It's Been a While...

Sorry about that. It's been a while since I've posted. The holidays came and went quickly. Then January came and went. My, how time is flying!

Thanksgiving we had a house full, like I mentioned. What I didn't mention was that we had a power outage the day after Thanksgiving. So, we ate dinner outside the following night because we had to. It was REALLY cold. My niece and nephew brought tamales from Florida that they made. You can't beat homemade food! This was a real treat for me to eat fresh tamales. I've never been invited to a Latin home for dinner. That is kind of hard to believe since I have so many culturally diverse friends.

Here is how we cooked the tamales.

Tamales Cooked Outdoors

We started to cook them on the grill my hubby made, but the water didn't boil fast enough or hard enough. My nephew brought over parts of his turkey fryer and my canning pot served us well. I had enough cooling racks to fit inside to hold the tamales while they steamed. Yummy stuff! I got the recipe!

Then, we went to Florida to visit these relatives for Christmas. We had a really nice time. We took some very small gifts this year. I made dish towel angels and they turned out really nice. I can't find my original pattern on the internet. When I do, I'll link it here. In the mean time, check out the internet for your own. There are several styles to make. I should've taken a picture.

Here is a picture of the whimsical part of my Santa Claus collection.

Whimsical Santas

 OK. There are a few snowmen in there, too. They are still cute. My porcelain Santas are on the other mantel and I didn't get a pic of them this year.

Here is the village we set up on our buffet.

Christmas Village

I have a small collection of porcelain houses that we usually put under the tree. The tree needs a bit of a hike off the ground to fit these under. I don't want to do that with the dogs traipsing around. I also collect aluminum ware. I love the stuff. Most of it is from yard sales. I like using these to serve dinners for company. Sometimes just for us, too.

The new year came and Hubby and I sit and wait for the ball to drop. This year we had a cheese tray, spread with crackers and doggie biscuits. I was in the kitchen getting our small snack tray ready and Hubby asked me to wait while he set up the living room. He put a tablecloth down and our pillows up against the back of the couch. I didn't know about the table (stool) and cloth for the table. He's so sweet!

Trixie Eyeing the Goods!

Well, the ball dropped in Times Square and we woke up at 12:04 a.m. We missed it! We must be getting old or something.

Our weather has been really up and down this year. One day we'll have 70 degree F weather. The next it will be in the 30's. Up and down and up and down. Today was in the 60's. It was nice and sunny. Tomorrow, we're expecting 30's and freezing rain. Wednesday may bring 2-3 inches of snow. I need to start planting my garden and it's hard to figure the weather out this year.

If we get the weather, look for pics. It is a novelty down here to get snow and icy rain.

Take care. 

Some More Catching Up

Hubby and I took photos and made some of our own Christmas cards this year. They turned out really nice. Here's one of the pics we took. Now you get to see what us old fogie chicken farmers look like.

Me and Hubby

I think we're cute. Oh well...that's what love means!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've posted. I had been busy getting things done for Christmas. As you see below, I've been busy.

Grandson's Afghan for Christmas

This afghan turned out really nice. Hubby helped me make it. Actually, he did the braiding for the Jacob's Ladder. That saved me a lot of headache! This was the second full-sized afghan since I started in November. I've made a baby afghan, which I'll have to show later. I'm almost finished with a shawl (for me!) and I'll post that pic later, too.

Speaking of Christmas.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Merry Christmas to all of you who are Orthodox Christians and celebrated yesterday, January 7th.

All the best to all of you who read my blog. Take care.

Holidays at Our House

I hope You and Yours had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yes, I'm a little late posting. However, we just celebrated our Christmas last week. My Hubby and I celebrate according to the Julian calendar for Orthodox Christmas. Yes, we celebrated December 25th with our Gregorian calendar family, too. Both were very quiet days, which was really good.

Here's the loot for our 4-legged babies. This is the second year in a row that we've finally convinced our relatives NOT to exchange gifts. I'm thankful for this economy. It helped sway everyone. Anyhow, gifts aren't the Reason for the Season, right?! We've already been given the greatest Gift of all and we could never top that!

We don't buy for ourselves and haven't done so for about 18 years. My Hubby and I have all we want or need. It makes us happy to watch our Angel and Trixie open their gifts.

How simple can that be?!

Take care. I wish many blessings for You and Yours throughout the new year.