The Coffee House

smoke665 · Dec 20, 2023

@cgw Maybe it's a bit of melancholy for Christmas past, when our holidays were more as you describe. Now all the parents, my sibling, aunts, and uncles have pased, the kids/grandkids and cousins are scattered, with busy lives of their own. My favorite Christmas memory remains the year we hosted a large gathering of family. We had people in beds, on cots, couches, sleeping bags on the floor, and recliners. I was constantly unstopping toilets, and the noise levels were comparable to a couple of jets taking off, but it remains in memory as the most perfect Christmas ever. Sadly so many that were there are no longer among us.

This year it will be a much smaller gathering on Sunday, followed by a candlelight service at Church. Christmas Day we'll visit youngest son in the VA, and then usher in the New Years at the lake.

Original katomi · Dec 20, 2023

Smoke,
I know the feelings about Christmas, this year there will be just the two of us. Like you I have a memory of a mad house with 26 people here, we sad them on the ironing board scaffold boards .... the non stop cooking
I looked round a few years ago and found i Was now one of the oldies.

smoke665 · Dec 20, 2023

Original katomi said:
looked round a few years ago and found i Was now one of the oldies.

Yup gives you pause when you realize you are the Patriarch of the family.

snowbear · Dec 20, 2023

Due to the passing of close relatives, and the pandemic, last Year was our first celebration in several years. We are looking forward to i, even if the house isn’t in the condition we wsnt

terri · Dec 20, 2023

Rickbb · Dec 20, 2023

smoke665 said:
Drawing names would be an ideal solution, but our family is spread out across the country. With jobs and travel it's difficult to impossible to all get together at the same time. Spoiling grandkids, especially when they're young is a given, but of our 12, the 5 oldest are over 21, and the 2 oldest have been out of college for several years now with good jobs.

You could do it on zoom, or have one person do it and email/text it out. Anyone over 21 is in the draw.

cgw · Dec 20, 2023

Parts of my clan--friends and family--are graphic designers and rabid collectors of vintage paper(catalogs, sales brochures, magazines, photos). A late fall show nearby supplied a pile of stuff--most of it yard-sale priced--that got mailed off recently. Old Frederick's of Hollywood catalogs, 60s car showroom brochures,
weird "men's" pulp magazines like Argosy, and scary 40s-50s police mugshot file cards. Merry Christmas!

CherylL · Dec 21, 2023

smoke665 said:
@CherylL As they get older and spread out all over the country gift giving becomes harder, so the next thing you know it's nothing but a cash swap. The youngest of our bunch is still close but even they are getting harder to buy for. Think we're changing some things next year.

The older teens like cash or gift cards. My daughter sends me Amazon wish lists for the younger grands so I can pick something out.

CherylL · Dec 21, 2023

Both daughters and all the grands will be here for the first time in years Christmas evening. The youngest daughter and family live out of town and as a nurse she usually works the holidays.

When my Mom was living, we hosted a big extended family gathering at our house each year and did the drawing of names. We usually had half dozen students we hosted from the Uni too. Fun times. We are getting older and it is a lot of work to host for 25 or 30 people. Add in that my nieces and nephews are scattered and have their own families now. Some relatives have health issues and don't travel.

smoke665 · Dec 21, 2023

CherylL said:
are scattered and have their own families now. Some relatives have health issues and don't travel.

As a child I remember most of our family lived within a 60 mile radius, so Christmas was a multi-day event with family. As I got older the family seemed to spread out and thin out as the older ones passed on. Now with yhe distances and job demands, the possibility of a large family gathering is slim.

SquarePeg · Dec 21, 2023

CherylL said:
Both daughters and all the grands will be here for the first time in years Christmas evening. The youngest daughter and family live out of town and as a nurse she usually works the holidays.

When my Mom was living, we hosted a big extended family gathering at our house each year and did the drawing of names. We usually had half dozen students we hosted from the Uni too. Fun times. We are getting older and it is a lot of work to host for 25 or 30 people. Add in that my nieces and nephews are scattered and have their own families now. Some relatives have health issues and don't travel.

Our max was the year we had 27 for a sit down dinner at Christmas. That was fun but crazy! I think that was 2018. Numbers have dwindled as some of the young adults have moved away and can’t always travel home and since Covid some of the older adults don’t want to be around so many people indoors. This year we have 17 for dinner. Enough to be festive but not so many to become chaos.

You just be looking forward to having everyone at once! What fun and a great chance for a family portrait.

smoke665 said:
As a child I remember most of our family lived within a 60 mile radius, so Christmas was a multi-day event with family. As I got older the family seemed to spread out and thin out as the older ones passed on. Now with yhe distances and job demands, the possibility of a large family gathering is slim.

My mom is one of 12 and for many years we had a family Christmas party that included almost all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and their families. Usually 100+ people. Too many for anyone’s house so we used a rental hall and had it part catered and part pot luck. So much fun! It’s been since 2019 and not likely to happen again anytime soon.

VidThreeNorth · Dec 21, 2023

Dec 22 at around 3:30 UTC is the Winter Solstice. Since weather is unpredictable and it is currently somewhat sunny (not really, but . . .), I have started a Time Lapse. Kind of a waste of time really since the day is not really that special, but, "why not?"

snowbear · Dec 21, 2023

Here are the last of the ornaments. The firs shot is the two blanks after being turned on the mandrel. The second is after assmebly. I'm not sure what woods are in the composite - liooks lik maple, oak, walnut; maybe ebony or Afican blackwood, bloodwood or purpleheart, and possibly marlbewood or zebrawood.

Untitled by Charlie Wrenn, on Flickr

smoke665 · Dec 21, 2023

@snowbear very nice! There was a time when I turned Christmas spoon blanks on the lathe then carved them to finish. Don't know if the fingers/hands would hold up now.

CherylL · Dec 22, 2023

snowbear said:
Here are the last of the ornaments. The firs shot is the two blanks after being turned on the mandrel. The second is after assmebly. I'm not sure what woods are in the composite - liooks lik maple, oak, walnut; maybe ebony or Afican blackwood, bloodwood or purpleheart, and possibly marlbewood or zebrawood.

Untitled by Charlie Wrenn, on Flickr

Untitled by Charlie Wrenn, on Flickr

Talent!