Ho, Ho, Ho who wouldn’t know that Bedford Landings is “dressed” for the holidays! The first item of business was to “dress” the 8-foot wide, 33 feet tall fireplace! I tried a 24 inch wreath that was simply dwarfed. So I went to Southern Roots to ask Susie to try to make the largest wreath she could and she came up with what I will call the Winter-Fall-Holiday wreath. This spring I hope she will construct a Spring-Summer wreath. That way, I don’t need to get the 12-foot ladder out except twice a year to change it! I am so glad that I took this photo of Susie to show how large (48″) this wreath actually is!
Of course we had to get a tree that was equally scaled to a room with a 33-foot vaulted ceiling. We drove to Floyd and selected a live 12-foot Fraser Fur that was cut and wrapped. It only fell over once, crashing a lamp to the floor while we were trying to straighten it!
Throughout the house, we have added hints of holiday décor. We have decorated the Fourth Room in seasonal reds and holiday colors and put just a bit of the season in each of the other rooms.
Starting in November, our guests tasted a few new recipes. We experimented with pumpkin pancakes and cranberry muffins for the season which were well-received, but we also found out that some people really don’t like pumpkin. Who knew?! As for the Cranberry muffins, you need to put in far more sugar than the recipe calls for to counter the berry tartness. But they are festive!
We hosted our family (16 made it for lunch) in house for Thanksgiving (love the Fam!) and are hosting the Professional Women’s Resources holiday gathering on December 9th with guest chef, Parker Lee, who will prepare Small Plates. The tables are set for this event occurring tomorrow. Afterwards, I can’t wait to share the photos of the food with readers!
I WILL blog again this month so watch for it! Share the link with others and know that we are getting ready to announce a Winter Escape deal for guests. We do have all rooms available for New Year’s Eve at this time and are accepting reservations.
On a personal note, Jack acquired a new 1953 Cessna 170B and is teaching bagpipe lessons at Bedford Landings. Karen has returned to playing racket ball and continues to work with Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech.
Life is good. Feel it in the spirit of the season and rejoice!