The Christmas Mantelpiece

      "Christmas is the day that holds all time together." - Alexander Smith

The mantelpiece I knew growing up was not big enough to hold all the special things that were associated with memories and Christmas. The mantel we had was just one strip over the fireplace and it housed huge pine branches with gold balls, and candles ( real ones!) that had to be watched cause they would sputter and burp wax everywhere.  The mantel I have now is heavy with  memories laden throughout.

 When I was growing up we had a real tree.  I don't have  real trees now. Cats  tend to like them too much. They never touch the fake ones we have up. At least so far they don't. For now. Cross fingers. 

 A few years in a row my mother managed to obtain the tops of fallen pine trees that would flop into the yard, after a major storm. So, a fresh tree was easy to  come by. Our cat would sleep in the branches and bat at the elves. The tree smelled of pine, and even was seeping with sap. Sticky fingers. Sticky paws.

 November was the time my mother got ready for Christmas. She'd make her fruitcake of course and store it away, wrapped in shrouds of cheesecloth drenched in booze. You could smell it all over the house.  She'd go to the church bazaar and buy old books to read on  dark and stormy nights.

 We would get out the decoration boxes, pull out the pixies and  lights and have a look to see if anything needed mending. Those pixies were my dad's. When my mother  died, I didn't keep any of them. I just gave them all away willy nilly. Over the years I missed them.The Christmas trees always seemed bare.

 In the past few years  I found these same hansel and gretel  vintage pixies on Ebay. Slowly have been amassing my own pixie/elf army.  They're ganging up on me, I think. My dad would be pleased though. He used to hide them in the tree near a light and tell me that they were following the star to Bethlehem. 

 "November is auspicious in so many parts of the country;the festive glow that precedes Christmas has begun to brighten the landscape." -F. Sionil Jose

 The old little houses were my grandmother's. They aren't houses at all. They're perfume sample bottles. If you  unscrew the cap you can still get a whiff of some lovely fragrance.  I like them so much, I leave them out all year on the mantel. 

 The cats love to  help unwrap all the ornaments. They are very good at it. Keeps them out of the trees.   

 When I was very very young, someone from up north came to visit and brought this china angel. A music box. She still plays a tinny rendition of Silent Night.Sounds a bit like  an accordion.

"He who has not Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a tree." -Roy L. Smith

 I know it's time to  start  getting things ready on the mantel when Eeyore takes his place on the shelves. Good old Eeyore.He is the watchful one.

 Skies are brilliant one day, and dark and misty the next. The house is dim till the candles ( LED candles) are lit . 

 My littlest angels are the most special. They are very old.   From England. Wade angels. With little round mouths. They sing  some silent carol with their little wings flapping behind. My mother loved these angels. She used to put them on a mirror on a table and say that they were skating.

 The mantelpiece is a mish mash of this and that, china, Royal Crown derby, wedgewood, angels, nutcrackers, lights, fairies, brass angels, stocking holders and candles. Stuff stuffed beside each other, each with its place.

 And hidden in the shelf  is the creamer for King George and Queen Elizabeth . The creamer that my mother never used cause she was so worried it would get broken. It belonged to her mother. It's round and sturdy and the images are bright  like new. I must admit I have used it on occasion. But then I put it back in its place on the shelf. It seems happy there. The mantel reminds me of those Christmases long ago and far away. Of places and  people who have come and gone. It's not just a place for things. It's a place laden with memories.....

 "Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles......" -Edwin Louis Cole