Cozy At Christmas In Texas, Blog Tour Day 3

Welcome today to my stop on the blog tour hosted by Katie at the blog, Let's Add Sprinkles.

We haven't gotten any snow yet this year, but in years past we've had plenty!

It doesn't snow often in our Northeast corner of Texas, just two or three times a year at most. But when it does snow, we love it... especially when it blankets the whole neighborhood like it did in these pictures from 2013. 

I'll bet this isn't what you picture when you think of Texas!

When it snows outside in December, the coziest place in our house is the kitchen. Our ceilings are 12 foot high... that's high enough to fit a lot of Christmas decor up on top of the kitchen cabinets.

A long time ago, when my father was a small child in the 30's during the Great Depression, his parents left the family farm in Nebraska and headed to California. 

When they left, his parents stored their best furniture (which was made of oak and had been in the family a few generations) in a cousin's barn. They thought they would be able to return for it soon, but that didn't happen.

The picture above is of my grandparents, Sabra and Harry, on their wedding day. Sabra's mother had the dresser (wash stand?) and mirror when she was a child and she passed it down to Sabra.

So the furniture stayed stored in that barn until the late 1970's when the barn was scheduled to be torn down. By then my grandparents were gone and just my father and his two sisters were interested in the old family things.

My father drove his old Ford pickup truck from California to Nebraska in 1977 to retrieve three pieces of the furniture from the barn. He brought back a piece of the furniture for each of his two sisters...and he chose his grandmother's childhood dresser with mirror for me.

Dad died in Feb 1994. Since then, that little dresser and mirror tie me to that memory of him walking into an ancient Nebraska barn to retrieve some of his mother's "family things" not for himself, but for his sisters and me. 

I like to imagine how the chickens might have gathered around the mirror as it leaned against a wall in that old barn so long ago. 

I tried to recreate that old barn scene above my kitchen cabinets with old crocks, old enamel wash pans, lanterns, chickens and such. And since that old barn was falling down, I imagined a few pine seedlings blew in and sprouted some little trees too...I guess the goats must have decorated the little trees with lights to keep the chickens warm! 

The mirror on the center cabinet in the picture above isn't the family mirror that was rescued from the barn, but it is an old handmade pine one that I do adore. 

This is the dresser and mirror that came from the barn and was handed down from my great-grandmother. It's very heavy due to being made of oak, so I was afraid I would crash the cabinets if I tried to rest it up there. Don't think I haven't dreamed of doing so though! It's not fancy or grand...just a sturdy piece, built to last.

The old beveled mirror is still perfectly clear, and the dresser is in pretty good condition, despite well over 40 years of sitting in that old barn and then another 40 years of me hauling it around from state to state.

I have given away a lot of things this year in my effort to downsize, but I could never part with this piece of family history. I'll be decorating it later this month as Christmas draws near. 

Wild Bill wandered through the kitchen a few years ago and looked up "Are those my old boots?" ..."Yep Hon, they sure are!"  Anything is fair game as far as I'm concerned.

I really appreciate all of you who take the time out of your busy day to drop by, and I also enjoy the comments that you leave when you have time. 

My favorite comments are the ones left when you feel compelled to share a childhood memory of your own that one of my family yarns might evoke. Especially at Christmas time I love the connection to our past, and I hope you feel the same.

Thanks for dropping by!

Joining the Party Here:
Inspire Me Tuesday
Common Ground - Home For Christmas

Share Your Cup:

Be sure to click on the links below to visit the other Day 3 tour participant's today:

Sweet Nothings/ At Rivercrest Cottage/ Opulent Cottage/ Decor to Adore/ Fern Creek Cottage/ The Dedicated House/ Bluesky Kitchen

In case you missed any of the other posts, here's the whole list for you.

Cozy At Christmas Blog Tour:

Day 1
Let's Add Sprinkles/ Hyacinths for the Soul/ Southern DayDreams/ White Spray Paint/ Garden Up Green/ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson/ Ellie and Elizabeth  

Day 2
Brookhollow Lane/ At Home With Jemma/ My Heart Lives Here/ The B Farm/ Botanic Bleu/ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen/ Art and Sand/ Ash Tree Cottage

Day 3
Sweet Nothings/ At Rivercrest Cottage/ Opulent Cottage/ Decor to Adore/ Fern Creek Cottage/ The Dedicated House/ Bluesky Kitchen