High Button Shoe
December 2004
Merry Christmas!The days are growing shorter to the holidays. This is always such a rushed time of the year for us all. I wrote in a letter last year that I thought Christmas should come in August when I had more time for it, and that remains the same each year. Whether it be August or December, our Christmas has not had a Christmas tree for two years now. I know! How is it possible? The fact remains that my house is too full of stuff. I have long advocated that house blueprints should come already with a "Christmas tree" room. Of course, I suspect that I would fill that room to overflowing too, as I seem to have a problem with a vacant space. I have gotten my Santa collections out and arranged. And while we don't have a Christmas tree, I find that I have apparently begun a collection of trees, as they are everywhere. I have them on all available cupboards and tables. They are small trees, ranging in size from 6" to about 30 inches. We made tiny candles this year in balance wires and all my trees have these candles. I love them! Ronnie wonders how I am going to get any big carpenters saw, or anything of big tool nature UNDER any of these trees for him come Christmas morning?Anyway, while never big on table trees, that is what would be considered my tree this year. It is one from the shop, I put on that table by the fireplace, and filled with angel vine and tiny white lights, and wrapped in a silver vintage tinsel garland I found in some old cast off box , some un-educated to primitives person threw out. Most of my treasures are the throw away of somebody else. WHO, in their right mind, could have thrown away this great old tinsel garland? Miss Elspeth of www.pineberrylane.com would absolutely love it!! Today, viewing the decorations of a building we were at, I "critiqued" their choices, then mentally scolded myself, as I suspect many would view my ideas in the same regard I did theirs. ( However, please note, I was pleasant.) When I first spotted an original old feather tree many years ago in an antique shop in Indiana, about 30 inches high and close to $300.00, I about fainted! That ratty tree for $300.00. Wasn't long after that, that I surely would have snapped that up. I got a reproduction one and it was the focal spot on our dining room table that year for our Christmas open house. It was regarded with that look I still get sometimes with primitives. However, the next year, guests were warming up to it and viewing it differently. The NEXT year, they all wondered where they could get one! Of course, my tree idea of last year, was still met with the same disapproval by this other house resident. Ron simply will not let me bring in my dead tree. You know I ignore him on most things, but he seemed pretty firm on this "no", so I re-focused. But I tell you, this was SOME dead tree. Easy to decorate, because it only had about 8 branches. No water, no needles thrown at you like a porcupine you happened onto in your swamp walk. (To you new letter subscribers, I have a fetish about swamps. I love swamps, and find great things there all the time. You will often hear of my swamp tales or trials as the case may be ...that's where I got the dead trees!)Beulah took some new pictures of my house with some of the decorations up. So you can check those out on the website www.highbuttonshoe.net under the Byers house icon on the home page.We got a new couch in October too. That was the last completely out of the question, cannot fit in a tree, piece of furniture. For some reason I thought it was smaller than the last couch. NOT. Ron wonders if I don't bother to carry a tape measure anymore? (and I think that smile of his may have been somewhat sarcastic...!) I went in to town to have a free recall work done on my truck, and rather than wait at the dealership walked next door to the furniture store.And there it was! My new couch. When I opened the door. Warning: do NOT get a free recall work order done on your truck. It costs a new couch! It is however, wonderful. Off white ( honestly!, what was I thinking? )and BIG. As I walk barefooted nearly all year, my feet are rarely white couch clean...so I have to sit on a throw on it, and then place it just so when I am not sitting there. But it is purely lovely. So check those pictures out!Ronnie continues to be home with his back injury, but he is on the mend. Thank you to all who have written about him. He loves your mails. Especially from his "buddy' Betty in Florida. He has taken this time to learn that drated digital camera and is doing very well. I remain stuck in the idiot mode on it. No sense in taxing my already weary brain cells with that until after the holidays. I did get the greeting card business off the ground though. We have some of the pictures of them on the website...but many of the best ones remain stuck in the compact disk that shows on the computer but at the photography machine will NOT show up. Can't you just vision me at the machine, knowing those pictures are on that disk, I mean I KNOW they are there, and they won't come thru. 1/2 of them will but the ones I really want? No! Between that and shopping mall parking lots, I have become somewhat... hostile. I have NO problem with standing in lines, price checks, stupid people IN the stores, but my patience runs totally amuck with the parking lots. Doesn't it scare you that these people actually drive cars? and apparently are blind to the fact that there ARE cars right infront of them, behind them, next to them, as they calmly walk wherever they want to without regard to that very big car right THERE with the motor running and a now severely no longer calm blond lady who can barely contain herself to their stupidity???? Ok, scared myself there. I still think I should write a manual for parking lot etiquette. Probably be a best seller. But then you know my success with manuals. That's why I don't know how to work that camera yet!Beu and I ran down to Brunie's last Saturday for her House Walk. Brun's house is great any time of the year, but especially decorated for the holidays. Here is a link to her pictures. Thought you might enjoy it: http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid5952247 Brunie by the way is www.saltboxfarm.comalso, this is my friend Amy's shop in N.Carolina OR S. Carolina (shoot, I always get those two states mixed up. I would LOVE to visit this shop! Take a look!www.crowsoup.com comes out some time tomorrow. We are showing 3 new things for you. You can see them tonight on our website on either the ranting raven icon or athttp://www.highbuttonshoe.net/newitems.htm We have a doll, a great sampler, and a vintage wreath. All one of a kind. I am working on new things already. And have 8 dolls to finish.We also have some new birdhouses on the new items icon. We are making several new picture frames from old wood trim now. Great for your old black and white pictures! All vintage woodwork! So we will have lots of new things to show you in the next coming weeks.Thank you to all who have written here or sent cards on the death of my brothers wife. It continues to amaze me the depth of friendships that grow from computer mail. Most of you I will never meet or hear your voice and yet, you are well thought of friends. Many of you I value dearly!I hope your holidays are warm memories of both old and new. Ours will be fairly quiet, and I am grateful for that. Coming up with decent clothes to wear to anything special is a constant challenge to my wardrobe. And my bare feet have been replaced to bare feet in arctic packs. Now I ask you, WHAT goes with arctic packs?Thank you again for asking to be a part of our farm.In fond regard,Miss Clotilda