Christmas, The Present.

This year, no one in our family has funds to do 35 or more presents at a 25.00 each. We did not exchange names, because even that limited number of presents for each person would be over 200.

The decision to not exchange names fell hard on some. A change.

I have thought about this and consider that we could all give presents to each and every if we decided that it would be made from stuff we already have, or some beautiful thing we already have. As long as no new money is spent in the gift, it would be fair. A challenge.

Myself, I would love bird feathers.

Love,
Betty

11/28/2009

Betty...

That's a large family, but a great idea you gave
me , I have so many treasures I've bought over the years, I have a collection of Hakata Dolls, their from Japan Bisque Porcelain hand painted the art of it goes back to the 16th Century
and I've been thinking to myself since my family is down to two sister-in-laws, two nieces, two nephews . But the responsible ones
would be my two sister-in-laws they would appreciate it more. I
think I'm going to give them each one. I had seven , I gave one to my niece when she got married in October, it's a young boy
putting a flower into the girl's hair, first love, she loved it....

Love Joe

Dear Joe,
You are a flower on this earth. I have lots of little bits of beautiful materiall from old thingss that I did. I will make a quilt of those pieces for my son. When one looks around at all the stuff one has collected or looks out upon, gifts from your own heart aare easy to imagine.

Sorry for all the double letteres. Tomorrow, the new computer built from old ones and I hope it is lovely.

God bless us all and pray for Carol.

Love,
Betty

Out here, grape vines, the wild kind, grow up trees and have tendrils of 50 feet, small and flexible ropes. Once, I made baskets of these vines, weaving them like chains. I could make huge baskets. Set them to dry in the sun.

I like these old crafts and I wish I knew more of them. What I know, I have learned myself by trying. The old people that Phil Whitley knows really know how to do these thing.

The spirit needs release and art is the spewing hole.
A person cannot look out of their own eye without seeing the beauty of this earth. Most people see it in a pattern with design and some see it as abstract and other just see colors and texture. However it is viewed, this living thing we call life is a mirade of expressions of
many beauties.

Add the mind to that, oh! then you have the human spirit rolled into a ball with the universe and the concept of God is not so far fetched..

Love,
Betty

Betty and Joe,

I love your ideas. We have gone a step further, we are having no gifts between adults. We are giving to the children. Mother -in-law excepted. Oddly enough we have never gotten her a suitable gift, but she refuses to let it go.

So we give her one-hundred dollars and let her shop for herself.

Sounds mean? No not at all. She gets up early on black Friday and totters to the store to buy socks half-price and loves it. No one is a bit surprised by her gifts, but she enjoys it. We have wracked our feeble brains for years and spent to get her totally unsatisfactory gifts--never again! We do not enjoy being wrong. We decided if she can get socks every year, we can give money every year and save all the hassle.

Genius-- we will stuff the hundred dollars in a sock!

11/29/2009


Alice...

That is a great idea, one year for Mother's Day
I bought a Glass Style Pumpkin Cookie Jar and stuffed it
with fifty one dollar bills, it was a hit..

Love Joe..