Winter Wonderland

 

The snow did not hinder our day out. It enhanced it. 

The beauty of this place is usually inside but this year, it was hard to beat the outside. This is the tree lot. What a day to be picking your tree. 

They had a fire going and carols over the loudspeakers. It was like being in a Hallmark movie. 

The inside didn't disappoint. I don't know how they do it. Room after room of trees and holiday decor and no year is ever the same as the last. 

We made it to our appointment with Santa with time to spare. There were a lot of cancellations because of the snow so they took us right away. They were so bored they even asked if we wanted a photo with Pup. We didn't. Wrangling two little ones was enough.

The train room is huge. It's a favorite of the Big Grand. The place is usually crowded but the weather gave us a head start and we had the place almost to ourselves for a long while. A lot of shopping was done. 

In addition to bags of gifts, I came home with these three new things for the tree. The Big Grand gifted me the sparkly snowflake for my birthday. I picked out the little bird and the Swifty Mug for myself. 

I've been trying in vain to get an authentic Taylor Swift ornament from her shop for several Christmases so I'll have to settle for this one for now. You can imagine, in a sea of ornaments to look over, how tickled I was to find it especially with that "Fearless" tea bag tag.

After a day like that, putting my feet up with Danny and Bing and my Advent socks seemed like the thing to do. You couldn't ask for a better day. 

Dear Santa

 

Oldest Son 1979

The most stressful thing I've done this holiday season was to book a weekend photo session for Daughter's Grands with Santa for today at the garden center we visit every year. You have to go online at exactly 10 am on the Monday before the weekend you're booking for and reserve a spot before someone takes it out of your cart. The demand is high. Daughter, The Mister, SIL and me all had our computers ready to go at the exact moment....and we all got tickets except Daughter who was shut out. We kept my ticket for 11 am and canceled the rest so other families may snap them up. Whew. My heart was beating like mad for hours afterward. But....now as I am writing this on Saturday night they are calling for snow. Snow that threatens to ruin our good time. I love snow. I especially love before Christmas snow but right now...booo. 

I can't fix the weather but here's a photo Daughter sent of her big Grand writing to Santa yesterday. Now she's on the hunt for a book about pandas and a turtle? Oh, dear. That's a problem. 

Early Morning Update: Yes, we got snow overnight and it's still coming down. Enough to ruin our outing? We'll figure that out later this morning I guess.

It's Official

 

The Santa puzzle is done so I declare that the holiday wild rumpus season shall begin. It's time to bake some wildly terrible for you health wise but oh so delicious things and drink some ridiculously awful boozy concoctions whilst they are on fire. Let us celebrate this holiday season like we were invites at Old Fezziwig's. Who's with me? 

Lighting It Up

 

Every year I say I'm going to buy those tiny fairy lights and put them on things that need lighting up and never do. This year I did it. 

My Advent sweaters looked great in the daylight but at night they can't be seen. Not anymore. 

Something else new is this Advent candle holder. We picked up pine cones on a walk to fill the tray and I'll add some holly when it gets closer to Christmas. 

I bought this electric Swedish Christmas candelabra a few years ago and it keeps me company in the kitchen window. We also string one lone strand of lights back and forth outside across the top of the kitchen window so I've got something to look at while I'm doing the piles of dishes I get from holiday cooking. 

I've given up lighting up the front exterior since no one but the Amazon people see it anymore. I do put lights in my front window for my benefit. 

We have more people that can see us out back on the hill so we usually light up the deck. We took the lights I used to put in the front window and strung them along the regular lights but they just stopped working. I'm sending The Mister to the hardware store tomorrow to see if he can find me something else. I'm in the mood for multi colored lights this year so I hope they still have a string or two left. 

I Scream, You Scream...

 

..we all scream. No, I'm not posting about Stephen King's latest. I'm talking about ice cream. 

On a very cold and windy day, I needed to go to the ice cream shop on the boardwalk and get some of their holiday flavors. I've been patiently waiting and it finally arrived. Peppermint stick and Eggnog.

I can't eat a lot of ice cream anymore but I do like a dab on a crisp pizzelle for dessert this time of year.

In the past I've rolled the warm pizzelles and made them into cones but this batch wouldn't roll. I'll have to tweak that recipe. I bought that little cookie maker during the pandemic when I went almost three years without a kitchen. I wanted Christmas cookies and didn't have an oven and this was the solution. It's been a tradition ever since.

Since I was spending the day in the kitchen anyway, I made three little loaves of honey wheat bread to go with the lentil soup we're having for dinner. It's been so cold here that hot soup and bread is the only meal that makes sense.

Wednesday WIPs: Wrapping It Up

 

I haven't wrapped up any of the Advent knitting yet. Felici is going to win this race for sure. I'm not sure what to make of the Cozy Knitter socks. I'm having a hard time telling one stripe from another so I've pretty much abandoned the Advent thing and am just knitting a pretty pair of socks now. 

The Arne and Carlos 2026 stocking is getting closer to the heel split. This year's pattern was not for the faint of heart. Those hand holding gnomes were a bear to knit. This is going to be a huge stocking compared to the others I've finished. Sport yarn and #2 needles are a big leap from sock yarn it seems. 

The Mister's Riddari has its body up to the arm joins and its first sleeve in the works. It makes good TV knitting as I plow through my huge collection of holiday DVDs at night. 

We-and by that I mean The Mister, have been wrapping gifts to put under the tree. I have no talent for wrapping but since he's a lefty I'm always involved with the scissor action. 

It was hard to wrap this little Miss up. Daughter wanted to start a collection of the new stuffed American Girl dolls and wanted Molly for Christmas. An original American Girl doll of one sort of another was always under our tree for many years back in the day. With six grandsons and no granddaughters, I jump at the chance to shop for things like this. Next year she'll be getting Addie. 

TNT: Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding

 

The stitching this week hasn't been terribly interesting. I did finish the tulip motif on the Christmas Quaker and my Santa has one arm and a mitten. The blank spaces are for the beads that come later. 

What is interesting is another new needlepoint kit. I bought one from this company and then they bombarded me with ads saying that what I really wanted was this one and I think they are right. I do love a plum pudding.

I have a plum pudding on my tree...

...and my very own pudding pot for steaming. 

My recipe for plum pudding is like making a steamed fruitcake with the difference being grated apple and prunes. No figs though. Can't find them this time of year.

As I write this my pudding has been steaming for four hours now. When it's done it will get the same treatment as the fruitcakes.

They get wrapped up tightly after getting a weekly brushing of brandy and stuffed in a tin until Christmas. They only get better with age. I sure wish I did. This time next week I'll be 72 and every inch of me reminds me of it every darn day.