Never a creature so loved.
How I’ll miss those dear little paws.
Good bye my sweet, sweet Beany.
Super Bowl 2015
Having been around a little bit of football in my day, it must be concluded that…
Superbowl is a pretty big deal in these parts.
Such a big deal in fact, that once the people started arriving and the food was spread out, I stopped taking pictures, because, well because I was watching the game.
But this was a very interesting year because we are across the board–big Patriots fans.
But there are a few among us who adore the Seahawks too. And that’s perfect.
Then of course, we have the Viking fans…
and the BYU fans all mixed up in one room. But it was after all, football and seriously, for people like us, no matter what the colors…
that’s enough.
From Bethlehem~
For many years now, I’ve gotten a new nativity–of some sort– at Christmas time. If you’ll recall, last year’s was a rubber ducky set. Ridiculous, but very cute. I couldn’t resist.
This was never meant to be a tradition really, but more an activity to ease the heartache of losing an entire box of nativity sets that I’d collected over the past 30 years. In one of the many moves our family made since becoming single, this most important box, somehow, never made it to us. In it we’d packed six or seven different sets that the kids had grown up with–most importantly, one that I bought while on a trip to Bethlehem back in the 70’s. To say that it broke my heart to lose that box is putting it lightly. However, I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason, and if the reason is that someone, somewhere needed that box full of baby Jesus more than we did–well then, I’m good with it.
This year, my dear daughter April gave me a gift. An incredibly beautiful gift. When she heard that her In-laws were going to the Holy Land, she arranged to have them find a new nativity set– hand chosen for me, in the town of Bethlehem. Oh, my goodness what a perfect job they did.
It is beautiful! The detailed carving work is amazing and each piece has it’s own personality, distinct and lovely.
When I was in Bethlehem a million years ago, I bought the only set I could afford. I loved it for that reason, but the craftsmanship was very low scale. In fact, the running joke was, “Don’t look at the faces too closely or you won’t be able to tell a donkey from a shepherd!” Yeah, it was kinda bad.
But this set…is simply gorgeous!! Joseph’s staff is removable and baby Jesus isn’t carved into the manger. You can actually take him out…which fact we’ve learned over and over as we keep finding him in random places. That Magoo! It’s fun to take each piece and study it for awhile to appreciate it’s individual beauty. Mary is smiling, the wise men are incredibly ornate and the sheep and other animals look…real. It’s breathtaking I tell you.
Such a treasure, such a blessing, such a gift of love this Christmas!
Thank you, my sweet daughter.
Your thoughtfulness has healed my heart.
I love it beyond words. And you too.
Merry Christmas.
Santa’s Visit~
Got one good picture of Santa’s work and just as the kidlets came in…
my camera died!
You’ll have to trust me when I say, it was a wonderful morning.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!
Honey Spice Throat Drops Season
100 Happy Days #54
Ahhh…here we are again, at that lovely time of year. My absolute favorite, to be exact. Leaves changing and falling everywhere. The holidays approaching. That nippy cool snap in the air. But with all this loveliness also comes the musty furnace coming on at night and the cool air coming on in the day. It’s a balance from hour to hour to not roast or freeze. At our house, sometimes all these changes brings an occasional bout of scratchy throats for the big and little folks.
Must be time to whip up a batch of Honey Spice Throat Drops! Yummo.
Now, I need to tell you–if you venture out and make your own throat drops using this recipe, please, PLEASE go HERE first and find out what Hard Crack Stage actually is for your area at this time of year. It’s not hard to figure out, but it is different everywhere and changes with the weather and moisture in the air. It’s pretty aggravating to follow the directions and have the same temperature I use actually not set up, or worse, burn in your area. Do the test and your drops will work.
Mine were a tad more sticky this time because it was raining outside while I was making them. I should have cooked them a minute or two longer. But they still tasted great and did the job.
Yee haw. I love these things!
