Booming Banter

We are just back from Church. Here we go to the 6:00 pm youth led service as Aaron ushers.

In Ireland we always went to the 11:00 pm service so with the time difference we are perfectly coordinated. This beautiful photo of Holy Trinity Ballylesson was taken last week by Glenn Jamison and shows just how very special this lovely country Parish is. It brings us close to all our loved ones especially those at rest there.

Young Scooby has been allowed to break into his stocking already. He is making short work of yet another indestructible. Today it hit home who he resembles. We know he is part Wheaten Terrier now we understand why he chews so well.

This advent has been fun with Scooby and with lots of get togethers and merry making. A few simple things also stand out.

The flowering of the Christmas cactus. How can one tiny plant have such a spectacular bloom.

Finding by chance a new way to display the Christmas cards on the stair rail and wondering why we’d never done this before. Each card is a special part of the festive joy.

Lastly the beauty of the skies. A gift that keeps on giving be it dawn or as this photo from last night shows at the setting of the sun.

So with the last sleep upon us what remains but to say merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Oh and one last thing ……….

Blessing # 555 – Night and Light

 

As soon as we reach Northern Ireland we always tune into our favorite local radio station U105.

Thanks to the miracle of the internet we can now listen to the station live here in Ohio. It’s rare that we do this but Christmas is different. The humor is the BEST!

So his morning while having a good soak after our constitutional I tuned into the Carolyn Stewart show. She’s a really great DJ very down to earth, has a wonderful local accent and is such fun!

Carolyn was playing requests and some were coming in from abroad so I decided to give it a go and sure enough the message was no sooner sent to wish my besties all the best than it was read! Amazing!! Even better one of them Phyllis sent me a WHATsApp to say she’d heard it!

There are so many things now that allow us to keep in touch through the internet like live chat with friends and family. It’s unbelievable how fast things have advanced.

Yesterday when I woke up Aaron had activated all the upgrades for the programs on my phone. This was long overdue and one thing it prompted was an app on Facebook to help make your own emoji.

It was really fun to do a bit like a photofit picture or Mr. Potato Head if you prefer. With lots of options the outcome was quite a good likeness.

Of course once available you have to use your emoji don’t you think? So this morning when my friend sent a text I replied with an emoji. To which Barb replied with hers!

What would our parents have made of this? My Mum would have loved the video chats but the emoji   not so sure. Just mind blowing!

Blessing #554 – Instant Messaging

The solstice came late last night and just as we officially entered winter the thermometer soared.

We woke this morning to a gentle frost but it felt warm compared to the past week. By the time Scooby and I went for our morning walk the frost had gone and for our afternoon outing it was positively balmy with bright blue skies.

There are lots of great programs on PBS today including Lucy Worsley the British historian taking us on a trip back in time to the origin of all the Christmas Carols. Some are closely tied to the solstice and even predate the birth of Jesus.

This was followed by another program on the pivotal role Jewish composers have played in the development of popular Christmas music.

One of the most recent and beautiful of these is Gloria Shayne Bakers “Do you hear what I hear?” Gloria grew up next door to President Kennedy and it was during the Cuban missile crisis that she composed this plea for peace that depicts the birth of Jesus from the perspective of a humble shepherd boy.

So with the fourth light of advent lit and the start of Hanukkah today it’s a special time to hunker down and enjoy being cosy at home with plenty of good Christmas tunes to make us merry and bright!

Blessing # 553 – Songs for Singing

After a busy day of shopping last night was time to put the feet up and do a bit of festive viewing.

We are working our way through our best of British DVD. It’s got all the Christmas specials and last night we watched Lark Rise to Candleford.

Now as you do when there is a good ghost story going we cracked into a big box of chocolates.

Full of expectation that these were going to be fabulous we took our first bites. They were good so we went for the second. It looked different but trust me with eyes closed it tasted the same.

Maybe a fluke! So on to number three. The same thing. Different look same taste! Number four allowed the conclusion to be drawn that this was not what we’d expected.

Its rare that Aldi disappoints and they are good chocs they are just not to die for as we’d hope.

Only consolation is that being so similar there wasn’t the incentive to keep on munching.

Blessing # 552 – Calorie Control

It’s been absolutely ages since I’ve been to the mall. May even have been last Christmas. There was a good crowd of people but not to the point were it was scary.

The stores looked a bit cluttered and quite messy and the decorations weren’t great either.

You hear a lot today about how the big retail outlets are suffering because of online shopping. You’d think if that’s the case they would go all out to make the shopping experience as special as possible. Maybe they need to cut costs but they better be careful because this certainly wasn’t ideal.

After just two hours, during which there was no success in finding what was wanted for Krishna, and without buying a single thing the mall was abandoned for the ever faithful tried and trusted Marshall’s.

There, after just a quick wizz around, everything needed was found under one roof.

Of course if I’d gone there directly I wouldn’t have been satisfied that I got the best options.

Talk about the grass being greener just call me the Grinch!

Blessing # 551 – Simplest Solutions

How many of you have started writing to do lists? I sent myself one just now.

We got the groceries today so apart from the things that you always forget, which are usually the most obvious like whipping cream, we’re home and dry on that front.

One thing that’s great about living in the Arctic conditions we are currently experiencing is that the garage serves as a walk in fridge.

Until it gets below -10 C outside all the drinks can stay there and be super chilled when you need one which of course you tend to do at this time of heightened stress.

The Diet Cokes are being consumed by the gallon. Don’t know what it is about that drink but it calms my nerves just like cigarettes used to do. Anyone else feel that too?

Back to shopping. Gotta go get Gifts!  Know what the friends are getting, have an idea for Krishna, Scooby’s simply but that lad won’t give us any clues. If you’ve an idea please let me know as I’m hitting the mall tomorrow to go berserk!

Secretly looking forward to that. Christmas just wouldn’t be fun without a bit of hustle and bustle loaded down with bags and a sneaky stop at Starbucks before sorting some stocking stuffers

Blessing # 550 – Goodies Galore

Today one of my friends posted about a flight cancellation she and her husband had experienced on their return from a vacation in the USA to Ireland. Oh how we know the frustration they must feel.

With a few exceptions, when my Mum and Dad came to stay with us, we always went home to Belfast for Christmas.

We had some memorable travel experiences that you could hardly believe.

We got into storms at sea when crossing from Le Harve France to Rosslare Ireland. What should have taken 15 hours took nearly 48. Free cruise! Except most of the time was spent in the harbor and the ferry even ran out of food close to our destination.

Travelling from NYNY to Belfast on a charter flight we ended up in the Azores because of an ice storm that called for a change of flight path. Sounds lovely you might think. Perhaps if we’d got off the plane. All we did was refuel and take off again.

Krishna and Aaron once had an adventure in Heathrow on the way from Shanghai. They got stuck in a lift, missed the connection and ended up going to a party in the hotel where they were lodged. Aaron was three he started partying very early!

One of the most memorable was when we took the channel tunnel in 2009 with Dibley in tow. The temperature was so low the rails of the tunnel train froze.

Our first trip to Ireland from Ohio was a classic. It was 2010 and the British Isles had been hit by a mega snow storm which is unusual. We were the last flight to land in Dublin and were fortunate because Belfast has closed hours before.

The return though saw another mega storm this time in NYNY which saw us missing our connection from Newark to Columbus. The earliest we could get out was the next evening from LaGuardia. What a hardship that was spending the night at the airport and the whole day in NYNY with a beautiful blanket of snow everywhere.

This year we will dearly miss seeing our nears and dears in Northern Ireland but that travel we won’t miss at all.

Blessing # 549 – Staying Put

Today we took things easy. After Tuesday Morning Group we had a leftovers lunch and then a good veg.

Krishna read his book and I watched A Berry Merry Christmas featuring The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge cooking with the famous Mary Berry.

The show aired in the UK yesterday but thanks to YouTube we can see it already today. It’s amazing how technology has advanced in such a short space of time. It’s even more amazing that the future King and Queen are sharing stories about their kids and joking about their cooking skill.

They made lots of yummy treats for a reception that representatives of charities and the services had been invited to.

It was really lovely, heartwarming and sincere. The UK is blessed to have this young couple as future heads of state.

Mary Berry is a legend. Queen of Baking we watch her any chance we get. Somethings she makes are for the gifted only and way out of my league but others are worth a try including her festive meringue and berry crown.

We’ll be trying it out this Christmas and even if it turns into an Eton Mess will still wrap our lips around it on the big day.

Blessing # 548 – Noble Nosh

When it snows during the night and that white blanket accumulates it always wakes me up. Maybe it’s the silence or maybe the brightness the snow brings.

At around two o’clock there was about two inches on the ground and it was snowing heavily so it looked like Aaron was going to have a special treat for his birthday, a snow day off.

No call came though and when Scooby and I went out at six we understood why. The grass was covered but the roads were clear. It was just at that perfect temperature where the grit can fully work it’s magic.

So it was that the birthday boy had to get up and get out as usual. He got a silly dancing dog as his gift because he just can’t decide what he wants.

One thing he was clear about was where he wanted to go for dinner. Olive Garden! Endless salad and breadsticks and tour of Italy it had to be. We all enjoyed as being a Monday there was no wait to get seated and the food was fast and good and plentiful.

Easy then to say cheese and lasagna and tuck into the year to come with gusto.

Blessing # 547 – Our Birthday Boy

We have had a great time today with our dear friends. Scooby was absolutely adorable. He tried to sneak a few nibbles on the table but sure it’s Christmas.

There is nothing better than a house full of people you care for who come from different parts of your life.

The theme for the party, for those who like to dress up, was Stars and Angels. That could be twinkling stars or those with marks on the Hollywood hall of fame. Angels could be good or fallen.

Can you guess who Krishna is?

What about me?

HINT we are Stars we’re no angels!

We had some great costumes the best Angel was Jackie the best Star was Donny as Freddie Mercury complete with teeth and the overall best in class was the fallen angel Barb.

Now we are tired but thanks to Sandy we have some great pics. More will come but we must put the feet up!

Blessing # 546 –  Togetherness