Christmas on the Homestead
hello there friends! I hope you have settled into 2021 and are starting to find your routine. I think every year we have to push the ‘reset’ button no matter what kind of year we had prior. Of course 2020 was a year like no other, but there were lots of good things that came out of it too. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and teaching lots of folks about homesteading. But before I do that I wanted to wrap up our Christmas season. If you recall, I turned birdhouses into a Christmas Village for the mantle. I love it and can’t wait to play around with it next year.
I’ll be honest with you, I did not love my tree this year. I picked one out and it was HUGE. It was way too big for our space and the branches were so far apart that it was hard to decorate. It ended up being okay, but it wasn’t anything like the tree we had two years ago. Last year we didn’t have a proper tree because we had little Corny and we were afraid he would tear it down. But this year I was determined to have a tree again. And all the animals behaved and no trees were torn down. Not even a single ornament was knocked off the tree.
Speaking of ornaments, most of our decorations were in storage but we finally got them out of storage this year. I went through them and really paired them down. I have a bunch of bulbs that I want to turn into a wreath next year. They don’t really match my decorations any more but they’d make a nice wreath to hang on the door. Anyway, we did decorate and we had a tree and it was nice. I especially loved the new additions this year: the Christmas village and the smaller artificial tree that I hung ‘homesteady’ decorations on.
As for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it was just the Mister and me (and the animals). We had a nice dinner for Christmas Eve and then for Christmas the Mister wanted to smoke a chicken. So after opening a few gifts that morning, he manned the smoker. It was a quieter holiday than usual for us, but I liked it. We had a huge snowfall the week before Christmas so we enjoyed some snowy walks, but then on Christmas Day it was 50 degrees! So all that snow melted and we enjoyed some wet walks. But Anna and I did get out for a walk on Christmas.
Cookie Exchange
My friend and I decided to host a small cookie exchange. I’ve been wanting to do one for years, but never got around to it. So my friend Diane and I collaborated and invited a small group of our friends to stop by for some snacks and grab a dozen cookies. I’m lucky to have the fishing lodge’s dining room to host things in this year. The dining room is large enough that we can safely social distance but small enough that we are close to each other without having to shout across a room.
I had decided prior to Christmas that I was moving my business in a direction away from making and selling products. So I decided to give the leftover products away at the cookie exchange. That worked really well. We also had 12 dozen different cookies! I thought I would outline how the exchange works and what we would like to do different for next year.
In case you don’t know how a cookie exchange works, you invite people to bring one dozen cookies. You can display them however you want. We had intended to take the cookies out of the containers they were brought in and put them on the plates that we had spread out on the counter. But we didn’t do that. I was in charge of that part and I’m not quite sure why I didn’t do that. We did have containers for people to take but the issue was that since the cookies were in the containers they were brought in, we were left with people’s containers. So next year we’ll definitely take them out of the containers and put them on the plates.
So people bring cookies, you display them, then you can have some finger foods, coffee, tea, and hot cocoa (and a hot cocoa bar!). You visit for a while (if you want) and then everyone takes a dozen cookies. They walk through the line of cookies and take one of each cookie. We didn’t set up a specific time for people to do this and we ended up with a lot of cookies left over! So next year we plan on setting a time for the actual exchange. So for example, we’ll have social time from 1-3PM and then the exchange will be at 3PM. Everyone will take a dozen cookies and then you can grab extra cookies once everyone has their dozen. This will help cut down on extra cookies being left behind for us to eat!
We had a really good time with our small cookie exchange. We hope to open it up in 2021. I do know it was so hard to pick a favorite cookie! I loved them all! And I can’t wait for more.
How was your holiday? Did you do anything special? How was your holiday different in 2020?
’til next time
-k
xoxo
Tracy
Hi Kristin! I love the cookie swap idea! I have heard of them, but have never joined in on one. I think the ones I’ve heard of in the past were usually centered on particular families with members all getting together in one house to swap. It sounds like you hosted a lovely event. 🙂
It was just the two of us here on Christmas as well – which was so nice. Just a nice, quiet day. We did a ham dinner as always (with plenty of leftovers!) and that was nice. Mr. Gordon missed seeing his son (adult son who lives downstate – not too far from your area) of course, but all in all, it was a good Christmas. I was grateful for it. I also managed to take time off from work at the end of December – sort of put my foot down. I didn’t even get to take all of my vacation and PTO in 2020, but at least I was able to hold on to that planned time off. It was so necessary.
This winter has been weird for us. Not a lot of snow. On one hand, I’m not complaining because the chickens do NOT like the snow. Mr. Gordon said he read we are in a “snow drought” this year. Interesting. I wonder how that will play out? Our property is usually incredibly wet, so I don’t know how that will play out.
LOVE your photos in this post, and I am definitely curious as to how the bulb wreath will work out! When the time comes hopefully you will share how you did it. I have a lot of old ornaments that I don’t use to am loathe to toss out. It would be neat if I could reuse them somehow.
Okay, I’m off to make oatmeal… for chickens! 🙂
chickenlibrarian
Interesting about the snow drought. I see it. We normally have a lot more snow by now, but we also have a LOT of winter left! On the one hand, I kind of don’t want any more because I’m ready for warm and spring. But on the other hand, we did have a lot of drought last summer so it’s better for us to have the snow. And really, I don’t mind it especially since I don’t really need to go anywhere.
I’m glad that you were able to take time off from work. I know how busy you’ve been recently and it’s always important to take that time and recharge. I’m not very good at taking time off, especially now that I own my own business. But self care is very important! I’m slowly learning that. SO good for you!
I’m thinking about wreath making. Maybe a facebook live at some point? I also have a bunch of spent shotgun shells that I want to make into a wreath. And I need to make valentine’s decorations. Hmmm…
Cheryl | Time To Craft
I love the idea of a cookie exchange. Always seems like a fun way to try other types and have a social time too. You were lucky to have the room to do it this year. I like the idea of your bulb wreath.
chickenlibrarian
yes. Having that dining room at the fishing lodge is perfect for social distancing purposes. I’ve been able to hold my classes in there as well. As for wreaths, I’m doing a make along on facebook live next weekend. I’m excited to get one of the wreaths made (the wreath making didn’t make it onto the list!).