Tidings of Comfort and Joy

It's been a while, and Christmas has come and gone in a flurry of travels and family time.  Besides busy-ness, it's been a time of sorrow for John and me.  But, to quote hymn-writer George Matheson,

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

Personally, the"rainbow" line always irked me as either pre-adolescent or 1970s.  John says I'm not allowed to judge like that since I wasn't around in the 1970s.  :-)  But the rest of the words are true, and more true for me now that I've felt them.  Our sorrow has not been without joy, and as much as I do not wish to stop up the natural-flowing grief, neither can I close my heart to the joy which comes but once a year.

As a side note, since this blog is technically public, I'm still going back and forth about how many life details to disclose.  You think that only your closest friends will take the time to actually read what you've written, and then you get random comments from Timbuktu, which must be representative in nature . . .

Here are a few snapshots from our first Christmas as man and wife, some already shared. 

Our tree, trimmed with its white lights and gingerbread.  Maybe I'll actually do the cranberries next year.

Christmas was a time, joyfully, of sewing for me.  It was Heidi's idea to make new stockings for the family since some of them were getting rather shabby and neither John nor Harvey had one.  It was an exciting project!  We used all fabrics that Mom had in the house, from wools to denim to upholstery, with red velour and cotton batting for trim. 

It was loads of fun to mix textures and styles. 

 

We had remnants of flannel Scooby Doo fabric, which we had to use for Harvey's. 

Mine's the pink one, of course, with John's beside.  :-)

Heidi wanted to do something special for Mom's, so we cut up a bunch of squares and made it patchwork.  We trimmed it, like mine, with an old lace belt.  Yay.  And yay for fun, easy, repetitive sewing.  :-)

Mom and Dad's Christmas tree, decked by Heidi's skillful hand, was gorgeous and rather put ours to shame.

More another day.