Holiday Memories Open House

[BooksAdmin]

Holiday Memories - An  Open House for All of US!

What's the best Christmas or Holiday you can remember from back in the Good Ole Days? We hope you will come  right inside out of the cold and share those memories with us - beginning Dec.1   T'is the season to wax nostalgic about Christmas past - and all the  holidays you celebrate this time of year.. Every party needs MUSIC!  Let us know your Holiday favorites...we'll link them here for you. Remember this one? "Blue Christmas" - Elvis "Blue Christmas" - Elvis (no  screaming girls) "O Holy Night" - The Priests   What's a party without  GOODIES? Let's  fill this buffet table with your favorites!  What's your best  Holiday  recipe ever and  the story behind it? Do you still bake like you once did? Shall we have a contest for the OLDEST RECIPE?   And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?  Each week in December we'll focus on two of your favorites.  Do you remember these two?   A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas Audio - Listen to Dylan Thomas read it to you himself! The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry The Gift of the Magi - a Reading

[JoanP]

The best thing about an online party like this - you needn't dress up (though you can if you wish.  I'm in a deep red velvet, trimmed with white ermine this morning.) But dress is optional!  Any kind of dress. And there are no hours - just drop by to see who is here - and to share your memories, music, recipes and traditions.

We also plan to focus on different stories of the season - at the start of each week.  Stories you can find on the web.  We're asking you to recommend your favorite stories for the coming weeks.   Are you familiar with Dylan Thomas ' A Child's Christmas in Wales?  There's a link in the heading.  Oh, and there's also an audio- link to Dylan Thomas reading his story himself.  Listen to that, if you can...

What are you doing today - the first of December?  Did you do any Black Friday shopping?  (I can't see any of you elbowing through crowds, but I do see some of you taking advantage of on-line sales...)
Have you seen those Shutterfly calendars?  One tradition here - I put together a family calendar with photos of the family, each on his/her own birthday.  The deadline is midnight tonight - 50% discount per order if I make it. Amazing how many photos need to be uploaded.  I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how I did.  I'll probably be sitting here until midnight tonight!  Bring on the goodies~  And a fresh pot of coffee if you're up late tonight!

[Babi]

I'd never read "A Christmas in Wales" before.  I love it!  I don't think I've read anything by Dylan Thomas, and I can see now that I've missed out.  Those wonderful  'harp-shaped hills'!  Then, that kid's perfect remark: "It snowed last year, too. I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea."
   Thank you so much for that lovely story.

[Gumtree]

Well I'm not sure about dressing up in red velvet and white ermine like JoanP - maybe closer to Xmas I'll get the party spirit - right now I'm in jeans and T-shirt -

Love the Dylan - so much is so evocative of Christmas everywhere - well apart from all that snow - As Babi said he captures the tone of the youngster so well -

And what about those uncles taking their naps with 'loosened buttons' and the aunts knocking back the grog because it's 'only once a year' ...I'm sure it's my family he's talking about. My grandmother's parsnip wine was pretty potent and it didn't take much of it
for even the uncles to become worse for wear after drinking a few thimblesful of it.

So glad we have this Holiday Open House to share....

[pedln]

Babi, I've never read Dylan Thomas either, and don't have time today, but look forward to reading A Child's Christmas in Wales perhaps tomorrow or Friday.

JOanP, you calendar sounds great, and you've just reminded me that I need to flip the calendars here.  All three of them -- the one with family photos that my SIL puts together, who would be heartily chastized if he didn't do it.  Another, of all Monet paintings from my granddaughter because I took her to see the Monets at the National Gallery years ago when she was in 2nd grade, and the third, from the local hospital here with lovely photos by staff members.

Youngest daughter is planning a major family cookbook for her gifts this year, soliciting at least 10 recipes from each adult family member.  Those of us who have already complied are now assigned to harass the delinquints.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

[BarbStAubrey]

Here I am with a million things to do taking time in the middle of the day to read Dylan Thomas - but oh the poetry of his work - the phrases that you do not want to let go of the sound and image they make... When he reads he goes headlong into the fray ginning  up excitement for the tale of a boy's Christmas where as reading it we can linger over the words and phrases - repeat a few - and form our image as if a movie in our heads -  

Well enough, I need to keep going here - this site is a treat - I just hung a new washline made of cotton - I wonder if it will stretch - after a few rains it should shrink up a bit - the old plastic line was so dirty that wiping it down was not working any longer - I do like to hang my sheets  to dry and air the quilts before the holidays - the linens smells so fresh which ads to my memory of every nook and cranny in the house had to be scrubbed for Christmas - something about Baby Jesus coming into a clean house  

Not sure about Christmas cards - for the past few years I have been sending electronic cards but I miss the paper cards standing on the table in the hall. Maybe if I start up again others will follow - the holidays are not presenting me with the January bills like past years so going back to a few luxuries is satisfying -

No Christmas music yet - I still do Advent at least till the 12th and I do have a couple of Cd's with the music of advent but it is quiet and not conducive to getting things done - maybe I'll play them this evening...

[nlhome]

I'm hoping this discussion will encourage my slow starting Christmas spirit.

I did head out on Black Friday, thanks to my daughter and my son's fiance, but not for those "early bird" specials. We found manageable lines, some bargains, good coffee, and we had fun. I was losing my voice and by the end of the day it was gone - as you can imagine with the three of us, who seldom get all together at once, catching up on the news and planning the holidays.

[Janice]

Dylan Thomas is the best!  I did some online shopping what with all the sports fans in the family, Cyber Monday had such wonderful deals on Jerseys.  Have all my shopping done except for the Hallmark Store.  I'm thinking to get one of those recordable books for my grandchildren.  The calendar sounds like a great idea but with today being the last day, I won't get to it this year.  I got a Scotch Pine this year, usually get a Frasure Fir but I always liked the Scotch pines better so I got one this year.  It smells so Christmasy and the lights look so pretty on it.  A couple of my favorite stories for Christmas are A Cup Of Christmas Tea and Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus.
This is a wonderful Christmas surprise and I'll be stopping back to see all the new additions.

[Lottie]

I like the Holiday Open House....Never read or listened to Dylan Thomas but I will at some point during the season... Thanks.  I am getting into the "holiday mood".  I have accomplished some shopping, bought the Christmas cards, put on the calendar the tree trimming date, and  I am getting ready to plan the meals for the family arriving into town on the 23nd. 

I am really looking forward to my book clubs luncheon on Dec. 14.  The group of us will gather around a table with books that we have read and remember them like friends, as we eat and discuss the New Year.  So many good books to read in 2011. 

I am sitting in a chair dressed for this open house in a red t-shirt and sweat pants.  What a fun gathering! 

Happy Holidays to all.

[JoanK]

I hate to lower the tone from Dylan Thomas. But I was tickled that you put up a link to "Blue Christmas." My family can't believe that classical music snob me (hurrumph --- music hasn't been the same since Beethoven) likes that song, but I do.

Every year, my daughter takes her family back East for Christmas. Last year I thought I would guilt-trip her and I sang that to her. It didn't have the effect I expected. She thought it was hilarious that I even knew such a song, and laughed her head off (then went back East).

Of course I didn't know it had been sung by Elvis (I'm the only one you'll ever meet who never heard Elvis til a few years ago, when I accidentally got my picture in the local paper with an Elvis impersonator pointing at me and singing "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog"). I had heard "Blue Christmas" sung by Reba McEntire and Pavarotti.

If you want to hear Elvis singing without all the squealing in the background, here's a better link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5W6EYLkU&feature=related

[Steph]

Will try to read the Dylan Thomas later this week.. Since I do this early in the morning before dawn and then go walk the dogs.. I cannot wait too long.. I too am in jeans and a tshirt.. but will add a jacket since it is cold in central Florida this morning.
Last year Christmas was another one of those memories that is gone. I was still in such deep trauma from the accident. So. this year, I am decorating.. buying Christmas presents. doing ecards for my up to date friends and some regular cards for the others.. I wont do much cooking, since I will be going to one of my sons, but possibly a little. I may make "Beggars", which were my husbands very favorite. Inbetween cookie and cake, it is an old Pillsbury finalist and the original name was not beggars, but for some reason he decided that was their name. It is simply a lovely cake type dough with nuts, cherries, chocolate chips.. Then baked like brownies, frosted with brown sugar frosting and served. Very very calory laden, but good.. Not quite sure if I will do them.. Have to decide if it will set up too many memories. We will see.

[Babi]

  What a great idea, PEDLN; a family cookbook!  I can think of some old recipes that I
wish I still had. My mother's date-nut roll, for one. So rich, tho', ..I suspect I'm
the only one that would eat it.
 And thanks for the reminder about the Christmas cards. I'm having trouble getting
started on the Chrismas prep.  I see NL is having the same problem.

  Oh, Janice, people who have all their Christmas shopping done by Dec. 2 make the rest
of us feel so lazy and guilty! Speaking for myself, of course. What did you mean by
"today being the last day"? 

 The 'beggers' sound scrumptious, STEPH.  I would guess your dearly loved husband called them
that because they inspired begging for more. 

[pedln]

Welcome Lottie, it's good to see you here on SeniorLearn.  And your red t-shirt really brightens things up.      I hope you will share with us how you found SeniorLearn.

It's great to see everyone getting into the holiday spirit.  Give me a push, please.  I'm still catching up from the Thanksgiving travels and getting ready to fly out to the other side of the country in a few weeks.  But I will put a wreath on the door and decorate the mantle.

Steph, those beggars sound yummy. Come on folks, share those recipes.  We might now do cards, we might not do shopping, but boy do we eat.

[JoanP]

OK - I won't dress up just yet - can see this is not that kind of crowd.  But a red tee shirt?  Haven't decided what to wear today - still in terry bath robe.  Slept in as it was a late night getting the family calendar together.  It's DONE!  Now I need to shop for two sons' birthday presents - Dec.13 and Dec. 18.  Once that's done, can start to think about Christmas.

No cards?  No one does cards any more?  I do - though have scaled back some since the "old days"...  Still haven't shopped for any yet.  I like to do that in the National Gallery of Art...but not yet.  It's only Dec. 3!

Let's bake something now.  The smell of gingerbread boys in the oven should get us in the spirit -  Steph - if you typed up your "Beggars"  recipe - we can copy it on to an html page and put it in the heading here.   "... a lovely cake type dough with nuts, cherries, chocolate chips.. Then baked like brownies, frosted with brown sugar frosting ."
I'll bet those are good memories, right?  Your sons probably haven't tasted them since the last time you baked them.

Does anyone else have a favorite?  And where's Ginny with that "Squash" recipe and Callie with her mom's prize-winning Molasses Sponge Jelly Roll Cake?

JoanK - I'll put that version of "Blue Christmas" up in the heading along with the one with the screaming fans.  Seriously, what is your favorite holiday music?  Do you remember the old Andy William's LPs?

[JoanP]

Have you read this week's reading selection yet - A Child's Christmas in Wales?  Don't you wish you could write like that?  I just had a multi-media experience.  If it's at all possible, I urge you to try this:  Start the audio link with Dylan Thomas himself reading  - while reading along with him from the first link.  Stunning!

I felt the story relating more  directly to me, now, as a grandma.  Do you think Thomas wrote this for "oldsters"  rather than for the young?  There were two instances that really got to me -

"and some few small aunts, not wanted in the kitchen, nor anywhere else for that matter, sat on the very edge of their chairs, poised and brittle, afraid to break, like faded cups and saucers."

 Powerful.

And then  the incident when the boys went to sing carols at the house that seemed  uninhabited -

"And then a small, dry voice, like the voice of someone who has not spoken for a long time, joined our singing: a small, dry, eggshell voice from the other side of the door: a small dry voice through the keyhole."

So moving...
Did you have a favorite passage?

[BarbStAubrey]

Here goes for our daily missive - clear, sunny and cold today - When I pulled out the old Advent Calendars Tuesday, I looked closely at each and was struck by the one that is like a wheel or a clock with the 24 windows opening one after the other in this circle shape - After all these years I finally realized there really isn't that much time between the 1st and the 24th - I leave for my daughter's on the 19th and here it is the 2nd leaving me just a bit over two weeks to pile in all the dreams of Christmas pasts that I want to recreate, all the Christmas stories I must read, and all the small remembrances to prepare for friends and family in addition to cards, cleaning, cooking and tying greens to tables, doors, mantle and chandlers.

In the middle of all this 'doing' are the usual tasks of living and working -  no wonder we are worn out -  either that or like a long daily Pilate's session we simply become stronger and more agile so that we are in top form for Christmas day celebrating.

Joan there are so many memorable lines and phrases in this work of Dylan Thomas - one of the early paragraphs that I think is wonderful and reminds me of what this discussion group you have set up for us is all about - we are all 'plunging our' "hands in the snow and" 'bringing' "out whatever" 'we'  "can find. In goes" 'our' "hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea..."

The first line of that bit perfectly explains our situations as we all have Christmases that roll together in our memories like the "carol-singing sea", till bits and pieces of a past Christmas happening come into our thoughts like a "cold and headlong moon" bundle down into our thoughts as if from no where that could be the sky.

He writes as a true poet packing the telling with alliterations till it can become a game finding them - Some are repeated  one after the other and others are scattered in the sentence. I am going to be conscious for the next couple of days and try to think and speak with alliterations - it will be fun and I only hope when I meet the seller late this afternoon who needs to sell his parents house that he can laugh and enjoy words - probably not, he will be anxious about the business at hand and will feel more confident if I am all business at least 'til we better get to know each other...

Beggars, Gingerbread boys, Squash and Molasses Sponge Jelly Roll Cake - oh my isn't that a picture of a treat of an afternoon with friends sharing a large pot of coffee.

[Janice]

"today being the last day".....just meant it was the last day to make a calander according to the web site.

[PatH]

Lottie, welcome!  How did you find us?  I hope you'll look around and see what other discussions you like.  There's a lot of variety.

[JoanK]

LOTTIE: WELCOME! By coincidence, I'm wearing a red t-shirt today, too -- oh, oops! You wrote that yesterday. Well, I'm following you, late as usual.

JoanP: favorite Christmas music? Hmmm. You can't beat some nice Bach.

Seriously, I love the old Christmas carols, now that I'm retired and can hear them at home, well played, not blaring from every elevator and mall in tinny versions. As for TV, PBS airs three Irish priests ("The Priests") who sing in a Cathedral with very good voices and chorus. I assume they will be on again this year.

When I was younger, I used to go to the Washington Cathedral to hear Handel's massiah. Although it's really more apprpriate for Easter, it's become standard for Christmas. And overwhelming when you're there among the singers.

[JoanP]

It's so cold this morning - no tee shirts for me! Fleece pullover will have to do.  I hear that some in the west/midwest are having snow already?  Just wait till the first flakes begin to fall here in the DC area - you'll  hear about it!

Lottie, I really like the idea of meeting with friends and talking about the books enjoyed during the past year.  Can we do that here?  I've been getting lists from sites like Amazon, asking me to rate the top books of the year - the only trouble is that I haven't read the books they nominate.
It would be interesting to hear what our "contempories" enjoyed this past year.  Nominations?

JoanK - I'd never heard of "The Priests" - where have I been?  They are amazing.  I'd like to know more about them - how they came together, their background voice training, etc...
The Priests  - O Holy Night

Barb - you surely have the spirit!   Where do you get that energy?  Can't wait to hear what you pulled from the snow today.  How are those "alliterations"  going?  Wouldn't you love to be able to express your memories as Dylan did?  I'm going to try to think in "metaphors"  today...

[mabel1015j]

Hi All!
JoanP and JoanK, you're both in the D.C. area? How ironic. I'd love to hear the Messiah in the National Cathedral, wow, gives me shivers just thinking about it.

I LOVE Christmas music and have it as part of the "mix" on my Pandora radio, online, all year around. And i love all genre - classical, pop, blues, country, trad'l, etc. I love Elvis' Blue Christmas, but i'll take it sung by anyone. I also especially like "I'll be Home for Christmas" and so many others. I'm not crazy abt "12Days of Christmas" and i laughed yesterday when on one of my online radio ststions they played "A Redneck 12Days of C." by Jeff Foxworthy of course......w/references to shopping at Walmart and a six-pack and shotgun shells and overalls.

One of my favorite Christmas Eves in the 70's my husband and i were advisors to the youth group at church. They were responsible for the C-mas Eve program that year. We asked the congregation to give us their slides of their families thru the yrs, or pics of church activities thru the yrs. This is a very stable congrgation, many families have been in the church for decades and decades. We set up two slide projectors in the sanctuary, programmed music on a tape deck - remember those? - and ran about 90 slides. The congregation loved it, many family members return from distant homes for this C-mas eve service and they loved seeing themselves or friends in decade old pics. It was great fun!

I think i must turn on some Christmas music, Evis has inspired me.......thanks for the site, Joan, great idea..........jean

[rosemarykaye]

JoanP - the trouble with all of those lists is that they really only want you to rate their "bestsellers", or what they hoped would be their bestsellers - there isn't a huge market for the kind of 1950s novels and children's books that I tend to favour!

It would be great to talk about the books we have enjoyed this year.  My daughter gave me a notebook a few years ago that I have used to record the titles of the books I read, as otherwise I just forget them, so at least I will be able to recall what I read this year 

As for snow, we have buckets of the stuff - I am a grumpy old woman and fed up with it already.  I have had to cancel appointments to view two nice flats in Edinburgh, as my husband is stuck in Edinburgh (the whole rail service north of Edinburgh has been withdrawn by genius Scotrail) and I am too nervous to drive down there with the girls by myself - especially as there are now severe weather warnings for the bits in between, ie Fife and Tayside.  Anna has exams starting at 8.30am on Monday, so the last thing I want is to be stuck down there (or even worse, somewhere between the two) on Sunday night.  The concert she was supposed to be singing in with the National Girls Choir has been - very sensibly IMO - postponed.

On the plus side, very kind friend whom I met for lunch just took me to Sainsbury's in her 4 x 4 so we could both do our grocery shopping.  It was much more fun than my usual solo trip, and she can even reach the stuff on the top shelf, for which I usually have to mountaineer 

Hope everyone is warm and safe tonight,

Rosemary

[CallieOK]

Finally getting over here to join in the Holiday Fun.

I'm listening to wonderful Christmas music on one of the cable t v all-music stations (currently playing is "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"    )  and looking around in amazement at my decorated house.

I don't know what brought on the unexpected spurt of energy this year - I never have all the decorations out by the 3rd of December!  The only things I have to do now are wrap presents, do some baking "as needed" and enjoy the various activities of the Season.

Speaking of baking, my mother's Molasses Sponge Jelly Roll isn't exactly a Christmas Specialty but I'll be glad to share the recipe in another post.

Traditions I grew up with were:
Baking gingerbread boys for everyone in my school class - no fancy icing, just raisins for eyes and a "red hot" candy for a mouth.  55++ years later, I'm still asked to bring them to Class Reunions.

Oyster stew for supper at my Grandmother's house before going to the church Christmas Eve program and service.

We lived on a big acreage and always had a fresh-cut evergreen Christmas tree.  On New Year's Eve, my Dad built a fire in the fireplace and we "sent the tree back to Santa" by burning the branches that had been cut into small pieces.

In the years since my sons have shared holidays with their in-laws, it has become a tradition to end Christmas day with supper at my house.  It's always a casual meal - either something in the crockpot or "finger foods".

[mabel1015j]

I forgot to mention that i'm reading "Holly Blues" by Susan WIttig Albert. I really enjoy her style of writing, but she must have gotten complaints from people needing background of her characters because i'm abt 1/4 of the way thru and she's still explaining everybodies history. I think i've read all of the China Bayles series that the library has, which is many. She has a new series of "Dahlia.........." but the library has only one of the three so far.

My favorite book i read last year was The Help, in fact it's my favorite of the last sev'l yrs, one of the best i've ever read. Amazingly it's still on the NYT's best seller list. I finished "Pillars of the Earth" in 2010 , altho i started it in 2009. It wld b in my top ten of the year. Janet Evanovich's " 16" book wld b on that list also, i tho't she got some of the original zip back in this one.......most of my other reading was good, not great, but enjoyable. Anything that isn't enjoyable by page 100 i don't continue any more. I am enjoying at the moment Mark Kurlansky's "The Food of the Younger Nation" which i have talked abt on other SL sites. It's about regional foods and food behaviors before 1940.

Jean

[rosemarykaye]

In response to Carolyn's question on the Library page, we will be eating what we always eat every Christmas Day - roast turkey, roast potatoes. roast parsnips, peas (children), sprouts (adults), carrots, gravy and cranberry sauce. This is followed by Christmas pudding, set alight with alcohol (traditionally brandy, but as no-one likes that it seems pointless to buy a whole bottle, so we use whisky).  There will also be mince pies (I just  typed "mice pies"  , Chocolate Log (ie chocolate swiss roll with chocolate buttercream, and the traditional robin stuck on the top), and Christmas cake.

We have all of this in the evening.  At lunchtime (after a hearty walk, though sadly this year it will be dogless) we have home made tomato soup - I have a fantastic recipe for that, very easy and involves sherry - and sausage rolls.

I don't actually like Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, chocolate log or mince pies , but to paraphrase Louisa M Alcott, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them.

When the children were babies, my husband and I used to try other meats - venison, pheasant, goose, etc - but these days we always come back to turkey because the children love it so, it's cheaper than all the others, and even in this gannet family, there is usually enough for at least one more meal - the equally traditional cold turkey and bubble and squeak on Boxing Day.  We also have a gammon ham, roasted with mustard and brown sugar.  I absolutely loathed gammon as a child - because at my grandmother's house it was as tough as old boots (they overcooked everything, and put the vegetables on before the roast meat - yes really) and served up in a kind of watery non-gravy.  I now love it - thanks to Delia Smith's instructions.

As a child, we always had chicken at Christmas rather than turkey - in those days chicken was a real treat, whereas it is now one of the cheapest meats and eaten all the time.  I recall that after a huge Christmas lunch, my mother felt obliged by her mother and sister - who invariably visited - to provide a huge Christmas tea - she really resented this, as she did most things to do with her own family - so the table groaned with trifle (yuk), cake, sandwiches, mince pies, etc, all presented with a large side order of fury.  Christmas was not a happy season at our house, in fact I only started enjoying it once I was invited to stay with my Irish friend's family in County Waterford - they had far less food, far less ceremony, but much more fun; I loved it. 

Rosemary

[rosemarykaye]

Callie - what on earth is oyster stew?  is it really oysters?

[BarbStAubrey]

Today - clear, sunny and warm to 'hot' - shirt sleeve 'hot' - short sleeve Tshirt 'hot' - and yet, a jolly Christmas feel with most everyone you meet smiling as if we are all in the know about this big party called the holiday season in Austin.  

Driving one of the arteries around the western part of town, folks in the night - they say elves - have decorated one cedar after the other - cedar is a pest tree that blew in this area from Mexico with the dust in the 1920s that when folks build it is the first trees they remove - they are really Mexican Juniper with a conical shape some reaching 25 feet tall - they grow wild along all the roads that were cut through before shopping centers and office complexes lined the road - these roads have a set back where the limestone and natural springs pop through and cedar is prolific along with the oaks, cottonwood and hackberry as well as the areas are covered in seasonal wildflowers.

For years in these public areas during December we have 'elves' that decorate a cedar here and there with glittery tinsel rope and large ornaments - nothing  professional - this year there seems to be more than the usual number and in one spot there must be at least a 100 trees decorated - I think folks are tired of the pull back by the city excluding from the budget our usual Holiday decorating and they are taking matters into their own hands. But then Austin is known for doing the unusual, like some years ago we had a phase where tree trucks all over town were covered with shoes - not pairs - always just one shoe from a pair with the tree truck having at least 50 to 100 shoes nailed on it. Driving further out leaving behind the suburban area where cedar fence posts hold the barbed wire fences some ranchers have placed an old worn out boot over the cedar post so we drive by miles of upside down boots.

Joan alliterations did not stay on my mind - for me an emotional difficult appointment - I get upset everytime I have a listing that is an older couple no longer able to hang on to their home.

Folks if you haven't started please start to clear-out. Yet, another son having to clear out his parents house who are both too sick in nursing homes. He and his sister like most that I meet are in their 50s and have no need for what was so important for us - for their parents - to own, accumulated when we were younger. The grandchildren have very different ideas of how they want to live - A house full of very nice, well cared for, in many cases upscale quality and it all ends up broken up into a recycle dump because you can no longer get even 10 cents on the dollar for any of it.  

Please, gather you photos and get them on-line and start labeling anything that has value like art work or great-Aunt-Edna's-crystal-bowl because they come in with a crew of 8 and everything goes. There are too many of us now so that our life's treasures are scrap unless we take control and start distributing some of this ourselves - My thought is to surround ourselves with one room full of our most precious items and get rid of the rest. Empty the closets, all the projects not finished, boxes of 'good' china no longer used, baking pans, collections, the kids medals and trophies...empty the secondary bedrooms of all but the bed and empty drawers.

There are some in any town who would enjoy using what we are storing. Our generation seems to hang onto what is dated just because it still has a useful life as if holding onto things will prolong our enjoyment of life. It may have value to us but will not bring in dollars - Just give it away. Think of this as another of our life's adventures where we relinquish the job as keeper of the stuff.

I know - I am unloading - but oh how often now this heart-breaking story is played out...

Whee to get back to good cheer - found a link to the news that featured the decorated  highway cedars
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Holiday-cedar-trees-line-Loop-360-111221129.html

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - I agree, I have had to visit the homes of, and even turn out the possessions of, people who have died or gone into nursing homes.  One old man had sent off for just about every free gift, horoscope prediction, etc that can have existed throughout his last 20 years - my colleague and I took away sackfulls of old rubbish to the tip, but we had to go through every single bit of paper first in case there were share certificates, money, etc stuck in with them.  I also went through several bags of stuff from the home of a youngish woman who had mental health issues and who had committeed suicide.  On the other hand, it can be very hard for people to throw out their precious things.  Personally I don't suffer much from this as my husband is forever throwing things out - the children and I have to hang on like grim death to anything we do want.  The exception is books, which I can't bear to part with - even he's too scared to start messing with those.

I meant to say before that, in England, solicitors have only fairly recently been allowed also to act as estate agents (ie sell houses).  When i trained, there was a very strict delineation - the agent sold the house then passed the paperwork over to the solicitor to do the legal stuff.  Although that rule has now been relaxed, i don't know how many people do combine both roles down there.  In Scotland it has always apparently been the norm for the lawyers also to do the selling - in fact there are very few estate agents in Scotland who are not also lawyers.  There are a few very posh ones who deal mostly with the sale of country estates - Strutt & Parker, Savills, Knight Rutley, CKD Galbraith, Retties.  The vast majority of the lawyers are all part of the Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen Property Centres, which they all make a financial contribution to - the centres advertise all of the properties they have for sale in that particular city in a central office and on a single website, much easier to look at if you are buying than having to go to each separate firm.  (you can see the Edinburgh one, for example, at www.espc.co.uk)

Rosemary

[CallieOK]

Rosemary,  The oyster stew I knew about was more like a soup, I suppose.  It's made with oysters, milk, butter and seasonings. Sometimes the liquid is thickened.  Other ingredients like parsley, potatoes, bacon, etc. can be added.  I don't have my grandmother's recipe and have no idea where she would have gotten fresh oysters in a small rural Oklahoma town!  Maybe they were canned (tinned).
Perhaps someone from the coastal areas has a better idea.

[BarbStAubrey]

Thanks for the link - here is one of several that in not inclusive of all properties in the MLS in Austin but does have a good selection - like any town you have to know the character and history of appreciation to know where to look and not knowing Edinburgh I was not able to put a location in the drop down - now I can see the value of at least a map on these sites - here is one for Austin and surrounding area http://www.realtor.com/search/searchresults.aspx?loc=austin%2c+tx&source=web

You are so right about the difficulty in getting rid of our 'stuff' - I am thinking of starting with the easiest which are many projects - arts and crafts, knitting etc. that I started and if truthful I will not get back to finish - I did get rid of so much needlepoint material two years ago and there were a couple of times after that I had a twinge till I realized I no more had time to do the project I was remembering which was no longer packed away in the closet.

For me, like you, books and the China will be the most difficult - I think I need to make a large sign for my mirror with daily things I want to do - like really use a day of slowing my words and thinking how to say things using alliterations - and now I am thinking to daily set a place for my supper using a different china pattern - if not daily at least once a week. Some of my china I only use when I have family for a dinner party and that can be once a year. I need to figure out this digital camera and learn how to upload a photo -  it would be nice to have a photo history of my ventures with various china patterns set for dinner -

Well not tonight - tonight I want to hunker down with some Christmas stories - First the news followed by  Washington Week in Review and then some cold apple cider and a good read. The Magi story above reminds me there are several O'Henry Christmas stories and I have a whole book full of Dickens Christmas short stories.  

I remember when I was in about the 7th grade first hearing the O'Henry story. The class talked after - the girls all thought she could grow her hair back but no way for him to have the watch again - this was during WWII when lack of was still basic to our thinking - but the boys all disagreed and said he would earn enough to have even a better watch in a few years - again, the girls said in horror - it would not be the same watch and she purchased the fob for the watch she saw as part of him. We were a sentimental lot weren't we and the boys were just practical with stars in their eyes for success.

[kiwilady]

I am a grinch. No Christmas cards nowdays. I make phone calls to those people who matter to me instead.

No tree or decorations this year as I have a 15mth old bichon frise pup who is truly a devil dog. She will destroy a tree and decorations. I called her a nice frou frou name and she turned out to be a Marley in disguise. The vet said I should wait to name her til I learned her personality, he was so right. I should have named her Marlee. Her name is now shortened to a more tomboyish Chich.

Presents are money. Kids and grands have everything so I could never think what to buy. Grands take their money to the Boxing Day Sales and have a whale of a time buying half price goods. They are all into technology. No toys any more even for the 8 year old. They can buy accessories for the latest gadgets they will get for Christmas. The eight year old wants an IPod Nano for Christmas. He has an MP4 already.

I am going to my daughter and SILs for the day. They live walking distance from me. I will go up early in the  morning for present opening. I will then come home until we have the evening meal as I cannot take the devil dog with me for a whole day.

We are just discussing our Christmas menu. This year we have a selection of seafood including scallops as well as our usual ham, chicken, etc. Its going to be hot so it will be hot weather fare. Our meal will be in the evening this year a real break from tradition. Normally we would have our Christmas meal around 2pm in the afternoon. I think there will be 12 of us.

What will everyone else be eating on Christmas day?

Carolyn

[mabel1015j]

Re: oyster stew from the Kurlansky book on food pre 1940


The Grand Central Oyster Bar is one of the few restaurants in the FWP that  is still in operation today.) It was partof the original Grand Central Terminal opened in 1913 as the largest, most luxurious train statiion in the world. Among oth features were ramps instead of stairs and a hair salon in the women's waiting room. NYC had been famous for centuries for the oyster beds of the harbor and other city waterways. The shores of all five boroughs werecovered inoyster beds and the land was marked by ancient piles of discarded shells. One has been carbon- dated to 6950 B.C.

and a recipe from the same book -
Grand Central oyster stew
Melt 1/2 oz of butter in double boiler; add1/3 t of salt, 1/3 t of celery salt, 1/2 t paprika, one shake of white pepper, 8 drops Worchestershire sauce, 2 lrg T of oyster or clam liquor (it really says 2 "large" tablespoons, lol.
Boil briskly for a few mins w/ constant stirring. As mixture bubbles high, add 8 lrg oysters and cook 3 mins more, all the while turning the oysters gently. Add 1/2 pint of rich milk and cont to stir. When mixture begins to boil, pour out into a bowl, add a pat of butter and a shake of paprika. Serve w/ small round oyster crackers.

The initial statement above went on to say that the rivers had gotten so polluted that only some small parts of the water arnd Long Island had oyster beds. No local oysters ( NYC) were available by WWII, after typhus and cholera epidemics caused by sewage dumped into the rivers. .......... Jean

[kiwilady]

My late hubby loved oyster stew. We served it with crustinis. ( triangles of bread oven baked at low heat til crisp and crunchy)

Carolyn

[nlhome]

We had oyster stew - similar to that recipe but no worchestershire sauce - every Christmas eve. My mom made it every year - until the grandkids came along - they didn't appreciate it. Then she switched to chili.

We don't usually have anyone here for Christmas Eve now, so we have a quiet evening of music and light snacks. I'd try making the oyster stew, but I doubt I could make it like my mom did.

[Janice]

Thank you for stopping the talk of death and possessions.  I am enjoying the music by The Priests and in fact the music has continued and is playing Christmas music.  I've never been able to get a music station in before, so thank you so much.  I have made a list of the books people have found good and will take it to the library with me next time I go.  I'm not much of a cook so the menus are fun to hear about.

[BarbStAubrey]

I love finding cozy blogs featuring hearth and home - this one is all about getting ready for Christmas - Advent- by a gal from Norway - wonderful photos and the knitting book she is working from on day 3 will be available here and from Amazon UK next summer -

Here is the link to the Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods blog  http://brittarnhildshouseinthewoods.typepad.com/brittarnhilds_house_in_th/advent/

And here is the link to the knitting book by Arne and Carlos on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Balls-Knit-Decorations-TreeCenterpieces/dp/1570764875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291439261&sr=8-1

[Gumtree]

I just made a long post but it seems to have disappeared... I'll have another try.

Such a lot of chatter here. I'm glad Kiwilady and Roshanarose have filled in about Vegemite and pumpkins which will save me heaps of typing. I must say that many varieties of pumpkin grow easily and well in Western Australia. My favourites are the Queensland Blue and the Jarrahdale Grey,  - they are good sized round pumpkins and as their names suggest have blue/grey/greeny skins. I use the Butternut frequently for general purposes - it often has a stronger flavour than the others. We also get the Kent which is Ok and the Jap which I don't care for as it can be stringy.  On occasion I have made soup from a whole large round pumpkin, cut the top off and scooped out the seeds and baked it whole in the oven until the flesh is creamy and smooth - add a little cream and seasoning and YUM. It's marvellous to bring it to the table, lift off the top which acts as the lid and simply serve with crusty bread - definitely a winner among guests.
I have done a couple of paintings featuring pumpkins - the colours are so great with the bluish skins and bright orange flesh - they are great to draw -all delicious curves and knobbly bits.

We don't get chokos here much - I think they need a more humid climate. In NSW they use chokos to make pies for dessert. I think that came about during the Depression when every house had a choko vine in the backyard and it was a cheap, easy and filling dessert.

Sticky date pudding - now you're talking - that's more of a winter dessert and a little too heavy for summertime but even so I'm drooling at the thought.

I agree with Barbara regarding the importance of discarding at least some of the accumulation of years. I've had to do clearances for a couple of family members and it really is a most difficult and worrisome task. I have a friend who maintains that one should discard 5 things each and every week. I've tried to do that for a few years now and it's amazing the amount of goods and bits and pieces I've given away to friends and family or taken to the charity shops or simply thrown in the bin. It still hasn't made much of a dent but I'm glad I've at least started. I'm gradually organising photographs, genealogical papers etc so they will be easy to deal with and have labelled odd pieces which I know are of value in the hope that they won't end up in the trash.  Of course, books are off limits - can't bear to part with them but happily both sons are also bibliophiles and  I just hope they won't come to blows deciding who has what.   Fortunately their interests are different so in general they will each want different subject matter. I talk about all this with them from time to time and if ever they say that they particularly like anything I offer it them on the spot - sometimes they take it for which I am glad - especially when I see it displayed or used in their homes.

I meant to talk about stuff I've been reading this year - but will do that later.

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - thanks for all of this.  If you want to look at particular areas in Edinburgh;

The New Town is the smartest area, beautiful old houses, very "Edinburgh" - it was built when the Old Town (which still very much exists and is where most of the tourist things are, like the castle, Mary King's Close, etc) became too insanitary and overcrowded.  The New Town features large in Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street books, and is also quite often seen as a backdrop in the TV versions of Ian Rankin's Rebus books.

Morningside/Bruntsfield/Marchmont - are all lovely and very popular areas south of the centre.  The tenement flats in Marchmont are largely occupied by students (the more affluent ones), with the big houses being owned by well off families.  In A McCall Smith's Sunday Philosophers' Club series, Isobel Dalhousie (who is rich) lives in a large house in Morningside, and her niece has a delicatessen in Bruntsfield.  There are also some much loved children's books about a kitten who comes to live with her Granny in Edinburgh, the first of which is called "Maisie Comes to Morningside".  Other very desirable areas are Ravelston and Cramond.  In The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss B goes out to Cramond to pick apples in one of her paramour's orchards.  In the film the scene is wonderfully played by Gordon Jackson and Maggie Smith, and of course the whole thing is set in 1930s Edinburgh.

Stockbridge/Comely Bank is another very nice area, just north of the New Town but with a much more villagey feel - it is where I am hoping to live, though the prices mean that we will be exchanging our house here for a flat there - however, I am happy with that idea, the old tenement flats are lovely and I think it will mean less cleaning and lower heating bills.  Another advantage of flats in Edinburgh is that almost all of them give you a good view of something.

Leith is the new "waterfront" area, ie the old docks.  A few years ago there was a massive explosion of building up there, then the property market crashed, and as a result there are a lot of half finished blocks - it is desolate and quite depressing.  There is also the old part of Leith, which would once have been quite respectable, then became exceedingly seedy, bits of it being the red light area.  Parts of it have now been gentrified - some of the old houses are beautiful, and people who can't afford what they want in places like Morningside are starting to move out there.  Despite this, I would not want my daughters walking around there alone, especially at night.  Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, about a group of heroin addicts, is set in Leith, and JK Rowling lived there once - though definitely not any more!

I won't go on and on, but I thought this might give you a bit more direction if you are looking at properties.

Rosemary

[Steph]

How lovely to hear about the  various parts of Edinburgh.. When we were there five years ago, we stayed at a teeny little hotel on top of a pub.. Very close to where the train station. We loved it, but no elevator. Thank heaven for a barmaid with very strong shoulders. We worried it would be noisy, but we never heard a word at night..Even though when we peeked in, the pub was jammed each night.. Students, I think.

[BarbStAubrey]

ooh great rosemary - now we know who is where and what areas are pictured or backdrops for works featuring Edinburgh - my copy of Alexander McCall Smith's, 44 Scotland Street arrived last week but I have not delved into it yet. I may wait till after the New Year - not only do I want to fill myself with Christmas stories but just past mid-month I will be leaving for a 2 week stay with my daughter and family.

Mabel I was struck by the sad tale you tell of no more oyster beds in and around New York - I am wondering how many other rich sea resources we have destroyed never to be reclaimed - Did you see the news special showing the deep sea diving boat or whatever it is called that photographed the dead and barren area near the oil spill? When they said it will take years for it to come back I get the impression they meant more than 50 years - We know that areas of Prince William Sound damaged over 20 years ago are still seeping oil.

Mabel using your recipe I am playing around in my mind's eye, altering some ingredients to make a fish soup/stew/chowder using Shrimp and Crab and maybe some Monk Fish - The Texas Gulf Coast oyster beds were closed this year before the oil spill because of elevated levels of the Dinophysis organism. Cooking does not destroy the toxin and so this year we were already limited to Shrimp and Crab. There are some Gulf mussels and clams available in restaurants on the Coast that we don't ever see here in Austin where we usually have available an abundance of Gulf Shrimp and Crab

Reading on some web sites about serving fish at Christmas time it seems to be especially an Italian tradition. Is this a tradition typical of other nations as well? Our meatless meals were built around pancakes and apple sauce or potato pancakes again, with apple sauce. Meatless soups were built around Barley with various veggies.