I have an idea for a couple of fun posts, as I am weary of politics, even the chipper Biden live events.
Why don’t you show me your holidays? Email me (here: whats4dinnersolutions at live dot com) photos, links to videos, links to favorite movies, music or books, and I’ll put together a few holiday posts depending on how many I receive. These are all from fun holidays past:
Christmas in Georgetown, CO a few years ago
Santa’s Reindeer stopping by for a visit
Holiday fire dancing (and boy, was it cold that night)
And one of my favorite photos of Harley (still missed) stalking the Christmas tree
Open thread (there’s a guest post coming up shortly from WereBear so I’ll be bigfooting myself).
And send me your Holidays (today or past!).
TaMara (HFG)
You’re welcome to share holidays in this thread…but to be included in future posts, please email me.
Barbara
We are going to get a tree this year, I know that, after not getting one last year. We had gotten in the habit of planning big trips beginning on or soon after or even before Christmas Day, but have no plans this year. Even if I wanted to go to Vermont to ski, and am willing to go through the quarantine procedures, everything I have heard suggests that many are simply lying about their compliance, so I would still feel constrained to pack my own lunches, and so on, but as my husband says, “what do you do when you need to use the toilet?” Maybe I will feel differently a few months from now. Sorry, didn’t mean to start off the thread as a killjoy!
Baud
You deserve break. Your posts were welcome beacon amidst the noise.
Yarrow
Putting up the rest of the Christmas decorations today. Solar lights are currently sitting in the sun. Bought a new strand to add to the collection, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they work.
Frankensteinbeck
Open thread? Okay, I will show this off. One of my alpha readers is a voice actress, and she enjoyed the Embarrassing Ghost Relatives scene in the book I’m writing so much, she recorded this as her evening warmup.
zhena gogolia
We’re always too exhausted by teaching to do any decorations. We usually have friends for dinner on Christmas Day. And if we get to catch Christmas in Connecticut or Remember the Night on TCM, we’re happy. They’re both on in prime time this year!
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: Where do you find solar lights?
Mike in NC
Great photo of Harley under the tree. We keep trying to get perfect shots of our three kitties for Christmas cards but they – being cats – refuse to cooperate.
trollhattan
I’d get a pic of the state capitol Christmas tree but they have the whole place fenced on account of wingnuts are still protesting they lost and counterprotestors are spinning them up. Even yesterday. I want to tell them all the election was one fucking month ago and they need to go get jerbs.
No name
@WaterGirl: If you’re still keeping track, the back button has been working for me but site is still loading very slowly on iPad.
Miss Bianca
Hmmm…well, since I’m surrounded by live Christmas trees up here on the mountain, I don’t tend to much for Christmas except the ceremonial little glass Christmas tree that goes over the LED block light that Pal D rigged up.
On a somewhat melancholy note, I do still have one Christmas card from last year on display…it’s from Alain. I just couldn’t bear to throw it away. So it’s sitting on the window sill where the glass tree was last year. Next to a big rooster nightlight. Which is tangentially Christmas-y, because of the legend, cited in Hamlet:
Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long.
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad.
The nights are wholesome. Then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is that time.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: The old ones I got at Target several years ago now. The new ones I got on Amazon based on someone’s recommendation here. It’s interesting to see the difference in the solar panels between the old ones and new ones. The new ones are so much more advanced.
Without even putting them in the sun they came on (I couldn’t tell if the button was in On or Off position so I covered the solar panel and tested it straight from the box.) I think they’ll be great outdoors. The lights on the old one don’t last that long so I’m eater to see how the new ones do.
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: I loved Harley the second I laid eyes on him many years ago, through a photo.
WaterGirl
@No name: I am keeping track, thank you for the info!
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: Do you have an amazon link? I would much rather buy something that someone I know has purchased and likes, than to try to wade through all the options when I have no idea what to look for.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: I got these. It says they’re not in stock until Dec 14, but when I went ahead and purchased them they weren’t back in stock until December 3rd but then they got back in stock right away and arrived a day earlier than said. Of course that might not be the case going forward.
I haven’t put them up yet so can’t say any more than that. The bulbs are quite small but they seem really bright.
StringOnAStick
This year for Christmas I’m hoping we get the 99% of our stuff that’s still in CO after our move to OR. The holidays and Covid are apparently making it hard to get a full semi load together to head this way. When they were packing up our old house we locked ourselves into an empty room with our cats and made enough travel food that we never hard to eat out on the 2 day drive to here so we could limit exposure. Sleeping on car camping pads has been ok but the backpacking chairs aren’t great for my back after long hard days of cleaning/painting every paint-able surface in this house but it’s truly a diamond in the rough and we feel truly grateful that this house fell into our laps; best Christmas present ever!
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: Thank you. I ended up ordering the warm white, that are in stock.
Yarrow
@WaterGirl: Let me know how they work. I’ll put these up today since finally we’re getting a nice day that isn’t super windy, cold, rainy or all three at once. The last week has been a bit of a misery.
WaterGirl
@StringOnAStick: That’s all so great! Except for the sleeping on the floor part. Think how happy you’ll be when your stuff comes and you have the painting and fixing done and can move your stuff in and have instant home.
I can tell you from my experience the year the tree hit my house and EVERYTHING but the tv, the tv stand, a twin mattress on the floor and an ottoman were the only things in my house for 6 months… it was great/weird getting my furniture back once all the repairs were done.
At first everything looked HUGE because I had spent 6 months with nothing in the house. :-) But I was so happy to get everything back.
WaterGirl
@Yarrow: I will!
debbie
I don’t decorate, except maybe a string of holly lights (sort of like these) around the doorway between the living room and dining room/kitchen.
I’m liking the way the neighborhood is decorating this year. Instead of icicles, there are strings of lights following rooflines and gables. I can’t wait to see how it all looks at night.
Omnes Omnibus
I just sent you something along with a couple of pictures. I hope it is the sort of thing you are looking for.
Kayla Rudbek
I’m going to make spritz cookies for the first time in at least 10 years (might even be up to twice that time). I couldn’t find the pamphlet of recipes that came with the press, but since I have to pretty much bake vegan now, it doesn’t matter (all I want the pamphlet for is to make the orange-flavored variation). Hopefully I can make enough to drop off for my sibling and family.
Ohio Mom
Ohio Family is just about ready for Hanukkah (starts Thursday night). It’s a relatively quiet holiday, at least in comparison to Christmas, and this year it will be even quieter — no dinner guests for brisket and latkes.
The best part will be that the first night coincides with the end of Ohio Son’s community college semester. That doubles the celebration.
NotMax
Hoping others will follow suit with a few suggestions, thought it might be okay to toss out a couple of holiday gift possibilities in case you’re stumped or faced with an eternally hard to shop for recipient.
1) Very happy with this device over the 2 or so years have had it. Suction at one end, blower nozzle on the other. Not only helpful and handy for cleaning up dust and grit from the keyboard, there’s easily a half dozen other uses have found it a cool thing to have around for.
2) When power outages or emergencies happen, there’s nothing like an alternative robust source of illumination. The X-Torch meets all the criteria (video), with the bonus of including being solar chargeable. (Amazon link.)
Xavier
Thanks for the pictures of Georgetown. I lived about 2 blocks from that location for three years in the 70s.
sab
One of our holiday traditions is a little grinch who sits atop the grandfather clock next to the mistletoad (plush green toad or frog with a red santa hat.) This year Grinch for sure will have a mask. Not sure yet about the toad, since amphibians don’t get covid.
StringOnAStick
@WaterGirl: I found a gorgeous small Victorian loveseat at Habitat for Humanity Restore last week when I was looking for yard tools, it will eventually sit in my office and be recovered, right now we have to compete with the cats on who gets to use it. The antiques guy at Restore said it’s an authentic 1880’s model. It was a steal at $150. I had seen it and then dreamed about it so I knew it wanted to come home with me; small enough to easily fit in an Outback.
MagdaInBlack
Sorta Christmas-y, in that its a pretty red: TaMara, I just took your Cranberry Upside-down Cake out of the oven. It’s gorgeous =-)
Last week was the Buttermilk Pumpkin Bundt cake, which was lovely and I had the last of for breakfast Monday morning. Yes, I ate it all > The beauty of being single =-) I whipped together mascarpone, a little brown sugar and a dash of cream and drizzle-smeared for a frosting.