Auld Lang Syne, Fairies and Glamour.............

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne


The Fairys New Year Gift
by Emilie Poulsson

Two little boys were at play one day when a Fairy suddenly appeared before them and said: "I have been sent to give you New Year presents."

She handed to each child a package, and in an instant was gone.

Carl and Philip opened the packages and found in them two beautiful books, with pages as pure and white as the snow when it first falls.

Many months passed and the Fairy came again to the boys. "I have brought you each another book?" said she, "and will take the first ones back to Father Time who sent them to you."

"May I not keep mine a little longer?" asked Philip. "I have hardly thought about it lately. I 'd like to paint something on the last leaf that lies open."

"No," said the Fairy; "I must take it just as it is."

"I wish that I could look through mine just once," said Carl; "I have only seen one page at a time, for when the leaf turns over it sticks fast, and I can never open the book at more than one place each day."

"You shall look at your book," said the Fairy, "and Philip, at his." And she lit for them two little silver lamps, by the light of which they saw the pages as she turned them.

The boys looked in wonder. Could it be that these were the same fair books she had given them a year ago? Where were the clean, white pages, as pure and beautiful as the snow when it first falls? Here was a page with ugly, black spots and scratches upon it; while the very next page showed a lovely little picture. Some pages were decorated with gold and silver and gorgeous colors, others with beautiful flowers, and still others with a rainbow of softest, most delicate brightness. Yet even on the most beautiful of the pages there were ugly blots and scratches.

Carl and Philip looked up at the Fairy at last.

"Who did this?" they asked. "Every page was white and fair as we opened to it; yet now there is not a single blank place in the whole book!"

"Shall I explain some of the pictures to you?" said the Fairy, smiling at the two little boys.

"See, Philip, the spray of roses blossomed on this page when you let the baby have your playthings; and this pretty bird, that looks as if it were singing with all its might, would never have been on this page if you had not tried to be kind and pleasant the other day, instead of quarreling."

"But what makes this blot?" asked Philip.

"That," said the Fairy sadly; "that came when you told an untruth one day, and this when you did not mind mamma. All these blots and scratches that look so ugly, both in your book and in Carl's, were made when you were naughty. Each pretty thing in your books came on its page when you were good."

"Oh, if we could only have the books again!" said Carl and Philip.

"That cannot be," said the Fairy. "See! they are dated for this year, and they must now go back into Father Time's bookcase, but I have brought you each a new one. Perhaps you can make these more beautiful than the others."

So saying, she vanished, and the boys were left alone, but each held in his hand a new book open at the first page.

And on the back of this book was written in letters of gold, "For the New Year."

For the interesting story behind these photos:

http://www.lhup.edu/~DSIMANEK/doyle.htm

We`re going ice skating later in the day with the boys and a house party this year. Usually we`ve just taken them to a movie and brought back Chinese food, so this will be a nice change for us all. I think it be such fun if there exsisted a New Year`s Eve dance where everyone dressed as in the 1940`s and 30`s and sang auld lang syne. So very glamorous! Have a lovely New Year`s Eve and stay safe.

tea
xo

What If The Impossible Became Possible?

Even if it only happened for just two short minutes...

A Global Observance For Peace
December 30th, 2006 at 8 P.M.
http://just-one-day-of-peace.blogspot.com/
I`m going to light these three candles tonight and give this a try. Unfortunately the ones with all the power won`t be doing this, but it surely can`t hurt us to.
A few prayers may make a difference in someone`s life...somewhere.

My Little Tea Pot........

I just love this tea pot from hubby. He said he trolled the antiques mall and there it was! It`s my favorite of all my teapots. Says Chelsea Gibson England on the bottom. Not sure if that`s a company or a person. It`s definately been well loved and will be again.

I like it so much that I keep it right on the table along with my traditional Christams rose. Isobel especially admires that! This makes a nice pot of tea too :).
He also gave me a new flat screen monitor. Wow....what a difference it makes. Now everything is in true colour rather than sometimes too dark to see. I think I did good this year!

Hope everyone is having a lovely special season. I discovered this picture and wanted to share it. It`s called "Time Out" by Virginia Lee It`s posted at this amazing blog called Endicott Studio for Mythic Arts
http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/about.html
There`s a bit of info about her here...http://www.endicott-studio.com/bios/biovlee.html
and some interesting art postcards at http://www.endicott-cards.com/
We had a wonderful Christmas yesterday and I`ll have a few pictures to post. Warning....some silly ones too!

Pardon Me But....YeeeeeHaaaaaaw!!!!!!

Well I`ve finally been able to make some comments and after searching in help for problems with uploading pictures, I cleared my cookies and cache...(I`d like to clear Bloggers cookies LOL)I used Internet Explorer to get to everything rather than Firefox as they advised and voila!

I was walking into work the other day and saw a black crow`s feather on the ground in front of me. I thought as I walked by that I should pick it up. But carried on towards the door thinking that if it was still there at break, I would then because it must be meant for me. Odd maybe, but I like symbols and also am fascinated with crows.
It was still there, so I picked it up. Later at home I looked up all the meanings I could find.
One was you will recieve an important message. Others were good luck, inspiration, transformation, protection, guiding power and wisdom. Haven`t recieved any important message but I`ll take the rest :)

Look at these wonderful magazines that Rowan from "Circle of the Year" sent me!
She is a sweetheart and check out her blog if you haven`t already. It`s always so interesting. http://circleoftheyear.blogspot.com/


I finally lined the cutlery drawer. Took it into the frontroom, flopped down in front of the tv to watch Heartbeat. The great bargain antique silverware is going in the drawer to be used. I can never become as tarnished as it was and I don`t mind the upkeep. While I was doing that, someone was doing this....

Again may you all have the most wonderful Christmas, and I must add from one of my favorite authors.....

And so, as Tiny Tim observed....."God Bless Us, Every One!"

Beta Blogger Is really Messed Up.....

One last post to crab about blogger letting me post comments to only a few blogs and not uploading pictures still. I`ve been visiting everyone and not being able to comment is a pain. More so with dial up.
At the moment I`m discourage about the whole thing really.
I was going to post something once more before Christmas but it`s not gonna happen.
Hopefully they get it all straightened out. I think Beta is still in the experimental stages with loads of glitches. Just don`t have the time to spend any more hours messing with the darn thing.

So I`ll wish everyone a Merry Christmas again. Tis the season, so I`m going to eat, drink and be merry and be back soon.....hopefully!

tea
xo

Merry Christmas...Blogger Won`t Let Me Post a Picture but......

I`d like to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas.
And for those who are heavy of heart at this time of year, the broken hearts and the lonely, may the Light of this season shine down and comfort you and bring you faith and hope. And for those who have lost a loved one, may you feel the love of their presence near.......

tea
xo

Love and a Ridiculous (but funny) Christmas Tale .......

THE LOVE.......



AND THE RIDICULOUS (but funny).........

I found this in my e-mail and I couldn`t resist posting it. It would be a good Monty Python or Saturday Night Live skit......hahahhaaha!

During this “stressful” time, I think we all need to take a step back, breathe, and LAUGH.


As a joke, my brother used to hang a pair of panty hose on his fireplace the night before Christmas.

He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them.



What they say about Santa checking the list twice

must be true because every Christmas morning,

although Jay's kids' stockings were overflowing,

his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty.



One year I decided to make his dream come true.

I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll.

They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart.

I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown.



If you've never been in an X-rated store,

don't go. You'll only confuse yourself.



I was there an hour saying things like,
"What does this do?"
"You're kidding me!"
"Who would buy that?"



Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section. I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour.



Finding what I wanted was difficult. Love dolls come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for "Lovable Louise." She was at the bottom of the price scale. To call Louise a "doll" took a huge leap of imagination.



On Christmas Eve, with the help of an old bicycle pump,

Louise came to life.



My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours, long after Santa had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home and giggled for a couple of hours.



The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy, but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more. We all agreed that Louise should remain in her panty hose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional Christmas dinner.



My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door.

"What the hell is that?" she asked.

My dad quickly explained, "It's a doll!"



"Who would play with something like that?" Granny snapped. I had several candidates in mind, but kept my mouth shut. "Where are her clothes?" Granny continued.



"Boy, that turkey sure smells nice, Gran," Jay said, trying to steer her into the dining room. But Granny was relentless. "Why doesn't she have any teeth?"



Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, "Hang on Granny! Hang on!"



My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, "Hey, who's the naked gal by the fireplace?" I told him she was Jay's friend. A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at home.



The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly Louise made a noise that sounded a lot like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she lurched from the panty hose, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa. The cat screamed. I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth to mouth resuscitation.



My brother fell out of his chair

and wet his pants. Granny threw down her napkin,

stomped out of the house, and sat in the car.



It was indeed a Christmas

to treasure and remember.



Later, in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decide the cause of Louise's collapse.

We discovered that Louise had suffered from

a hot ember to the back of her right thigh.



Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect health.

Louise went on to star in several bachelor party videos.



I think Grandpa still calls her.



by Marsha Oldinski

Hope you got a chuckle :)

......AND NOW THE UGLY....Getting fed up with Blogger! Found some time last night and tonight to read my blogs and I can`t seem to post a comment hardly anywhere :o\

Party and a Question...

Off to a friends Christmas gathering today and then tomorrow my sister`s 40th family birthday lunch. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. It looks like Spring here today! The sun and the blue sky and no snow at all! I think British Columbia has our weather this year. The news reports that 10,000 people in Vancouver are without hydro! Most things are shut down there. I think they need our prayers. What a freezing terrible time that would be.

I went and catagorized all my posts but have no understanding of how to put catagories listed along the side. I see how to put the actual list there but will that take one to each catagory? How do you get the title to take you to each catagory when you click on it? Help! I`ve looked it up at various sites but it`s all goblygook to me. I`m computer illiterate and can`t understand how to do it :( I`d also like to move "Blogs I Love" links to a seperate page because it`s getting longer all the time LOL. Would sure appreciate any guidance.

Happy Hanukkah To All Who Celebrate on Saturday

**** Someone has brought to my attention that the history here isn`t correct...sorry. Blame it on Farmer`s Almanac! I have added the correction :)
Note: Beta Blogger lost some of my blog links but luckily I`d saved my template and am recovering them :)


This is from the Farmers Almanac and they look good! Seem to be much like a potatoe pancake.
http://www.farmersalmanactv.com/cooking/257.html

Latkes, or potato pancakes, are a traditional Jewish dish that hailed from Eastern Europe. They have become associated with Hanukkah because they are fried in oil, and oil is symbolic of Hanukkah.

As the story goes, the Israelites were ruled by the (correction) Greek-Syrians. They revolted and reclaimed the temple. When they reopened the temple, there was only enough oil to light one day’s worth of candles. Miraculously, the oil lasted eight days. Thus, candles and oils have become Hanukkah traditions.

Although latke isn’t the only Jewish dish that uses oil, potato latke became associated with Hanukkah over the years, although it’s not clear when.

Here are a few tips for making potato latke.

* There are many ways to make potato latke, including curried, sweet potato, apple-cinnamon and sesame-potato latke.
* To prevent the latke from sticking to the pan, make sure the oil is very hot. Turn the mixture when the edges start to brown. Don’t crowd the pan.
* Some cooks would never consider using a food processor, although it’s far easier to grate the potatoes.
* While you can freeze and re-heat the latke, straight from the frying pan is best.
* Potato latke is served best with sour cream or apple sauce. You can use fat free or light sour cream, if you wish.
* Potato latke makes a wonderful side dish or entrée.

Faith Dessauer contributed to this report.

Here`s a recipe....

Potato Latkes
Yields: 6 servings
Shredded potatoes and grated onions are bound with flour, salt and eggs, then fried in oil to make delicious potato pancakes that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups peeled and shredded
potatoes
1 tablespoon grated onion
3 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup peanut oil
DIRECTIONS:
1.Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
3.In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels.
Serve hot.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is perhaps the best know of all the reindeer.
He came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (operators of a chain of department stores) asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. (The Montgomery Ward stores had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year, and May's department head saw creating a giveaway booklet of their own as a way to save money.) May, who had a penchant for writing children's stories and limericks, was tapped to create the booklet.

May, drawing in part on the tale of The Ugly Duckling and his own background (he was a often taunted as a child for being shy, small, and slight), settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. Looking for an alliterative name, May considered and rejected Rollo (too cheerful and carefree a name for the story of a misfit) and Reginald (too British) before deciding on Rudolph. He then proceeded to write Rudolph's story in verse, as a series of rhyming couplets, testing it out on his 4-year-old daughter Barbara as he went along. Although Barbara was thrilled with Rudolph's story, May's boss was worried that a story featuring a red nose — an image associated with drinking and drunkards — was unsuitable for a Christmas tale. May responded by taking Denver Gillen, a friend from Montgomery Ward's art department, to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch some deer. Gillen's illustrations of a red-nosed reindeer overcame the hesitancy of May's bosses, and the Rudolph story was approved. Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booket in 1939, and although wartime paper shortages curtailed printing for the next several years, a total of 6 million copies had been given by the end of 1946.

The post-war demand for licensing the Rudolph character was tremendous, but since May had created the story as an employee of Montgomery Ward, they held the copyright and he received no royalties. Deeply in debt from the medical bills resulting from his wife's terminal illness (she died about the time May created Rudolph), May persuaded Montgomery Ward's corporate president, Sewell Avery, to turn the copyright over to him in January 1947. With the rights to his creation in hand, May's financial security was assured. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was printed commercially in 1947 and shown in theaters as a nine-minute cartoon the following year. The Rudolph phenomenon really took off, however, when May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for a Rudolph song. Marks' musical version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (turned down by many who didn't want to meddle with the established Santa legend) was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949, sold two million copies that year, and went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time (second only to "White Christmas"). A TV special about Rudolph narrated by Burl Ives was produced in 1964 and remains a popular perennial holiday favorite in the USA.

May quit his copywriting job in 1951 and spent seven years managing his creation before returning to Montgomery Ward, where he worked until his retirement in 1971. May died in 1976, comfortable in the life his reindeer creation had provided for him.

Although the story of Rudolph is primarily known to us through the lyrics of Johnny Marks' song, the story May wrote is substantially different in a number of ways. Rudolph was not one of Santa's reindeer (or the offspring of one of Santa's reindeer), and he did not live at the North Pole. Rudolph dwelled in an "ordinary" reindeer village elsewhere, and although he was taunted and laughed at for having a shiny red nose, he was not regarded by his parents as a shameful embarrassment. Rudolph was brought up in a loving household and was a responsible reindeer with a good self-image and sense of worth. Moreover, Rudolph did not rise to fame when Santa picked him out from the reindeer herd because of his shiny nose. Santa discovered the red-nosed reindeer quite by accident, when he noticed the glow emanating from Rudolph's room while delivering presents to Rudolph's house. Worried that the thickening fog — already the cause of several accidents and delays — would keep him from completing his Christmas Eve rounds, Santa tapped Rudolph to lead his team, observing upon their return: "By YOU last night's journey was actually bossed. Without you, I'm certain we'd all have been lost!"

***From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Ladies First

It`s all about sharing the favorite dish.........

What If For Just One Day...All The Madness In Our World Stopped?

This link below was left in my comments by Peter. Whether you think it possible or not, it wouldn`t hurt to mark this date and time on the calendar and give it a try.
I believe it would be possible if everyone did it, but the problem is that how could everyone agree? I like it regardless.


What If...on December 30th, 2006, starting at 8 p.m., people around the world spent two minutes reflecting upon the idea of Peace and ones own humble place in time? Read more at the blog.
http://just-one-day-of-peace.blogspot.com/


I remember my Mum telling me that on Christmas Eve during WW2, some of the German soldiers and ours, laid down their arms and became friends for a few short hours. But the soldiers had the fact that they believed in the same God and held Christmas as the most special of days. This is the stickler in this war. One group of people follow an angry and selfish god`s rules where men must slaughter themselves and others to be saved and the other, a kind and loving one, who sent his son one very special night with the message about love and forgiveness. And to make it even more complicated, throw in judgemental and the "I`m better than you" beliefs of many on both sides or even no beliefs whatsoever. This nonsense of hiding behind religion in the name of war never seems to end.

Fighting centuries old grudges. A world consisting of people stepping over street people laying on the sidewalk as if they are invisible. Unloved and uncared for children.....raised by parents who were also unloved and uncared for, and so the line continues unless broken, passed down through each generation. Men willing to do anything to become rich and powerful, others willing to do anything to feed their lethal addictions made readily available or even just to put food on the table. Countries willing to spend billions on war and yet ignore their own starving people. Images everywhere desensitizing us from our basic compassion. Brother killing brother, mother killing child. So many ancient prophesies seemingly coming to pass. We were blessed with such a beautiful planet to live on. Given the gift of love and nature and music art and literature. There is enough for everyone here to live an abundant life, and yet so many are forgotten and overlooked. So many wars caused by cruel despots.
This is the true shame of humanity. It can`t hurt to take note of this day on December 30th.
As for the above...well it does say in my profile that I like to rant sometimes :)

*** "2 of Cups" - love and unity and "Holy Man of Ancient Wisdom" - faith and prayers answered ......no masterpieces, but done by me several years ago.

Did It..........

I finally braved it and changed to Beta. So far so good :)

Sweet and Sour Party Meatballs and the Tree is up...

We had a fun time last night at the party and the meatballs turned out great.....

I used Zoey`s recipe for boiled meatballs at Perennial Passion blog http://perennialpassion.blogspot.com/2006/09/ever-hear-of-boiled-meatballs.html
Thanks Zoey :)

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 can pineapple juice (or juice from a 15-1/4 oz. Can pineapple chunks, drained)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (or less)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
PREPARATION:
Mix all together and cook over medium heat until thickened. May be prepared in microwave in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave about 4-1/2 minutes on high or until thick, stirring every minute. Add pineapple chunks.
*****Note: I doubled this recipe and put the pre-cooked meatballs in a crock pot then poured the sauce over top without the cornstarch added beforehand.
Left them on low all day and then drained the sauce out, put in a pot and added the cornstarch to thicken. Poured it back in over the meatballs, added the pineapple bits and carted it off to the party. Ended up with 80 small meatballs.

I also managed to get the tree done yesterday. Hanging the little ornaments that the kids made when they were small and remembering Ben dog`s last Christmas, makes me all sentimental. We`ll see how long the gold beads stay this way. The cats always have a field day with them, along with a ball or two swatted off. I`ll never forget the year I walked into the frontroom to see Angus actually sitting in the tree! Right smack in the middle of it. Of course he wasn`t quite a huge as he is now. Sure wish I`d gotten a picture of that one.

The Little Match Girl

I remembered reading this little story as a child. It`s an old Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young girl who sells matches during the cold winter. It was first published in 1848 and still brings tears to my eyes.....

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.

She crept along trembling with cold and hunger--a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!

The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that, of course, she never once now thought. From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year's Eve; yes, of that she thought.

In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. "Rischt!" how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but--the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.

She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when--the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant's house.


Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.

"Someone is just dead!" said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.

She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.

"Grandmother!" cried the little one. "Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out; you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas tree!" And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety--they were with God.

But in the corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling mouth, leaning against the wall--frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. "She wanted to warm herself," people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.

Lone Decoration

This is the one and only Christmas decoration I have up yet. Need to make some time this weekend to get the tree up.
It`s rather simple and slightly wild looking instead of nice and uniform because I just used what I had on hand and slapped it together inbetween doing something else. I like to multi-task but usually take more time to make something. But I wanted something Christmasy up now already and the old wreath was falling apart. The greenery is juniper and I stuck some winterberries in along with a linen rose and some bits of something or other....not sure what the little white nobby things are called but they`re artificial bits on wire. I attached it all to a willow wreath with wire and stuck it here on the door. It would look nicer on a solid door and could use some type of bow yet, but it`s interesting how the reflection shows in the glass. That`s almost the exact spot where Angus had his terrible adventure that Teddy errr I mean Theodore, writes below.
That`s it for me. So many bloggers are showing all their lovely Christmas things and I`m in the spirit, so here`s my Christmasy contribution for the moment. It would be pretty to have some lights on the two cranberry bushes at the door but we don`t have an outdoor plug out front. This weekend includes putting tree up, cleaning out and lining last remaining drawer and under sink cupboards...those cupboards are the worst and it`s only taken me 2 weeks of thinking about actually moving my butt and finishing off the kitchen... making Swiss Meatballs, a party at a friends for my sister`s 40th birthday which will be fun and hopefully a little relaxation somewhere in there.
Happy weekend! It`s almost here!

"The Day Young Angus Damn Near Kicked the Bucket" by The Cat That Would Be Heard

It was a bright and sunny winter Sunday morning some eight years ago and I lay sleeping on back of the love seat by the big window.
The mistress was home alone and was tidying in her pajamas and slippers when all of a sudden Daisy began to wriggle and squirm and bark at the window.
One eye popped open to see what the fuss was about. Then the other eye followed in shock. Across the driveway where the pond lay covered in a thin layer of ice was a horrifying sight to see.
Young Angus had fallen through and was swimming back and forth like a large orange fish under the crust, frantically trying to find his way out through the hole he had fallen in.
As I stood up and Daisy continued to bark, the mistress glanced over to see what the ruckus was about.
I dare not repeat what she exclaimed as she ran out the door in a flash, though I must confess to mumbling the same. Out she ran into the snow, Daisy behind her and I, staying by the window for a better view.
Out the mistress ran, toward the pond crying "Angus, oh Angus! Help" The Nana heard her cry and came running down the laneway as she frantically crashed her way through the ice and pushed toward poor Angus, waist deep in water.
She grabbed him and pulled him out and stumbled and struggled back to the shore. I didn`t know what to think as I saw her, legs scratched and one slipper floating behind, with her arms holding Angus out toward the Nana to grab so she could get herself out of the ice bits and cold water.
The sight was rather quite horrendous. Her weeping and gasping. "Mouth to mouth, mouth to mouth Mum!" she shouted. And the unconscious Angus in her outstretched arms, with his legs all sticking up and his mouth hanging open! A truly pitiful sight, yet almost comical, they both looked, when I can safely remeber it now knowing all went well. "Angus, you`re a gonner." I thought at that moment. "You`ve finally messed by that water for the last time, dear boy."

The Nana grabbed him and quick as a wink, put him on his back and opened his mouth and breathed in.....and breathed in again....and again. To my joy and amazement, Angus got up!
The mistress grabbed him and hugged him and kissed him and cried. Why she would cry is a puzzle to me. You would think she would be quite over-joyed. But never mind. The miracle was that young Angus had survived thanks to dear Daisy dog and her rescue team.
He seems to have learned his hard lesson by jove, with a lecture from me as well, I might add, as I blinked back my own tears of silent gratitude.
Yes indeed....young Angus had survived on that bright and sunny winter Sunday morning.

"Fino a che non veniamo a contatto di ancora, e Natale molto allegro a voi e ad il vostro..." or " Until we meet again, a very Merry Christmas to you and yours."

~Theodore

Eyes....

Yum

For a cheat cake, this is a good one! Especially if you have a sweet tooth....look out...danger!

"Ohhhhh my, I`d love some....."

The silver polished up fairly well with the homemade solution but because it`s so old it needed some extra cleaning. Out came the Silvo. It looks nice and shiny now as you can see by this fork. Someone must have treasured this set at one time because the initial P is scrolled on each piece.

"No really, it won`t effect my diet one bit...."

"Just one little bite?"

"Ohhhhhhhhh....no...no, no...wait...don`t...wait...no, please....
She`s taking the last bite! Well at least I might get to lick one plate."

Hanging the Baskets, Kitchen at Other End and Things

I still haven`t decided whether or not to paint the baskets. If I do, it will probably be by just sponging on white paint. I needed to figure out a way to make them easy to get down and dust so I made some hooks.....

Then hung them by fishing line from the ceiling....

It was something I`d been putting off and with the boys help, I`m glad it`s done, at least the initial part. The light I know is really odd looking and we need the big bulbs for brightness. A new light perhaps someday or two situated at different parts of the ceiling with proper sized bulbs. I`d still keep the flying pig because I like him :) No idea why the camera picked up my patch job and made a strange white blotch in the picture, it`s not there to the naked eye luckily!

This is the other end of the kitchen. I put the water colour above the sink. The frame isn`t quite the right size but it`s good enough for now and kind of makes it look like a pillow case end piece. Dog pictures I had already are above the stove and the fat pink and white cat which matches the cookie jar holds washing sponge ets....

Those cute little toile plates were too small for any plate holders so I improvised using twist ties in place of the springs to make them smaller before adding them to the big wall by the table.....

Last night I made a removable half cover for the computer chair in some left over fabric from the curtains to use sometimes because the arms on the chair I apolstered get dirty too fast. Then I opened up the kitchen table one end, looks better against the long wall.
This silver is very tarnished...

But for $25 total I thought it was worth a try to see if I can get it clean. There were only four matching teaspoons and no tablespoons so the pattern is different in them as well as the big serving utensils, but no big deal, I`m not the Queen :O)

Filled a roasting pan full of powdered milk, water and vinegar to soak the silver in overnight.

It`s supposed to take the tarnish off, so we`ll see how that worked when I take it out. May have to use the Silvo if not, but this sounded better and less messy.
Now if I could just make up my mind about the baskets.....
Here`s what we woke up to this morning. First real snow since that strange October night. The plastic bags are still staying nicely in place to kill that grass area for the pottager garden and extended patio around the edges next spring. The "sort of" walled garden patio is not quite big enough for all the potted plant ideas I have so I thought of bricking around the outside of the veggie garden ( with a few companion flowers thrown in) to make room. I`m going to plant in bricked square sections instead of rows and grows beans upwards hung on grapevine trellis or something. Then plant some climbing flowers on the fence to take away the rustic look there a bit. Wish I could find a picture of something like all this to see how it would look. Has anyone seen anything like this on the web or tried any of it? Funny things to be writing about with the above picture me thinks. I love Christmas and will get the old tree up this weekend hopefully!

I haven`t had a lot of time lately for much blogging, with swapping stories and pictures back and forth with a new found cousin, work, making a Christmas wreath and thinking about whether to paint or not to paint the baskets. This weekend is hubby`s annual family Christmas dinner re-union. They hold it in a church basement in a little town near where he`s from. It`s a nice time with all the aunts, uncles and cousins along with his parents and brother and sisters. I`m starting to get into the Christmas mode now I think :)
This was in a magazine of reproduced stories and advertising from 1930 for women. It`s the funniest thing. Just click on the picture to enlarge and magnify it to read..........