A Little Bit of This and That As Christmas Draws Near

This and That about Christmas

As Christmas draws ever closer life takes on a succession of annual events. I'm sharing some of those with you today in true "this and that" fashion. First off, are some photos from the annual "Dickens in the Village" that offers folks dressed in Dickens style attire, street musicians, roasted chestnuts, dancers and a beautiful array of village shops in Biltmore Village. 

The Mr. has been a street musician for 31 years at this annual event. 

My job is to help the Mr. tote his instruments, stand and music to the meeting place and then I take a few pics of the group and then I head out alone to enjoy the ambiance and to, perhaps, do a little shopping! (And I do mean a little, with the prices in these stores!!)

The store fronts look so festive with seasonal decorations!

Don't these colors look beautiful together?!  I am growing to love ornamental cabbage. 

These dancers were so much fun to watch. The men had bells on their leggings and I felt transported back into Dicken's time as I watched them. 

The street musicians are invited to play inside many of the village stores and the customers clap and enjoy the performances so much! This particular store always offers mulled cider and cookies to their customers which I always make sure to enjoy!

This large Christmas tree is next to the stage on the Village green and I'm sure looks absolutely beautiful at night with the lights on!

These folks are about to enjoy some roasted chestnuts. I have never tried roasted chestnuts. Are they good? I love the song, though!

I may be using the pics the Mr. took of me in the Village today for a later post, but here is one of me. Proof that I really was there!! Now, let's switch gears to another annual Christmas event. 

Return to Bethlehem has been an annual event in Asheville for as long as I can remember. For many years now, our church has housed Return to Bethlehem. Our church's fellowship hall is turned into the streets of Bethlehem and folks come to literally walk through the story of Jesus' birth as if they were Jewish families coming for the census. When folks arrive they are given a card with their "family name" on it and they wait in the sanctuary until their family name appears on the screen. While waiting, the folks are entertained by musicians. The Mr. and our church organist/pianist performed together for this event on Thursday evening. This is always such a lovely part of Christmas for me and many others! Now, on to other events. 

This month always starts with my birthday and these lovely flowers were a gift from the Mr. They are so very pretty!

Unfortunately, there is a certain little cat (Cassie!!) who will not leave my flowers alone, so I always end up putting them up out of the way on the refrigerator. Kind of takes away from the fun of being given flowers. Cats....(sigh)....

OK, one more thing to share.  What's Christmas without a little crafting?  I created these ornaments using jar lids, ribbon and musical craft paper. 

To decorate the plastic gift baggies for these ornaments, I threaded red bells on the twist ties. 

Shhhh...I can't tell you who these gifts are for....you know, it's a secret!

So tell me, what little bits of this and that are you doing as Christmas draws near?  Let me know in the comments!

Until Next Time,

Debbie