The Experiment: Day 90 ~ On Grocery Store Christmas Mugs & Other Little Joys Of The Season…

Morning coffee is especially special this time of year. One of the things I do for myself each Christmas is to buy myself a Christmas mug at the grocery store. The little store by me always has mugs for Christmas in the $2-$3 range. It falls in that category I love so well, “Cheap and Cheery.” This particular mug was from about 3 Christmases ago but it’s one of my all-time favorites so I decided to use it this morning. With my fireplace app popping and crackling on the screen I sipped my bulletproof/keto coffee, to which I had added cinnamon, and it was just wonderful. I sat here thinking my thoughts and dreaming my dreams while I sipped my coffee and thought ahead to Christmas. There was no music this morning, I just preferred the silence save the crackling of the fireplace, and I watched, with delight, as now two squirrels took advantage of the free buffet I have put out for them. I smiled when I went out this morning with the dogs because I could see that the squirrels had already visited this morning. The neat pile of seed I put on top of the step ladder that I showed in the post yesterday was scattered hither and yon, there was a lot of eaten seed everywhere and one of the little vintage ornaments that I had left on the windowsill was on the ground. So they’ve made it up the ladder and onto the window ledge and are feasting. Now I can’t wait for the birds to arrive. I know they will be here soon but I always feel so anxious when I fill all the feeders and it takes them a few days to return, but they always do. And all the little wildlings have a perfect spot here because all the bird feeders and seed for the squirrels are in a protected spot under the eaves and they can eat and stay dry. It is positively pouring now but once they find their way here the rain doesn’t keep them from coming.

Another little something is that it is so dark and overcast today that I plugged in my little Dollar Store Christmas tree in the front room. I usually don’t plug it in until it gets dark so you can see it from outside but it was so gloomy in here I plugged it in and it just made the whole front of the house sparkle and I felt so happy. And I know I keep saying this but these wax melts in the Frasier Fir are making the whole place smell divine. I love this company, the product is all natural with natural essential oils made in the US. If you want to see them on amazon the company is called Lee Naturals. They are out of the Frasier Fir but I went back and bought 2 other Christmas tree scents and a bayberry. Keeping the house smelling so good with the Christmas trees glowing is an inexpensive way to really make it feel Christmasy and cozy in here. And I just have to say that if you haven’t gotten a tree and feel sad about it and funds are tight you really should go to the Dollar Store near you. Two people have come in my house now that hadn’t gotten a tree and fell so in love with my darling little tree that they said they were going to go there and get one. They have them from 18″ tall, 2′, 3′, mine is the 4′, and they had some taller. And I got 3 boxes of beautiful ornaments for $1 each. It all makes me so happy. Next year I plan to get a tiny tree just for the kitchen. It just makes me SO happy to have a little bit of Christmas everywhere.

So it is dark, and rainy, and the lights are twinkling and the pugs are snuggled in around me and snoring and I love the way the Christmas tree lights reflect in the windows here in the studio, just inside where the feeders hang on the outside. A double delight! And I’m putting up this picture so you can see — and I’m sorry it’s blurry because I zoomed in so much so you could see my little friend! — this picture of Cornelius. He was the first squirrel here these last 2 days but another friend joined him out there today. He is sitting on the wooden “wall” I had built on the opposite side of my deck for privacy and a number of different kinds of windchimes hang all down the length of that wooden wall and it is so lovely out here when it is breezy and the windchimes are tinkling and the little wildlings are at the feeders. This is paradise.

There is something so comforting about rain on the roof, and colorful lights inside as it gets darker outside, and the fireplace popping and crackling, and tonight my daughter Rachel will be here to watch one of our favorite Christmas movies with me, I bet a lot of you love it too! It’s The Holiday with Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law. I love this movie so much it’s one of those movies I watch at other times of the year because it makes me so happy, but Rachel and I watched it last Christmas so it’s become a little Christmas tradition for us, and like the Christmas mugs and the sweetly fragrant wax melts it’s one of the things that make the holidays merry and bright. And I would love to hear about your Christmas delights as well. These things shared make them merrier and brighter for all I truly believe.

I am sending you such bright, beautiful blessings, my heart is so warm and happy and full of joy right now. I wanted to share it with you…

Love,

 


The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: 
Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda


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Comments

  1. So glad you find yourself in paradise again. the rain, the fire, the squirrel, the chimes,
    the woman who gives herself to happiness.

    wow

    I’m so happy for you and with you xo ka

    • Thank you so much darling Ka, it’s been a very long road and now I feel I’m just at the beginning of another one. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings for us both! Thank you for being there, and for being happy for me. It feels so good to have you close dear friend. I love you sweet Ka…

      Maitri xo

  2. oh, and the christmas mug! xo ka

  3. It sounds like you are having a lovely cosy day today, Maitri. You are so right too about not having to spend a fortune on trees and decorations. There are lots of inexpensive ways to brighten up a home.
    Christmas is different for me this year. Normally Christmas starts for me quite early in December. This year though my husband is undergoing two months of radiotherapy treatment and so, for the months of December and January, we spend our week days in a lovely lodge in the hospital grounds and then go home for the weekends. BUT… The tree is up and decorated and I will spend Christmas Eve evening with my children and grandchildren (physically and on Skype), and I will read them all The Night Before Christmas just as I’ve done ever year since 1986.
    I hope you have a lovely evening with your daughter, and yes, I love that film too!! <3

    • Oh Moira honey I’m so sorry your husband is ill. I hope his treatments go well and he is out of the woods very soon. I’m glad you have a tree decorated and it just tickles me that you will read The Night Before Christmas with your children and the grands. We read that every year to our children too, how lovely that you have continued the tradition. I hope you have a gentle, lovely Christmas dear one, you will be in my thoughts and prayers…

  4. Your post fills me with warmth and lights, Thank you, dear Maitri!
    Another plan for 2018: cheap and cheery.
    This mug is wonderful. I love the bright colours and the smile. My Boring Grown Up Self tells me: we don’t need another cup, come on now. But I just might be trying a new approach next year. If it is cheap and cheering me up, it is mine:-)
    It is so inspiring to feel how you create your SPACE following your blog.
    Sending hugs across the ocean
    Yours Silke

    • Oh Silke how wonderful, and yes there were years I had so little money I barely got by but I got my Christmas mug and used it every morning for coffee and it just seemed to make the day right and the holidays the holidays! And you can do all kinds of “cheap and cheery” things all throughout the year just to make your world a little brighter, I think we all need that. And I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog, that really means a lot to me.

      Blessings and Love to you from MY side of the ocean! 😀

      Maitri

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