Etter made this button wreath and some other lovely hand-mades
that haven't made it out of the box yet.
Betty Johnson made this Santa, some 15 years ago.
Betty painted Santas of all shapes sizes and designs on
everything from fence posts to okra pods.
She's not the same Betty Johnson who made china dolls.
I haven't found the china baby in a potato basket, yet.
St. Michael's Santas. They were old when Mike found them in a box and put
them on florist's sticks and tucked them into dish gardens 25 years ago.
I put mine in a forest of foxtail fern and alyssum.
I have two tiny boxes of fat little porcelain Santas that I bought in an
import store after that but never put them on sticks.
Christmas trinkets are not just in boxes tucked away here.
Lots of treasures are outside, like these Camellias.
Mathotiana.
I sprayed with soap and olive oil today to try to
rid some leaves of uglies: scale and mealy bug.
Blood of China
Either a seedling or a cutting, I forget. I can hardly wait.
Knockout Rose
Pink KO has buds.
Dogwood leaves and tight buds.
Dogwoods have something to offer the gardener, year around.
Yesterday's cold north wind changed to the south today, bringing back moderate temperatures.
Newly mown rye grass looks more like springtime, belied by
bare limbs of crape myrtle, dogwood and pecan.
Secrets of a Seedscatterer
I think your Betty Johnson santa would like to meet my santa collection! He's just the kind I love and your button wreath. What a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThe memories conjoured up by the trinkets is enjoyable, I'm sure!! I know that I enjoy every minute of it..and I have a few less years worth of memories to savor :-) I love that you have flowers to enjoy still. Right now it is sleeting, with blizzard like conditions expected through the nighttime hours. They have already called off school for tomorrow, and my clinic day has been rescheduled. .looks like we may have that white Christmas that we dream of every year and never get!! My kids are thrilled, and I'm sure there will be photos to be shared!! Blessings to you, my friend!!
ReplyDeleteYour garden look like springtime now. Wow, what a beautiful camelia that look like a rose. Have a blessed Christmas, Nell Jean!
ReplyDeletedear NJ, thanks for sharing the christmas momentos from the past, bringing them into the present provides continuity. Happy Christmas and may the next year bring you luck in the struggle against mealy bugs and such things. cheers, catmint
ReplyDeleteDear Nell ~ I love the Christmas ornies and the stories that go with them.
ReplyDeleteYour camellias are just beautiful.
Have a lovely Christmas and a great 2012.
FlowerLady
The old ornaments always have wonderful stories attached to them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed yours.
My decorating or I should say lack thereof,is getting serious but my tree man is sick today!
love that button wreath, and your camellias. cynthia and i are the same age...and our mothers keep the same sorts of things! so do i, actually. i still have my son's broken plaster hand print...that sweetie dropped it as he proudly give it to me when he was 3. he's 22 now. i guess most mothers are like that. merry christmas, nell jean!
ReplyDeleteIt is like a trip down memory lane every year at this time with our Christmas treasures. Your Camellia blooms are just so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMerry And Blessed Christmas to you.
How nice to have memories imbedded with so many of your Christmas decorations. I've never seen a button wreath, but I love it! Your camellias are gorgeous, too. Your seedling/cutting looks so big and healthy! How exciting to see it blooming.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to all of you. I still haven't brought down all the treasures I mean to see before they're packed away for another year.
ReplyDeleteCamellias are indeed our Christmas roses and a garden staple in the Deep South. Button Wreaths are a novelty employed by collectors to use up all those buttons we've saved.