Enjoying the Season

I really enjoy making nice bows. In years past, I would make a sack full and then use them as needed. This year, I just made them as I wrapped. Lest you think ALL of my gifts look like this---they don't. The gifts for immediate family don't have any bows. Everything is just wrapped and piled under the tree.

 I had time on my hands last week, so decided to take myself to this antique mall. This is probably the best place in Nashville for reasonable prices. I'd forgotten all about it until Nancy reminded me.

This is the first time in three years that we've hauled "Nutty" around. He weighs about a hundred pounds and it takes 2 or 3 of us.

Three years ago, as Stephanie, Mindy and I were hauling him back to the garage, Mindy quipped, "I guess this makes us "The Nutty Processors!" (For those of you too young---it's a take on an old Jerry Lewis film called "The Nutty Professor." She always entertains!

The neighbor's cat visits every day and likes to sit here. You might think that this would freak me out. But just the opposite. I'm more than happy to provide "muffy, or fluffy" (Butch and I can't agree on our name for her/him) with a soft sunny spot. He/she has taken care of our squirrel problem! In fact, I've left this cushion out just for him/her. I've put the others away for the season. Of course, I really couldn't let it in the house, now could I?

I wanted to take an outside picture of our tree at night. It's kind of hard to see because of the plantation shutters. I'm going to try the one in the family room. It has colored lights, so it will probably show up better.

I found this 1950's Christmas tablecloth at the antique mall. It's going to be perfect as an overlay for our Christmas dinner. I never worry about sizes any more. I just layer them.

 I can never pass up old shelves. This one was $18.00. Nancy has some of the old bulbs in a mason jar, so I couldn't pass them up. I have ideas for the little Christmas Jello molds---for next year. I was really excited to find the old math flash cards. This year's AYM theme is "By the Numbers." I'm sure they'll come in handy. And then I just had to have the box of old brown threads. I love putting them in my class kits.

 This was my favorite find. A child's sweeper---and in PINK! Now, do I keep it, or pass it to my favorite sister? Wait, I better say "ONE" of my favorite sisters. After all, I have four! But only one shares my passion for pink!

 Here's the dilemma---I'm the Queen! What would the Queen do??

 I've never taken pictures outside at Christmas. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Fireworks never do for me. I also like how you can see the blue porch ceilings. Barely, but still...

 This one is from the street. Looks like we need to have more lights on the right and left.

 I put up this little tree in the sunroom. It's really pretty chilly in there during the winter. It's a heated room, but with windows on three sides, it's just cold. Still, from the family room, you can see in to the room, so I decided to make it a little more festive.

 Can you see what's wrong with this picture. It caused me a FTS moment---actually more than a moment---a half hour.

And here too. I could not find the plug where you would replace those little fuses. So then, I got the bright idea that I would just start trying the little bulbs. Of course, I did not have the exact ones. After undoing the wires from the bulbs to replace the little sockets, and not being able to find the spot that I took it out of, it dawned on me that the whole strand doesn't go out any more when one bulb goes out. I finally just gave up.When it's time to take it down, I'll plug them in then and throw away the bad ones. The hassle we go to for a month of festivity! Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. But then, the kids---and I mean the big ones too---have certain expectations of what grammy and grandpa's house should look like at Christmas. Can't go disappointing them.

I hope all of your Christmas plans are progressing nicely. Try not to let yourself get too stressed.

The Lapps family arrives tomorrow and the craziness (but totally fun) begins. I'll try to work in a post here or there.

Guest Post

Hey All,
I was invited to guest post over at High in the Sky.

Here is a recent layout I did for the TSRCC challenge about my internet friend, Sian at High in the Sky.

"The Internet is a Magical Thing!"

The journaling reads:

It’s no secret that I am “smitten with Britain.” Little did I know that the Internet would be responsible for connecting me with a Brit! I met Sian through her blog “High in the Sky” about a year ago. I have had so much fun catching a glimpse into the everyday life of my new friend. Although it is unlikely that we will ever actually meet in person, it’s not impossible. Who knows where our travels may take us. Either which way, I get to know her a little better with each blog post.

Recently she mentioned her Christmas pudding in one of her posts. That led to an email discussion about the ingredients that I did not understand. I had never heard of vegetable suet (which is Crisco here), sultanas (which are golden raisins) and “grease proof paper” (which is parchment paper). I’m still not sure what “mixed spice” and “mixed peel” are. They say “self-raising”, we say “self-rising”. Whereas we “measure” our cups and ounces, they “weigh” theirs.  (Not to mention---minding your “P’s” and “Q’s”---which referred to keeping track of the “pints and quarts” you drank in the olden days of English pubs). We say, “pour” they say “tip”.

It has been so much fun learning the different ways we refer to things. Somehow, the way the British speak, sounds so much more refined. Regardless of how we say stuff, none of this “learnin’” (said in a southern twang) would have been possible without the Internet. It is truly a “magical thing.”

Reality TV

We watch a lot of reality tv. Last night was the finale of Survivor and Ashley and JP's Wedding. We DVR'd both shows. We watched Survivor today. We felt like Malcom made a tactical error by not committing to Lisa. We both agreed that Denise deserved to win, but if Scubin had taken Malcom to the finals, he very well might have pulled it off. I think he would have been respected for taking his toughest competitor.

We are the only ones---along with Walter and Chris---still watching Survivor. We still like it, but this season, just about all of the challenges were puzzles. I think someone must have gotten seriously ill because they no longer make them eat weird stuff. I can't wait for the next season to start. It's going to be another where they bring back some of the fan favorites.

Now for Ashley and JP's Wedding. Butch does not watch any of the bachelor or bachelorette shows. I watch them all. I know they are pretty trashy, but for some reason, I like all that drama. Makes me feel sane!! As far as the wedding is concerned, I fast forwarded through pretty much of it. I did make a few observations.

1. Since when is Chris Harrison allowed to perform wedding ceremonies? I thought you either had to be a judge or a minister. I know that you can get some sort of minister title online. Maybe that's what he did.

2. I loved that version of "Canon in D" that the pianist played while the wedding party processed in. I suggested that for Sandy's wedding---nearly 18 years ago now (hard to believe)---but neither she nor Greg wanted it. That melody is the background for a commercial of an alcohol rehab place here. I get that, but it's still a beautiful tune.

3. I had a "give me a break" moment when Ashley's DOG was escorted down the aisle. Come on! That's just ridiculous!

4. Ashley's dress was gorgeous, but apparently she didn't expect to have to walk in it. Maybe she should have tried that out before picking it. Instead, she walked awkwardly down the very long aisle with baby steps, supported by two men. I'm assuming they were her father and step-father. (I fast forwarded a lot, remember?). It even looked like she might be either stepping on it or tripping on it. Very awkward and ungraceful.

5. I loved her pink shoes with the rhinestone buckle. You couldn't see them when she was walking, but they showed them at her final dress fitting.

6. I thought the song choice while she walked down the aisle was good---"I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." But nobody does it like Elvis. I mean, nobody.

Then, just about the time they were ready for the "I dos"---the taping cut off. UGH!! I hate it when that happens. I forgot there was a football game on before it that ran long. I can only presume that they are now "man and wife." At least for a little while anyway....

I Think I Hate Pinterest!

For those that don't know what Pinterest is----it's a place to store ideas and information on bulletin boards that you create yourself. You can get lost there for hours looking at all of the recipes, decorating ideas, fashion, gifts, crafts---you name it, you can find it there. I don't spend nearly as much time as most people do---exploring. Still, after just a little over a year, I have 35 boards and 1970 pins (OMG! That's the year I graduated from high school---fun coincidence). Here's the problem. People will pin things with labels like---"the BEST cookies you'll ever eat" or "the most delicious biscuits ever" therefore, tempting you to "pin" it for future use.

Weeellll, today was family baking day. It's 5 p.m. and I'm exhausted. My back hurts from standing on hardwood all day---today and 6 hrs. yesterday getting ready for family baking day. I decided to add a couple of new recipes---compliments of Pinterest. I was excited because, I also planned to share those recipes here. Instead, it was a lot of work for mediocre cookies. I threw the recipes away.

Starting yesterday, I made 4 cheese balls, a gigantic pot of vegetable soup (for our lunch today) and "the most delicious biscuits ever" (also for today). I made the two new cookie recipes because today we would be focusing on the family favorites. The cookies were Lemon Krinkles and  Cherry Walnut Icebox Cookies. Both were time consuming. They are "okay," but not worth the work.

Every year, I always think I'm so organized and every year, the process turns chaotic. We never have enough cookie sheets or cooling racks. I have 5 cookie sheets and 2 cooling racks. Two years ago, I asked Stephanie to bring her cookie sheets and she brought one 9x13 cake pan. She said that's what she uses for cookies. Last year, I bought her two cookie sheets. She showed up today with one. She said that she didn't know she had two---it must be stored in the wrong place. She did have a set of cooling racks, so that really helped.

Luckily, I have double ovens. The only problem is that I use two timers, but forget which goes for which oven. I ended up burning the Snickerdoodles. That was really the only mishap. We made 7 varieties of cookies (counting the ones I made yesterday),  Iced Sugar Cookies, Pecan Butter Balls, Peppermint Candy Canes, and Chocolate Chip. 

We took a break for lunch before icing the sugar cookies. The soup was delicious and so were the Angel Biscuits. I will share that recipe. I won't be making them very often because not only are they a bit time consuming, but they really require pre-planning.

Overnight Angel Biscuits

1 pkg. active dry yeast

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter, cut in small cubes

2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Using pasty blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles small peas. Mix in buttermilk and yeast just until the dough comes together.

Sprinkle counter with flour and roll or pat dough into a large square (about 18x18). Fold two sides in to make a triple layer of dough (6x18). Cut into 12 square biscuits with a sharp knife or use a 3-inch biscuit cutter. 

Place on lightly greased nonstick cookie sheet. Cover and refrigerate overnight. An hour before baking, remove from refrigerator and set in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush melted butter over the tops. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

I ended up with 15 biscuits and they were HUGE!!

 Here are the teens after we finished the decorating. You can't tell from this picture, but the entire kitchen is a total disaster. It took me well over an hour to clean it all up.

 Carson is always such a good sport. When everyone else got tired of rolling out sugar cookies, he was still working away. Morgan warned me that he didn't like soup. Not only did he like my vegetable soup, he asked if he could take some home!

 I put together a little tin for Margarita. You can see all 7 varieties---the candy canes are a little hidden. They didn't look very pretty.

But they are delicious!! 

Mindy used Pinterest as her inspiration for these little goodies she made for Steph's party on Saturday night.

She loves the Peanut Butter Kisses. Certainly simple enough for her to make. I thought her little santa hat chocolate dipped pretzels turned out really cute. She said that they were a bit of a pain to make. You know how fast that bark hardens? 

On a happy note for Stephanie---it's widely known that she is not a cook. She called me for my recipe to make stuffed artichokes. They were a huge hit. The only bad thing was that she didn't know to cut up the heart when the leaves were gone. Kind of a waste. 

I've hired this little cutie to do a Christmas project for me. Her name is Maddie. She is the granddaughter of my friend, Linda. I'll share the project when she delivers them to me.

One final thing. In my last post, I forgot to put that the "for your entertainment" line was clickable. The explanation doesn't make sense if you don't watch the little video. Sorry about that.

So tell me what successes you've had with Pinterest!

Holiday Decrations

Tuesday was our day group Christmas party. We give each other vintage gifts. I call that the ultimate recycling! Then we have a nice lunch and take our annual pictures. 

I have always loved Nancy's living room. It feels so inviting to me. I'm crazy about those built in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. Of course pink and green are my favorite color combination (along with blue and green, pink and black, blue and black....and the list goes on and on).

 Nancy's farm house is really probably my favorite floor plan with her extra large kitchen and these extra wide halls.

 She used to put her nutcracker collection going up the stairs. This year, she had Katie, her daughter come over and arrange everything. We all agreed that we tend to put things in the same place every year. Katie changed hers up and everything looked lovely!

 I'd love to have a fireplace in my dining room. I'm not sure if it would get used much, but I certainly like to decorate mantles!

Her granddaughters did the artwork that adorns the hearth. I think they will have to come down if they light a fire!

 This terrarium is sort of hard to see. There are glittered reindeer inside.

 This is one of my favorite go to decorating ideas---glass balls in assorted jars.

This is probably my favorite thing that Katie did. It could be all the "blue." I really like using blue in holiday decorating. Nancy has a really nice collection of vintage tablecloths and linens.

 Linda came dressed as Mrs. Claus in her cute little apron. As you can tell by Nancy, people in Nashville wear flip flops year round---even if the temperature is in the 30's!

Myself and Pam. Linda and I were the only ones dressed in Christmas apparel. I figure you don't get that long to don a Christmas sweater or pins, so why not?

As much as I love my new phone and the Cloud---where when you take a picture, it automatically downloads it to your computer---I think I need to go back to my regular camera. Although the iPhone is supposed to be a great camera, that doesn't say anything for the photographer. I think half of my photos are blurry. I do like the convenience and time saving feature of not having to get out the memory card, put it in the adapter and hook it up to my computer. We'll see.

Butch has been sick with the flu this week. That's put a bit of a damper on our holiday plans. I'm glad I got my flu shot. He didn't. We'll see how well it works if I make it through Christmas. By my calculations, I should get it by mid-next week. I've been taking good care of him. I'm not usually so good with sick people---as the girls will confirm. They like to tell the story that when they stayed home sick from school, I would give them a job list. I never wanted them to think skipping school was fun!! Anyway, I figured I owed Butch. He's been so good to me when I've had my umpteen bouts sick in bed with  hives. (Which, by the way, is going great! No prednisone since April 1---and finally, hive free for the first time in 13 years since October 1. I hope I didn't jinx myself).

Today (Friday), I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done. I have a few other things on my list: try to figure out why two strands of lights in the garland on the banister are out. This will be my first time trying to handle that. Usually I put Butch on it, but since he's sick, I figure I'll cut him a break. I need to pack up the cushions from the porch furniture, run to the bank, make the tags for my Christmas place cards, and make some party favors for Jordan's birthday party next Friday night. Plus we have happy hour at 4 p.m. Connie and I made mushroom crustads this week (recipe to come), so at least I have something good to serve. The jury's still out on whether Butch is up to going to our annual "poker" dinner tonight. I'll have to check with him when he gets up.

I took 12 pictures on 12*12*12. I'll share some of them next.

For your enjoyment...
I would totally have done this when I was younger. Now, I might break something. I can't get over how everyone around him is completely ignoring him. How could you not stop and stare? He made me happy. The only thing that would have made me happier was seeing it in person! Maybe one of these days...

Hope you all are enjoying your holidays!! Take a moment now and then to take a deep breath, stand by your tree and take a long whiff. Really, don't bother if you have a fake one!!

A Laid Back Sunday

The whole reason I like to go to Mass on Saturday is so that we can just chill out on Sundays. I might scrapbook a little, but mostly I spend the day reading or catching up on my blogs. This past Sunday I got up at 4:30 a.m. The only plan I had was to just hang out in front of the fireplace with my tea, computer, Pandora and my Kindle. At least it started that way.

By about 10 a.m. I decided to go to Sam's and get the "stock up for Christmas run" out of the way.

Little did I know I was going to have lunch there. I started with a piece of bacon, sausage, egg and hash brown casserole, orange juice, a slice of salami on a pretzel chip, a ham cube, a shrimp taco, an energy vitamin drink, brownie brittle and a piece of chocolate cake. I could eat like this all the time. A little of this, a little of that---just enough---well, actually, not quite. I wonder how many calories all of those little bites added up to. Anyway, I was full enough.

Sam's is not a good place for me to go. That's why I limit my trips to just when the whole family is going to be together. I am too much of an impulse buyer. Plus, all of those little bites taste good right then in the store, but when you get it home, it's not quite the same and then you're stuck with 50 of whatever it is. With just the two of us, there's quite a waste. I was proud of myself. I only impulse bought 2 things. One for a Christmas gift and the other was Olive Garden salad dressing. Butch says I have a problem with salad dressings (you know, my multiples issues). When we cleaned out the pantry a while back, we ended up throwing quite a few away. That kind of justified my "restocking" with these two very large bottles of Olive Garden dressing. The trade-off was that I had about 5 other items in my cart that I put back. I maintained quite the willpower on this trip.

When I got home, I spent some time with my book. I just finished Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly which I highly recommend. I decided to read a "holiday" book---if you can call Hercule Poirot's Christmas---an Agatha Christie murder mystery a "holiday" book. I haven't read her in years, but have been a fan since my very first book in the 7th grade---The Murder of Roger Acroyd. Back then, I flew through those books. I still love a good mystery. Anyway, after a little reading, I was ready to get back to work.

I bought 2 bouquets from Sam's---both white mums, one tipped in green. I love all flowers, but am partial to white ones for my arrangements. At Christmas time, I love to have an arrangement on the dining room table all season long. I usually put it together right after Thanksgiving. But this year, I wasn't doing any entertaining, so decided to wait. Mums last forever. When I make my arrangements after Thanksgiving, all I have to do is swap out the flowers one time during the season. The greens stay fine. They might dry out a little but that's okay.

I get all of the greens from my garden. I like to get a good variety of colors and textures. Remember the milk bottles in the carrier I bought at an antique shop and used last year? Well, I start with putting one of each type of green in every bottle. I tuck in the flowers last. I am no expert flower arranger, but you can't go wrong with this method.

 The red berries of the foster hollies look nice with the vintage cherry tablecloth. Since it's so close to Christmas now, I won't have to replace the flowers. I won't even have to add water. I'll take another picture on Christmas to let you see how it held up.

A friend of mine (Beth Ann) gave me this test tube set years ago for my birthday. I like to keep flowers in it year round. I've gotten kind of lazy about it this year due to all of our traveling. But I usually have something in the garden to put in it. These are just leftovers from my arrangement.

 I like having this view from my kitchen sink.

When I was finished with the arrangements, I put together a few simple hostess gifts. I like to think of things that are useful.

An easy idea is to add some pretty, wired Christmas ribbon to a pair of candles. Everybody loves candles.

 I cut rosemary from the garden and tied up a few spring with some pretty, wired Christmas ribbon. It smells so good. You can leave it on the window sill all winter long. It will dry out, but you can still use it for cooking.

I heap them all up in a basket so they are easy to grab and go for any holiday event. I should probably add a tag, but then I'd have to take the time to make some. I need to do that ahead for next year.

Morgan just got her first job. She is hostessing at The Corner Pub. Right off we were worried about how that would interfere with all of our holiday festivities---ornament exchange, Jordan's birthday party, family trivia, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She's off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we don't know about the other days. Carson (her boyfriend) asked if he could still come even if she has to work. She wasn't too happy to think that her boyfriend would also be having fun without her! I think it's so cute that he wants to hang with us whether she's there or not. Who does that?? We love that boy!!

One last thing that will do your heart good. My brother, Matt is not on facebook, but his wife, Sharon is. She just posted this. I’m so proud of him that I had to post it on my blog!!! Way to go Matt, I love you!!

"While standing in line at the grocery store my hubby looks at me and says how about if I pay for that elderly lady's groceries. I told him to do what he wanted. Yes he followed the voice inside. We left a stunned yet thankful elderly woman and teary eyed checker. Listen to your inner voice."

Next up----holiday decor from my friend, Nancy's house.

It's the Holiday Season...

...but that's no reason for me to fall behind with my blogging! I'm usually on top of everything. Here are a few things that have been going on around here. Just a lot of nonsense, but fun.

During my final Christmas shopping day, I stopped for lunch at Fifth and Pine---the restaurant inside Nordstrums. I had the best salad with chicken, pistachios, dried cherries and a cherry viniagarette dressing. I couldn't resist this to go along with it. I've never seen this on a restaurant menu before. Diet at that---heavenly lunch.

On Friday, I took some friends to the club for a ladies luncheon, Christmas concert and fashion show. I had to have a picture of Mr. Billy looking all festive.

Nancy here with me. Linda was in the bathroom---sorry. You could say that Mr. Billy is the Santa at the club---jolly and cheerful.

 Through the course of decorating, I moved mom's silverware chest that I keep in my hall closet. It was all moldy and did this to the carpet. Does anyone know why or how that happened? It's not like it's wet in there. I keep a lot of stuff in that closet and nothing like this has happened before.

Here's the culprit. I've now moved it to the pantry. I can't imagine why it was moldy. The box cleaned up just fine. The carpet, not so much.

I was not happy to see this ugly thing crawling around the entry. I think it might be a "stink bug" so I didn't kill it. I scooped it up with a kleenex and flushed it. Then I saw another one in the kitchen. That one I think I carried in with fresh greenery cut from my bushes. At least I hope so. If I see another one, you can be sure I'll have my bug man out here before you can say "holy bed bugs Batman."

 Nicky surprised me with this beautiful poinsettia at happy hour on Friday. My first red one of the season. Huge too. Very thoughtful of him!

 I just love this old house. There's a sign on it that says "Welch Library". It's near a college, but I don't think the college is in business anymore. For you locals, it's near 440 on Harding Rd.

 I think the roof is some sort of tile. I'd love to have it and the color too. The texture is so striking. Can you tell I never waste a moment---even at a stop light??!!

 My little nephew, Travis is pulling himself up now. He looks like a little half pint!! If I remember correctly, I think he's about 8 1/2 months old now.

Same baby, same age. Looks like the cart can swallow him up. If this is what they're selling at Target now, I want one!! Only kidding!

One thing I know for sure. If you think you are getting a bargain by buying Yankee Candles from anyplace but the Yankee Candle store, you aren't. They simply don't "smell." I'm so disappointed in the ones I bought from Target. Not worth the hassle of taking them back. Lesson learned.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll tell you about my Sunday---even if it's Wednesday. Then maybe by the end of the week I can catch up with everything else. 

It's that happy, crazy, busy, never enough time for everything, time of the year!! Happy to you!!