Auld Lang Syne

Another year has passed by. Looking back my husband and I have spent so many New Year's Eves together. We started out as teenagers in high school sharing a kiss on New Year's night. We had no idea that fifty plus years later we still would be kissing each other. It's easy to get nostalgic when thinking back of all that has gone past us over the course of all those years. Happy days with the children. Travels and hobbies shared. And all those little moments which meant so much. It does bring a tear to my eye when I think of how very blessed my life has been. I have been so fortunate.

So I pass on the best of wishes to you,my dear readers and friends, for a healthy and peaceful new year. I hope it is the best one ever. Every year I pick a word of the year. This year my word is...

Savor

I intend to savor every moment both big and small. And to relax and take time to enjoy each and every second I have. Think of me sucking in fresh air and sighing. Letting every muscle relax. Concentrating on each moment. Each moment will be like a photograph etched in my mind.

 

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Home once more

The traveling girl is home once more. I hope to keep my feet on the ground for a few months now. I love being with my family but now it is time to rest. January is always a time to slow down. I like to do small projects such as organizing but I also like to just sit and read.

Chris gave us a new computer for Christmas so today we will set it up and try to get used to Windows ten. My old computer was Vista so you can tell how far behind the times it was. Chris was able to transfer my documents, poctures, and bookmarks all over for me even though it took hours. Ryan also gave me a signal booster for the wifi. Hopefully now I can work faster and be less frustrated. It will be nice not to see the message...not responding.

Today I have therapy for my hip again. It was nice that I wasn't in pain while I was away. And I can walk without a limp. I wasn't good about doing my exercises while I was away though. Being sick kept me from it. Now that I'm home I will get back into the routine again. My throat is still sore this morning. I've been taking some severe cold mess and cough drops. I keep thinking that this will go away soon.

It was so nice being with Dan and Gretchen over the holiday. They make such a cute couple. And Scott is so into music. He is now collecting vinyl records. Who would have thought that they would come back into fashion?

Chris and Michele had a beautiful tree this year for their first Christmas in the new house. We were all very comfortable and the house could hold all twelve of us without any trouble with four bedrooms and three baths. Chris finished his media rom and we all got to sit comfortably on his theater seating and watch movies. Ryan got him a popcorn machine just like in the theaters and it looked and smelled just like you were In a real theater.

 

When Chris was looking for a house he wanted a sunset view. He certainly found it with this house.

 

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A quiet peaceful day

The days after Christmas are so enjoyable. The hubbub is over and everyone relaxes. Here Sara just came downstairs to show off her French braid that Michele had put in her hair. Dan and Gretchen are curled up on the comfy couch in the family room watching Star Wars Behind the Scenes. Don, chris and Ryan are building a platform Dow in the theater room. Chris has two cliches, one with stadium seating that he will put one behind the other the top one on a platform. That will ensure that everyone will have a good movie seat when he shows movies with his enormous screen and rear view projector. The rest of us are hanging out just relaxing. This morning Ryan fixed us breakfast including his famous potatoes and peppers. Yum! No big plans for today. Just chillin'.

14humans..and 5 dogs

 

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Christmas with family

 

Nothing is better than spending time with those you love so this Christmas is very special. There is such a sense of calmness about this holiday. I've been slightly low key due to a sore throat and cold. I've been very healthy this last year but have this darn cold now. Right now I'm listening to Christmas music waiting for Ryan and family to arrive. Last night we attended the service at Chris' church where Michele sang a solo of a song she wrote. I've heard her singing around the house and knew she had a beautiful voice but didn't realize she also was a talented songwriter. It was a lovely gift from her to her church. We will be having our big dinner when Ryan arrives. Dan and Gretchen are also here so the family is complete. I love it when we are all together. What a wonderful Christmas.

 

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It's the most busiest time of the year

Ok, grammar police..I know I used two superlatives in the title..but it was cuter that way. Sorry, Joan. 

.Today my big computer decided to work...even the mouse pointer...so I'm blogging quickly before it changes its mind.

  I promised you a tour of Linda's delightful home.  And I've tried..really I have. But I'm having trouble with Windows Live Writer so I can't use it to blog with and using the Blogger platform is just taking too much time.  So for today I'll just recap my day.


I spent most of the day today and yesterday making cookies. Christmas baking is part of the fun of Christmas  Here are the kinds I made...
peanut butter blossoms, date swirls, date Rice Krispie balls, apricot bars, and nut tassies. Oh yes, and fudge. I have the best easy fudge recipe in the world. Maybe you'd like to try it.

Virginia's fudge (Virginia was a friend of mine from our Beta Sigma Phi days)
In a double boiler mix:
4 cups of powdered sugar
4 T milk
4T butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 T cocoa
pinch of salt
Stir till just mixed together and the lumps are out of it. ...it's done now.  You can remove it from heat and  add some nuts and peanut butter ...a half a cup each  (I do) Pour in buttered pan. That's all. Delicious!

Fudge is very rich and I only make it at Christmas time. It brings back fond memories for me. When I was 4 I visited my Aunt Toot who always made fudge for me. I remember her apartment in downtown DuBois, Pa and how it overlooked the main street. I remember not even being able to see up onto the counter. We would eat the fudge and then she taught me to play Chinese Checkers. My dad was also a good fudge maker. We waited patiently till the drop of fudge was put into a cup of cold water to form a soft ball. Then it needed to be beaten and poured into the dish. We always got to eat the spoon and lick the pan. My father in law was also a famous fudge maker in their family. What a delight to visit and watch him make his fudge.
   Are you doing lots of baking this year? Each year I say I'm going to buy my cookies but there is nothing like the taste of homemade cookies for the family. I hope that you are keeping traditions going at your house. It seems to me that some traditions are going by the wayside. I heard that the card companies' sales are way down this year since people are sending email greetings instead of cards due to the cost of postage. And I'm not sure the next generation will do the huge holiday dinners that we are used to.
  I will be busy tomorrow (physical therapy ...which is doing wonders for the bursitis in my hip, almost pain free...and my art lesson...I'm working on my third painting.) and the rest of this week so I will wish you now a very happy holiday. I hope that the season will bring you joy. I send my love out to each of my readers and hope that the new year brings you all the happiness that you can stand. Love you all. Thank you for being such faithful readers. It means a lot to me to have you visit...and sometimes comment.

Veteran's Square

 

Yes, we finally got a little snow. It came late on Friday evening but is expected to be gone today or tomorrow. These warmer temperatures are unusual for our town but welcomed. I especially like that the weather is really helping our wildlife. It is much easier for the deer to find food in the woods. My friend Joan, among others feeds the deer in the winter. She started out just feeding the birds but then the groundhog,turkey and deer started showing up as well as birds. Now she has a regular crowd who come morning and night and wait to be fed.

For the weekend it was back to boots and gloves but we have to admit how beautiful the snow is. The gazebo in Veteran's Square is so pretty at night.

Now just for fun..can you find the panda?

 

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Sara Evans

We are so fortunate in Bradford that we have the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center which brings in top entertainment to our area. Last night we were treated to a concert by Sara Evans a top country singer that you might know from her hit songs Suds in the the Bucket and Born to Fly. Her cover of Sam Smith's Lay Me Down had us up on our feet at the end. The first half of the concert was devoted to her hit songs and had us clapping and tapping to the music. The second half was a Christmas songfest.

The opening act could have been a headliner all by himself. Clayton Anderson was as talented as he was good looking. He warmed up the audience with his charm and outstanding personality and good old country songs. He spent time talking to the audience and gaining a report with the crowd that had the girls screaming. With his red tee shirt and his torn blue jeans he was a heartthrob.

It was another gret evening spent with my good friends and a perfect celeration for the Christmas season.

 

 

 

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Christmas party

 

How wonderful it was to spend an evening with my friends. We began the night with cheese, crackers, wine and sparking grape pear juice in the living room in front of the fire. We were lucky that the snow that was predicted didn't materialize until later in the evening. After chatting for awhile we began dinner with my homemade French onion soup.

It was served in rectangular white ironstone crocks with lids. There were toasted croutons and shredded Parmesan cheese to add to the soup available. The next course was salads. I made a tri colored bow tie pasta salad and a butter lettuce, arugula, and spinach salad with candied walnuts, strawberries, mandarin oranges, and sliced Apple. Jeanette brought a refreshing salad of Apple cubes, grapes,and walnuts. We also enjoyed rolls which were brought by Joan.

For dessert I served a frozen strawberry pie with hot fudge sauce along with decorated sugar cookies. Lisa added zucchini bread and peanut butter fudge.

At each place setting was a little favor which included a plaid note pad and a chocolate bar along with the tag which read. ..the greatest gift is friendship. I am so lucky to have this group of friends. They are all super support for me and lovely people. I am blessed.

 

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Every single day

Every single day is precious. I think the older you get the more you think about that. So I live each day with no regrets.

Our big computer has been on the blink for a while now and now the mouse pointer froze. It's time for a new one. But I will lose all my pictures and documents and programs will have to be reinstalled. We will take the tower to Chris' in hopes that he can save some of the data. Now we will have to decide if we want a desktop or laptop. Any thoughts?

tonight I am having my girlfriend up for dinner. I love entertaining and am looking forward to a wonderful evening.

 

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Busy

Are you as busy as I am? It isn't bad enough I have wrapping and baking and entertaining to do. Now I'm going to physical therapy for my hip. The heat and electric treatments and exercises have done wonders for my bursitis. This is the first time I have been almost pain free in such a long time. I wish I would have been diagnosed sooner. I'm getting things done just at a slower pace.

if you show up here and I'm not here, please forgive me.

I'm

 

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Hot Cocoa Bar

I apologize for my lack of blogging. This is such an extremely busy time of year. Please enjoy these pictures of this year's hot cocoa bar.

 

 

 

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What a wonderful weekend

 

This isn't a very good picture of Linda's hutch, just taken with my iPad. More better pictures will follow. I'm back in bradford today after a seven hour trip home. Whew! These trips get harder to make but they are so worth it when the three of us can get together. I envy anyone who has their family in their same town.

 

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A little French

You know I'm a Francophile. So it shouldn't surprise you that I have an early Christmas present.

 

New slip overs for my zebra chairs. I've always loved the script look and Pier One had these on sale recently. I can't wait till after Christmas to set up a French tablescape.

 

I used one of the black and white bows that I made with the Bowdabra on the standing candle lantern that I got at the craft show last year.

And I finally got the icicle wreaths hung on the door. Look...still no snow and none in the forecast.Yippee. This weekend I will be off to Fredericksburg to spend the weekend with my sisters. We are planning a dinner theater to see Mame with Sally Struthers. And of course hit all our favorite shops downtown. The weather will be unbelievable. Seventy two degrees on Saturday.

 

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Current Events Tea

Every December the Current Events Club invites us to their Christmas Tea. It is always a wonderful time and this year was no exception. The entertainment this year was a man who played the electric accordion. He was a former teacher and gives part of his earnings playing the accordion for parties for a college scholarship. He was very talented and played a wide range of music from standard hits to music of the season. The cookies and tea sandwiches were delicious and the conversation stimulating. I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures.

 

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Christmas tour 2015 The Living Room

Today the tour continues with the living room. I carried the chalkboard theme into this room with this cute sign found at Big Lots. The mantle has a winter theme using the Valerie Par Hill wreath.
Also on the mantle is a pair of old ice skates.Whoops, the battery pack for the lights is showing.
I found this heavy piece of iron fencing in a new store in Carlisle called Feathers in the Nest.

Two red stockings, hung by the chimney with care, decorate the fireplace.


The tree has chalkboard ornaments and bubble lights.


An old Santa that I made a long time ago in ceramics sits by my collection of blue and white.

I hope you enjoyed my little tour.