6 Christmas Houses -

Every year there are six Christmas Houses that live in porcelain beauty atop our fireplace mantle. They are Mother's beautiful and prized houses, and they are surrounded by "snow" and evergreens.

Here they are in order:

There is the cheery Pulbrook Inn (that I've always imagined is near the sea). You can imagine the cold stone and the cheery, huge fireplace inside, and the porch for dancing out under the stars.


The Lands End Boat House ... whose lights turned on and off for years until we replaced the bulb, and where everyone goes in the summer to take out canoes and little skiffs to go boating. It's where the Inn gets their lanterns for those stormy nights sometimes by the sea, and where sometimes they have some seafood to sell to the town. Sometimes the courting couples take a little rowboat out, and have picnics on the island just a little bit away and the ladies lay out quilts and sit with their parasols, and the men enjoy skipping stones, fishing for awhile and talking about baseball.


The Harness Making Shop houses 2 very happy Amish people in their wagon. I'm sure they go visiting at the Inn for a lovely dinner and go visiting around the town all the time. It's here where the door is always open to whoever needs some leather shined up, or horseshoes made, or bells for bobtails.


Then there is Lloyd's Chemist Shop, with it's bright beaming windows and all sorts of cheery teas and peppermint sticks and lemon drops and things to make you feel better inside, I'm sure. It stands on the quiet side of the street, with its beautiful wreaths on its double doors and a large chimney reaching up.


There is the Dairy Barn, which houses the cows from the cold, and probably a barn dance or two when the night is just right, and the happy Amish people are visiting and the Inn brings some pies to share.


And the Lovely House that hosts the barn dances and the Christmas parties with eggnog and schnapps, and where Judy Garland sings Christmas carols on the vinyl gramophone, and the Inn brings cheese balls to and fancy mustards and crackers and that spicy salami that everyone loves.

It's there that people drop in and stay awhile on the porch, where the light spills out onto the snowy street and loved ones dance together to their favorite songs, and inside the Grandmas cuddle the little ones, and pass around the babies to hold.

 It's there that the kids all play dress up in the upstairs and sneak cookies and punch and drop crumbs all over Auntie Agathie's carpets, but never fear because she's never scolded them ever before.

It's there that Christmas carols are sung when the night is winding down, and you can hear it all the way down to Lloyd's Chemist Shop, the sweet, lingering strands of timeless hymns, and the quiet piano playing along.

It's there that the horse carriages slow when they go by, because the cheery sounds of laughter and the homey smell of delightful wassail is filling the air, and you are pulled right into the crowd because everyone is family in this town.

After all, it is Christmastime. And everyone lives on the same street. In the same little town on the same strong Mantle.


Merry Christmas to all of you. :) Just three days until Christmas!!
With much love, and some fond Christmas dreaming!
~ Jean Marie ~

Comments

  1. So sweet, Jean. What a lovely town. Love, mcd

    ReplyDelete

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