HI Everyone! I haven't been posting much lately but just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very happy holiday, and wishes for a very Healthy and Happy New Year!
Love and blessings to you all!
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@dannyboy, @jeanne-mayell, I have now found the culprits. About half an hour ago or so, I was in the store, and I just could not walk past the peanut M&Ms. They went in my cart, in my bag, and then in my mouth before my car pulled out of the parking spot. And I have been semi-good eating wise recently. Ok, Santa's watching, I haven't been very good at all.
Thanks for the new lovely lounge. I have a very quiet holiday planned-just me and the dogs this year. Not sure if that means a day of holiday movies and what I choose to cook for myself yet or not. We're supposed to get near 70 over the weekend, so I may find something outside to do. Time will tell.
Merry Christmas everyone!
This thread is a wonderful idea.
I hope you don't mind but I have put a gold themed Santa doll next to the fire place (although not too close) and I've brought some presents for everyone in gold themed boxes with gold ribbons (yes, I really like gold lol), hopefully we have enough room under the tree!
I am sorry I've been a bit negative lately, but I am so grateful for this community and how they help pick me up and keep the faith time after time. Thank you all. ❤️
Merry Christmas to everyone. Enjoy the day.
Unlike over there if we have 40degrees it’s Celsius. Hot turkey dinners are being bypassed for a big seafood platter and salads. Prawns at everyone’s table with Pavlova with mango and strawberries and passion fruit beside the Xmas pudding and if you are near a beach an early morning swim.
Regards to all
PS that is why we have Yulefest in July, so we can enjoy a hot Xmas dinner when it is cold outside.
regards to all
@jeanne-mayell @theungamer, thanks for setting up this special holiday rooftop gathering under the stars. I love hearing from all of you and your holiday plans and traditions.
Hubby and I will be having a quiet Christmas at home. Just the two of us. I will cook, hubby will eat and do the dishes. We’ll probably watch some old classic holiday movies: Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bishop’s Wife, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Shop Around the Corner, Scrooge, We’re No Angels, Holiday Affair, Christmas in Connecticut … I could watch those flicks a thousand times, and still not tire of them.
I love sending holiday cards to family and friends. It’s another way of saying hello, what’s new, I’ve been thinking about you, wishing you a wonderful new year. When I was still working I was the designated card shopper for special occasions – birthdays, retirements, showers -- it didn’t matter the occasion, I loved picking out just the right one. It brings me joy.
Been busy making cookies for relatives, friends and neighbors – just finished a batch of Mexican Wedding cookies and sugar cookies, while watching some cheesy Hallmark holiday movie. This year I’ve decided to share my baked goods with some neighbor families we don’t know, other than the casual hello. One of those neighbors elaborately decorated the outside of their home (including the roof) with a Grinch theme. The Grinches light up at night, and the neighbors even have the Grinch movie running from one of their windows! Is that Christmas spirit, or what? It’s been a rough year, and until I saw their house, I was feeling rather grinch-like myself. Seeing their kooky display immediately uplifted me. So for that, they get a big thank-you batch of cookies!
@jeanne-mayell, I still have a set of those bubble lights! So here is my contribution to this rooftop holiday shindig: I’ll string up those bubbly lights for all to share, and I’ll share a big batch of my sugar cookies, sprinkled with M&M’s – or is M&M’s with peanuts or peanut butter? -- with all of you!
I wish you a peaceful, light-filled holiday and many blessings in the new year. So grateful to be walking this path with all of you.
I do question the stuffed Krampus in the corner but who am I to pooh pooh anyone's traditions!
Perhaps a Catalan Christmas Cagener would be more "pooh pooh" appropriate? (Thanks, NPR radio, for enlightening me about this charming Barcelona holiday symbol just a few minutes ago. ? ? )
Merry Christmas to everyone. Enjoy the day.
Unlike over there if we have 40degrees it’s Celsius. Hot turkey dinners are being bypassed for a big seafood platter and salads. Prawns at everyone’s table with Pavlova with mango and strawberries and passion fruit beside the Xmas pudding and if you are near a beach an early morning swim.
Regards to all
Reminds me of Christmas 2012 at my sister's in New Zealand. There was Pavlova. And lots of wine.
What a warm and inviting gathering place Jeanne! And you brought your famous homemade iced sugar cookies, the internet sensation that they are, I can't wait to finally try them, thank you. I will rejoin all of you for the festivities in a moment, but first I am taking a moment in the quiet library room I just discovered to gaze out the big window which overlooks the forested valley. The air is crisp and the night clear with about six inches of glistening snow on the ground. The snowfall may have stopped a few hours ago but the trees look as if they have just been dusted with powder sugar. If I close my eyes, I can hear the sleigh bells jingling from a horse in the distance.
@Jeanne-Mayell, except for some clean up work which needs to be attended to, the elf workshop has closed for the season. Approximately 65 people (13 families) now have received stockings filled with candy, gift boxes filled with new clothes, toys, games, blankets, towels, cleaning supplies, toiletries, school supplies and sheets. Each family also has food for a beautiful Holiday meal and some extra food to help them ring in a joyous New Year.
As an official elf, I am blessed to help round up a bunch of fellow elves and coordinate the workshop activities. It is quite busy from October through the 3rd week of December, but it is an honor to be allowed to help create a joyful and happy Christmas for others, especially for children who deserve to feel loved and cared for. I keep thinking: "I am so lucky, I get to do this!!!"
So, yes, it has been busy and I do love this moment of peaceful stillness in front of this beautiful display from Mother Nature. It is truly Peace On Earth. Will be catching up with everyone back on the Holiday rooftop in a moment.
May the spirit of giving be with you all. May we all fell well loved and cared for this winter holiday time and all year long. May 2022 be filled with joy, love, good health and peace.
P.S. @Dannyboy. I LOVE your Holiday Eating Tips message. It is a keeper for sure.
Adding this link.
It is the the view I am gazing at and describes how my spirit feels. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3SEeZURsgk
Your posts always make me laugh. I'm all in on the chocolate fountain.
Besides my online tutoring, mostly in reading, ( I am a Reading Specialist) I teach Art after school. Yesterday my Tuesday group of littles showed up in pajamas after their pajama day/school singalong assembly had happened for the day. As they worked on their artwork a little boy in the back began singing the Dreidel Song. A few more boys joined in. Soon a group of girls were singing a Kwanzaa song. Spontaneous groups began singing other Christmas songs, all at the same time It was like watching a display of lights begin to blink in different places. Next thing I knew the entire group had somehow spontaneously coordinated and were singing all together, loudly, and with great gusto, Feliz Navidad. It was beautiful and it made me laugh. How great it was to hear the joy and feel the lights all lit up together. Music connects us in a way that nothing else can.
I am adding one of my angel artworks to the decorations, Also a couple of dreidels from my collection. I give you the pink wooden one with painted flower letters bought for my baby girl as a hope and prayer for her. I give you the blue one she made as a little girl with a kit and her proudly placed upside down stickers. I also give you the Winnie Pooh stickers she put on that dreidel, in all directions and over corners, so crooked but so perfect, like her. I give you the reindeer drawings of my students and I give you the singing of children, when everyone sings just for the love of singing, no matter how they sound.
Now where's the chocolate fountain and an oversized snifter at?