Your Kentucky Home

With thanks to Lana in Arizona (whose idea came through…) Frannie right here in the Bluegrass.

“This little idea is one I did when my child was very young. I put a small, artificial table top tree in his room. For a craft we made “candy canes” by twisting red and white pipe cleaners together and he decorated his tree. Well, sometime during the night of Christmas Eve something special happened and all his pipe cleaner canes turned into real candy canes. He couldn’t believe it when he saw the real candy canes on his tree! This activity is appropriate for even the youngest children.”

Merry Christmas,
Lana in Arizona

And from Frannie:

“P.S. Another cute idea kinda’ like this is one I heard from a ‘grandpa’.

About a month before Christmas, grandpa and his son planted a PINE CONE in a special spot chosen by the grandson… they watered it every day… and the night before christmas, after the little boy had gone to bed, grandpa planted a small LIVE tree in it’s spot and decorated it for Christmas morning!”

Every holiday season since 2004, the U.S. Botanic Garden has staged the Garden Railway exhibit, a wonderful display of incredible workmanship and holiday whimsy. And it has a Kentucky connection.

The Garden Railway is the work of Paul Busse and his company, Applied Imagination of Alexandria, Kentucky (see the Applied imagination website for more information). A landscape architect by training, Busse freely admits to being an incurable model train enthusiast with a deep appreciation of plants. His garden railways and building replicas have been a part of the holidays at the U.S. Botanic Garden since 2004.

Here are some photos I took this year of the Garden Railway and replicas of the buildings that line the National Mall in Washington, DC.

The Danville, Kentucky Christmas Tree Lighting and Parade will take place in downtown Danville on Friday, December 5. The tree lighting will be at 6:00 PM and the parade kicks off at 7:00 PM. In between the tree lighting and the parade, or afterwards, be sure to stop in at the Community Arts Center to see the “Home for the Holidays” exhibit.

Here is a slide show of images from some past ceremonies:

This year more than ever, you want to get the most value for your holiday shopping dollar.

The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Get the best deals with these insider tips.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a video about the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday.