico

We decorated for the holidays this year. Hardly a profound statement, except that in many years...we just didn't. This year we got in the mood right after Thanksgiving to drag out all the holiday decor and go to town, and I'm glad we did.

It's nice to see the Christmas tree lights sparkling in the front window and the other festive adornments in the living room. I didn't go overly overboard (we never have), but I think it's a nice touch for the holidays.

Since this will probably be my last blog of 2019 (because Spacefreighters tends to "go dark" from mid-December to the beginning of January), I thought I'd share just a few photos of the ol' hacienda playing holiday dress-up--some "outfits" courtesy of Mother Nature, and some dug out of storage boxes.

South Mountain set the scene for a white Christmas this year. 

(It doesn't always happen!)

We're in the process of building a courtyard that's been

in the planning stages for well over a decade. (At least,

we've had it staked out for at least that long!)

This is Phase One with a bit of seasonal "flocking."

The gate is just a temporary makeshift barrier until

we have custom doors made. It's there to keep the 

coyotes and other predators out. (Yeah. Really.)

Earlier this year we bought a puppy, and this was Zoey's first frolic 

in the funny white stuff that suddenly appeared one morning. 

She found it to be quite a lot of fun--after some initial WTHs?

The wreath on our entry gate, all lit up.

The gate and wreath in the daylight hours.

I'm super proud of this! I actually have a wreath on my front door

this year! Had to capture it for show and tell. You can't see it, but the hangar

is bronze and has three big jingle bells at the top. I'm so freakin' proud

of this silly little wreath. Next year, I hope to really deck out the entire

courtyard with garlands, wreaths & lights...and maybe some luminarias :)

Oh, Christmas Tree, oh, Christmas Tree. 

Night time mode.

A flash photo so some of the ornaments show up a little better. 

Most came from Nogales, Mexico, and I collected them over 

the decades when I visited my mom in southern Arizona. Mom's been

 gone for many years now, so getting them out each Christmas is 

a very special remembrance for me.

They're made of colorful yarn pressed flat onto a hard backing.

I have hundreds--bells, wise men, angels, birds, animals, stars, drums, 

Santa, snowmen and just about any holiday-type thing you can think of.

Here's a close-up of a reindeer so you can get an idea what they look like.

I also have an assortment of handmade 4" snowflakes that were 

painstakingly crocheted and sprayed so they keep their shape. 

They were made by a longtime friend of the family who's 

been gone a very long time. Each snowflake is a unique shape 

and pattern, just like the real ones. 

There's also a nest with little blue wooden eggs--which 

is supposed to bring good luck. You can just see it a little to the 

right of the middle of the tree. We hung a Mexican ornament of

a yellow bird just above it, looking like it was just flying from the nest.

Most of the lights are red chili lights with a few strands of multi-color.

The tree topper (which you can't see) is a tiny green cowboy hat. Yeehaw.

The pottery on our fireplace get some little red bows

to dress them up for the holidays.

My buffet gets an assortment of Christmasy visitors--angels, santas,

snowmen, mini-wreaths, holly sprigs, and a few more little red bows 

to add some festive color. A white flocked garland goes over the top.

Those little red bows also do amazing things to dress up our 

pottery collection for the holidays.

And there's the nickel tour. Hope you enjoyed this quick peek.

Did you decorate for the holidays this year? 

Have a wonderful holiday 

and a festive New Year!

See you in 2020!