The day after

Traditionally today is the day that the Christmas tree, and decorations go as well as making the pip-a-neir. ( a danish cookie, however in recent years this has been pushed back to Saturdays or Sundays)  Well, I got the tree and decorations up.  I think I counted at least 2000 lights on my tree.  Seriously.  I like a bright tree.  The sad truth is, I really want to go out and get another 400 lights, the top of the tree is looking pretty dim to me.
Remember all those snowflakes I made?  Well, before decorating the tree, I put up several and took a picture.  It looked so pretty, I think I may have to make a few hundred more for next year and only put up the snowflakes. 

with just the lights, see?  Doesn't the top look dim compared to the bottom?

I think next year the tree will be full of snowflakes like these!

I love decorating for the holidays, My house has changed over the last few years.  I seem to have less space to decorate, as my son's needs have taken over the whole of the dining room, and half my table space in the living room has been taken over by Sophie (our hamster).  But what I did do I think looks cute, I didn't take pictures of the pictures on the walls though.

Handmade wooden santas, made by my grandfather, and painted by my grandmother and mother.  These were left over from the days when our family used to have a big Christmas craft sale at Ledgeview Farm.  I miss those days.

My only spot in the once dining room- now Will's therapy room.  I may loose this soon, here's hoping it stays till Christmas!

Some of my colored snowflakes ended up in some windows.  Including my front door, thanks to a friends suggestion.

The Christmas tree is always my favorite.  I dread putting it up because I sneeze the rest of the day, and this year was no exception.  -sneeze- (bless me) And the lights drive me crazy.  I hate putting the lights on, but they look so pretty when done that it's totally worth it.  This year, after the lights were on and 3/4 of the decorations were up, the lights started to act up.  I had 3 fuses blow, and a string that's temperamental, oy vey!   Well, at last they seem to be working, I hope they stay that way!

Will was such a big help putting up the tree, decorating it, and making me take breaks throughout the day to spend quality with my favorite person in the whole world.  Who could ask for a better day than that?

Will put up the garlands by himself, did NOT want my help!

And here's our tree this year.  It's so beautiful.  It's hard to see all the ornaments with this blinding light though. ;-)

My favorite part of the day was putting up this wall display.  Now dad can see what I did with all those 4"x4" blocks of wood he cut for me.  And yes, I meant for it to look random.  I'm hoping to add to this wall in the future.

What did you enjoy today?

Thanksgiving

Now is the time to be thankful, I hope most remember to be thankful throughout the year and not just today.  I have a wonderful family, we have our fair share of crazy, but when needed we come together and support and love each other, for them I am thankful.  My wonderful son, was able to find ways of coping throughout the hectic day that did not involve a full, or even partial, melt down (verbal or physical) he was polite and patient, and able to use his words.  For all this I am thankful.  

I did miss my parents at Thanksgiving mealtime, however, was able to bring a plate (more like a very over-sized bag FULL of food) to them so that they didn't miss out on the wonderful food because of my mothers health.  I also was able to visit for a short while before my son quietly explained he needed to get home.  For that I am thankful.

I was able to start the process of decorating for Christmas, the bulk will be done tomorrow.  I have placed the colored snowflakes in the windows, pictures to come, and a few other items were placed.  For that I am thankful.

From my favorite Christmas movie, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Complete with book trees that I made earlier this fall

I love the Bumble.  'Cause Bumbles bounce!

Had to give the misfits a home......I will love you Charlie!

While driving home I was treated to the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a very long time.  I was enchanted.  For this I am thankful.

Yes, I was driving, I don't recommend anyone take pictures and drive at the same time, but how could I pass up this view?  Sorry mom.

What are you thankful for today?

Christmas presents

It's that time of year again, although it has been unseasonably warm so far, there is still a crispness to the air, (at least in the morning) the Christmas music is already playing at the stores.  Christmas displays have been in stores for a few weeks now.  Yikes!  My family has decided (mostly because no one has money, but also because family time is so much more important that "stuff") that we can only spend $5 on each other this year.
This is a wonderful idea, it means more presents from the heart than from the store.  There will be more thought and intent behind the gifts than just the idea that we need more stuff.  (I'm going to win!!)  Wait, it's not a contest! (but I'm going to win!)  I have started, or continued, a tradition of giving ornaments as part of my gifts.  I've always received an ornament first from my grandmother, then by my mother.  She still gives us one, I always look forward to what she's picked out for us.  Last year I crocheted ornaments.  I made trees, Christmas mice, gnomes, and snowmen.  I wasn't sure yet what to make this year and then I was told about the $5 limit!  I already had a lot of plans for different things I was making.  I had most of the supplies around my home, but all things considered, I didn't have the budget to buy anything for ornaments.  What to do, what to do.
This is what I decided to make.  I think they came out beautiful.  I went a little overboard, a lot of the colored ones will be decorations in my windows, but who knows.  All I did was laminate them.  Now I'll punch a small hole to string some ribbon, or whatever I can find. ( I really don't have anymore money to spend!  In fact, I think I'm slightly over, but that's not my fault as I already invested money in ideas before I was informed of the money challenge.)

I know these were already in above pictures but these are my favorite colored snowflakes!

There are actually many more white snowflakes than colored, but I picked out my favorites.

And these are my absolute favorites.

Talk about a cheap ornament.  Luckily I had the laminate at the house and didn't have to spend money on it!  Otherwise I'd be in trouble!  What are some of your Christmas/ holiday traditions?

Pumpkin seeds

Remember the all-in-a-pumpkin recipe I shared?  Well, that pumpkin also yielded a lot of pumpkin seeds.  I couldn't throw them out!  I don't know about you, but I love pumpkin seeds.  I look forward to carving a pumpkin for just that reason.  (Well, I like to carve pumpkins for the fun of it too)
Well, I was pretty bummed that I didn't get a pumpkin to carve this year, so when I got that recipe I was very excited about the seeds, thinking if the recipe was a bust, at least I'll get the seeds.  The recipe was fantastic, and the left overs tasted great too (whew!) Now, I usually roast the seeds with a lot of salt.  It's what I"ve always done.  This year I decided to think outside the box.  I roasted my seeds with a mix of sugar and pumpkin spices.  I have to say, it's different, but I really like it!  I have one more pumpkin and I'll be thinking outside the box on those seeds too.  I haven't decided yet, but if it comes out well I'll definitely share the ideas.
What new recipes have you created or tried lately?

Fall day

It's been unseasonably warm these last few days, however there was a bite in the air today as I did a couple of errands with my son.  Most of the leaves have fallen with the exception of a few brown leaves clinging to the branches of almost barren trees.  There are still a few colorful leaves out there to be found if you look hard enough.  I happened upon a bright red leaf in my yard today that looked so beautiful siting on the brown leaves in the grass I just had to take a couple of pictures if it.

Where did you find unexpected beauty today?

All in a Pumpkin

What's that you say?  Well, it's a new recipe I tried today.  I received it from a colleague of mine.  It tasted delicious and is the perfect meal during the colder months.  It would have been better if I had had a couple of people to share it with me, but alas I ate alone tonight.  I just hope the left overs taste just as good.  House smells great too.
Think of it this way, it's a way to clean out the fridge and have a tasty meal to boot.  Mine tasted almost like a Thanksgiving dinner all rolled into one.  Want to know how to make it?

Well, first you get a pumpkin (a pie pumpkin, or sugar pumpkin is best) you cut off the top, clean it out of the stringy stuff and the seeds (I saved mine and they are baking right now- another yummy fall treat)

Then you want to rub a little salt and pepper on the inside to taste.  Make your filling- it can be anything you like.  I put in prosciutto, cheddar cheese, broccoli, carrots, and dry stuffing mix.  Again, that's what I had on hand, but anything will work, it's all a matter of what you like.  I mixed it all together and stuffed the pumpkin.  After I stuffed the pumpkin I poured 1/4- 1/2 cup of heavy cream over the top of the filling.

I put mine on a baking sheet covered in tin foil ( makes clean up so much easier) I think you are supposed to put the top of the pumpkin back on but I forgot.  My filling was perfect for me, but was told it is much more liquid when the top is on during baking to keep it from evaporating.  You can choose what you like.  I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 - 2 hours depending on how big your pumpkin is.  Check by piercing the skin of the pumpkin  with a fork if it goes in easily then it is done.  Then you can just cut it into sections- pumpkin and all to eat, just don't eat the skin.;-)

I couldn't eat the half.  It tastes a lot better than it looks I promise.

There you have it: All in a Pumpkin.  Enjoy.....

Fall Harvest Festival

My son's school has a Fall Harvest Festival every year.  This is to raise money for the schools PTA.  I've never been able to go but it looks like they have some wonderful things going on there.  I do know that every year each classroom is in charge of a themed basket to be raffled (auctioned?) off.  I try to help out with this every year, some years I can't afford anything, didn't think I would be able to help out this year until I saw the theme.  I was so excited!!!  It is a spa basket.  Everything to do with pampering yourself.  At first I thought: I'll give a gift certificate for a free 1 hour massage.  I mean I am a LMT and it would be for a great cause. My son's education and that of all the other kids there.  Well, I decided against that because I've been struggling lately and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to offer the highest healing and intent with my massage.  (I have a feeling it will be a while before I'm feeling confident that my clients will be offered that.  So I don't feel it's right to offer a possible mediocre massage.) 
So what to do??  I really think this is my forte.  If I had paid more attention earlier to the themes I could have made a whole bunch of stuff.  As it was, I've been so preoccupied with my own life that I left it to the last minute.  This is where divine intervention happened.  I  found a few inexpensive facial masks at the store.  I also happened to be surfing all the blogs that I now follow, and was led to a site that had simple recipes from ingredients I have in my kitchen.  Perfect!  So I made some of the most amazing sugar scrubs I have ever used.  Yes, I made enough for me to have some too.  I made a brown sugar and vanilla scrub that smells wonderful, however I have to say my favorite of the 2 I made is the peppermint sugar scrub.  Wow, it smells so good.  The funny thing about them is they are all natural and edible.  I have to confess to trying just a dab of both.  Yup, peppermint won out big time!
I forgot to take pictures, but as these will also be Christmas presents for family and friends, have no fear.  If you want to see the end results (including the clumsy packaging)  I will be sharing in the near future.  I don't want to make them up in advance as the only preservative is some vitamin E, so I don't really know the shelf life.  ( I don't think that will be a problem, if people enjoy them as much as I have the last few nights.  Wow, what soft skin I have now! )  Yum, peppermint.......;-)
And if you are a family member reading this or a close friend, act surprised!  Trust me you'll love it.