I came down with a bit of a fever and stomach bug on Christmas Eve but was feeling a bit better on Christmas Day and had a fun and blessed time with my family. I've had this whole week off from work and have enjoyed the rest and relaxation.
Last year I shared photos of the Christmas gifts I received (from friends and from family). This year I've decided to do the same thing because I think many of my gifts will be of interest to my readers.
So here are my gifts in my photos:
From my mom's friend: Her gifts reflect the things I enjoy collecting: a LadyBug kitchen timer to add to my collection of LadyBugs; a lovely cameo broach (my first real cameo!); and two books that reflect my love of all things Jane Austen. I've really been wanting to read some of Amanda Grange's Austen Hero Diaries so I was very excited to receive my own copy of Captain Wentworth's Diary which I'm really enjoying and hope to review soon! I was less excited but still appreciative of A Woman of Influence by Rebecca Ann Collins, Book 9 in the Pemberley Chronicles Series. I may read some of it but from browsing the back cover, introduction and character appendix, I have the feeling that it will veer quite far from the original Pride and Prejudice story and annoy me no end.
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| Click to see closeup of the cameo broach. |
From my friend Sarah: Ten Victorian Christmas Cards in five lovely designs, I can't wait to use them! The Reading Woman 2012 Engagement Calendar; Sarah gave me one of these lovely day calendars last year and I'm so excited to receive one again this year. Each month features a lovely classic painting of a lady reading and an accompanying quote from a classic author or historic figure. Tea With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson - an in-depth look at the tradition of tea and dining in Jane Austen's time. In The Garden With Jane Austen by Kim Wilson - about the type of gardens that Jane Austen would have been familiar with, and a foreword by the head gardener at Jane Austen's house museum in Chawton. I'm hoping to review both of these books in future, they have so much history in them!
From my parents: A lovely porcelain travel mug with my first initial on it, the warmest pair of thermal long-johns (not pictured but they are from L.L. Bean) and four books from my wish list! After reading The Lighkeeper's Daughter I've been longing to read the next two books in the series. Mama and daddy gave me The Lightkeeper's Bride and The Lightkeeper's Ball by christian author Colleen Coble and I can't wait to start reading! Another book I've been longing to read since it was first released is The Jane Austen Handbook by Margaret C. Sullivan (aka Mags). I have followed Mags's AustenBlog.com for many years and greatly enjoy her knowledge of Jane Austen and her quick wit which fills her writings. This is a lovely book which I'm greatly enjoying! Also on my wish list was What Jane Austen Ate And Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool, a wonderfully informative book about customs and facts of daily life in Regency and Victorian times. I love this book! Everything I've always wondered about the history behind my favorite novels. I've haven't been able to read straight through this book because a question will form in my mind I must turn to another chapter to have it answered before I continue. So far I've learned the details and history of: marriage licenses, rank, lawyers, calls and callings cards, dinner parties and much more!
From my sister Bea: The warmest pair of red gloves, a travel edition of Farkle (one of our favorite games), That's Life CD the debut album of Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (he sings all the old Frank Sinatra classics), and two lovely bags which she crocheted for me. And what a surprise the crochet was!
I knew Bea was crocheting this handbag because we had tried the pattern together first but she messed up and had to try again. When she tried the pattern again she bought a new color yarn and didn't let me see it's progress. I love the red and gold yarn in this design and can't wait to use it!
For this project I knew Bea was using the purple/green variegated yarn and guessed that it was a bag of some sort but I was so surprised to open the wrapping paper and find this beautiful case with my crochet hooks inside! I absolutely love the colors, pattern, buttons, everything! How she was so clever as to make up the pattern and so sneaky as get my crochet hooks away from me I'll never know! :)
From my brother Andy: The prettiest pair of flannel pajamas (picked out with the help of mama), the movie Source Code on DVD (it's a pretty interesting action flick) and Michael Buble's Christmas CD! I especially excited about Michael Buble's new Christmas album and I was not disappointed, his voice is amazing and the songs are beautifully done!
I received a few more things from other friends, and it seems to me as if I'm missing something my family gave me but maybe I'll think of it later. It was an amazing Christmas all in all with some lovely gifts. I am so blessed with wonderful family and friends, God is so good!
Did you get any Jane Austen related Christmas gifts?
Which of your Christmas gifts were your favorites?
Have you read any of the books I mentioned?
Which of your Christmas gifts were your favorites?
Have you read any of the books I mentioned?
7 comments:
Oh wow, what an awesome Christmas! You know I enjoyed "Captain Wentworth's Diary." Great book. Then I've read "The JA Handbook" and that was wonderful! Not to mention SO sweet. And "What JA Knew" is another cool book. I read "The Lightkeeper's Ball" and really enjoyed it, but haven't read the others yet. And I love Michael Buble's Christmas CD. :) Have listened to it dozens of times since we got it! Will review it soon myself. :)
Great post!
Wow!
Enjoy your wonderful Christmas gifts!
Oooh! how much fun! I ADORE The Jane Austen Handbook (although mine is the older edition; I think it's the same besides the cover, though.) I've also gotten 'What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew' a couple times from the library. =)
Oh! I've played Farkle before; I gave it to my sister for Christmas last year.
I've also gotten Tea with Jane Austen and In The Garden with Jane Austen; the former was an especial favorite! =D So lovely! I've read Wentworth's Diary too, which I'll tell you more about in my email...which should be coming soon!
Let me know how you like the lightkeeper books!
We had a very quiet Christmas this year. I also got In the Garden With Jane Austen (from my brother); it looks nice, but I hadn't had too much time to look through it. I also got the Pride and Prejudice Trivia game (also from my brother); there are some challenging questions in there! And I got The King's Speech soundtrack and The Young Victoria DVD among a couple of other gifts.
I'm glad you had a nice Christmas. Tea with Jane Austen, The Jane Austen Handbook, and What Jane Austen Ate look interesting; I might just look into those books. The cameo is great! :-)
Wow! You got lots of Austen things. My mom owns Capt. W.'s diary and I just finished reading it today (a coincidence!) My family owns What Jane Austen ate and what C.D. knew. It's lost at the moment but I love reading it. I own the Jane Austen Handbook and it's one of my favorite reads.
I'm giving my mom a copy of Col. Brandon's diary for our New Years celebration. I can't wait to give it to her as Col. B. is one of her favorite Austen heroes.
Gee, makes me sad that I never get any Austen stuff :-( You have all the fun. (Posted from my Christmas gift - Kindle Fire) ;-)
Wow, what a great selection of gifts! As I'm from the Netherlands, we don't 'do' gifts at Christmas time, we do them at the celebration of Sinterklaas (5th December). But anyway, I really love the cameo (I want a real cameo very bad as well!) and the books sound great! I'm reading Mr. Knightley's diary by Amanda Grange at the moment. It's enjoyable, but not superb. I might review it at my Livejournal in a while.
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