The dark time of the year is also one of the most festive. The fairies are busy readying their little homes to prepare for all the happy visits from friends and family ... and Santa Claus of course. After all, Jolly Old St. Nick wouldn't miss this chance to party with his kinfolk! Most of us have some cherished decorations that we lovingly bring out and display for the whole Yuletide season. It's nice to bring in some of Mother Nature's evergreen decorations too such as pine, holly and cedar boughs to brighten our homes and remind us that the trees are only sleeping, and life is an everlasting cycle. A lot of fairies have small homes and so it may seem silly to have dishes with Christmas motifs that can only be used once a year. While a full set of dishes might cramp their style (or storage spaces!), a single decorative serving plate or tray is a very pretty accent to set out with some cookies, nuts, candies or other Christmas fare. The fairies in Meadow Sweet Grove have several of these special plates in their homes, stocked with yummy treats, to welcome anyone who might stop by ... especially the biggest elf of all - Santa! Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2016 / edited 2021
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Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2016
The fairies in Meadow Sweet Grove are an old-fashioned lot and they approach many of today's problems with yesterday's solutions. Disposable items are not too appealing to them and only used when absolutely necessary.
One disposable item that is easy to reduce in your household are throw-away paper tissues. The use of a cotton hankie is a great way to love Mother Nature and save money! And if you buy vintage, your footprint is even less, as the item was manufactured long ago and has already paid its due. If you buy just 1 box of Kleenex every month, your yearly outlay is probably between $12 and $36. Use that money to buy vintage hankies instead. They are usually available around $1-3 each, depending on the quality, and you then have a dozen hankies . . . all ready to use for many years to come. Every little bit helps and when you replace disposable items with reusable ones, you really do save $$$. But what about germs? Sometimes the concern is valid, especially around vulnerable individuals, but in most cases the risk is low. If you are worried about germs - just don't use it when you have a cold but do use it in so many other ways. My father and grand-father always carried a cotton hankie about with them, but I rediscovered hankies when my child was born and was given lots of "baby washcloths". I wound up using them for everything - spills in coffee shops, wiping the corners of baby's mouth, wrapping up sticky pine cones and other nature treasures found on our walks, creating a make-shift tablecloth for eating at a park picnic bench - you name it! Long after my child grew out of this stage, I found I was still using them for everything, but switched to hankies because they are larger and thinner than terry washcloth material. I even tucked one at the back of my heel when a blister developed on a long walk to stop the rubbing! You will find countless uses once you start carrying one and wonder how you ever got along without it. Put one in your pocket, your purse and your car. And when it's dirty? Simply throw it in the wash along with everything else! My husband's grandfather had a lot of very worn and well-used hankies in his possession - a man who lived to 101 years old! Clearly the germs weren't a hindrance in his case. Old ways sometimes really are best. © Meadow Sweet Grove / V. Buchanan, 2016, edited 2019
© Meadow Sweet Grove / V. Buchanan, 2016 edited 2021
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