My Oma was an avid collector.  It was just in her nature and she didn’t fight it.  After she passed away, it was almost overwhelming dealing with all of the stuff.  Thousands of swizzle sticks and postcards, and five gallon buckets in a row, filled to the brim with seashells collected on the North Carolina shore over the years.  She collected cookbooks, Royal Copenhagen Christmas plates, campaign buttons, silver dollars and dimes, souvenir spoons, alabaster fruit, Stieff Repousse silverware and serving pieces, and Hummels.  That list maybe scratches the surface. She also collected Wallace Sleigh Bells. She bought one every year from the time they started making them in 1971.  As we were sorting through her attic, we came across the sleigh bells and divided them between her children and grandchildren, so I brought home four of them.  I selected my birth year, Jeff’s birth year, and two random years

Again, I couldn’t help myself. Once our porch was stripped of the pumpkins that were past their prime and the frost-bitten topiaries, it looks a little sad.  And it certainly doesn’t help that we don’t have one evergreen plant or bush in the front gardens.  Everything is brown and leafless, just emphasizing the ugly side of winter and the lack of attention we’ve paid to the landscaping. The garden beds will have to wait until spring, but I felt like some garlands and lights would do a lot to dress things up for Christmas. I bought two mixed live garlands to hang around the front door and front window and a pair of potted evergreens with some clipped live greens tucked in around them.  I also dug some indoor-outdoor string lights from my Christmas bins to wrap around the greenery. To hang the light-wrapped garlands, I tapped a large nail