Hello dear friends! I am honored that you have chosen to spend a little time with me. As many of you know, I am a collector to a fault. Included in my collections are nativities. According to Wikipedia, in the Christianity tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, or creche) is the special exhibition of art objects, particularly during the Christmas season, representing the birth of Jesus. My first collected manger scenes were made of ceramic, created by the loving hands of my precious mother. Many years later, Renaissance Man surprised me with a Hummel nativity that I dearly love and it is always the first Christmas decoration that is unpacked. My only niece gifted me a lovely hand-carved creche from South Africa, and a nephew brought one made of corn shucks from Uganda. As you can see, my collection is diverse. About fifteen years ago I was shopping in a nearby city when I spotted it …a large and lovely nativity that I knew immediately had to come home with me.

So many of you have asked about this beautiful nativity that found a home on our hearth. Each Christmas I receive emails and comments asking where I bought it and is it still available. The shop went out of business several years ago and I have never discovered another one in any of my travels. I had planned to move it to another spot, but I listened to you, our readers who said it had to stay on the hearth. So here it is once again, but let’s take a closer look!

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”READ MORE