A special treat for us this holiday season was attending a performance by the American Irish Repertory Ensemble at the Portland Performing Arts stage. We had never been in this tiny theater before ,although we had passed by its entrance many times on our way into the Portland Stage Company facility.

Tiny is the word for it – there are bleacher seats for perhaps 60 patrons and folding chairs for another 10 or so ticket holders. We arrived in plenty of time for the show, but found most of the seats already taken, so ended up sitting on folding chairs on the floor, right next to the main entrance. Consequently, my husband, who has long legs, had to be sure to tuck his feet back under his chair or actors, as they rushed in and out for their entrances and exits, could easily have tripped and fallen.

Despite these minor inconveniences, we were enthralled by the play itself, “A Christmas in Kerry” written by Clare Melley Smith, who lives in Camden. She adapted the play from various works by the Irish author John B Keane, including his “Letters of a Country Postman.”

The play takes place in the fictional village of Lisnacoo, County Kerry. The set consisted of a door, standing alone in the center of the stage, and representing a number of dwellings in the village. First on stage was the postman, Mocky Fondoo, riding his bike and stopping at the door of Nance Nolan, who can’t understand why she has not received a letter from her son Jack, who has gone off to London.

It was amazing to see that bike come wheeling onto that tiny stage and then to see Nance pop out of her door to demand her mail. We were immediately transported across the ocean and participating in the drama taking place in this small, rural town in Ireland. We were even more amazed when we realized that seven actors, four men and three women, were taking 21 parts, completely changing their characters with, perhaps, the simple addition of a hat or scarf or a change in their posture and accent.

Adding to the charm of the play was the use of many Gaelic words (explained in the program). We learned that the police are “peelers” and “piillalooing” is demented wailing. Of course, the play ends happily when the villagers all get together and manufacture a letter from Jack to be delivered to Nance on Christmas Eve. And cast and audience joined together to wish everyone a Merry Christmas – “Noilaig Shona Daoibh”!!

Christmas was also in evidence at the Blaine House in Augusta. Every year, the governor asks local garden clubs to decorate the mansion for the holidays. Garden club members from across the state are then invited to view the adornments at a reception.

Ten members of the Scarborough Garden Club made the trek to Augusta on a beautiful December day and spent several hours admiring the beautiful arrangements that bedecked every room. The reception room, with its two grand marble fireplaces, was stunning. A large tree stood in the corner, surrounded by white poinsettias and crowned with a large, white, paper star. It was decorated with white paper cutouts of trees with candles and Christmas cards hung from white ribbons.

In the corner, on a side table, was a little twig tree covered with tiny Santas, gingerbread cutouts, candy canes and snowmen. Next to it was a bigger twig tree embellished with birds of all colors. The fireplaces were gorgeous – one decorated with gold magnolia leaves against the gold-trimmed mirror and the other with six little trees standing on the mantel, two made from sweet gum balls, two from hackmatack cones and two of spagnum moss.

The theme for the family dining room was birds – a gingerbread birdhouse sat on the buffet in a bed of frosting snow, its tile roof made from sunflower seeds, its ridge pole from tiny cones. If you peered inside the house, through the little hole, you could see a tiny nest with eggs. A magnificent piece of driftwood sat nearby, decorated with red cardinals and magnolia leaves, and an artificial tree was set up as a bird feeder, hung with half bagels frosted with bird seed, little half-ears of dried corn and garlands of apple jacks strung on string.

The library boasted a gold and citrus theme. Standing in the corner near the handsome desk was a tree adorned with gold packages, brass bells, gilded walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, and thin slices of dried lemons and limes through which small white lights glistened. The fireplace mantel here was decorated with pine boughs, whole lemons and limes and gilded pinecones.

Upstairs, the fireplace mantle in one of the bedrooms had a village scene resting on a piece of old lace that looked like snow drifts. Little houses, some blue and some green, and two white churches, all with windows of colored cellophane, perched among miniature artificial trees. I recognized the houses from my own childhood and estimated that they were at least 70 years old. Also in the room were an old dollhouse and doll carriage and a white beaded tree. On the way down the lovely curving staircase, we noticed that even the electric candlestick, standing in the stairway niche next to the white marble statue of Minerva, was trimmed with holly and a red bow.

A silver tea was served in the formal dining room, the long table covered with plates of sandwiches and Christmas cookies and candies. The fireplace mantle here was lined with seven, heavy, brass candlesticks, each holding a cone covered with finely minced parsley. The center tree, the tallest of the grouping, was topped with a gold star. The rest were topped with gold balls. In a corner was a small cypress tree adorned with milkweed fluff and sprigs of wheat.

It was a festive scene, with many garden clubbers indulging in the pretty goodies. As we left, Karen Baldacci, the first lady, stood in the door with her two sweet little dogs, thanking us all for coming and enjoying her beautiful home.