If you are a regular reader of my blog
you already know how much I love birds.
Or if you are a new reader, perhaps the name of my blog
gives away just how I feel about birdies.....
Outdoor birds at our many feeders or bird baths
or inside bird decor just makes our nest feel "just right."
Well, I started looking around and really noting
just how many birds or birdhouses were
decorating our Christmas world around here
and thought I would share a few - but not all
or they may not all download, haha.
I shared my (not a great pic) stone bird holding
a Christmas greeting in yesterday's post about Rustic Christmas.
a Christmas greeting in yesterday's post about Rustic Christmas.
(The rest of the pics turned out fine, the lighting was wonky on this one.)
If you missed it be sure go see it here. : - )
Three French hens, two turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree.......See?
BIRDS are very very Christmasy!!!
***************************************************
***************************************************
By the way I got this from my MIL today in an email by anonymous:
There is one Christmas carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who will not come out of a pear tree have to do with Christmas?
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning, plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code for a religious reality which the children could remember.
"The partridge in a pear tree"......was Jesus Christ
"Two turtle doves".....were the Old & New Testaments.
"Three French hens".....stood for faith, hope, and love.
"The four calling birds".....were the 4 gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
"The five golden rings"...recalled the Torah or law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
"The six geese-a-laying".....stood for the six days of creation.
"Seven swans a swimming"....represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--prophesy, serving, teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership and mercy.
"The eight maids a milking".......were the eight beatitudes.
"Nine ladies dancing"....were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
"The ten lords a leaping".....were the Ten Commandments.
"The eleven pipers piping"....stood for the 11 faithful disciples.
"The twelve drummers drumming"......symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles Creed prayer.
As always, thank you for your visit.
♥
~Michele
Michele...you have a wonderful collection of birds and all bird related pieces! Obviously your true love and all so pretty!!
ReplyDeleteMy SIL is a pre-school teacher. At Christmas they make up bags up M&M's for the children. The M turned sideways looks like the number 3 and represents the three Wise Men. What a simple and good way to let these children remember an important part of the meaning of Christmas.
XO,
Jane
L O V E your tree . . . and the birdhouses . . . and the birds.
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL
Love your bird houses, Michele. You've reminded me, too, that I need to get some bird seed out to the feeder. : ) With more snow now {Sheesh! When will it go away!} I want to make sure our little friends can eat. I have a feeder near our home office window and love to see the birds, especially the cardinals. They just stand out so pretty when there is snow around.
ReplyDeleteFrom another bird lover, great array of birdie decor Michele. I've read that about the twelve days of Christmas before and bet many people don't know the significance of the carol.
ReplyDeleteJudith
Your birds are just wonderful and look so great for Christmas. Love all your little birdhouses, too.
ReplyDeletexo
Hi Michele,
ReplyDeleteI love birds too and yours are wonderful. I love birds at Christmas time and have them throughout my decor too. It all looks beautiful.
Kris
You have a lot of beautiful Christmasy birds in your decorating. I like the birdhouses, too. I am a bit concerned for the birds with the latest in miserably weather coming down upon us. I made sure that the suet feeder was filled with some high energy stuff.I don't have water, but there's a brook not far away and I think that they make good use of that.
ReplyDeleteWhat pretty bird decorations. I love birds, bird houses, cages, feathers, wings, .....
ReplyDeletegreat post!
Hugs,
Patti
You really do have a love affair with birds! But, the good thing is that birds are welcome all year long. I love how you've incorporated them into your Christmas décor.
ReplyDeleteYour birds are all so cute. I have just recently in the last couple of years developed a fondness for birds...so I really don't have very many,,,but really like the ones I do have!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the 12 days of Christmas...I had never really thought much about the meaning of the song...I guess I just thought they were pulling random things out of nowhere when they wrote the song. You have enlightened me...that was very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Sharon
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteBirdies do bring joy to our hearts, and so do you, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the song significance.
Birds... one of God's most joyous... and vocal creatures! I love your birdie tree... and you!
ReplyDeleteOh, oh o, Michèle, i so was going to add my paper birds to my tree of branches this year but thought not since every year there is birds in my trees, yet I did add a wire cage at the bottom of the branches, what is a tree without the musical songs of our little wild life singing and swaying above high on a branch.
ReplyDeleteI always make sure Christmas morning there is something special for the feeding on in the yard for the birds, we over here have had a crazy love for our birds of wild.
A beautiful post here my dear filled with birds of Christmas red.
Blessings,
A joyeux Noël
Bisous
Xx
Doré
Oh sweetie, I love all of your sweet tweets! I too love birds. I did my entry in birds for Christmas this year. Last year it was the front porch. I must have me some birds for Christmas every year. lol! I especially love the first French script birdhouse. Wondering where you got it? Thanks for sharing that about the 12 days of Christmas song. So very interesting! I hope you will link this to SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
Love seeing all your pretty birds, and I have never heard of that symbolism regarding the "Twelve Days." Absolutely delightful--and I feel so "in the know" now!
ReplyDelete