So this is kind of venty and lame... be warned. I can be pretty sad and lame sometimes, I'm workin' on that.
Oh my gods - by tera lynn childs - Ya book -quick cute read about a secret school attended by the descendants of the mythical gods.
So... I will try this post again since I had to walk away in frustration yesterday.
Things are going great! I feel wonderful, this weird ass diet is working! No more headaches, yeah life is good. I am back to editing pics. Even got around to doing a fantasy piece again.
Edited some pics from the trip down south that made me realize that something was wrong with my belongings and not me!
So yeah this is not as good of a post as I had written up last night. Heck if anything it is minimalistic. But it's a start.
So I am off for a walk!
Namaste
It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ~Bilbo Baggins
Making a list, checking it twice... How's your holiday shopping going? Who's left on your list?
Oh we are very very light shoppers. My family (including extended family) doesn't do the big gift exchange extravaganza, we never have as we just have not ever seen the point. Trading gifts isn't what our holiday is about. We'll send seasonal food to one another: baked goods... breads and cookies and such. Also candy (my grandmother and my mother are expert candy makers), and always fruit. I have a basket of pears and mandarins from my family this year and they are awesome!
Don't
adjust your computer. This ia a picture of my Christmas tree! I had a
happy accident with the camera and was really chuffed when I saw what
it looked like so of course I fooled around a bit more. Basically I
moved the camera around as the shutter was going off. Not rocket
science but fun to do.The room was too dark for anything but the lights
to register.
This one is a picture of our tree topping. I snapped and quickly tilted the camera down as I was taking the pic:)
We have a gigantic storm bearing down on us. I was looking at the radar and it appears as if we are going to get a LOT of snow. Click on the wee arrow above the radar picture to see it animate.
I've been to the store and stocked up on goodies, filled up the car and now am firmly ensconced awaiting the big blow:)
I am keeping this here on my blog until Dec 30th. The BustaMove BIG PRIZE DRAW
, hoping that you might be interested in donating $10 to help purchase
a digital mammogram machine & be entered in our fabulous draw. Help
make the boobs of Nova Scotian women merry! Thanks to all of you who
have done so already:)) Prizes are continuing to be added:) Latest is a CD by Shannon Quinn! Winner takes all. Great odds!
December Views
The Magicians by lev grossman - Awesome book! It's about magic and starts with a school so it began sort of Harry Potter-ish but it went past that. Some of the scenes and events left me speechless!
Grave secret by Charlaine Harris - I like this series by Harris as much as I do the Sookie Stackhouse books. This particular book takes you more into the (for me) itcy scratchy area that she began in the previous book. Lots of questions are raised and answered in this book! Loved it!
It's 3:50 AM!
I'm wide awake.
Been awake since 2:30!
With nothing else to do, my mind wanders aimlessly through the universe of thought.
You know when you're registering on a website how they ask for a screen name and then your birthday?
That little drop down menu for your birth year goes back to frickin' 1900!
1900!!
Dude, last time I looked my 109 year-old granny isn't all that interested in your stupid website!
That's all.
I just needed to get that off my chest.
Maybe I can go back to sleep now.
Daughters and I made gingerbread houses.
We started slowly
but we may have got carried away ... just a little
These were in Martha Stewart Lane :
I kept waiting for an elf or a smurf to open the door and invite us in.
And honestly, we only ate a few ... or thirty.. of the decorations along the way.
Tenth Day of Christmas : Ten Lords a Leaping or / pipers piping / ladies dancing / bells a-ringing
January 3rd.
Ten Lords a Leaping also represents the 10 Commandments.
After all the ladies have been dancing and the lords leaping, no doubt they felt the need for a refreshing drink.
Wassail is a hot, spiced punch often associated with Christmas. Particularly popular in Germanic countries, the origins of the practice of wassailing are closely connected with the history of the wassail. The word 'Wassail' is derived from the Old Norse 'Ves heill', from whence came the Old English salutation 'Wes Hal', meaning 'Be In Good Health'. So, anything that can be done to help the trees produce a generous harvest is wholeheartedly encouraged and the skill and dedication of the 'Wassailers' is all important. When Wassailing was first discovered to be of benefit in England is not really known, but there is mention in a magazine, published in 1791, of "The custom with the Devonshire people to go after supper into the orchard with large quantities of cider, having roasted apples pressed into it".
Wassailing has two forms – groups who go out wassailing on cold evenings, and when they approached a door are offered a mug of warm cider or ale, and groups who visit orchards. The House-Visiting wassail, very much similar to carolling, is the modern practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols. In modern times, it is most commonly known through reference in various traditional Christmas carols (e.g., "Here we come a-wassailing / among the leaves so green"). The Orchard-Visiting wassail refers to the practice of singing to trees in apple orchards in cider-producing regions of England to promote a good harvest for the coming year.
A wassail King and Queen lead the proceedings, and song, or a processional tune is played is sung from one orchard to the next. The wassail Queen is lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she places toast that has been soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift the tree spirits and to show them the fruits of what they created the previous year. The intention is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.
An original incantation:
Here's to thee, old apple tree,
That blooms well, bears well.
Hats full,caps full,
Three bushel bags full,
An' all under one tree.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
While this recipe, made in a crockpot, doesn't include eggs, which were often used in the recipes to ensure fertile apple tress, it will make your house smell beautiful!
Wassail Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours,
Ingredients:
- 1 Gallon apple cider
- 2 C. cranberry juice
- 1/2 C honey
- 1/2 C sugar
- 2 oranges
- Whole cloves
- 1 apple, peeled and diced
- Allspice
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- 3 cinnamon sticks (or 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon)
- 1/2 C - 1 C brandy (optional)
Preparation:
Set your crockpot to its lower setting, and pour apple cider, cranberry juice, honey and sugar in, mixing carefully. As it heats up, stir so that the honey and sugar dissolve. Stud the oranges with the cloves, and place in the pot (they'll float). Add the diced apple. Add allspice, ginger and nutmeg to taste -- usually a couple of tablespoons of each is plenty. Finally, snap the cinnamon sticks in half and add those as well.
Cover your pot and allow to simmer 2 - 4 hours on low heat. About half an hour prior to serving, add the brandy if you choose to use it.
The Wassail Song........... verses sung around the apple tree
Apple tree prosper, bud, bloom and bear,
That we may have plenty of cider
next year.
And where there's a barrel, we
hope there are ten,
That we may have cider when we
come again.
Chorus:-
With our wassail, wassail, wassail!
And joy come to our jolly wassail!
A-wassail, a-wassail! The Moon,
she shines down;
The apples are ripe and the nuts
they are brown.
Whence thou mayest bud, dear old
apple tree,
And whence thou mayest bear, we
sing unto thee.
Chorus.......... .
Oh Mistress and Master, our wassail begin,
Please open your door and let us come in;
Besides all on earth you'll have
apples in store;
Pray let us come in for 'tis cold at the door.
Chorus.......
......and the verses sung at each homestead
Come fill up our wassail bowl full to the brim,
See, harnessed and garnished so neat and so trim,
Sometimes with laurel and some times with bays,
According to custom, to keep the old ways.
Chorus.........
Now for this gold liquor, to us,
that you bring,
We lift up our voices and merrily sing,
That all good householders, long may they remain,
And long to continue the same to maintain.
(forgive stoopid fontage plz, kthnx!)
Once again this Holiday Season, I have had requests for my Tequila Christmas Cake Recipe so here goes:
Please keep in your files as I am getting tired of typing this up every year!
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit
Sample the tequila to check quality Take a large bowl; check the
tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality..Repeat.
Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy
bowl.Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.
At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is sstill OK. Try
another cup just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy.Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck iin the cup of dried
fruit.Pick the fruit up off the floor.
Mix on the turner.
If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a
drewscriver.Sample the tequila to test for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something.
Check the tequila.
Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table.
Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
Greash the oven.
Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turner
Finally, throw the bowl through the window.
Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.
Cherry Christmas
