Elevating Everyday & Finding Joy in the Little Things

Joseph Coelho, Chatsworth House, Margate House, Homeworthy, The Nutcracker and more on Weekend Meanderings.

Joseph Coelho, Chatsworth House, Margate House, Homeworthy, The Nutcracker and more on Weekend Meanderings.

flatlay gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate

WEEKEND MEANDERINGS

Good Saturday morning to you friends. It’s time for Weekend Meanderings with Juliet and Kim. Join us as we share all of the things that piqued our interests and caught our eye this week. Today’s post is short and sweet and filled with Christmas fun.

How was your week friends? Are you ticking all of your holiday tasks off your list? Have you found some time to enjoy the holiday festivities?

We’ve been watching holiday movies, went to a party, have been baking and of course enjoying the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

From now until Christmas we have family in town, a small road trip planned and of course lots of holiday food and fun.

What about you? Tell me what have you been doing?

Wanderlust~Margate House

Margate House Hotel bedroom.

Margate House is a relatively new and fabulous boutique hotel that feels more like spending the night at a friend’s house. There are nine rooms and communal areas to enjoy while staying at this refurbished and remodeled Victorian house.

This seaside B&B in Kent is a great place to visit if you want to take a break from your time in London. Relax, enjoy strolls on the beach and take in the shops and restaurants in the area.

Follow Margate House on Instagram or their website for more information.

Read more about the hotel in House & Garden.

Chatsworth House Christmas 2024

Chatsworth House is the amazing and stately country home of the Duke of Devonshire. It has belonged to the family since the 1500’s. It has 126 rooms and over 100 are closed to visitors. This amazing house and its gardens are open year round but the holidays are when it is most magical.

‘Henry and the Lion’s Christmas Feast’ is an enchanting story inspired by Chatsworth and the life and work of Henry Cavendish, the eminent eighteenth-century scientist and grandson of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire.

The book, written exclusively for Chatsworth by multi-award winning children’s author and former children’s laureate, Joseph Coelho OBE, is the backdrop to this year’s Christmas at Chatsworth celebrations (9 November – 5 January).  

It tells the tale of young Henry and his accomplice, a little lion, inspired by the giant stone statues in the Sculpture Gallery at Chatsworth, as they go on a quest to find a festive feast and the adventures they encounter along the way. The house and garden will be transformed into a magical adventure where visitors can follow in the footsteps of the story’s protagonists, with scenery and decorations incorporating the book’s illustrations, created by award-winning illustrator Vivien Mildenberger.

Christmas Home Tour~ Homeworthy

Home tours are one of my favorite things and Homeworthy is one of the best places to “visit” houses from around the world. If you like interior design, and open houses make sure to subscribe to Homeworthy so that you can see the latest tours.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nutcracker

Nutcracker

Every year since I was a child my family and I have attended a performance of The Nutcracker. It is a Christmas tradition that we love and one that the next generation is enjoying as well.

  1. The Nutcracker is based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffman called “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”.
  2.   The story was written in 1816.
  3. The ballet was composed by Peter Tchaikovsky, who also composed the music for Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
  4. The name of the young girl who saves the nutcracker prince has changed many times. In the original story, she is named Maria or Marie, while Clara is the name of one of her dolls. In Germany, she sometimes goes by Marichen. In Russia, she was given the name Masha.
  5. The Nutcracker ballet was first preformed in Russia in 1892.
  6. In Germany, nutcrackers are thought to bring good luck and to protect your home and family. That’s why they were often given to children as gifts, and why Clara receives one  at Christmas.
  7. The ballet was not originally called the Nutcracker. The original working title for the ballet was The Christmas Tree and, alternatively, The Fir Tree.
  8. The debut of The Nutcracker in St. Petersburg in 1892 was not a success with either the public or critics. In fact Tchaikovsky never lived to see the success of The Nutcracker.
  9. The Nutcracker was not preformed in the USA until 50 years later.
  10. The New York Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker uses about 500 pounds of paper confetti to create the snowstorm, 150 different costumes, 7 layers of tulle for the Sugar Plum Fairy’s tutu, 500 bobby pins, and 144 jingle bells for each Candy Cane costume!

"When we remember a special Christmas, it is not the presents that made it special, but the laughter, the feeling of love, and the togetherness of friends and family that made that Christmas special." —Catherine Pulsifer

LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN

How Dr. Marie Zakrzewska Created Boston’s First Hospital By Women, For Women

The Michelin Guide to Pigalle, Paris’ Red-Light District Turned Foodie Haven

You really Can’t Fix Other People.

Kelly Reilly and the Yellowstone Succession Drama

How What’s App Ate The World

How to Finally Get Your Junk Drawer Under Control

The Right and Wrong Things to Say to a Grieving Friend

Are You Over Reacting?

Experience the life-changing magic of decluttering your inbox with these simple tips.

In Case You Missed it This Week on the Blog

It was a busy week on the blog, I shared everything from surviving the holidays, to finding to during the holidays, holiday outfits and of course a few sweet treats.

15 ways to spread joy through the holidays.

15 Easy Way to Spread Joy this Holiday Season and Beyond, hint, it’s not about giving gifts from the stores.

The holidays can sometimes be a little stressful, this week I shared 5 Ways to Survive and thrive during the Holidays.

Green velvet and colorful argyle sweater holiday outfit fashion over 50.

Looking for holiday outfit inspiration? I shared 8 Holiday Outfits That you will love.

Sic cupcakes in green and red paper cups with white icing and candies cranberries on top sitting on a white tray with red and green ornaments scattered around

Next up, Gingerbread Cupcakes with Buttercream icing and candied cranberries.

Chicken Pot pie recipe.

Last but not least, Friday Favorites! Books, recipes(chicken pot pie) holiday sales, and lots more.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

I hope that you enjoyed weekend meanderings. If you did please share the post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or Pinterest.

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend friends.

Don’t forget to pop over and visit my friends Kim and Juliet you can find the links below.

If you missed any of the previous Weekend Meandering posts you can find them all here.

Make Mine a Spritzer

Northern California Style

This post contains affiliate links, if you make a purchase I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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  • What beautiful cupcakes in the holiday containers! I like the scalloped topped bed and the ceiling light in the Margate House photo. I recently watched Kelly Reilly in a crime procedural on Britbox. I don’t recall seeing her in anything else I’ve watched before.
    Brenda

    • Francesca,
      Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and a happy New Year.
      Thank you for reading Pinecones & Acorns, I appreciate you, your comments and thoughts and your part in this community.

  • Elizabeth, I hope you have fun this season. A little road trip sounds nice. I am putting Margate House on my list! I haven’t gotten to Kent and would like to. How wonderful that book is and Chatsworth. I think they make it so fun there. I feel lucky to have been there last year!
    Your argyle look is festive and pretty.
    I had no idea about all those things Nutcracker related. I wish I was going this year. I can’t wait to watch this Homeworthy video.
    I will go back and read your holiday tips. I need them. I have just been so slammed.
    I hope you have a wonderful break and I am so grateful to do this with you and Juliet!
    xo
    Kim

  • Elizabeth! I’m very late to the party here … as I am to most parties. I’m wishing you a very happy Christmas and lovely New Year’s celebration. Can’t wait to rejoin you and Kim in 2025! Yikes … 2025 … sounds so futuristic and yet here we are. Merry Christmas, friend (and partner in crime). xoxo

  • meet elizabeth

    Hi, I'm Elizabeth. I'm "mad for plaid", a good book, a cup of hot chocolate and my pups. Join me as I find the beauty in life and elevate the everyday.

    Some posts contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure here. Thank you for supporting the blog!

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