inkberry hill cottage: a cozy teatime ♥ a homey christmas & what delights me

A cheery good morning to you, dearies!

Oh, how delighted I am to be back this week with another cozy teatime...and this one is quite long, so consider this your invitation to pop the kettle on, pull out a festive mug and make something to warm you from the inside out. Get comfy and settle in...we're chatting about autumn's ending and the start of Christmas fun!

Today's teatime is a result of leftover Thanksgiving dessert...I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I think Thanksgiving is about many things, but three of them are the side dishes, desserts, and leftovers. But first, let me share what's in my cup today. This is one of my favorites that I first discovered a couple years back and I still adore the flavor. It has a happy flavor, if that doesn't sound too weird. But it just makes me smile as I take in the scent wafting off my cup and then the taste is gentle and lovely. I'm not too keen on strong flavors, so this is perfect. And again, how cute is this tea box?

For our Thanksgiving this year, it was my parents, sister and myself at home...on a grey, chilly, rainy day. Absolute perfection according to me! We had an apple herb-roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole with pecan crumble on top, green bean casserole with almonds and crunchy onions, roasted asparagus, corn, cranberry sauce, olives and rolls. Everything was entirely made from scratch except for the cranberry sauce, olives and corn, which came from a can and the rolls were the kind you rise and bake yourself from frozen dough balls. With everything else we had in the oven, we didn't have space nor the time to allow dough to rise for hours. And everything was divine!

Pumpkin pie is perhaps the most popular dessert on Thanksgiving tables, but it just isn't our favorite. No matter how I make it, I just can't get on board that train. But combining pumpkin and cheesecake and seasonal spices along with a gingersnap crust...well, that's heaven in my opinion. So we most definitely enjoyed our Autumn Spiced Cheesecake. And it is also a no-bake recipe so it seriously saved space by not having to bake it in the oven. Just make it the night before, stick it in the fridge and forget about it. And it is my teatime treat for today...Thanksgiving leftovers. You just can't beat them! {{smiles}}

You can find the recipe HERE which I shared a few years back.

And finally, I pulled out my Christmas mugs early last week. I typically decorate my bedroom the week of Thanksgiving, while the rest of the house gets decorated the week after Thanksgiving. And my seasonal mugs were awaiting me to unpack them from their boxes. This one is a cute, colorful kitty mug, which if you know me, you know anything animal-related has my heart. And while I love the traditional colors of Christmas, it's also fun to have some things that have a different color scheme. This one feels super wintry to me.

Christmas preparations are finally underway in our home. Our Christmas tree is up and awaiting ornaments and garland and the bow on top this week. Christmas music is being played as I write these very words and I've already read two Christmas novels. And last night, we watched the remake of the Walton's Homecoming movie. It wasn't as bad or as cringy as most remakes these days, but I did feel it lacked the old-fashioned charm and spirit of the original show. But it was still good and fun to watch. You can say that it's feeling a lot like Christmas these days. And I've got Christmas crafts on my mind, too.

Last year, I made a TON of stars, which we loved having hung up in our home all throughout Christmas and the entire winter season. They looked absolutely darling and had such an old-fashioned charm about them. We saved them at the end of winter last year and are bringing them back out this week. We were just discussing last night how we wanted to hang them all up. I shared a simple tutorial over on my YouTube channel if you'd like to make some of your own. I share three different styles, but you should be creative and try out whatever style you fancy.

You can find the video HERE.

There are also a couple simple but sweet crafts that I hope to set to work on soon. I'll be sure to share them in a post once they are completed and on display.

You are never too old to believe in the magic of Christmas.

~ Jane Lee Logan ~

One of the topics for this week's teatime is pleasant pastimes. And it's funny because my mom, sister and I were having a chat about this very thing in the car over the weekend as we were going for a drive to see the Christmas decorations around town. We all agreed that we have many hobbies and interests, but it's setting aside the time to do them that we need to be better about. It can be easy to settle into a way of just watching TV in your free time or of thinking that there is something better to do with your time. But we all agreed that we want to change that in our lives...and make more time for the things which bring us delight. And while we do have some individual interests, most of our hobbies and interests, we have in common and therefore, like to do together.

For us, these things include Christmas baking at this time of year and putting together baskets to share with neighbors and friends, making crafts to decorate our home with, and having a cup of tea or something else warm and comforting in the evenings, among many other things, too.

Aside from reading, which I adore and do nearly every single day, at least for half an hour...though usually, longer because stories just enchant me and I can't put them down, and cooking, which I also do regularly, because we've got to eat and I love preparing meals, trying new recipes, experimenting with my own creations and so on, there are other pastimes that aren't something I necessarily do every single day. These are things that I want to make more time for and learn more about. I can knit very basic stitches but I'd love to learn more kinds of stitches and venture out and try making some new items. So far I've only made cowls, scarves and headbands. I'd also love to learn to crochet. Hand embroidery is something I discovered I loved early this year and want to continue on with the project I began in the spring. I keep a commonplace journal, which I add to quite frequently, at least once a week. But next year, I hope to begin a new kind of journal for me...kind of a mix of a domestic diary and seasonal journaling and other bits and bobs. And finally, I always love photography, and have kind of lost touch with it the last while and really miss it and how creative it inspires me to be. Those are just a few of the things that I've already ventured into and love but want to grow in this coming year.

What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes?

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

As I rambled through our garden this weekend, I noticed that quite a lot had changed since the week before. Berries began to make their grand appearance on our holly bush and the bursts of red against the deep green is such a Christmasy sight. Along with that, I discovered other berries of deep purple on a tree and the monkey grass. I think that's a sure sign of wintertime coming. Our yard is absolutely, completely covered in leaves and I think it looks quite fairy-tale like. You can hardly see where the driveway is because there are just so many leaves, and that's after my dad mulched an entire yard covering at least twice so far this season. Our home is surrounded by many trees, and trees equal leaves. I may be alone in this thought, but I do think a yard and driveway covered in leaves is much more appealing in the late autumn than one that is completely cleared out of leaves. Of course, we will clear them again, more than once, probably many more times before springtime comes again.