Holiday Memories Open House

[rosemarykaye]

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 "O Holy Night" - The Priests  Surprise Hallelujah in a Food Court "Hallelujah Chorus with the Wanamaker organ in Philly "I wonder as I Wander" -  Dulcimer & Guitar "In the Bleak Midwinter" - Gloucester Cathedral Choir Aberdeen Christmas Carol Concert - Rosemary's daughter, soloist Our Favorite Holiday Recipes 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 Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S Buck The Poor Relation's Christmas  by Charles Dickens

 



  Sheila and Carolyn, both of your days sound great.  Boxing Day has just dawned here, I am the only one up, having a bit of peace with a cup of tea before the rest of the household descends.

Carolyn, I am so jealous of you unsnowy street and no coat - we are still surrounded by the white stuff, rapidly becoming more and more brown and disgusting (it's all the salt).  And what my son wouldn't have given to have a ride in a fire engine when he was younger!  What a treat for those boys.

Husband wants to do the sales today - I am not so keen, feel I have been shopping every day for the last 6 months.  I am, however, going to have to take stuff back - worst job of all - as the presents we bought for our son and for one of our daughters turned out to be not at all what they wanted - they were very embarrassed to say so, they know they should be grateful to have anything, but I encouraged them to tell me, because both of the things can go back and I would rather they had something they liked.  It does get harder and harder as they get older, I find.  Middle child was at least happy with the watch we got her!

Sheila, your Christmas day sounds wonderful, so peaceful and cosy.  We went for a walk at the beach yesterday morning - much throwing of snowballs, and the weather was in fact very calm and sunny for those few hours.  There were many big oil service boats tied up out at sea, waiting to come into the harbour next week I imagine.  In the evening we had our turkey dinner then did our quiz - we each pick a subject and concoct some questions about it.  I do books, and my family read so little (apart from youngest daughter) that no matter how easy I make it they get practically nothing - although I am just as bad with son's sporty questions and other daughter's music ones.  To the question "Who was Hamlet's mother?" one of them replied "Mrs Ham".

Better stop now before they catch me "not being sociable"  

Have a good Boxing Day everyone,

Rosemary

[Babi]

 GINNY, you might be interested in some commentary on Greek by a guy named Dionysius, a scholar/historian of the last centry BC.  He wanted to revive the Attic Greek, as he considered the more moden Asianic Greek to be florid. He felt..and taught...that prose could be as lovely as poetry. He compared the two forms of Greek as the housewife (Attic) and the whore (Asianic).

  No onions for me, thanks, GINNY. Our tradition is black-eyed peas on New Years day for good luck through the year. I don't believe it, but I like
black-eyed peas...with cornbread, of course.

 OOPS!! CALLIE, I got my wires crossed. That Texas quote was about Amarillonot Lubbock.  It's all in the panhandle, and my brain got stuck.
BARB, I got a straw hat once while visiting an amusement park on a hot
summer day. Unfortunately, I got a monster of a headache, and even after removing the hat it felt as though a tight band was around my head where the hat had been. I didn't try wearing a hat again. It may have been somethng like my Mother's aversion to anything close-fitting around her neck...she couldn't stand it.

 Apparently with cats it depends on the coat. Our thin coated cat loves to
be outside all summer, but only goes out on mild days in the winter. The
cat with the thick double coat does just the opposite.
  Okay, now for a week of just relaxing, enjoying the Christmas decorations and the quiet with NO shopping to do.   And nibbling at the
candy.

[BarbStAubrey]

Well no after Christmas returns or sales here today - IT SNOWED and it snowed and it SNOWED - best we can find reported is 10 inches fell yesterday starting around 9: in the morning - it was unbelievable how quickly the trees drooped and draped loaded with what looked like whipped cream. More snow today - supposedly blowing and adding another inch.

The lights flickered a few times but so far we still have power - my daughter was filling up every large pot and container with water since the loss of electricity means the pump does not work and no water - the candles are lined up along with a couple of oil lanterns -

Cade our 16 year old is the first to brave the out-of-doors - he is dressing now to meet some friends to slip and slide the afternoon away. Our plan was to grocery shop this morning - huh - we are scrounging through the larder to figure out some filling meals - other than tons of fresh salmon that is packaged right on the boat in Alaska by a local gal and then she drives it herself from Alaska in a freezer type truck a couple of times a year. You have to buy 200 pounds at one time directly from her when she pulls in  - my daughter has a few friends who together they divvy up an order - however,  enough salmon is enough - we found some great Italian sausage in the freezer so we will have a stew today since we do have fresh leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes, lots of beef broth and all sorts of dried tomatoes.

Looking out the windows does look like many a Christmas Greeting Card with everyone staying in there are no tire tracks yet in the snow - the red berries on the giant holly outside the computer room are peeking through the snow - a sight - Supposedly by Tuesday the sun should shine - that is the look I remember and I'm looking forward to seeing again - when the sun makes the snow look like crystals twinkling and there is enough melt that icicles form at night. I can also enjoy this as a phenomenon - on Friday I go back home to warm - maybe rain and cold but our cold only lasts a few days then warm - back and forth cold again till sometime just after Valentine's day. By March things are blooming that were planted during February.

I am going to return home feeling very pampered - while I am here this week there is scheduled; massages, foot baths, manicures, toxic foot baths - on and on - all that and family - wow!

Babi we are set with cans of black eyed beans - however, I will be home by noon on New Year's eve - works out best - Cade is having a big party here with all his friends and then the weekend they will be packing Ty up to go back to Savannah since his semesters are differently timed as compared to most colleges - he has been home after the fall semester since Thanksgiving.

Hope you and your husband found some bargains Rosemary - my memory of Boxing Day is that for about 5 years in a row, back in the 90s I used to go to London for Christmas and I remember attending the English National Ballet matinee - Lots of families in attendance with young girls wearing black patten leather pumps and cucumber sandwiches during intermission - there was some transportation on Boxing Day rather than the assortment of private vehicles that took to the roads on Christmas day when all the public transportation and the black cab drivers were celebrating their own Christmas.

Callie I bet your home-made salad dressing was appreciated - it sounds like you even had time to kick back and savor Christmas from the comfort of home.

Kiwilady what excitement - and feeding the fireman from the local firehouse - it has been years since this was the way of things in Austin - here in Saluda it is a Volunteer Fire Department so everyone is with their families. I remember years ago when I was a kid the local prisoners were invited to a house for Christmas dinner along with a couple of guards but that too is all changed with institutional approach to housing and feeding 100s if not 1000s of prisoners - and so to hear about a family presenting the firemen with a Christmas dinner was a delight to know still happens.

Sheila I have not seen the movie 'Mary Queen of Scots' - sounds like something I should rent when I return home. Funny how after divorce things and family sort themselves out.

Ann the link was a riot - brought smiles to both the face of my daughter and my grandson.

Well I am off to make some stew...

[mabel1015j]

Where are you Barbara?

We're having a lovely fine snowfall here in Jersey, altho it's supposed to get heavier and blustier, but it's perfect for the holiday environment. Those folks who were driving home today probably got home o.k. Our son and dil are driving abt 3hrs home tomorrow afternoon. I think the roads will be cleaned by then.....hope so.......jean

[kiwilady]

The photo showed Great Aunt Maureen and my youngest granddaughter. I was cold actually we had very hot weather and on Christmas afternoon it suddenly dropped about 15 degrees I was taking the photo and if you had seen me I was wearing a thick jacket. I really react to sudden temp changes.

Carolyn

[BarbStAubrey]

Mabel I am visiting my daughter in the mountains of eastern North Carolina. She lives in a tiny town, Saluda with a population of about 600 located east of Hendersonville.

Late this afternoon Gary tried his vehicle to see if he could get out and back up the hill. He got stuck after rounding the house on the driveway and then unstuck he got to the edge of the driveway but he could not get back up so he went further down the hill thinking a good start would work - well he just became stuck further and called on that neighbor who had a 4 wheel to pull his car back up into the parking spot on the back side of the house. Then he called a snow removal team - a father and teenage son who used their tractor with a scraping plow attached to move snow and pack it down -  at which point he drove to another neighbor's driveway up the road and left his vehicle there where they will walk to it in the morning so he and Cade can open their computer store in Greenville SC.

Both boys spent some time sliding down the hill in the front - at first Cade was using his snowboard and then they both found tops to large plastic bins and used them as sleighs.  

The wind is really blowing tonight and it is supposed to freeze - there is a warning of black ice on the main roads that were  cleared of snow but wet. I have a Doctor's appointment in the early afternoon for the care I must take as result of all the tests on Tues. and Wed.  We hope we can get out. After the appointment the plan is to do some grocery shopping and if Katha cannot get the car back up the driveway then we will have to leave her car at this neighbor's house. Ty was disappointed he could not get out to visit his friends down in Columbus but we are so grateful he will be here so that if we have to trudge through the snow for about 1000 feet with sacks of groceries we can call him to help.

We made a good pot of thick soup with the apple chicken sausage in the freezer - started off by replacing the onion in the Holy Trinity with leeks - sauteed the trio in butter with one sausage cut into small pieces for flavor, when that was softened we added wine and let it simmer then added 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water and one apple cut in 4 to sweeten the pot - added a whole crushed garlic removing paper covering from each clove, added a bunch of carrots each cut into three - we only had Idaho potatoes so I partially peeled 5 of them cutting them each into 4 chunks, added the 9 sausages cut into three - we had no savory seasoning so I dried for 20 minutes at 250 degrees some of the celery leaves and carrot tops - tossed them in with salt and pepper - after simmering for about 45 minutes we added a half of box of mushrooms and then made a roux in a caste iron frying pan that we added several ladles of the soup and then added all that to thicken the soup letting it simmer for about another 20 minutes to be sure the flour was cooked. It was just the perfect meal considering the day - the boys snarfed down two bowls each and Gary had three bowls along with a roll and that good Irish butter.

All the sausage is eaten as well as the veggies - exception, there are some carrots and lots of rich broth left - and so tomorrow we are going to add that zucchini sliced that is in the frig along with the fresh green beans in the frig and pick up some stew meat that I will brown in a skillet - add it and let it all simmer to meld the flavors - voila, another night of thick soup.

Mabel hope your snowfall stays gentle however, from what I am hearing on TV the weather folks are saying this blizzard is heading your way. Tonight, further north they said Boston is set to receive 20 inches of snow - amazing, and even more amazing they are talking about folks going to work only requesting companies to stagger start hours - shoot back in Austin when it does snow everyone stays home - schools, most shops and businesses are closed - no one knows how to drive in it - and if you have recently moved to the area from the north thinking a little snow is nothing your vehicle ends up being smashed by some fool from the area who ventured out with no snow-driving ability and here in Boston they are talking about thousands of folks driving to work with 20 inches of snow - just amazing!

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - your bit about the tractor with the blade stuck on the front reminded me so much of our time in Newfoundland, when after every snowfall (and they were almost every 2nd day in winter) every man and his dog was out with a pick up with a blade attached, offering to clear your drive for $20.  As most of the houses where we lived had very long drives, they got plenty of custom.

In St John's, people do drive in snow because if they didn't they would have to stay in all winter - but they drive very slowly and I don't think we ever saw an accident.  Every so often a really big storm is forecast - they seem to be experts in this - and then everything does shut down - everyone goes home and sits it out.  I remember when we had one such huge storm, our neighbour (and English doctor) did not leave the hospital in time - we lived half way up a hill 3 miles outside St John's and they lived up above us.  he had to abandon his  4x 4 and walk to our house - even he could not get any farther so he stayed the night with us.  The day after a big storm was inevitably beautifully sunny and bright, and everyone would wait (some with more patience than others) for the big ploughs to come up the road before venturing out.

As you know, we have had a huge amount of snow here over the past 4 weeks or so.  People (not me!) do drive in it and as none of us has much experience of these conditions, there have been many accidents, fortunately most of them minor, but some people have died - it is usually the black ice that causes the serious accidents, not the fresh snow itself.  So make sure you all take care when you go out.

Your soup sounds delicious 

Rosemary

[Steph]

 O klahoma City and Bricktown. We were there several years ago in the rv and loved the town.. The Museum of the American Cowboy is so impressive. Spent a whole day there. Went downtown to the memorial, then the museum with some Chihuly.. then
Brick town to eat and wander. Nice nice town..

[Babi]

  BARB, you sound like a wonderful cook!  I find that if I'm doing the cooking, I now have to prepare things that are fairly simple. Too long on
my feet exerting myself and I'm worn out.  Such a nuisance. 

[mabel1015j]

The sun is out, the driveway is free of snow - hubby got a new more powerful snowblower from Santa - there's abt a foot of snow on the grass, the new neighbors shoveled our front sidewalk - bodes well for their being good neighbors.........son and dil ontheir way home.....all seems right with the world!........jean

[BarbStAubrey]

Isn't it great Rosemary how families can think how to make a few dollars when they have the equipment that takes care of a temporary need - when I first read you post about St. John's I was thinking Canada - or is there a St. John's in Scotland or Britain? Amazing isn't it how temporary community is established quickly by severe weather conditions.

OH my Steph - Chihuly - never have seen his work live - I should bookmark his site and make the effort to go the next time there is an exhibit anywhere within 500 miles of Austin.   http://www.chihuly.com/

Babi I like to cook and after many years of cooking including helping my Mom who liked to cook back when a chicken dinner was really eggs goldenrod, I seem to have an imagination for what foods will go with each other - some folks paint, others play the violin while I seem to cook with a similar rhythm.

The wind came up last night so fierce that it shook all the doors and windows - gusts had to be at least 75 miles an hour because today the weather report is saying wind guests of 65 miles an hour with continuous wind at 30 miles an hour - the snow is fine, dry and blowing like sugar dusting - the sun is bright and the tiny dustings look like crystals swirling - the wind is heaping snow banks on the south side of anything and blowing into ripples as if on a frozen sea on the north side.

No one is out-of-doors today - the children aren't able to walk in this wind blown snow so the house is not filled with neighborhood children today. It was a continuous heating of hot chocolate and marshmallows yesterday as one group after the other came to play. They designed and contracted this house themselves using sub-contractors and so it is built around an indoor half size basketball court - the kitchen overlooks the court - to my daughter's delight the house is always filled with kids, some much younger just because it is a place to run and play.

Yesterday we had Gary playing St. Christopher - a group of ten year olds were here for about an hour playing ball when a mother called - please send them home - the youngest girl, around 9 fell when they trudged across the front hill - her shoes and sox were soaked through and the intrepid kids were each grabbing a leg and arm to carry her till Gary saw the goings on - as he is on his way to the rescue the kids drop her again face down in the snow - in they brought her - dusted her off - Katha found an old pair of boots far too big for her along with some out-sized woolly socks - then Gary put her on his back as they all walked up to the road. All he needed was the staff - he deposited her at a neighbor's house so that Bruce could drive her home - later Gary to the rescue again as he helped one of Cade's friends after he snowboarded himself into an bank of snow on the hill opposite the house as he tried to hop the one lane road thinking he could make a pike with the opposite hillside.

Lots of memories of the 2010 Christmas Blizzard - today the house is so quiet - Cade and Gary made it into Greenville where there was a light snowfall - Ty is on his computer downstairs, Katha is reading with the cat curled up next to her and with this wind no one is here - could be that taking a nap is in the cards for this afternoon.

[CallieOK]

Steph, it warms my heart to know that Somebody from the east coast has been to Oklahoma City and actually took time to look around.  Did you take the canal boat ride through Bricktown?  There are some immense Land Run sculptures being added along the canal.

The Oklahoma Memorial is on the site of the Federal Building bombing in the mid-90's.  That blast rattled the dishes in my cupboard - 16 miles away!  
If you went to the museum, you may remember the "startling" start to the entrance into the exhibits. The first time I went, I had to tell my friends I'd meet them at the Exit.  I could not emotionally handle walking through it.  The next time, I was with my granddaughter on a school field trip so I had to take more time - and it was o.k.

Barb,  The Chihully exhibit at the OKC Museum of Art is permanent.  It was brought in for the Grand Opening and was such a hit that the Art Museum purchased the whole thing.
   Here's a link:     http://www.okcmoa.com/exhibitions/dale-chihuly-the-collection

According to Map Quest, it's about 400 miles from Austin to Oklahoma City.  C'mon up and we'll go to the OKC Art Museum together and have lunch in the museum restaurant.

Back to the "Clean Up Christmas" duties.    

  

[BarbStAubrey]

Oh wow Callie - permanent!!! Terrifffffic - yes, I will make a plan to do just that this year - wheeee.  

[CallieOK]

Super!

...and the rest of you are invited, also.   I can't promise as exciting a time as the NYC trip - nor as "literary" - but there's a lot of western history and art within easy driving distance around OKC and I love to plan "excursions".
Steph referred to the "Museum of the American Cowboy".   I think that might be the "National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum"  http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/  - also an interesting place to visit.

[rosemarykaye]

Callie that all sounds so interesting. 

When i was a child, my grandmother always watched "Bonanza" and "The Big Valley" and I am afraid that is about all I know about the west.  One day I hope to come over there and learn more, it really does fascinate me.  I have suggested to my husband that we should try visiting some of the southern states with our daughters next summer, but he says it will be too hot for us, and that we should maybe postpone such a trip until we can come alone and at a different time of year.  We'll see.

Rosemary

[JoanP]

Callie, here's another from the east coast who has been to Oklahoma City and stayed long enough to  look around.   Several years ago we did Route 66 from the Santa Monica pier in CA to Chicago and spent two days in Oklahoma City.  Images of the oil rig on the lawn of the state capitol - and the sobering sight of the empty chairs on the site of the Murrah building  stay with me.

"Back to the "Clean Up Christmas" duties."  

I had to smile as I read this as our celebration has been put on hold - we're only one third through!
We had Christmas Eve here - the next day went to son's house for Christmas.  His wife became quite ill while preparing dinner, had to excuse herself.  I finished it and we went on without her.  What could we do? It was a quiet dinner.   Still have not exchanged gifts with oldest son and his wife, though we let the grandchildren open theirs after dinner.

On the 26th, we were supposed to head to New Jersey for another celebration with my siblings.  The prediction of snow yesterday caused my brother   to reschedule that gathering until Tuesday - that's tomorrow.  This morning he woke up to 31 inches of new snow...He lives at the New Jersey shore, Jean.  Sister on Long Island and two other New Jersey brothers are voting to postpone it yet again.  Fine with Bruce, but we have no idea when we can get up there again any time soon. He's not really up to driving in all that snow.

Finally, we are supposed to head from Virginia down to North Caroline to celebrate Christmas with son#3 and his family - four little ones ages 3-9.  On Christmas morning - 5 am before the others woke up, the youngest was taken to the hospital with CROUP and then in an ambulance to a children's Pediatric Hospital in Charlotte when he did not respond to treatment in the ER.  He's still there - hopefully he'll be released tomorrow.  The others have not yet opened the pile of presents Santa left behind as they wait for little brother to come home.  A Christmas morning they will always remember.

We plan to give them time to regroup and then drive down on Jan.1.  Christmas is on hold, though there is lots going on here with sons #2 and family and #4 son and his many buddies who are dropping in to see him while he's home from the UK for another week - BUT Callie's talk "Christmas Cleanup" made me smile...we  are still singing Fa lalalala here!

Barbara, that soup sounds good enough to put in the recipe book!

Rosemary  - the red x is gone and there you are! It is great to see you  at last!  How did you fix it?  

[rosemarykaye]

Joan P - you poor things!  the best laid plans, etc.  My youngest, Madeleine, has been ill since half way through Christmas Day with a very sore throat, temperature and now laryngitis - I think the temp has now gone as she has come down and eaten some ice cream, but apart from that we have hardly seen her.  I am quite glad she is keeping out of the way as my son is due to go to Switzerland for 6 weeks on 7th Jan and my other daughter, Anna, will be taking her snow-postponed Grade 8 singing exam soon after she goes back to school on 6th Jan - so neither of them need any bugs.  What with this and all the snow it's been a funny kind of Christmas, though not unpleasant - and now we are trying to start all the clearing out we need to do pre-move - our local removals man is coming over tomorrow to quote us for the move and possible storage of all of our stuff if we do not find somewhere to buy in time.

i hope you do all eventually get your meetings and presents,

Take care and keep warm,

Best wishes

Rosemary

PS - Husband fixed the photo - heaven only knows how, as neither I nor Anna had any success.

[Gumtree]

I've been on Clean Up Christmas duties all morning. What a chore - getting it all ready is such a rush but still a pleasure but the aftermath is something else.

We had a great day with the whole family together for the first time in a few years. My second son drove across Australia from Sydney to Perth to be home for Christmas. He left early intending to stop here and there along the way and so make the trip across something of a holiday. He did just that but had to change his route a few times to avoid areas where the roads are closed due to heavy flooding.

The day was very hot 40C or 104F but we were comfortable enough thanks to the aircon.We dined on seafood, turkey, ham served cold with the trimmings and several accompanying salads and then indulged in the traditional Plum Pudding with brandy custard and a magnificent cheeseboard and fruit. Sydney son fancies himself as a cheese aficionado so he bought some really great stuff we don't normally have.   I usually make a Plum Pudding each year but often we don't eat it until about April or May when the weather has cooled a little. Our feast lasted all the afternoon and into the evening when we had coffee for them and a pot of tea for me, and a choice of some Christmas Cake, chocolate roulade, fruit mince pies, nuts and choccies and settled in for the annual  family reminiscences session. Love the stories that come out then when everyone is so relaxed. The same tales seem to be retold each year and a few new ones added - so they are making their own tradition as the years go on.

Lots of great gifts came my way - perfume, chocolates, a couple of generous vouchers - one on my wool & fabric craft shop, and one on my art materials supplier, a selection of jams, jellies and conserves (all laced with alcoholic beverages) and a rather nice serving platter with six matching bowls - the bowls are filled with choc dipped dried fruits, nuts, chocs etc. a really lovely gift though I really don't need any more china - or to eat more goodies - also received a couple of CDs and bbbbboooookkkks! - one was Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence and I gave myself the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. Best present of all was that DH was well enough to enjoy it all. My cup overfloweth.

JoanP so sorry your little grandson has been so ill. Croup is no fun at all. My brother and DH both suffered from it when young and both have strong memories of it. I daresay that the treatment has improved somewhat during the past 75+ years - hope so anyway for your little one's sake.

 

[Steph]

Chihuly... is everywhere. He has a new museum in St. Petersburg, Fl.. As I remember there is also in Oklahoma City a chandelier in the restaurant in the museum... Columbus , Ohio in an inside type plant place.. Sorry, senior moment on the name has some great older Chihuly.. I love him. I always insist I will know if Iever get rich, because I will own an original of his. The glass is so vivid..
I am  doing the Christmas cleanup, but it is not heavy for me. I did just a little.. maybe next year.
I loved the Cowboy museum. They were having an exhibition of cowgirls in one area.. Special, I gather.
Now Ginny is talking of a Pompeii exhibit. Hmm. that sounds just great.

[nlhome]

We haven't begun the Christmas clean-up yet. We're still looking forward to family visits - my daughter and her fiance are here now (although they are sick and probably brought a bug down from the northern part of the state). I will be working 3 days this week, and my husband has some projects. Then it will rain. On top of all the snow.

I enjoy reading about different sites around the country and your visits. One thing I've noticed is that almost any area has fascinating places to visit. This summer we took a different, longer way home from our daughter's place in SD and traveled through the middle of Iowa. We found a wealth of interesting places to visit along the way.

[Babi]

Christmas clean up?  Well, there are boxes and wrappings to discard.  We do very little decorating
in our small place and I reserve the dismantling for my New Years' Eve activity.  The only other
'clean-up' to be done is eating our way through the fridge full of left-overs!  That, of course, will
be hard task.  

 BARB, it is astonishing to read about the differences in weather just between Austin and
Houston. We've ever had a snow that deep here...not in my lifetime. Blizzards are things that
happen elsewhere.  I would have loved to see Gary doing his St. Christopher thing.
 I always enjoy seeing small kids play with my son, ANDY. He is so big and tall, they can climb
him. Then they are tossed and spun and caught, to their great glee.

[CallieOK]

Babi, I solved the fridge problem by sending most of the left-overs home with my family!

One of the downsides (possibly the only one) to the December holidays is for those of us who are allergic to live evergreens.
#1 son/family sent me a beautiful Christmas floral arrangement and I've been enjoying it a lot.  However, I was awake every hour and a half last night with a dry coughing spell.  About 3:00 a.m., the possible cause dawned on me and I put the arrangement out in the garage.   I feel much better.
At some point, I'll pull out the three roses and some of the carnations; the rest will sadly go in the trash.  Bless their hearts - they had no idea...and I didn't give it a second thought until it was too late.

nlhome, I agree that every state has interesting things to see.  I would never have imagined that a tour of a Cracker Barrel restaurant warehouse in Tennessee would be interesting - but it certainly was fascinating to see the collections of real antiques and how the designers put them together to display in the restaurants.

Hope it's a Great Day wherever you are.

[Janice]

While working in the hospital, I cared for many children and adults with croup and it can be very scary.  I hope the child is better and having fun opening presents.
We save 'clean up' for January 6th, Feast of the Three Kings.  Special meal for the arrival of the kings.  I suppose it's really just an excuse to prolong the season of Christmas. 
I had an allergic reaction to our tree this year, but I think it was actually an allergy to what they spray on it as a preservative as it's never happened before.
The sun is shining brightly and the temperture is increasing, supposed to be up to 40 by Friday.
Happy New Year.

[BarbStAubrey]

Gumtree your holiday sounded so full and satisfying - not knowing such a warm/hot Christmas I tried to imagine plum pudding or mince pie in July - easy to understand how waiting till April is a perfect solution.

Yes, Callie at least we know now it is an allergic reaction - I am remembering as a kid ALWAYS getting sick during Christmas - of course it was just me as I was labeled the sick one who must persevere and not give attention to what was asthma etc. OH my the difference in medicine since the 1930s  I must say to this day I get scared and tense when I am sick and still do many old fashioned remedies rather than running into the drug store or the doctor. And so I know that one - cut flower bouquet with lilies is another that gets me - we are party poopers aren't we not able to enjoy the beauty others with their kind hearts send to us.

Babi the snow is not in Austin - I have been describing life and conditions here in the mountains of North Carolina where I am visiting my daughter and family for the holidays. We have had a few snow storms in Austin but one that lasted a few days with snow on top of snow that brought Austin to a stand still was back 2004

Back later - someone is picking us up to go to the store - we are still snowed in...

[Steph]

 Iowa.. Oh me, several years ago in the rv, we went to Amana..What fun we had. Such a lovely place. Lots of see, do and EAT.. Iowa is also lovely, It sort of rolls and has miles of farms that are sooo green in the summer. Our US is a truly magnificent place. We did all of it in the RV and found so many special places. Some fun, Some sad, all lovely in different ways. I am so glad we got the chance to explore.

[nlhome]

Agreed, Steph, so many special places to see.
One part of Iowa I had no idea existed, the loess hills - hills created by blown soil.

Another thing about visiting different places is being able to picture them when reading a book set in or about events in an area - makes the book just that much more interesting.

[Babi]

 Valerie has some leftovers wrapped up for her sister, CALLIE,..our only
'guest'. Unfortunately, she forgot to take them!

 Oh, of course, BARB, I forgot you were in North Carolina for the holidays.
So glad to find I'm not that ignorant about the weather around Austin. 

[BarbStAubrey]

This is the middle - the middle between Christmas and New Year's - feels like a down day without purpose - Like Janice we really do not clean up after Christmas till after January 6 and although Gary brings the tree into the living room the Sunday before Christmas it is decorated on Christmas Eve - however,  most of the foods and cakes etc. are eaten with serving plates washed - the weather changed all our menu plans so that we have had one version of soup after another with a real clear-out of both Frig and Freezer.

Steph what wonderful memories to have of traveling across this nation - there are still places I have not seen and still hope I can take a few more long distance car trips - Did you belong to an RV club? Did you close up your house while traveling or did you sell and store your things?

nlhome have you been able to travel any in California? I think if I remember you are living in Southern California - and I wondered if the decorations run into the use of lots of Poinsettia - in Austin they seem to have become less and less expensive every year and even here in North Carolina where there are not the selection of shops and they are dependent on the big box my daughter found trays of Poinsettias that the whole tray was priced no different than one plant a few years ago.

[CallieOK]

The "allergic reaction" turned into a full-blown sinus infection and I am now on an antibiotic for ten days.  Ordinarily, I would just tough these out - but fever spiked and I needed help.

nlhome,   I agree that being able to picture the setting of a book because you've been there is very special.

Babi, I discovered two big baggies of ham in a drawer of my fridge.  I'm guessing that my sons forgot to take it home with them Christmas night.   I don't eat ham because of the salt - and only need a little bit to have with my Good Luck Black-Eyed Peas on New Year's Day.   I hope they come get it before it spoils.

[rosemarykaye]

Callie, I hope you feel better soon - sinus infections are just so horrible.

Take care,

Rosemary

[BarbStAubrey]

Ouch Callie - a sinus infection is no fun - I hope the anti-biotic takes hold quickly so that you have some relief.

It warmed up considerably here today - we drove south to another town that was off these mountains and there was no piles of snow - a bit here and there where there was deep shade - where as when we were on the way up the snow banks are still with us as well as, a bumpy ride with fingers crossed on the road near their house.

Ty starts classes next week so he needs to pack in the remains of his playing - today was his last work day - tomorrow both boys will head for the slopes with their friends and then Sunday night Ty is on his way back to Savannah - I will be leaving early Friday morning arriving in the Austin airport at 10:20 - its been a good visit but starting this weekend the schedule kicks in for all of us.

It is time to plan the important accomplishments in the new year - do any of you make resolutions? If so do you have any tricks you can share that encourages you to stick to your plans?

I do not know if I want to call them New Year's resolutions because my track record with sticking to a resolution is so bad but I have three biggies I want to accomplish - two by March and the third by the end of the year -

Two summer's ago I walked across the lawn of an office building trying to stay under the trees for shade [104 degrees in the shade much less what it was in the sun] anyhow the lawn all looked the same but I stepped into a hole where the grass grew the same height as the rest of the lawn. My whole leg vibrated - a long story but I learned months later what I  did - it was not a brake but muscle damage and that particular muscle takes a long time to heal - resting it with very little use the muscles in my thigh and upper calf cramp and tighten painfully - so I am determined to get a walking and stretching program going - I want to be able to walk easily the 5 mile loop of the 8 mile larger loop around Town Lake by the end of March  

After watching a TV show with my daughter the other night about hoarders I started to blanch with the things I no longer use that are taking up space in my house - I did donate to the Guild most of my needlework threads, cloth and projects two years ago realizing I would no longer ever finish those projects but there are so many things that were so important to me when I entertained more frequently and when the children and grandchildren were young - I am going into another phase of my life and I need to clear the decks and get rid of stuff. I have seen too many who aged quickly because of health issues leaving all the stuff for kids to get rid of - it is not pretty. Rather than struggle trying to do this alone I am going to hire a young women I know to help me one day every second week till the end of March.

And finally I have several booklets I need to update for my business as well as I want one more push to close 18 transactions in the next year which means mailing old clients and starting to get the word out - lots of work.

Those are my 3 big efforts - oh there are smaller ones - like reading a pile of books and trying new recipes that use various herbs and learning a new piece on the piano and visiting a few places like ah-um - OKcity - on and on it goes but those are hit or miss activities rather than the serious 'I want to' activities that I will track and do whatever it takes to accomplish something.

[nlhome]

Barb, I am in southern Wisconsin - a far cry from California. We did live south of San Diego for awhile back in the early 70's, and we did a bit of traveling then and got as far as Disneyland, plus some of the areas east. Not much money back then, so we didn't get too far from San Diego. Drove up in the mountains a bit, otherwise visited coastal areas.  I haven't been back to California since. It's not on the top of my list. I'd rather go back to Washington DC, to North Carolina, and to Montana, with a stop in North Dakota.

[Janice]

What a great idea to hire someone to help clear the collections.  I've been trying to do this myself.  I can sort out the things I want to give away but packing it up and actually taking it all somewhere has proved to be a little more than I can handle. 

[Gumtree]

Barb - Those are worthwhile goals you have set yourself - they also seem to be achievable which is half the battle. Too often our resolutions are just more than is reasonable.

I have set myself similar targets for this year - an increased walking, exercise and diet regime - to improve and increase computer skills - and a serious attack on clearing out my collections of ...everything.  I'm happy to say that DH has spent the past couple of days clearing out old files of maths and engineering notes which it is very doubtful that he will use again. It's been quite traumatic for him but the more he progresses the happier he is. He says he feels that a weight is being lifted from him....

It would be hard for me to pass on my art and craft materials - books too - oh dear! Perhaps I should start on my wardrobe first...

[Babi]

 My sympathies, CALLIE. I only bought a turkey breast for the three of us,
and I'm still staring at leftover turkey in the fridge, not to mention some
other items.

 BARB, I do that, too... choose my path when walking in the summer by the available patches of shade. Which is one reason why I could never live
comfortably in an area without trees. I solemnly declare trees are essential to my well-being! They're beautiful and I love them.
  Reading about your projects, I'm grateful to be retired. Clearing out, tho', that's something I'm going to be doing a little at a time.

 Oh, yes, GUM, wardrobe by all means.  I have stuff I haven't worn in
years that is still in good condition.  Hardly the height of fashion, tho'.  I
wonder whether to just toss it or give it to some resale shop just in case
someone could use it.

[Steph]

We belonged to a variety of rv clubs, but basically for the discounts. We both disliked the rallies.. Just not our thing. We sold our house and moved into a townhouse. Spent half the time there and about half in the rv. Now I live in the townhouse full time..
Ah, the memories.. The upper peninsula of Michigan.. with the people who are truly very funny about being uppies.. Wisconsin,  the greenest place on earth in the summer. We loved it, but oh me, would not want to be there in the winter.. Kentucky.. again green.. and historic. Oh our country is such a beautiful place.
My taking stock continues.. As always I need to lose weight.. Just have been indulging myself for the past 9 minths. I had lost so much weight after the accident and then could not eat,, but then to coax myself into eating, I stopped being the worlds healthiest eater and started snacking.. sweets.. fried stuff, etc etc.. So I regained the weight and abunch more. Now I need to adhere to the no snacking rule and get back to my fish, veggie.. but cooking for one is such a horrid thing.. Always leftovers. Boo. I have elaborate plans to try various forms of travel this year. I love to see and do, so am working out how to do it safely and enjoy it..

[BarbStAubrey]

Steph when I am on the road I try to find a B&B - I feel safe and I can meet folks - alone, the problem is not having a decent conversation with anyone - oh there are bits with fellow tourists but it is not the same - where as sitting down even to a breakfast the talk is a bit more. That is the problem I found traveling alone where I only have a passing acquaintance with the language - there is limited verbal contact.

Babi the trees where we live I can enjoy because the long distant scene is not jammed crowded with so many trees you cannot see the sky. I actually start unconsciously hunching my shoulders once I am east of the Mississippi because the tress are so thick it is like driving through tunnels with a small patch of blue straight above. But home, like most of us I look for a tree to park under, to walk under, to stop and chat under and I even have more success with those plants that grow under the shade of a tree.

nlhome I do get mixed up - so yes, southern Wisconsin where the early storm knocked you for a winter's challenge and  nearby the football stadium roof caved in - I think that was Minnesota.  Is it Joan K that is in Southern California - let's see Ginny is in South Carolina, Joan P is in D.C., Babi is in Houston, Steph is in Florida, Callie in Oklahoma, hope you are feeling a bit better today Callie - I always flush my sinuses with warm salt water and Bayberry - it not only takes everything with it but the pain is relieved. But whatever you are doing I hope it is relieving the discomfort.

Gumtree and roshanarose are in Australia - roshanarose is in Queensland where the flooding is a current problem. Gum I think you are in the north western part of Australia but I am not sure of that- fill us in please.

Let's see now - oh yes, Rosemary is in Aberdeen Scotland, Kiwilady is from New Zealand, Janice and Mabel I do not know where either of you are located  - and Sheila is another Texan from Llano, Ann is from Ohio - not sure I can remember who else stopped in this conversation over the Holidays - but it is nice to have in your mind's eye where folks are living - I think different areas can give a different perspective on life and that is fun - Steph that is probably the fun of travel in addition to seeing all the wonders don't you think.

Well today is packing up day - not sure if I should simply stay up or what but we have to leave here at 4: in the morning which means getting up at 3:30 to throw on some clothes - since we usually do not get to bed till just after midnight hmmm not sure yet how I will manage this - but I will be busy the rest of the day and traveling tomorrow -

OH yes, I am serious - any hints about keeping to a plan - If it is important to me I know if I do not schedule, it does not get done and then if I do schedule and miss I feel so defeated I have a difficult time getting back on schedule - if anyone has a tip for that one I would be grateful.

[Gumtree]

Barbara You're right about my living in Western Australia but I'm in the south of the state - couldn't exist in the heat up north....

Sorry, I can't help you out with scheduling - I'm pretty hopeless.

[Janice]

Hi, I'm up here in Green Bay, Wisconsin where we are having a nice winter thaw, 42 degree heat wave.  I like the changing of the seasons, especially when it changes from winter to spring.

[CallieOK]

Barb, thank you for thinking of me.  Yesterday, the doctor said it's an upper respiratory infection brought on by sinus drainage.  Fever is gone and I no longer feel as if I'd been hit by a truck. Instead, I feel like a limp rag!
I'm trying to start Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" but all I want to do is sleep.
 
I've often thought "the best laid plans of mice, men....and Callie often go astray."  That's certainly true for this week!
I don't think I'll keep this particular "Holiday Memory" very long.