Author: boomingbanter

Scooby has made it clear to Santa what he would like for Christmas.

After a walk in the rain and another since I am soaking she is going to throw me in the sink start to the day he pulled out his chew rope.

This started as an indestructible super strong tug toy about six weeks ago.

It has since gone through multiple transformations going from a rope to something closely resembling a wreath. Very festive work Scooby!

Most of it has been shredded and ingested and it is now in the shape of a ball making it handy to play with even without a partner.

Today though it proved to be insufficient to vent the frustration of having to undergo beauty treatment for the second time in less than two weeks.

So what to do to make your point? Hit the laundry basket of course and shred that woman’s nickers.

Some write notes some leave more subtle suggestions!

Blessing # 540 – Santa’s Smart

Back home in Ireland you were lucky to get a Christmas Carol any earlier than the fourth week in Advent although the Messiah would have hit the halls by now.

Here we’re well into the seasonal song. Not just the traditional advent tunes like Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel either. Today we were rocking out The First Noel.

The Methodists of course with Charles Wesley can claim the best of the best so they probably like to cover the entire repertoire. This is much appreciated as we get plenty of Christmas pop on the radio but not so much of those great hymns and Carols.

Sometimes I wonder about the sequence of events when it comes to classics like these. For example, did Wesley hear Mendelssohn music and write Hark the Herald Angels sing to match it or was it just by chance it was such a perfect fit.

This year from what’s been popping up on social media the traditional nine lessons and carols service is also getting a new twist. Now that could really help you sing with gusto!

Blessing # 539 – Stretching It

Like many of you perusing recipes is a hobby of mine. We post them we save them but how often do we take the final step and make them?

On the videos everything looks so easy and we dream of being the hostess with the mostest. Our Christmas parties will be filled with delicious home made appetizers and not a drop of sweat will fall from our brows.

It’s never that way for me. I end up  thinking it will be Julia Child’s resurrected and it ends up being Just Chill Gill and bring out buckets of cocktail sausages and cheese cubes.

Today though a recipe for Antipasti Squares I’d scheduled for posting on Buddies appeared and it was so tempting it had to be tried.

Well of course it wasn’t exactly as it appeared in the video.

The crescent rolls as base and top were about half the size they should have been in theory. They didn’t  cover the tray at all.

The rest was easy to layer up and cook.

The end result a bit flat maybe I didn’t stuff them up enough but man those little suckers didn’t taste bad at all according to a certain two legged growing boy!

Will we make them again for parties. Maybe but it will be with big biscuits and not with skinny crescent rolls.

Blessing # 538 – Teenage Appetite

Last year at Christmas our friends Tim and Joan gave us a little Christmas cactus. It had lots of pink flowers when we received it and they stuck around for a month or so.

During spring and summer the poor soul took a turn for the worse and at one point looked like it was on its last legs.

To give it a second chance it was moved to the kitchen window for intensive care and plenty of sun and now happily shares a space beside rosemary and parsley.

Bingo the baby took on a new allure and true to its promise is loaded with buds and ready for the big day.

There is a mixed result on the poinsettias.

The white one from last Christmas kept a white leaf or two throughout the entire year.

Three of the four older red ones are as green as grass.

Today though a little hope dawned with the appearance of two tiny red leaves on the scrawniest of all of them.

All these signs and wonders are brought about by light and are almost totally outside our control.

A good life lesson. Just wait and don’t fuss if it’s mean to be it will happen.

Blessing # 537 – Perfect Timing

This morning my cousin Anne sent me a video with a song about Banbridge the town where our grandparents grew up.

There were some great photos in the video that got me thinking of what Christmas past must have been like all those years ago.

For sure there wouldn’t have been too many decorations in the homes of the working classes. Maybe some holly and mistletoe from the woods, colored pine cones and fir branches and paper chains.

The Church, that played a very important role in life, would have been so festive and much the same as it is today with advent crowns, candles and Christmas trees.

This photo was taken just a week ago at our Parish Church in Ireland Holy Trinity at Ballylesson. The Church was built in the 1790s. It looks so beautiful.

It must have really been quite impressive for your average person way back then to live through the advent season.

Lovely that these traditions are retained glad though that we each get to deck our own halls with a bit of bling today too!

Blessing # 536 – The Old & New

Santa is very busy working on all those toys for girls and boys. He’s also making appearances at tree lighting ceremonies, in malls, hotels, clubs and at garden centers every day and every where.

There are lots of beautiful photos of friends children and grandchildren meeting with the great man all over Facebook and Instagram.

That look of awe on the little faces is so beautiful. Is there anyone who wouldn’t want to have those days back when we first met Santa even if just for a moment.

Thanks to my Moms great record keeping I can see my visits to Santa over the years. It’s so clear that while I got bigger Santa never changed. Just look at that beard!

Santa started making such visits to department stores way back in 1890 in the USA. Since then, and with the advances in supersonic travel he now can get all over the world so fast.

Being a super energetic sort Santa now also visits with our pets and his beard has gotten so much bigger and bushier than when I went to meet him.

He looked particularly well meeting HRH today. Maybe he is uses curling tongs to get that regal look. They must be really good ones. Just what I need! (Hint Hint Hint & Ho Ho Ho)

Blessing # 535 – Hope He Hears

Cities, towns and villages all over the world have switched on their Christmas lights. Many have markets with festive fare too!

At this dark and cold time of year in northern countries those lights really give a lift!

We’ve been fortunate to live close to some great cities Bern, New York, Paris and Shanghai that all have their unique Christmas charm. What if we combined the best of all of them!

In Bern its would have to be the arcades with their little white lights that are especially lovely if there has been snow.

In Paris of course what we remember most is the majestic Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower.

For New York it has to be the extravagant 5th Avenue and the best tree of all at the Rockefeller Center Tree.

The noise of Shanghai, the bling of the Bund and the street vendors make it unique.

Nothing though can beat the lights of London’s Regent Street, that view of Westminster and Harrods.

Oh and not to forget the old home town and the market around the beautiful Belfast city hall!

Where is you favorite spot?

Blessing # 534 – Best of Christmas

Aaron had the day of school so we went to the movies as the weather was really wet and miserable.

We saw the movie Harriet about the life of a very special woman who played a critical role in the set up and operation of the Underground Railroad.

Born into slavery Minty as she was known escaped to freedom. Her guide was the pole star and the sound of the river.

Once free with the new name of Harriet she just couldn’t forget her family and friends still living as slaves. She returned she came back many times to free others risking her life again and again.

In later life she went on to fight as a soldier in the American civil war and lived into her nineties.

It’s almost beyond belief that one person could accomplish so much. Of course she had supporters but the courage and conviction she had is up there with history’s greatest.

How many of you know her story? I knew her name and what I’d read with Aaron in his grade 4?school books. I’m ashamed to say that’s about it.

In this season of Advent when we focus and remember the coming of a very special person it’s timely to reflect on others like Harriet who had the faith to followed a star.

Blessing # 533 – Light in Darkness

 

We went to the local Indian store today to stock up on supplies and snacks for the party season.

The smell of the shop is phenomenal. If you close your eyes you can imagine yourself in Mumbai. It’s a mix of spices and herbs and essential oils all topped off with some incense.

It’s a great place to find foods suitable for vegetarian and vegan friends provided they’re partial to a little pepper!

I love watching the customers shop. Often you’ll see young men on their phones clearly taking directions from their wives or mothers on what to buy. There will be families too with little kids looking at the cookies and Mom and Dad at the traditional sweets.

Its always a good idea to check what the more mature ladies are buying. They can point you in the right direction for the best quality in the produce aisles. Today chilis and limes looked lovely all bright and shiny and a must have. You can’t have enough of them for the margarita magic moments!

What took my eye though were the white turnips. They were absolute perfection. Krishna and Aaron can be bothered with them but I wasn’t home fifteen minutes till one was peeled, boiled and scoffed with nothing more than a bit of butter!

Blessing # 532 – Light Lunch

This afternoon while we were watching the big football game between Ohio State and arch rivals Michigan I was working on the agenda for an upcoming meeting.

I’d just inserted the agenda into a covering email when Scooby took a mad leap up beside me, smacked into my iPhone and off went the half baked message to twenty people.

We’ve all heard excuses that dogs chewed up bills or homework but it’s only with the arrival of smart phones that we can honestly say my dog hit the send button not me! He really is on the ball!

Once the corrected version was sent and the game was over we went for a little walk. The rain came on so it was short lived and as always we stopped at the mail box on the way into the house.

A Christmas card had arrived from my cousin Marty. It was clearly one she had specially chosen for us and very much appreciated.

The very first Christmas Card was made in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole who had helped set up the Post Office in the UK. In the first year only one thousand cards were produced and sent. Can you imagine getting one? They were quite expensive at the time but if you had one now it would be worth a fortune.

My Mum loved getting Christmas Cards especially from people she’d gone to school with or family members who lived miles away that she rarely saw.

They were displayed all around the living room on strings of ribbon pinned to the wall. Each year she’d count them always hoping the number was greater than the previous one. She’d also make a note of any greetings that had come from new senders so she wouldn’t forget to reciprocate.

Today it’s so easy to send messages on Facebook or by email but those personal touches like the one from my cousin today mean a lot. Maybe time to get writing again!

Blessing # 531 – Pens on Paper