Carolyn's Blog

   A visit to see the Christmas decor at Winterthur Museum in Delaware, brought this 1830's building with many later additions to light in a holiday manner yesterday. Choosing not to take a tram, but to walk on snowy paths from the visitor center was a refreshing experience on this sunny day.

If visitors had entered the former home of Henry Francis duPont through the Port Royal entrance with elements taken from a Philadelphia home, they would have come through the doorway in back of this first tree.  A tree made of azalea blooms was another star, and the best use of lights (IMHO) was the March Bank tree, catching the mood of flowers blooming in the snow on a hillside on the grounds of the museum.

Featured this year are several rooms set up for the 1938 wedding of duPont daughter Pauline to Alfred Harrison on January 15 of that year. And good old Dad indulged Pauline's wish to have Butterfly Bushes in bloom, even though they are summer flowering. Here you see the conservatory set up with the desired flowers, as well as buffets set up for over 800 guests.

 The dining room shows how Mr. duPont might have put together items from his collection of glassware, china, and linens for the holidays. Especially striking was the centerpiece of miniature red orchids. And being a collector of ruby glass, I appreciated his choice of glassware.

 Mr. duPont always had a party for his employees and their children, and went to choose their presents at the Wilmington Wanamaker's store after it had closed for the evening, and had all the presents delivered to the estate. The presents, along with ice cream treats, were presented at a "clubhouse" on the grounds. And the last picture is of the Chinese Parlor as it would have been at holiday time with Mr. duPont's gift for his wife, a bunch of red roses, placed next to the piano, where the family gathered to sing Christmas songs (except Dad couldn't carry a tune so he was asked to listen).  Always a delight, Wilmington Delaware's Winterthur Museum is a real Christmas treat!

I know some people think it is really corny, but I always get a kick out of seeing houses that have "over the top" decorations at Christmas. Although my own neighborhood does not have anything to equal this, just up the road at Silverside Rd. and Prior Rd., adjacent to I-95, the Christmas light show at this house takes the cake for me.

I especially liked the Saint Bernard pulling a sleigh full of presents and the arches they put up every year over the path that snakes around their lawn. I heard two men discussing a strategy for re-creating this Christmas light show at home, and the man giving advice to his friend, who said, "All you have to do is go to (big box store) the day after Christmas and buy everything at really low prices."  Wonder if they are at the mall today?  Anyway, enjoy!

Written in 1897  by veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church, this New York Sun editorial has since become history's most-reprinted newspaper editorial.

I step aside for a moment of remembering this well known screed.

Is there a Santa Claus?

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus
prominently the communication below, expressing
at the same time our great gratification that its
faithful author is numbered among the friends of
The Sun:

Dear Editor! I am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun it's so." Please
tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon.

115 West Ninety-Fifth Street.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have
been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.
They do not believe except they see. They think that
nothing can be which is not comprehensible by
their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they
be men's or children's, are little. In this great
universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his
intellect, as compared with the boundless world
about him, as measured by the intelligence capable
of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as
certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,
and you know that they abound and give your life
its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would
be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would
be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry,
no romance to make tolerable this existence. We
should have no enjoyment, except in sense and
sight. The eternal life with which childhood fills the
world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not
believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire  
men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve
to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see
Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that
there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the
world are those that neither children nor men can
see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn?
Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not
there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the
wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the
world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what
makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering
the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor
even the united strength of all the strongest men
that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy,
poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain
and view and picture the supernatural beauty and
glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this
world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives
forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay,
ten times ten thousand years from now, he will
continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

* * * * * * * * * *

A buyer starts out with hope in their heart, and steps into the real estate world not knowing what to expect. They sit down with their Realtor®, ready to start a journey. This journey could turn out well, or it could be a flat tire disaster, depending on how prepared they are for the journey.

And how does one prepare for the journey as a home buyer?  Save, save, save, and while you are doing that, pay all your bills on time. This all affects your credit score, says Brenda Tunis of Fairway Independent Mortgage.

When you feel you are ready to take the next step, contact a trusted loan officer. Your Realtor® should be able to give you some names. Once you establish this relationship, the loan officer will ask you some questions, and if it sounds as if you have a job and have savings, and have been paying all your bills on time, a credit report will be run. Now here is where it gets really interesting. Tunis says that lower credit scores are a credit risk. A credit risk affects the pricing of a loan and the availability of some programs and mortgage insurance. The higher the credit score, the lower the risk.

There are all kinds of guidelines that must be followed for different programs, government loans, and bond issues, but here is a rough outline of how to translate credit scores:

800+ scores          Stellar report, all avenues of financing are available.

740+ scores          Great, but the credit risk begins; most financing is available though.

700+ scores          Very good report, but a slight credit risk and pricing may start to cost more.

680+ scores          Good report, but some financing begins to minimize and credit risk pricing happens.

660+ scores          Ok report; availability of financing is slimmer and credit risk pricing happens, might check out government loans which may be more accessible.

640+ scores          Low score for conventional financing. This credit score is considered a credit risk which will cause major price adjustments, should look into government loans which may be more forgiving with credit issues.

Now it's time to discuss with your loan officer the type of loan program you might be able to use that suits your situation. Are you a first time buyer and can you qualify for special programs? Are you a veteran? Does the area where you want to live give incentives for buying in a specific census grid? Have you discussed with your Realtor® the price range where your loan officer feels you can get a pre-approval?  All these questions will need to be answered before you can seriously think about making an offer on a property.

Information on credit scores provided by Brenda Tunis of Fairway Independent Mortgage, Wilmington, DE    302-766-7385                   BrendaT@fairwaymc.com        NMLS#146672 

                                  Brenda Tunis Loan Officer

                                    Dedicated to making your home buying experience 

                             an enjoyable one by offering just the right mortgage solution

This weekend is the time to bring the family out for Rockwood Museum in Wilmington's Holiday Open House. Last night was great, from the smiling face of a baby greeting an "Elf" and "Rudolph" (took me a while to figure out who he was supposed to be, but then I'm not into costumed characters). A very talented group of youngsters, the University of Delaware Children's Chorus serenaded us before the tree lighting. To hear this group of children singing the Charlie Brown song Christmas Time is Here with their sweet little voices was very effective.

There were groups of young people selling their handicrafts in the Carriage House and I must say I found a few very well made stocking stuffers and more here. Here we see visitors entering the mansion, a Victorian fantasy built just outside of Wilmington, Delaware, by Joseph Shipley between 1851 and 1854. It is now part of a New Castle County's Rockwood Park and may be visited year round. The website is http://www2.nccde.org/rockwood/default.aspx

As you can see from this picture I took yesterday of the Queen Theatre on Market Street in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, it's not quite ready for prime time. But at least it has a roof on it, which is progress from a couple of months ago. And they have even uncovered some murals under all the muck on the balcony.

The Queen,is a former movie theatre which originally opened in 1916 and was built at a cost of $250,000, and could seat 2000. It was actively used for movies until 1959.

The Queen Theatre is scheduled to open as a live music venue in April 2011, with shows presented by Philadelphia's World Cafe Live. In May, they will hold the NON-COMMvention at the Queen, and have already announced 4 acts: the New York Dolls with David Johansen, John Popper of Blues Traveler, DeVotchKa, and G. Love, who just did an album with the Avett Brothers.

The website for the Light Up The Queen Foundation is http://lightupthequeen.org/

Alert to garland, poinsettia, and great decoration lovers! Rockwood Museum in Wilmington, Delaware is having their annual Holiday Open House this weekend, from 6-9 December 3 and 4 and 1-4 December 5. See details on location at http://www2.nccde.org/rockwood/default.aspx

Since a friend and I did most of the floral arrangements, (but not the decorating of the museum) we are giving you a sneak preview of what you will see at Rockwood during the holidays. One of the items I really wanted to see displayed is the "plateau" on the dining room table. This silver-rimmed, mirrored surface piece comes in 3 parts and the table had to have an extra leaf put in the table to accomodate its large size It looks great with the silver champagne bucket containing a live poinsettia. We tried to do things a little differently, and another thing we did was to put 2 artificial doves in the parlor arrangements with poinsettias in matching Bohemian glass compotes on either side of the mirror on a pier table.  Fun, and very Victorian!  Come to the Rockwood Museum Holiday Open House or during regular hours during the holidays.