Dear Reader:

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas  (maybe not feel it) but look like it. Honey called yesterday to check and see if I was home and then brought the Williamsburg Apple Tree center piece for my dining table…an annual tradition that I LOVE! (She also had made me a gardener snowman for Christmas…precious!)

Her “secret” surcie…greenery….smilax….oodles and oodles of smilax. She said it was growing in the back yard, she saw it on the way to her daddy’s cemetery Thursday…she has never seen such abundance.

By the time the smilax was placed…the whole “Happy Room” had grown so much happier…doesn’t greenery just change everything? It makes a room so much cozier! Here are some of the places we put it.

Some of you might remember I discovered an historical tidbit about smilax dating back to the Civil War period last year. Sometimes smilax is called the Jackson vine in honor of Stonewall Jackson. The following excerpt explains why:

Smilax gets its common name from the fact that during the Civil War, ladies in Alabama used it to decorate tables with smilax when Stonewall Jackson came to town. Today, many of the older homes in Huntsville and Birmingham used it to frame the front door at Christmas.

Smilax is also used at weddings…one reason for the popularity is that there are no thorns to have to work with and it looks very pretty as a “garnish” for a long dining table at elaborate celebrations.

Anne had come over earlier to see if she could help me get some computer gremlins dashing off somewhere, anywhere else…but (before she came) I had turned off everything I could find to turn off so by the time she stopped by…a Christmas miracle…they had disappeared…hoping they don’t return over the holidays.

“Miss Sneaky” had secretly gotten me the prettiest angel of joy when we went to Mepkin Abbey earlier with her sister…I love it! My tree is now full of joy, happiness, and love!!!

…And speaking of angels…I stopped by Eva’s after church and picked up a meal and there were the three sweetest waitresses in the world…had to get their picture. (Only thing missing are their halos) From left to right: Katie, Audrey, and Jessica. Do drop in Eva’s and give them a hug…everyone is a big hugger at Eva’s….

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!! Ben’s book GRACE UNDER FIRE is now available for purchase at Amazon! Ben will be here for Christmas so if you want to order a book today to get here before Christmas and would like him to sign it while he is in Summerville…just let me know and we will work out a time.

The miracle worker behind this success story is Dawn Meehan (she was Ben’s secretary when he worked with Special Needs students in the Horry Country School District.) She pulled everything together for him…amazing! She sent me this link you can use to expedite orders.

Grace Under Fire: One Marine’s  Journeyhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/1540875032/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_FRQvyb9W5WZ6W

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*Just as I was going to put the blog to bed…I got this beautiful photo from Kaitlyn and Tommy. They were at the Thomas Bennett House…a friend from Clemson was having an engagement party…so beautiful…the tree and the couple! Love you Tommy and Kaitlyn!