hope kitteh doznt attak me.

Wishing you love, joy, and a HEART AT PEACE during this Christmas Season and in the coming year. --Warmly, Marie Scott

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-178

Music: Rowland H. Pritchard; harm. from The English Hymnal

Christmas cacti!

The cookies are baked.

I love iced sugar cookies.  I  love interesting cookie cutter shapes.  I found this one in Santa Fe last year.   It’s a little hard to

In other cooking news, my oven is very flaky and needs all the temperature-control related stuff replaced.  They’ve ordered the parts and can’t say when they’ll come.  So I had the roast cooked by our local market for just the price of the beef and it’s already sliced in a container in the fridge.  I also prepped a big wild sockeye salmon with fresh garlic, rosemary and thyme…will poach that in white wine in the microwave tomorrow.  Don’t laugh…it sounds weird, but it comes out perfect every time.  Moist, impressive and quick.

Also made dressing, which is odd, but I want it!  Need to roast the Brussels sprouts/onion/pear mix tomorrow.  The champagne and tangerine juice are chilled for the mimosas we’ll serve with the midday appetizers.   The cousins are bringing salad, potatoes and red wine.

Oops!  Need to get the white wine in the fridge!

There are some interesting shapes there…

The presents are wrapped and under the tree.  The wrapping paper and ribbons are back in their storage containers…and hidden in my studio en route back to the garage.

It’s fun finding little gifties that fit in the stockings.

The stockings are hung by the fireplace.  That bird toy has been removed from the parson’s chair.

Love hearing from everyone any time of year, but isn’t this festive?

The cards are all hung on the pantry door and on the front of one of the cabinets.  We used to wrap the door in gold paper, but taping the cards to ribbons was a lot easier this year.

This is not a political statement.

Christmas carols have been sung.

Hydra and I hiked the peaks around our house this morning for almost two hours.  It was about 50 degrees, which would have been fine if the wind hadn’t been so fierce!    We kept our spirits up by singing Christmas carols.

To our amusement, the only lyrics we were both absolutely sure of where those for Christmas in Killarney. I blame Bing Crosby!   That White Christmas CD is probably my favorite.

The penguins are confused by the appearance of an English cottage at the South Pole.

In keeping with my ornaments theme, here are a couple of penguins we’ve had for at least a decade.

Looking forward to the SoCal cousins joining us for Christmas tomorrow.   It’ll be relaxed and fun.  I’ve made a long playlist of Christmas music to have on in the background.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow, whether it’s your religious holiday or a day off to enjoy friends and family or a movie.   I miss my family tonight, but knowing that they’re gathering tomorrow and over the weekend is heartwarming.

Here are the last of the Christmas Birds. The colors and designs would be pretty in ornaments. But most of all, they are superb examples of the Lord’s omniscient creative designs.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:.. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:10-12, 14 KJV)

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Well, I made it! Cast off the last gift last night and everything is wrapped and ready to go. So, guilt-free, I can now devote a little time to catching you guys up with the massive amounts of stuff coming off my needles/hook over the last month and a half.

(I’ll share all the holiday gift knitting/crochet with y’all tomorrow.)

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Wow. Where to start?

How about some socks…

BadgerDan’s Vintage Intarsia Socks (aka Regent Hose for Hubby) came out pretty well I think – he just loves them This was his anniversary gift this year.

The Miss Marple Mystery Socks turned out just as awesome as I thought they would be. Star Athena encouraged us to play with ideas for the toe, so I modified the heel chart to make it work for the toes. (For the record, I omitted the lace pattern on the foot due to gauge issues.) What a great pattern – tons of fun! Thanks Star!

These are the Slipstitch Rings Socks I mentioned in the last project post and are knit out of the last of my Fleece Artist “Cosmic Dawn” & the Black Lanett Superwash. I threw in some Acid Green Scheepjes Invicta Extra for good measure.

I call them my “Alien Abduction” socks.

Beam me up! *snicker*

(I swear I had some socks in these colours way back in the 80s…)

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Hmm, what else?

BadgerDan got the matching December Sampler Pillow to go with his Afghan:

I literally used up *every* inch of the yarn to finish that pillow off. Couldn’t have planned it better.

This is the completed Mayrose Mystery Hat (aka Woolly Wormhead 2009 Mystery Hat “B”) out of Auracania Atacama Alpaca (try and say *that* ten times fast – I dare ya).

The tam is lovely and warm in the alpaca – fabulous drape. Very few designers will get me to do that much Feather & Fan (*not* my favorite lace pattern) – but I love Ruth’s hats to a fault. The “A” pattern – “Everglade” is queued and I’m still trying to decide on a yarn for it.

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Are you guys sitting down?

Good.

‘Cause look what I finished!

The Windsbraut Spitzbergen Shawl!

Not only did I keep up and finish, but it was done and blocked before Yule and I was able to wear to a holiday party the next day!

Squee!

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I’ve needed some little stashbusting comforts for myself during the holiday gift madness – some quick stuff that saved my sanity and made me smile

Retro Stripe Wrap

Using up some of the soft brushed acrylic from my stash, I chained 200, worked out from the centre and went on instinct for the stripes.

All told, I think it came out quite elegant

Noro Cabled Mug Cozy

A much needed accessory as my coffee kept going cold!

[Pattern is a slightly modified Cabled Mug Cozy by MyFairKatie and knit entirely while watching "Alice".]

I also made myself a crazy-ass pair of slippers:

Using both wool and acrylic stash yarns that really had no purpose. Certainly not the most colour-coordinated project I’ve ever made, but really, does it matter?

These just crack me up to no end and are very warm and cozy.

Chinese Emperor, Ali Baba or Munchkin? You choose (LOL).

[They're actually called Peter Pan's Slippers by Gabriela Ordenes.]

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I *can* actually share a few gifts with you as they have already been received.

Our friend Lou needed a scarf, and I was more than happy to oblige him:

Othello Scarf

It’s made out of wool from a frogged Icelandic fair isle sweater and the Windy City Scarf pattern from the Stitch n Bitch Handbook. I’ve made a bunch of these over the years and it still rocks.

Jerry (our electrician buddy) received a manly neckwarmer:

This is the Fourteen pattern by the talented John Brinegar. So simple, so fab – and FREE!. The yarn I used really doesn’t show how cool the pattern is – go see his original and be inspired!

I also did a bit of crocheted threadwork and made some snowflake ornaments for our building managers and the lady I cat-sit for.

Triple Crochet Snowflake

Lacy Snowflake

Royal Crown Snowflake

I even put little iridescent beads in the middle – they thought they were great.

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A little bit more Retro Awesomeness is the fact we were given a *pristine* vintage couch in a rather loud print fabric (totally my colours, but seriously early 70s) and a fabulous solid wood dining set including credenza, hutch and *3* leaves! All this from a neighbour who was moving into a retirement facility. I cannot begin to explain how grateful I am to her and hopes that the Universe rains many blessings on her.

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This is getting pretty long, so I’ll leave all the yarn pr0n for a later date. In the meantime, have yourselves a wonderful holiday.

Hey everyone! I wanted to write a quick post to tell you all that I will be out in the woods for the next few days (until Sunday) without internet access. I don’t even think I will get cell phone reception out there. I am actually a little excited to be getting away and just being with Will and his family. I love them so much. They are very, very special to me and I adore every chance I get to spend time with them. Before I go, I wanted to share a few photos I took the other night playing around with manual focus for the first time at my Dad’s.

That was a beautiful time, as well. I will miss my family so much this weekend. Christmas is always a bittersweet time for my family. Sure, it gets easier every year… but still… That is for another post. Maybe next Tuesday? We will see.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. Enjoy the snow if you get it and dream of it if you don’t. I truly love you all and hope to unwrap lots of comments when I return. You all brighten my days over and over and I thank you for that.

love, scout

TO ALL MY BLOG READER’S

And a huge thank you to you all for your interest in my daily moans and groans, I will only be uploading a limited amount of blogs over the Xmas period because I will be busy Ho Ho Ho’ing, so I have put together a Christmas Special to fill the gaps

I Hope you, Your Loved Ones and Your Families have a wonderful time and a great New Year

See You All Very Soon

Blank Canvas

x

That’s the Ender Archie, then! Albert Square villain dead after being hit over head with Queen Vic bust (but who’s the killer?)

This is EastEnders villain Archie Mitchell lying dead on the floor of the Queen Vic.The evil character is certainly not the first to meet his grisly end in the famous pub – and probably won’t be the last.’Dirty’ Den Watts met his maker there in 2005 after being hit over the head with an iron doorstep by jealous wife Chrissie.

But the question now is who murders Archie, played by actor Larry Lamb, with the Queen Vic bust?Suspects include ex-wife Peggy (Barbara Windsor), dodgy Phil (Steve McFadden) and Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks), who recently seduced Archie. Even his daughters Ronnie and Roxy (Samantha Womack and Rita Simons) are in the frame.Fans of the show will have to wait until Christmas day to see the dramatic scenes – which one again proves Walford rarely enjoys a happy festive day.Even Larry has no idea who kills off his scheming character, as producers have filmed various scenarios with different cast members.

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But who did it? Suspects include his ex-wife Peggy and former son-in-law Phil

He said that BBC1 soap’s writers gave him the option of discovering the murderer, but he decided he’d rather find out when the show is aired.Larry – who also plays Mick Shipman in Gavin and Stacey – said his character also has a soft side, however.He told Digital Spy: ‘There’s something very dark and dangerous within him. But that’s not entirely his character – that’s what makes him interesting, though. He’s such a contrast.’The 62-year-old has previously confessed he based the character on his abusive real-life father.

But he said he has since reflected on what his father was like and realised, like his character Archie, he had two sides to him.He added: ‘My father wasn’t entirely dark – he was a very, very funny man and could be riotously comical.But it could all turn ugly and he could become a horrifying, terrifying demon. That’s what Archie’s all about.

‘You didn’t see so much of his lighter side. Now and again a little of something else came through, though.’After almost two years on the show, Larry admitted Archie’s tale is coming to its rightful conclusion.The only way to deal with a real villain is to bump him off,’ he said

Let Me Entertain You! Robbie Williams turns cheeky choir boy for Ant and Dec’s TV Christmas special

Robbie William joins friends Ant and Dec for a Noel’s House Party-style TV show this Christmas – and dresses up as a choir boy.Entering into the festive spirit, the singer struts his stuff with the telly double act for their Christmas Special, which will be screened on ITV1 on Boxing Day.Robbie, 35, who has been pals with Ant and Dec for years, has agreed to sing a number of songs on the programme, plus take part in Morecambe and Wise-style sketches.

Robbie Williams joins Ant and Dec for their ITV Christmas Special, all seen here dressed up as choir boys

The singer is also set to perform some songs and take part in some Morecambe and Wise-style sketches

It’s not the first time the Angels singer and the telly duo have teamed up. The star also joined the pair for some comical hi-jinks on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway back in 2004.Other guests who are set to drop by include Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, two of the judges on Britain’s Got Talent which is also hosted by Ant and Dec.

Britain’s Got Talent judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden drop by…

…and then dress up as giant snowmen

Piers and Amanda arrive for some banter and then end up dressed up as giant snowmen.Geri Halliwell also lends her support and is transformed into a living doll while the boys become action figures.With the help of a bit of camera trickery and some clever props, the trio stand in boxes and appear to be miniature versions of themselves.The show is promising to be a mixture of comedy skits, performances and interviews with some star-studded appearances.

Geri Halliwell lends her support and is made to look like a doll in a box while the presenters turn action men

Pop group The Saturdays add some festive glamour to proceedings

Ant and Dec meet their match when double act John and Edwards stop by, with their trademark quiffs in placeOther famous guests include The Saturdays and Ant and Dec meet their match when X Factor twins John and Edward Grimes drop by, with their trademark quiffs firmly in place.Viewers will also be entertained with a panto performance of Cinderella. Ant turns on the glamour, taking on the role of the Fairy Godmother in a resplendent puffball dress.Dec takes on the role of Buttons while celebrity interior designers Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, who appeared on this year’s I’m A Celebrity, play the ugly sisters.

There is also some panto fun to be enjoyed, with Dec playing Buttons and celebrity interior designers Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan doing a good impression of the Ugly Sisters

Ant, meanwhile, looks resplendent in a puffball gown as he magically transforms into the Fairy Godmother

Corrie

Is Betty Coronation Street’s next killer?Coronation Street has had its fair share of crooked killers.

But we never suspected legendary Rovers barmaid Betty Williams would become one of them.
Betty (Betty Driver) is set to get a fright when someone is poisoned by one of her famous hotpots.The ‘victim’ is 91-year-old new character Enid Crump, resident pint puller at the Parsons Arms and Betty’s rival for the title of Manchester’s Oldest Barmaid. Enid storms into the Rovers furious when Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) boasts that his pub is home of the city’s oldest barmaid to the Weatherfield Gazette.To make amends, the hapless landlord offers a free dinner but ends up microwaving a two-month-old hotpot from the back of the fridge.

When the unsuspecting duo later find out that Enid is at death’s door with food poisoning, Betty panics: “It’s murder. I’ll have killed her. I’m too old to go to prison. I’ll never come out alive.”Steve reassures her: “You can’t murder someone with a hotpot. The police will understand it was an accident.”And look on the bright side, if Enid dies, you can then officially call yourself the undisputed Oldest Barmaid in Town.”But Becky (Katherine Kelly) puts a spanner in the works when she reveals that, if Enid pops her clogs, it’ll be Steve that gets sent down.Fingers crossed that Enid pulls through.
The storyline will air in February next year.

Hilda could make a Corrie comebackCoronation Street’s 50th anniversary looks set to be a corker.

Soap bosses want to bring back a host of legendary Corrie faces to spice up the fiftieth festivities.As well as cleaning lady extraordinaire Hilda (Jean Alexander), Mavis Wilton (Thelma Barlow), Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) and Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) have also been mooted for a Corrie comeback.

The revelations came during a live web chat between fans and show executive producer Kim Crowther. And she let slip that another famous Manchester face may make a guest appearance. Noel Gallagher is being set up to (Roy’s) roll with it.

Kim said: “There may well be some exciting returning cast in the new year.“We are planning lots for the 50th anniversary, it will be must-see television. It would be fab to see Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) back wouldn’t it?”Oooh, yes it would. Kim went on: “I would love to bring Hilda back – and Mavis. Noel Gallagher would be great. There are also plans for some new faces in the factory.”
Exciting times.

The saucepot will get a boob job, just as her mum Sally is diagnosed with breast cancer.

Rosie (Helen Flanagan) plans to become a glamour and promotions girl and thinks that an increase in her cup size will lead to an increase in her wages.  Her plan is rumbled by sister Sophie (Brooke Vincent) who realises something is up when Rosie rushes to the post every day to intercept a letter from a company called Desire Solutions. Sophie thinks Rosie is up for botox and liposuction until the elder teen confesses she’s having her breasts done.
Mum Sally (Sally Whittaker), who’ll confess to her family she needs a lumpectomy to remove a malignant tumour on Christmas Day, is devastated.
Unlike Rosie’s boss at the agency she works for, who agrees to foot the bill for Rosie’s op, seeing it as an investment in ‘their’ future. Oh Rosie, Rosie. What are you thinking?

Simply Because I Love The Photo

Captured in nature, the perfect Christmas card

It is the perfect winter image that usually appears only on Christmas cards or in our imagination. But this is the real thing. Perched on a snow-covered twig yesterday, a robin proudly puffs out his chest in the back garden of award-winning nature photographer Andy Rouse. Mr Rouse travels thousands of miles every year photographing animals, but was able to capture this image without leaving his house in Caerphilly, South Wales. ‘I saw this one perched in a tree,’ he said. ‘He had been eating off my bird feeder.’

Nature photographer Andy Rouse didn’t need to venture beyond his backyard for this perfect winter image

Former Playboy model Louise Glover found guilty of vicious nightclub attack

A former Playboy Model of the Year was found guilty today of attacking a woman in a nightclub toilet cubicle in a jealous bust-up over her husband.

Louise Glover, 26, struck Maxine Hardcastle’s head against a toilet rim up to 10 times and tried to push her head down the lavatory during the attack.Miss Hardcastle – the daughter of 80s musician Paul Hardcastle, famed for his Vietnam-inspired dance hit 19 – was left covered in blood with facial bruising, scratches on her arms and legs and hair loss.Hove Crown Court heard that the model launched her vicious attack after accusing her of looking at her husband during a night out in Brighton, East Sussex.Glover, who has made semi-naked appearances in magazines and newspapers, turned on Miss Hardcastle after telling her and her friend, “I know what you Essex girls are like.”The glamour model fainted and sobbed in the dock after being found guilty of causing assault occasioning actual bodily harm following an hour’s deliberation.Glover wailed loudly in the dock after recovering from her period of fainting, telling the judge: “My whole life’s in limbo.”

Sentencing will take place on February 4 after reports have been prepared, Judge Charles Kemp said.The judge had to tell her to be quiet at points and warned her she could face jail.Judge Kemp told her: “All the court’s sentencing options have to be open.”The trial heard that Miss Hardcastle and her friend, Nancy Stillwell, had been invited by Glover to a personal appearance she was making at a sports bar in Brighton, East Sussex, on December 15, 2007.The 10-strong party moved on in the early hours of the following morning to the Oceana nightclub in the city where Miss Hardcastle and Miss Stillwell went into the same toilet cubicle together.Glover was heard outside the cubicle and was let in by the other two women, but became agitated and accused them of looking at her husband, from whom she is now estranged.

Miss Hardcastle said during her evidence: “One minute she was really angry and saying she knew what Essex girls were like and, ‘I can see what you are doing’. She then told us not to look or talk to him.”She added that one minute Glover “flipped” and the next she showed warmth to them, saying: “I might be being paranoid” and “I don’t have many friends”.It was really strange, one minute she was trying to befriend us and the next she looked like…it was scary,” said Miss Hardcastle.Miss Stillwell told the court: “We explained to her we hadn’t got any interest in getting to know her husband other than on an acquaintance level.”

At that point, Glover lifted up her arm and forcefully brought it down on Miss Hardcastle’s nose, causing her to hit her head on the back of the cubicle.”I knew that my nose was broken because there was blood everywhere,” said Miss Hardcastle. “But she just picked me up by my hair and pulled my body weight by my hair and did exactly the same thing again.”She punched me on the nose and the same thing happened – I fell straight on the floor.”Miss Hardcastle said she “pleaded” with Glover to stop but she continued her attack.Holding her by her neck, Glover repeatedly hit her head against the rim of the lavatory and afterwards tried to force her down the toilet bowl.Miss Hardcastle added: “I couldn’t breathe through my nose because I had blood coming from it. I thought that if she put my face down the toilet I wouldn’t be able to breathe.”I did my best to keep my face away from the water.”

The attack stopped after Glover’s husband was heard outside the cubicle, telling her to stop. But Glover replied: “Tell her to get off me first.”Describing her injuries, Miss Hardcastle told the court: “My nose was on the other side of my face. It wasn’t in the middle of my face any more. It was completely on one side.”Glover told the court she acted in self-defence after Miss Hardcastle became emotional about apparent problems within her family and gripped her arms tightly.She claimed Miss Hardcastle became “hysterical” after accusing her of not listening to her problems.Glover, whose last UK address was Audley Gardens, Loughton, Essex, claimed the further injuries Miss Hardcastle sustained were as a result of the cubicle door being kicked in.She was released on conditional bail.

It’s a ho-ho-hold up: Armed bank robber dressed as Santa demands money so he can ‘pay his elves’

When Father Christmas strolled into the bank holding a sack, customers thought they might be in for a few surprise presents. But this sinister Santa felt it was better to receive than give  -  whipping out a gun and demanding cash. The 6ft robber, pictured left on CCTV, escaped with an undisclosed sum after claiming he needed the money because he had to pay his elves. Just in case anyone was worried, however, that the real Father Christmas had turned criminal, his getaway vehicle proved to be a grey car rather than a sleigh pulled by reindeer.The bank robber said that he needed the money ‘to pay his elves’

The man entered the SunTrust bank in Nashville, Tennessee at 10am yesterday dressed from head to toe a Santa suit and dark sunglasses and demanded money at gunpoint.Eyewitness Richlyn Jones said: ‘He took his little red sack and pulled out a gun and told everyone to be still.

‘He went to the front of the teller line and started asking for money and putting it in the bag.’It was a little unbelievable. He was actually jovial, which is scary. He explained that he was robbing the bank because Santa had to pay his elves.’ After loading up his sack with money the man fled the building.’He had the whole outfit on – even the shoes,’ said customer Jimmy Edwards.’I laid down as soon as he walked in and pulled that gun out.I was just wondering if he was going to be stupid enough to hurt somebody, but once he started getting what he wanted, I could see he was going to leave.’

The SunTrust bank in Nashville, Tennessee where the bizarre robbery took place

No one was hurt during the robbery and police have not released how much money was taken.The FBI has confirmed they are investigating the robbery.FBI agent Scott Augenbaum said: ‘An individual about 6ft tall dressed up as Santa Claus robbed the SunTrust bank.’ In 2003, Billy Bob Thornton starred in the movie Bad Santa about a conman and his partner who dress up as Santa and his little helper to rob department stores.

My Christmas Present

Thank You Santa…I Must Have Been A Very Good Boy This Year

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Why doesn’t Santa suffer from claustrophobia when climbs down the chimney?
Because has had his flue jab.

Note::: These Jokes Will Get Worse The Further You Scroll Down

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It’s Christmas Day, it’s 9.58 in the morning

Must be time for the first family argument

‘Tis the season to be jolly. At least that’s the idea.But the average family, it seems, can’t quite manage a whole Christmas Day of it.After rising just before 8am (no doubt a bit grumpy from all the last-minute present-wrapping the night before), they have their first argument at 9.58am.But that, according to a survey, is only the start of the festive fallouts.

The parental desire to tidy up the house is the trigger for most Christmas Day rows, along with frazzled emotions and arguments over what to watch on TV.The study of 4,100 people revealed the average family gets out of bed just before 8am on Christmas Day and is ready to open presents minutes later at 8.19am.

AN HOUR-BY-HOUR GUIDE TO THE BRITISH CHRISTMAS

Once the floor is a sea of torn wrapping paper, the family sit down to breakfast at 9am.However most will have nibbled a bit of Christmas chocolate before at 8.39am.The strain of cooking Christmas dinner sees the designated chef sip his or her first alcoholic drink at 11.49am.Several slurps and a lot of sweat later, dinner is finally served at 3.24pm.The majority of families (85 per cent) will enjoy traditional turkey with all the trimmings.Almost a third said this was their favourite part of the day.The next thing on the Christmas Day must-do list is a post-lunch snooze.The first person in the average household falls asleep at 4.59pm –and Dad is the most likely culprit.For those who manage to keep their eyes open, the family board games are brought out at 5.46pm.

The study, commissioned by Jarlsberg Cheese, also found that 13 per cent of families go to church on Christmas day.A rather larger proportion of 27 per cent sit down for the Queen’s Speech.Almost 40 per cent said spending time with the family was the best thing about Christmas Day.The knitted patterned Christmas jumper, followed by a dustpan and brush and the dreaded socks were voted the worst presents.And Britain, Germany and Norway were regarded as the countries with the most festive spirit.’Family flare-ups are bound to happen, particularly as there are lots of people together and tensions can be running high,’ said a spokesman for the cheese company.’There is so much excitement, high expectations and lots going on, but it’s important to remember that Christmas can’t always be perfect – not everything may run to plan.’After all the early Christmas morning stresses, it’s great to see that food shared round a table with the family is still described as the best bit of the day.Parents shouldn’t put too much pressure on themselves on the day – it’s your day too, so relax and be realistic.’

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Christmas puzzle all you have to do is find 72 bands and 12 movies

Put Your Answers In The Comments Box

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What did Adam say to his girlfriend on December 24th?
‘It’s Christmas!  Eve.’

(I Did Warn You)

Unwrapped: The Queen’s secret chocolate, delivered in time for Christmas

The Royal Family enjoy specially made chocolates every Christmas

As chocolate bars go it is fit for a queen – The Queen, in fact.Made to a secret recipe by royal warrant holders Cadbury, several small boxes of the dark chocolate are being delivered to Buckingham Palace for the monarch and her family to enjoy at Christmas.Pictured here for the first time, the Daily Mail can reveal the bars are made by a team of three on specially reserved equipment at the firm’s factory in Bournville, Birmingham.Cadbury – which was given a royal warrant by Queen Victoria in 1854 – refuses to divulge how the chocolate is created but sources say it has been tailored to the Queen’s taste.The recipe is said to contain more cocoa solids than many other dark chocolates, making it ideal for both eating and cooking.Only three or four small batches of the bar are made each year and, when not being used for the royal chocolate, the production equipment lies dormant.One batch is made and delivered just before Christmas to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Sandringham.

Each bar is wrapped in gold foil and encased in a red wrapper stamped with the royal crest and the ‘By Appointment to HM The Queen’ wording that the Cadbury warrant allows it to mark on all its products.

Below the crest, in gold and black lettering, the bar is labelled Cadbury’s Superior Culinary Dark Chocolate, although it is known by staff at the company simply as ‘Royal Household chocolate’.While many of the bars are used in the royal kitchens to make fine deserts for private consumption and state banquets, some are also eaten as a sweet treat, according to the chocolate maker.

Cadbury spokesman Tony Bilsborough confirmed: ‘We do make the Queen a bar of dark chocolate. It’s not for sale to the public. We make this for her, under the terms of the royal mark.’We’ve been providing chocolates to the Royal Family since Victorian times but I cannot discuss the recipe.’Cadbury was founded by Quaker John Cadbury in Birmingham in 1824.The firm is currently the subject of a hostile takeover bid by U.S. food giant Kraft, which could threaten 5,000 UK jobs. Shareholders have until January 5 to reject the £10.1billion offer.The firm has described the bid as ‘inadequate and unwelcome’ and The Mail on Sunday has launched a campaign to Keep Cadbury British. If it is taken over there is no guarantee Cadbury would continue to make the Queen’s chocolate.

Uncovered days before Christmas: Is this the Nazareth home where Jesus prayed?

The remains of the first dwelling in Nazareth that has been dated back to the time of Jesus have been unveiled – just days before Christmas.The find that could shed new light on what the hamlet was like during the period the New Testament says Jesus lived there as a boy, Israeli archaeologists said.The dwelling and older discoveries of nearby tombs in burial caves suggest that Nazareth was an out-of-the-way hamlet of around 50 houses on a patch of about four acres.

A residential building from the era of Jesus Christ being exposed near the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth

It was evidently populated by Jews of modest means who kept camouflaged grottos to hide from Roman invaders, said archaeologist Yardena Alexandre, excavations director at the Israel Antiquities Authority.The place was so small Jesus would almost certainly have known all the houses – and might even have prayed there.Based on clay and chalk shards found at the site, the dwelling appeared to house a ’simple Jewish family,’ Alexandre added, as workers at the site carefully chipped away at mud with small pickaxes to reveal stone walls.

Nazareth holds a cherished place in Christianity. It is the town where Christian tradition says Jesus grew up and where an angel told Mary she would bear the child of God.’This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with,’ Alexandre said. A young Jesus may have played around the house with his cousins and friends, she said. ‘It’s a logical suggestion.’The discovery so close to Christmas has pleased local Christians.

Jacques Icaram, a priest at the Church of the Annunciation, stands at an excavation site of an ancient house in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth

‘They say if the people do not speak, the stones will speak,’ said a smiling Rev. Jack Karam of the nearby Basilica of the Annunciation, the site where Christian tradition says Mary received the angel’s word.Alexandre’s team found remains of a wall, a hideout, a courtyard and a water system that appeared to collect water from the roof and supply it to the home. The discovery was made when builders dug up the courtyard of a former convent to make room for a new Christian center, just yards (meters) away from the Basilica.It is not clear how big the dwelling is – Alexandre’s team have uncovered about 900 square feet (85 square meters) of the house, but it may have been for an extended family and could be much larger, she said.Alexandre said her team also found a camouflaged entry way into a grotto, which she believes was used by Jews at the time to hide from Roman soldiers who were battling Jewish rebels at the time for control of the area.The grotto would have hid around six people for a few hours, she said.

Israel archaeologists work at the excavation site, built on the ruins of three earlier churches on the site where Christians believe Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus

An Israeli archaeologist works at the site: The home dates to the time of Jesus in the town of Nazareth where he is said to have spent the better part of his lifeHowever, Roman soldiers did not end up battling Nazareth’s Jews because the hamlet had little strategic value at the time. The Roman army was more interested in larger towns and strategic hilltop communities, she said.

Alexandre said similar camouflaged grottos were found in other ancient Jewish communities of the lower Galilee such as the nearby Biblical village of Cana, which did witness battle between Jews and Romans.At the site, Alexandre told reporters that archaeologists also found clay and chalk vessels which were likely used by Galilean Jews of the time. The scientists concluded a Jewish family lived there because of the chalk, which was used by Jews at the time to ensure the purity of the food and water kept inside the vessels.The shards also date back to the time of Jesus, which includes the late Hellenic, early Roman period that ranges from around 100 B.C. to 100 A.D., Alexandre said.

Father Jacques Icaram walks in the excavation site. Archaeologist Yardena Alexandre says remains of a wall, a hideout and a cistern were found after builders dug up an old convent courtyard in the northern Israeli city

The house was discovered in a dig carried out ahead of the construction of the International Marian Center of Nazareth by the Galilee city’s Chemin Neuf community next to the Church of the Annunciation

The absence of any remains of glass vessels or imported products suggested the family who lived in the dwelling were ’simple,’ but Alexandre said the remains did not indicate whether they were traders or farmers.The only other artifacts that archeologists have found in the Nazareth area from the time of Jesus are ancient burial caves outside the hamlet, providing a rough idea of the village’s population at the time, Alexandre said.

Work is now taking place to clear newer ruins built above the dwelling, which will be preserved. The dwelling will become a part of a new international Christian center being constructed close to the site and funded by a French Roman Catholic group, said Marc Hodara of the Chemin Neuf Community overseeing construction.Alexandre said limited space and population density in Nazareth means it is unlikely that archeologists can carry out any further excavations in the area, leaving this dwelling to tell the story of what Jesus’ boyhood home may have looked like.The discovery at ‘this time, this period, is very interesting, especially as a Christian,’ Karam said. ‘For me it is a great gift.’

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Ever had a present from a far-flung aunt or an over-enthusiastic colleague that you really didn’t like but were socially obliged to pretend otherwise? One economist is on a mission to stop this wasteful category of Christmas giving. How often have we given them? Many times, no doubt. And yet, how often have we ever really wanted to receive them ourselves? Whose every waking moment is filled by a craving for a pair of half-size martini glasses, holding unpleasantly perfumed gel candles, embellished with a decorative vine? Who has stepped lightly through January, buoyed by the Christmas joy that is a purple glass bowl filled with silver spray-painted pebbles?

Ornaments may be over-represented in the forlorn ranks of the unwanted gifts that mysteriously fail to make it to our new houses when we move, but they are far from the only offender. If we were being honest, we’d repudiate those Brandreth-style jumpers, the biographies of 18th Century admirals and the coasters with scenes from the Lincolnshire countryside. We know our auntie meant well, but still.
Joel Waldfogel takes this feeling of dissatisfaction further. For 15 years the economist has been studying the giving of gifts. The results do not make for happy reading. “When other people choose for us they do a poor job compared to when we choose for ourselves,” explains Mr Waldfogel. He will present a public lecture on the subject at the London School of Economics on Thursday evening.

20% discrepancy
His new book, Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents For The Holidays, released just in time for the Christmas gift market, explains why we should turn our backs on the Christmas gift market. It’s all a big waste, he believes. Over the years, Mr Waldfogel’s surveys have asked people how much they would have paid for gifts had they not received the items. The average the recipient would have paid comes out at nearly 20% less than was actually paid. This is the kind of thing that economists don’t like. The ideal in economics is that surplus value is created.

DEADWEIGHT LOSS
Situation in which no party benefits An example is a highly competitive market in which even more companies enter the marketplace driving selling prices down further “The seller gets a price that exceeds his costs and the buyer gets an item he values above the price,” M Waldfogel explains. In the Christmas present market, the second part of the equation often fails. And with people spending $145bn (£87m) a year worldwide on festive items, that could be more than $25bn (£15bn) of waste, says Mr Waldfogel. It’s what’s known in economic terms as a deadweight loss. The economist emphasises that he isn’t advocating the end of Christmas presents as a concept. “We do pretty well in buying things for people we know well. And children would be devastated if they didn’t get presents.” But when it comes to buying for people who live far away or who we don’t know well, he thinks we might give gift vouchers a try instead. Of course, this does throw up a problem or two. Anyone who has seen the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry commits a major faux pas by giving Elaine cash for her birthday, would be wary about doing the same. And gift vouchers do seem a little close to that. Mr Waldfogel disagrees. “Gift vouchers are unlike cash in that they avoid the awkwardness.” But gift vouchers also often lie dormant in dark recesses of the recipient’s cupboards, never to emerge. “10% of the value isn’t used – it ends up being transferred from the giver to the retailer,” says Mr Waldfogel. He wants retailers to accept a measure that allows vouchers to expire and trigger a donation of the value to charity. And, Mr Waldfogel suggests, a present of a donation to charity, or charitable goat purchase, should be acceptable. Some gifts may seem perplexing when reviewed at a later date “I’m finding people are very sympathetic to the idea of charitable giving. There is a real fatigue about giving that people know is producing unwanted results.” Gary Davies, a professor of corporate reputation at Manchester Business School, and lead author on the forthcoming paper Gifts and Gifting, is not a fan of abandoning gifts for people we don’t know that well. “[It's a] typical economist’s view of an issue where it isn’t the economics that are driving the issue. It’s the social side, the symbolism of the gift.” And the kind of gift scenario where the protagonists don’t know each other well can be a social minefield, with the giving of cash or vouchers being seen as plain odd. “It would be seen as a bribe,” says Mr Davies. “There are lots of business gifts. I will give my secretary a bottle of champagne. Am I supposed to give her money? I think she might be taken aback. It would be seen as inappropriate.” And of course, that’s at the root of gift giving – it’s a social transaction, not an exchange of useful items.We may not relish the receipt of the LP of a singing Irish monk, the electric blanket, the nylon, teal, lace thong or the gaudy mock Faberge egg – all real examples gleaned from BBC News website colleagues – but we must recognise that it is the thought that counts. “What we like is the fact that our nearest and dearest have thought about it,” says Mr Davies. “One of the main social aspects of gifting is building a relationship.” A couple at the outset of courting are a good example of people who might not be fully au fait with each other’s present priorities yet.

Economic benefit
And there would also be economic consequences if people suddenly stopped buying presents. Typically half of retailers’ profits come from the fourth quarter, notes Mr Davies.But in opposition to the economic benefit, there is also the sheer waste of unwanted presents. “One can imagine a market for green gifts, buying people experiences that don’t involve tangible products,” says Mr Davies. Underlying the glut of unwanted gifts is a problem with social norms. These are the obstacle to us telling Aunt Agatha the truth.Mr Waldfogel won’t reveal the worst present he’s ever had.”I’m not allowed to say. One of the reasons that it persists is that we can’t give feedback.”If we ever want to get another present, we keep schtum.”A friend of mine gave his wife an electric piano,” says Prof Davies. “She really didn’t like it and about three years later she gave it away. He still hasn’t had the courage to ask her why she doesn’t like it.

Xmas Illusion

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CHRISTMAS…THE FACTS

• The common abbreviation for Christmas to Xmas is derived from the Greek alphabet. X is letter Chi, which is the first letter of Christ’s name in the Greek alphabet.
• Oliver Cromwell, in England banned Christmas Carols between 1649 and 1660. Cromwell thought that Christmas should be a very solemn day so he banned carols and parties. The only celebration was by a sermon and a prayer service.
• In 1643, the British Parliament officially abolishes the celebration of Christmas.
• The Puritans in America tried to make Thanksgiving Day the most important annual festival instead of Christmas.
• Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang “Stille Nacht” for the first time.
• St Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services.
• Telesphorus, the second Bishop of Rome (125-136 AD) declared that public Church services should be held to celebrate “The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour.” In 320 AD, Pope Julius I and other religious leaders specified 25 December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.
• 26 December was traditionally known as St Stephen’s Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed during to the poor and needy after Christmas.
• Melbourne, Australia has a sporting Boxing Day tradition. The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts a Cricket test match. Sometimes this attracts 90, 000 spectators. Cricket is Australia’s premier Summer sport.
• The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531
• In 1836, Alabama is the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday.
• In 1843, the first Christmas card was printed in England for Sir Henry Cole. He was busy man who wanted to save time in his own Christmas letters, but was also interested in encouraging the expansion of the postal system. 1000 copies of the card were sold at one shilling each. It was not until the 1860s that the production of cards accelerated, with cheaper printing methods. Then in 1870, the Post Office introduced a half penny stamp for sending cards.
• In 1856, President Franklin Pierce decorates the first White House Christmas tree.
• In 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.
• At midnight on Christmas Eve 1914 firing from the German trenches suddenly stopped. A German brass band began playing Christmas carols. Early, Christmas morning, the German soldiers came out of their trenches, approaching the allied lines, calling “Merry Christmas”. At first the allied soldiers thought it was a trick, but they soon climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the German soldiers. The truce lasted a few days, and the men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings, sang carols and songs. They even played a game of Soccer.
• In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria.
• In 1974, the Australian city of Darwin is devastated late on Christmas Eve and in the early hours of the morning by Cyclone Tracy.
• In 1834, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert brought the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle for the Royal family.
• 6 December is St Nicholas’s Day – the first of the gift giving days, especially in Holland and Belgium.
• Some priests in Australia advise you to say “Happy Christmas”, not “Merry Christmas”, because Merry has connotations of getting drunk – which brings its own problems. One should say “Happy” instead.
• The actual gift givers are different in various countries:
• Spain and South America: The Three Kings
• Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)
• England: Father Christmas
• France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas)
• Russia: In some parts – Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure)
• Other parts it is Grandfather Frost.
• Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus)
• She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
• Scandinavia: a variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse
• Holland: St Nicholas.
• Every year since 1947 the people in Oslo have given a Christmas tree to the city of Westminster. The gift is an expression of goodwill and gratitude for Britain’s help to Norway in the 1939-1945 war.
• The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur and is called “Jesus is Born”.
• Mexicans call the poinsettia “Flower of the Holy Night” – the Holy Night is the Mexican way of saying “Christmas Eve”.
• Tom Smith who owned a sweet shop in London was the originator of the cracker. In the 1840s Tom found that people like sugar almonds, but while he was in France he discovered a variety of sweets wrapped up in a twist of paper. These bonbons were popular, so Tom decided to copy them. When Tom noticed that young men were buying them to give to their sweethearts he began to place “love mottoes” on small slips of paper inside the sweet wrapping.
• In 1846 Tom’s thoughts turned towards Christmas – instead of sweets he thought he would place toys and novelties inside the twisted wrapping. He experimented with this and the idea of producing a wrapping that could be pulled apart – just like the cracker as we know it today.
• The word carol is derived from the old French word caroller which derives from the Latin choraula. This itself was derived from the Greek choraules.

Xmas Street Art

Brussels sprouts ice-cream, anyone? Two mums set out to restore the hated veg’s image with new recipe book

You may detest them steamed, boiled or even panfried with pancetta.But perhaps you’ll take to sprouts if they are frozen and served in a cone.That is the plan cooked up by two mothers who are trying to make Brussels sprouts more popular.

Deborah Kershaw and Rachel Peck have published a recipe book devoted to the vegetable.Dishes range from sprouts bubble and squeak and sprouts masala to a cake with sultanas and coconut – and even Brussels sprouts ice-cream.

Mrs Kershaw, 46, from Doncaster, said: ‘Other people couldn’t understand why I was getting all passionate about sprouts – but I think they’ve had a raw deal over the years with people just steaming them and boiling them to bits.’There is a more serious reason behind the book, however. The two women became friends after their daughters spent months having cancer treatment on the same ward at Sheffield Children’s Hospital last year.Mrs Kershaw’s 12-year-old daughter Megan won her battle for survival, but Miss Peck’s little girl Lauren, who had been diagnosed with a kidney tumour, died aged three in June last year.The book is dedicated to Lauren, who loved her sprouts.

All the profits will go to fund the parents’ association at the hospital.Miss Peck, 28, from Sheffield, said: ‘People either love sprouts or hate them, it’s the one vegetable that seems to divide opinion very strongly.’But it’d be great if we could encourage more people to give them a try this Christmas for Lauren’s sake, if nothing else. I’m sure she’ll be up there looking-down at me and laughing at the idea.’Mrs Kershaw credits another friend, Rachel Duckers – whose family run a farm shop on the outskirts of Sheffield – for inspiring the two women to press ahead with the project.She said: ‘The two of us got to know Rachel as a friend after she became our outreach nurse at the hospital, and something just clicked when she mentioned the mountain of unsold sprouts at the farm shop last Christmas.’Mrs Kershaw added: ‘It’s been a difficult couple of years for the two of us, but the project has helped us cope in a way, and if we can raise money for the hospital, and alter people’s eating habits as well then all the better.’

Births on 25 December:

• W C Field (1946)
• Alice Cooper (1945)
• Princess Alexandra (1936)
• Paul Borget (1935)
• Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889)

Deaths on 25 December:

• Conrad Hilton (1979)
• Humphrey Bogart (1957)
• Dorothy Wordsworth (1855)
• Sir Isaac Newton (1727)
• The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
• In Switzerland during the Reformation, al instrumental and choral music was banned from churches. In Germany, disapproval of carols resulted in some being converted into hymns.
• Tinsel on the Christmas Tree is attributed to a woman whose husband died. She was left to bring up a large family of children herself. She was left to do everything working so hard and she was determined to make a happy time for them at Christmas. She prepared a Christmas Tree to surprise them on Christmas Day. Unfortunately spiders visited the tree, and crawled from branch to branch, making webs all over it. The Christ Child saw the tree and knew she would be devastated to find this on Christmas morning. He changed the spiders’ webs to shining silver.
• The first church the Dutch built in New York City was named in St Nicholas’ honour -St Nicholas Church.
• Many Christmas customs are carryovers from pre-Christian celebrations. Hanging gifts on trees is supposed to stem from tree worship of the Druids, and the belief that the tree was the giver of all good things. The Druids are also partly responsible for the use of mistletoe at Christmastime. They regarded the mistletoe as sacred, made certain that it never touched the ground, and dedicated it to the Goddess of Love, which explains the kissing that goes on under it. Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When the berries were gone, so were the kisses.
• In Christmas tree decorations, angels are usually portrayed as wimpy blondes in girl’s blouses and sandals. In the Bible, however, angels are muscular bullies who frequently goad humans into fistfights. Life isn’t all harps and heavenly choirs for angels; there’s a strict career structure. The only angels mentioned by name in the Bible are archangels, the eighth-ranking order of angels.
• Visitors to Bethlehem rarely exceed a few thousand at Christmas. In 1995, there were rowdy celebrations of the first Christmas in a Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem. The Christmas Eve service televised on 25 December is celebrated not in the Church of the Nativity, which stands over the place where Jesus was said to have been born, but in the nearby Franciscan Church of St. Catherine.
• The largest functional Christmas cracker was 45.72 metres long and 3.04 metres in diameter. It was made by Australian international rugby player Ray Price in Markson Sparks of New South Wales, Australia and was pulled in the car park of the Westfield Shopping Town in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia on 9 November 1991.

• A goose was customary Christmas fare until Henry VIII took it upon himself to tuck into a turkey. Mince pies were once shaped like mangers and are thought to date back to the sweetmeats formerly presented to the Vatican on Christmas Eve.
• The freedom-fighter and religious activist thought to have been born between 6 BC and 30 AD, by the name of Jesus Christ from the Greek christos, “the anointed one”. He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. He started out as a carpenter, but became a missionary following his baptism by a cousin, John. After proclaiming himself the Messiah, Jesus was betrayed by a disciple and crucified. He is later said to have risen from the dead.
• If you’re wondering why men may have not flocked to kiss you under the mistletoe, the answer may be that it was said that it will only work if the person you are kissing is a virgin. On the sixth day of the new moon, a Druid priest used to cut mistletoe from an oak tree with a sacred sickle. A passing virgin was called upon to catch the falling plant, which was not allowed to touch the ground.
• The first commercial Christmas card, produced in 1846, featured a drawing of family members happily toasting each other with glasses of wine – a shockingly decadent portrait that was immediately condemned by temperance advocates. In New South Wales, Australia, the average daily mailbag of six to seven million items of mail can triple over Christmas. The heaviest day ever was on 23 December 1997, when a record 23 million items were delivered in this state in Australia.
• Santa’s Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.
• Saint Boniface is said to have substituted a fir tree for the pagan oak in the eighth century as a symbol of faith. Martin Luther fostered the Christmas tree cult by using a candlelit tree as a symbol of Christ’s heavenly home, while trees decorated with candles, fruit and paper flowers were introduced into Britain soon after Queen Victoria’s marriage.
• The Celts used to bring a large log indoors as a tribute to the sun god. In Cornwall, revellers would chalk a symbol of a man on the log in a cheery reference to the human sacrifices who used to be thrown on the bonfire.
• Ancient Roman observances of the Natalis solis invicti and the Saturnalia occurred in December and involved much feasting, singing, parades and other forms of celebrating. Not to be outdone, when the Church adopted Christmas it introduced a major Christian celebration and feasting became a part of the festivities. As the centuries wore on, depending upon the country, a Christmas goose, turkey or other animal was adopted as the main course in the Christmas feast.
• The Christmas tree was first decorated with lights in the 16th century. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to add lighted candles to the tree. He was so taken with the Christmas night sky that he wished to bring “the lights of the stars” into the home of his family. From this, decorating the tree with ornaments, messages and notes, and small gifts emerged in later centuries leading to our customs today.
• Hanging the Christmas stocking on the hearth on Christmas Eve in the hope that it will be filled with presents the next morning is a custom that goes back about 400 years. It derived from the custom in Holland of children placing wooden shoes next to the hearth the night before the arrival of St. Nicholas. The children would fill their shoes with straw and food for St Nicholas’s for the donkey that carried the gifts. In exchange he would leave them a small gift such as small cakes, fruits and other gifts. Stockings were substituted for the shoes in Britain, most of Europe and in North America.
• A wreath with holly, red berries and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolised the thorns in Christ’s crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolised the drops of Christ’s blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated to birth of Christ.
• On Christmas morning since medieval times, church bells have been rung to announce to the world the coming of the saviour. It was customary from the 18th century to wear clothes and carry a small bell to signify the birth of Christ. The ringing of the bells was to signify the importance of the His Birth.

A Politically Correct Christmas Story

‘Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck…
How to live in a world that’s politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to “Elves”.
“Vertically Challenged” they were calling themselves.
And labour conditions at the North Pole
were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called “Unenlightened.”
And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorised use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she’d enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he’d never had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that’s warlike or non-pacifistic.
No candy or sweets…they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football…someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, dishevelled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you’ve got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.
A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere…even you.
So here is that gift, it’s price beyond worth…
May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on Earth.

REMEMBER THIS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.
Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.
Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.
We should’ve known……  ONLY women would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!!

Christmas Queue Folly

Just before Christmas I was shopping at a toy fayre in Nottingham’

I glanced to my left and caught sight of a queue at the doll counter; they were waiting for the shelves to be restocked with Mattel dolls.  As I looked I realised that in the queue was a good friend of mine.  Knowing Ernie well I was sure that he had no daughters nor did he have any nieces so I wondered why he should want to buy a doll at Christmas time’

‘Hey, Ernie,’ I cried, ‘I hadn’t realised you collected dolls.’
‘I don’t,’ he replied laughing’

‘Really,’ I queried, ‘then you must be buying a Christmas present then?’
‘No, not at all, my friend,’ responded Ernie, his eyes twinkling merrily’

‘If you don’t mind my asking then Ernie,’ I said, ‘Why exactly are you standing in this particular queue?’

‘Oh that,’ he giggled. ‘It’s like this, my mate,’ he mused, ‘I’ve never been able to resist a Barbie queue.’

For The Guys

For The Ladies

For Those Who Cant Decide

Almost everyone knows, these days, that Santa Claus came to us over the centuries from Saint Nicholas. But why do some people still insist on calling him Father Christmas?

The truth is that there is a huge case of mistaken identity happening here as both names have distinctly different origins.

The Transformation of Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas was a popular figure in Turkey in the 3rd and 4th Centuries. As the Patron Saint of children (and, surprisingly, the Patron Saint of pawnbrokers) Saint Nicholas became popular amongst the Dutch as Sinter Klaas, but this was further transformed to Santa Claus when the Dutch brought this tradition with them to the Americas.

Famously, Santa Claus underwent his final and biggest make-over in the 1930’s when a hugely successful Coca-Cola advertising campaign gave him the red and white outfit and appearance we recognise today.

Alternatively, the origins of Father Christmas go back even further still and predate Christ, despite the name he would come to be known as.

Old Man Winter, Knocking at Your Door

Originally called Father Winter or Old Man Winter, he was a popular part of the Midwinter festivals that took place in the British Isles and Northern Europe. An elder of the village would dress up to personify winter and would visit each house within the village or community. The family would provide him with food and drink, thereby appeasing the winter elements and providing luck for the coming year.

The Midwinter festivals were full of these superstitious traditions that all seemed to rely on pleasing the spirits to reduce the severity of the winter elements and Father Christmas was just one more of these.

Renamed after the adaptation of the Midwinter festivals into the Christmas celebrations in the fourth century, the tradition was too popular to disappear and continued in a similar form for the following hundreds of years.

Two Traditions Become One

It wasn’t until the Nineteenth Century and the arrival of the Santa Claus tradition in England that the two characters began to become merged as one. As both characters were said to visit all houses at Christmas, the merging was an obvious one.

For some British and Europeans, the distinction of Father Christmas over Santa Claus is defended, but many now use the two names interchangeably. Even so, there can still be seen traces of the original Father Christmas if you know where to look.

In certain parts of the British Isles, for example, Father Christmas is often not depicted as the popular Coca-Cola Santa Claus of today, but as a thinner, long cloaked and hooded old man more in keeping with the old tradition. Sometimes, the colours may be the same in a further merging of traditions, but he may also appear in all manner of bright colours and accessories, distinguishing Father Christmas even more from the commercialised Santa of today.

Obesity warning as children eat up to 6,000 calories on Christmas Day

Young children can consume quadruple the daily recommended amount of calories on Christmas Day alone, research revealed today. Childhood obesity experts at Leeds-based Carnegie Weight Management found that Christmas dinner, treats and other meals contained up to 6,000 calories – nearly four times what a five-year-old should eat in one day.

The study by the weight management programme, based at Leeds Metropolitan University, found that an average Christmas dinner can contain 956 calories and 48g of fat, while assorted desserts and treats add another 3,336 calories and 169.7g of fat.

Added to breakfast and any other extra meals or snacks and children are soon eating far more than is recommended in one day.

The 6,000-calorie total is around four times the 1,550-calorie limit recommended for a girl aged between four and six and is even more than twice the 2,775 daily allowance for teenage boys aged 15 to 18 years old.Adults are also in danger of over-indulging, with daily recommended limits of 2,550 calories for men and 1,940 for women.Carnegie Weight Management is now warning parents to recognise the dangers of such over-eating after a further study found that many wrongly think their children will grow out of obesity.The research found that more than 40 per cent of parents are not recognising weight problems in their offspring – with 16 per cent blaming it on puppy fat, 14 per cent claiming it is genetic and 11 per cent thinking it is down to low metabolism.

The statistics have prompted experts at Carnegie, the longest-running programme for the treatment of overweight and obese children in Europe, to warn parents that not recognising weight problems in their children can lead to obesity levels continuing.Paul Gately, director of Carnegie Weight Management, said: ‘Puppy fat is no longer relevant to our children; they just don’t grow out of it any more. In fact, half of overweight five-year- olds will grow up to be obese adults.’I urge parents to seek advice early in order to understand the classifications of overweight and obesity and access services.’

More than 25million boxes of crackers are sold in the UK each Christmas with most still containing the standard ‘jokes’ inside.A poll of 4,000 people for Christmas decorations retailer www.mrschristmas.co.uk have voted on the best and worst of the festive rib-ticklers.

The Top 10 were

1. Doctor: What seems to be the problem?

Santa: I seem to have a mince pie stuck up my bottom!

Doctor: I’ve got just the cream for that!

2. Why did the scientist install a knocker on his door?

He wanted to win the no-bell prize

3. What goes oh, oh, oh?

Santa walking backwards

4. What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?

Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

5. What did Adam yell on the day before Christmas?

‘It’s Christmas, Eve!’

6. What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?

Lost

7. What kind of room has no windows or doors?

A mushroom

8. What do you call a man with brown paper trousers?

Russell

9. How did the human cannonball lose his job?

He got fired

10. Why don’t ducks tell jokes when they’re flying?

Because they would quack up

Top 10 worst Christmas cracker jokes

1. What’s purple and yells help?

A damson in distress

2. What do you call the fear of getting stuck while sliding down a chimney?

Santa Claus-trophbia

3. What happened to the turkey at Christmas?

It got gobbled!

4. How do you know when there is a snowman in your bed?

You wake up wet!

5. What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations?

Tinsilitis!

6. What’s the fastest thing in the water?

A motor pike

7. Why did the skeleton go to the New Year’s Eve party?

He had no body to go with

8. What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?

Horn-aments!

9. I’ve just bought a dog with no nose

How does he smell?         Awful

10. What’s the most popular Christmas wine? ‘I don’t like Brussels sprouts!

Xmas WTF !!!

Just Dont Ask…Im Not Sure !!

And On That Note…Have A Sexy Xmas…..Goodnight…See You All In 2010

Boy, two, is snatched by social workers after mother refused doctor’s advice to feed him junk food

By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 7:50 AM on 03rd December 2009

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Like many toddlers, Zak Hessey was a fussy eater who refused his mother’s healthy home cooking.

Concerned about his falling weight, his parents sought the advice of doctors. That simple act triggered a shocking chain of events that led to the youngster being put into foster care for four months.

Paul and Lisa Hessey believe in the long-term benefits of healthy eating and rejected advice to feed their two-year-old son high-calorie snack food such as chocolate, crisps and cakes.

Taken into care: Zak Hessey was placed in a foster home for four months because his parents refused advice to feed him junk food

To their horror, social workers put Zak into foster care ‘to assess his needs’ and allegedly threatened the couple with the loss of their parental rights if they fought the decision in court.

‘I was absolutely devastated, I broke down in tears,’ recalled Mrs Hessey, 48. ‘I was scared out of my wits. I phoned Paul to tell him and he just broke down on the phone.’

But they went to court and, after four months, Zak returned home with the blessing of social services, who accepted he had good and caring parents.

More…

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Zak is now putting on some weight, but his eating problems were not cured by his time in the care of ‘experts’ and, much to the annoyance of his parents, he has acquired a taste for junk food.

Mrs Hessey, of Bolsover, near Chesterfield, said: ‘I thought I was doing the right thing going to the best people for advice when Zak began to lose weight.

Heartbroken: Lisa Hessey was told she would have her parental rights taken away in court if she opposed a decision to place Zak in care

‘Instead they basically accused me of neglecting him and implied it was all my fault. I have four other children and they are perfectly healthy, it was just that Zak was refusing food for some reason. They said I should just feed Zak chocolate, cakes and junk food just to get calories into him. But I objected, saying that was only a short-term answer and not a proper solution.

‘The Government and doctors are always drumming into parents the importance of healthy eating – yet they were telling us to feed Zak all the wrong things.

‘That is obviously what they were doing when he was in foster care so now it is hard to get him to eat anything else.’

Mrs Hessey and her 48-year-old husband, a lorry driver, took Zak to see a paediatrician at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in July. He was 20 months old and weighed 1st 3lb.

Mrs Hessey, whose four other children are under ten, said she was happy for Zak to be admitted for a two-week hospital assessment and was hit by a thunderbolt when she went to collect him on July 24.

She was taken into a room with a nurse and social worker who apparently told her: ‘We would like Zak to go into foster care to assess how he feeds. You have legal rights but be warned if you oppose this we will go straight to court and have all your parental rights taken away.’

Mrs Hessey said: ‘They kept saying, “If you love Zak and you want the best for him then you’ll agree to this”. They said we had been negative about eating. That was because they had been telling us we should feed Zak crisps, chocolate and cakes to get calories into him.

‘I was questioning that approach. We eat proper home-made food at our house and just have chocolate and cakes as a treat.’

Fussy eater: Zak Hessey, two, has now acquired a taste for junk food after social workers tried to make him gain weight

She agreed to Zak going into care after hearing to the possible repercussions if she objected. Initially she and her husband couldn’t see Zak for six days.

After hiring a solicitor, they were allowed three hours a day with him during the week in the company of a social worker.

The first hearing before the family court in Derby was on September 2 and the case was adjourned for two weeks. Interim care orders were imposed and Zak returned home following a third court hearing on November 18. By this stage social workers had lifted their objections – and he had put on only 1lb.

Mrs Hessey said: ‘Social services did a complete about turn. They admitted that in foster care Zak was exactly the same with his food as he was at home.

‘They said we were very good parents. I still find it hard to come to terms with how we have been treated.’ Derbyshire County Council said: ‘We only take a child into our care either with the consent of the parents or following very careful consideration by a court.’

A spokesman for Chesterfield Royal Hospital said: ‘While we understand Mr and Mrs Hessey’s distress, Zak’s welfare was paramount and we believe we acted in his best interest.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232611/Mother-boy-snatched-social-workers-refusing-doctors-advice-feed-chocolate-crisps.html#ixzz0Ybys0SPN

” A Pale Green Mermaid Blog”

Now here is your surprise stocking gift,

(Visual poem arranged by little ole’ me, you are so lucky!)

Now your stocking is 2/3rds full!!! 

Images from wikipedia and Google

To

all who celebrate the Christmas Season I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy & Wealthy New Year. Here’s to a great 2010!!

Below are some shots I took last week at Rockefeller Center in New York City.  Stay in Focus one and all.

Teens love Christmas. They’re just not big on the participation. This bit of wisdom I learned early on from my friend, Bonnie. Her kids reached the teenage years before mine did. It seems that one year Bonnie, like the rest of us, spent hours decorating the family’s Christmas tree. For those of you with small children, here’s a news flash: Teens don’t help with the decorating. They watch. So take advantage of the years when your kids so wildly anticipate the holiday that they will do anything–even if it means stringing rows of lights on a tree.

A few days later, Bonnie returned home from work and shopping, arms full of bags, to find her three teenagers watching TV. That’s when her son flatly informed her about the state of destruction in the other room. By the way, Mom, the Christmas tree fell.  And sure enough, Bonnie found the tree face down on the carpeting–bulbs, tinsel and ornaments strewn everywhere. In spite of the mess, her kids remained nearly motionless. 

If you are the parent of a teen, this post is no surprise to you. As kids get older, they still want Christmas and all the hoopla that surrounds it. Unfortunately, they just want you to do all the work. But like all things, this, too, will pass. So count to 10. Keep smiling. Focus on the true meaning of Christmas. And most of all, realize that the teenage years don’t last forever. So enjoy. And keep that Christmas tree vertical for at least another few days.

i thought you might be curious to see what the “v” tree looks like. with the exception of a sporadically growing ornament collection, it looks the same every year, which i love. what i don’t love was the epic year my beloved REAL tree was replaced by our current impostor of a tree. yup, the v’s went fake. it’s so wrong. almost as wrong as margarine. (yes, you should stop eating that fake crap) mom’s solution? a candle. the candle smells more like pineapple than evergreen. yes i’m still bitter and no i will not get over it. i know what your thinking, “stop whining and get your own place and your own tree.” we’re not having that discussion here, k? thanks. besides, my laundry never smells as good as mom’s.

back to the point, there are ornaments on our tree i remember getting years ago and still put up every year. not counting the ones i “created” in preschool. those, conveniently, never see the light of day. i’m a creature of habit and traditions/small gestures like that make me smile.

–

May you have a Merry Christmas

&

a happy, healthy and purpose-driven life. 

Image copyrighted. Reproduction, copying & file sharing prohibited. 

Every year, with the boxes all around me and the tissue paper pushed back, I gaze at my life in ornaments and baubles and am in awe yet again at the wealth of memory and nostalgia that we place on the accepting branches of our chosen tree.

That gorgeous crocheted Santa, aptly named Lunar Santa, was made by my sister. It’s one of my most favorite ornaments. And I still have a handful or ornaments that my Grandma made for us. Every year when she came for Christmas, she would bring a box of her handmade treasures. They had tags on them, with our names in her perfect script. Several of mine still hold those tags, that memory of her permanently in ink. Some of the items on our tree were made by Griffin’s paternal Great-Grandmother too.

I love this faded and fragile paper Christmas tree, with Griffin’s tiny little face in the center. He made it in Kindergarten and I hope I never forget the look on his face when he brought it home to me. He swelled with pride when we placed it on our tree that year. Next to it, see that even more faded little paper chain? I made that in Kindergarten, thirty years earlier that the date on Griffin’s tree.

The year that Christmas almost wasn’t was when Griffin was three. It was a pretty hard time of my life and the ocean of sorrow that swirled around me left me almost broke and lacking much holiday spirit. A friend of mine refused to let me wallow, and said “You need to celebrate for your son’s sake.” They took me shopping and bought me a few ornaments, a tiny little tree and stand and a few groceries. Among the ornaments was a box of these old-fashioned styled glass baubles in all sorts of shapes and colors.

My family had some ornaments like this when I was very little and they reminded me of a better time of life, a time when we just had no clue as to the difficulties that lay ahead. Now, when I pull out the tin that lovingly holds this collection, not only do I remember some beloved childhood treasures, but I also recall the support and guidance of someone who gave selflessly to me at a critical time of need.

It really isn’t fully festive during our decorating time unless someone grabs the Santa-inspired tree skirt and dances around the house with it around their waist. Usually it’s me. This year it was Griffin and I almost collapsed from the hilarity. But shhhhh….don’t tell him I mentioned that here. He is 15, you know.

And me? I’m way beyond the need to shake the packages under the tree in a vague attempt to identify their contents, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel the urge every year when they start to accumulate.

I hope that your Christmas is full of treasured people, whether it’s family, or the friends that feel like family. I hope there is delicious food, warm genuine smiles. I hope it is peaceful, because I sure know about celebrating Christmas when it’s the last thing you want to do. I hope snow is involved, if the climate allows, and twinkling lights fill your eyes. We’ll be staring at magical Christmas snow in amazing abundance this year. It is a VERY white Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I’m willing to bet that President Obama’s Christmas address this week will shine with religious significance about as bright as his unusually short Thanksgiving Proclamation, which gave a token reference to God via a quote from George Washington.

Even in Obama’s superstar Christmas interviews with Oprah and Gloria Estefan, there were discussions about Santa, Christmas trees, ornaments, gingerbread houses and even their dog’s Christmas stocking. Obama even gave a Christmas shout-out to all Hispanics. But there was not one discussion of religion or a hint of the real reason for the season.

Gone are the days when presidents and most politicians publicly rejoice in the birth of Christ.

But things were not always this way. As with many of you, I still remember a day even in Washington when Christ was central to Christmas. It was an America that was far less politically correct – an America that wasn’t afraid to stand up for its belief in the babe who was born in Bethlehem.

Here’s a small sample of that America represented in personal and public presidential Christmas proclamations and events, as documented in presidential library archives, at WhiteHouseChristmasCards.com and by historian David Barton in his treatise “Christmas with the presidents.”

On Christmas Day, 1795, President George Washington celebrated Christmas with members of Congress at his Mount Vernon estate, complete with a fox hunt, feast including “Christmas pie,” music, dancing and visiting that at times continued for a solid week.

America’s second president, John Adams, was the first to hold a White House Christmas party.

Thomas Jefferson loved celebrating Christmas, from his youth considering the day as a time of “merriment” and “The day of greatest mirth and jollity.” He threw elaborate parties at the White House and his Monticello estate for family and friends, played his violin, sang his favorite Christmas song, “Adeste Fideles” (“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”), and even gave his slaves a few days off each year to enjoy the holiday due to his abolitionist leanings.

(And let’s not forget, when at the White House during the eight years of his presidency, Jefferson attended church where he did each week in the Capitol building – something that continued through the Civil War – in 1867 it was the largest church in Washington with 2,000 people attending weekly.)

During the 1835 Christmas season, President Andrew Jackson sent out invitations and cards (of sorts) to local children inviting them to an event in the East Room on Christmas Day, in memory of a boy who had never heard of Christmas, never knew his father and whose mother died at a young age. That boy was Jackson himself.

President John Tyler also enjoyed hosting Christmas parties for children.

After a chaotic political season in December 1848, in which intense debate ensued over issues relating to slavery and expanding U.S. territory, President James K. Polk described Christmas Day as “perhaps the most quiet day of my presidential term,” despite apparently not accompanying Mrs. Polk and the children to church on that particular day.

President James Buchanan, a devout Presbyterian, would have his southern Pennsylvania estate extravagantly decorated at Christmas for the community to enjoy (a tradition that is still done to this day).

President Abraham Lincoln read the Bible throughout his life and attended services at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church on a regular basis, including at Christmas time. During the Civil War, he and his wife would visit hospitals on Christmas to help care for the wounded. During one political campaign, he declared “I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general. … I do not think I could myself be brought to support a man for office whom I knew to be an open enemy of … religion.”

In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the bill that made Christmas Day a national holiday.

Being credited with establishing the tradition of posting a Christmas tree in the White House (the first occurrence being with President Franklin Pierce), President Benjamin Harrison was also a deeply devout Christian, who wrote to his son Russell in 1887, “I hope you will renew your Christian faith and duties. It is a great comfort to trust God – even if His providence is [at times] unfavorable. Prayer steadies one when he is walking in slippery places – even if things asked for are not given.”

In 1898, two years before his assassination, the New York Times wrote of the encouragement that President William McKinley and his ailing wife received from these words in their pastor’s Christmas Day sermon: “God’s Christmas gift of freedom has come to the suffering and wronged through the agency of a nation that was obedient to His call, and helpfulness sent forth form angelic lips – ‘Goodwill toward men.’”

Each year on Christmas Eves, President Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt traveled to Christ Church in Oyster Bay, N.Y., and, following the pastor’s sermon, gave one of his famous “sermonettes” on the meaning of Christmas. The service would end with his favorite hymn, “Christmas by the Sea.”

In 1927, in every major newspaper across the land, a Christmas admonishment from President Calvin Coolidge was published in his own hand about “the real spirit of Christmas – if we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us all will shine a star-sending its gleam of hope to the world.”

President Herbert Hoover wrote to the Nation’s Christmas Trees Association on Dec. 25, 1931: “Your annual Christmas service … is a dramatic and inspiring event of national interest. It symbolizes and vivifies our greatest Christian festival with its eternal message of unselfishness, joy, and peace.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared in his Christmas address to the nation on Dec. 24, 1944 (the first Christmas after D-Day), “Here, at home, we will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way – because of its deep spiritual meaning to us; because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives; and because we want our youngest generation to grow up knowing the significance of this tradition and the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace and Good Will. [FDR then prayed for the troops.] We pray that with victory will come a new day of peace on earth in which all the Nations of the earth will join together for all time. That is the spirit of Christmas, the holy day. May that spirit live and grow throughout the world in all the years to come.”

President Harry Truman gave these words during his Christmas Eve national broadcast on Dec. 24, 1949, “Since returning home, I have been reading again in our family Bible some of the passages which foretold this night. … We miss the spirit of Christmas if we consider the Incarnation as an indistinct and doubtful, far-off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the purport of Christ’s birth if we do not accept it as a living link which joins us together in spirit as children of the ever-living and true God. In love alone – the love of God and the love of man – will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today.”

President Dwight Eisenhower publicly proclaimed on Dec. 23, 1960, “Through the ages men have felt the uplift of the spirit of Christmas. We commemorate the birth of the Christ Child by the giving of gifts, by joining in carols of celebration, by giving expression to our gratitude for the great things that His coming has brought about in the world.”

It’s well known that President John Kennedy was a Catholic. What’s not so well known is that, in 1957, then Sen. Kennedy disclosed at the National Conference of Christians and Jews Dinner what he believed would remedy the ills in society: “Upon what can we rely? Where can we compete? In what can we find hope for the future? The answer, I believe, lies ultimately in the very principles which we honor tonight – the principles of our Judaic-Christian heritage.”

President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly declared on Dec. 22, 1963, “We were taught by Him whose birth we commemorate that after death there is life. … In these last 200 years we have guided the building of our Nation and our society by those principles and precepts brought to earth nearly 2,000 years ago on that first Christmas.”

President Richard Nixon was a Quaker and hosted church services in the East Room of White House while he was president, initiated on his first Sunday in office by none other than Rev. Billy Graham.

President Gerald Ford publicly declared on Dec. 18, 1975, “In our 200 years, we Americans have always honored the spiritual testament of 2,000 years ago. We embrace the spirit of the Prince of Peace so that we might find peace in our own hearts and in our own land, and hopefully in the world as well.”

President Jimmy Carter spoke to the nation on Dec. 15, 1977, “Christmas has a special meaning for those of us who are Christians, those of us who believe in Christ, those of us who know that almost 2,000 years ago, the Son of Peace was born to give us a vision of perfection, a vision of humility, a vision of unselfishness, a vision of compassion, a vision of love.”

President Ronald Reagan repeatedly affirmed his and the nations’ Christian faith at Christmas time, like these words on Dec. 16, 1982, “In this holiday season, we celebrate the birthday of One who, for almost 2,000 years, has been a greater influence on humankind than all the rulers, all the scholars, all the armies and all the navies that ever marched or sailed, all put together. … [I]t’s also a holy day, the birthday of the Prince of Peace, a day when ‘God so loved the world’ that He sent us His only begotten Son to assure forgiveness of our sins.”

President George H. W. Bush stated to the nation on Dec. 18, 1989, “At Christmas, we, too, rejoice in the mystery of God’s love for us – love revealed through the gift of Christ’s birth. Born into a family of a young carpenter and his wife, in a stable shared by beasts of the field, our Savior came to live among ordinary men. Yet, in time, the miraculous nature of this simple event became clear. Christ’s birth changed the course of history, bringing the light of hope to a world dwelling in the darkness of sin and death. Today, nearly 2,000 years later, the shining promise of that first Christmas continues to give our lives a sense of peace and purpose. Our words and deeds, when guided by the example of Christ’s life, can help others share in the joy of man’s Redemption.”

President Bill Clinton addressed the nation on Dec. 21, 1999, with these words, “Saint Matthew’s Gospel tells us that on the first Christmas 2,000 years ago, a bright star shone vividly in the eastern sky, heralding the birth of Jesus and the beginning of His hallowed mission as teacher, healer, servant, and savior.”

And President George W. Bush spoke in his Christmas message on Dec. 21, 2007, “During the Christmas season, our thoughts turn to the source of joy and hope born in a humble manger on a holy night more than 2,000 years ago. Each year, Christians everywhere celebrate this single life that changed the world and continues to change hearts today. … Christmas is a time to rejoice and remember the birth of Jesus Christ.”

Will President Obama’s Christmas address rival those Christian confessions of past presidents? Or will his yuletide cheer be another politically correct concoction that has already adorned the first year of his presidency?

Based upon President Obama’s first year’s utter disregard for America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and promotion of a secular-progressive agenda and pro-Islamic platforms, the only white Christmas I would count on at the White House is a continued whitewashing of religious tradition in Washington. But does America really need another version of “Away with the Manger”?

First, even during his campaign for the presidency, Obama sarcastically belittled America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and degraded its adherents with trite remarks typical of any atheistic antagonist: “Whatever we were, we are no longer a Christian nation”; “The dangers of sectarianism are greater than ever”; “Religion doesn’t allow for compromise”: “The Sermon on the Mount [is] a passage that is so radical that our own defense department wouldn’t survive its application”; and “To base our policy making upon such commitments [as moral absolutes] would be a dangerous thing.” (See the YouTube video: “Barack Obama on the importance of a secular government.”)

Second, President Obama has already denied America’s rich Judeo-Christian heritage before the eyes and ears of other countries, as he publicly declared in Turkey on April 6, 2009, for the whole world to hear: “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.” (Who are the “we” to whom he refers? Would our former presidents agree with his “we”?)

Third, quite contrary to Obama’s negative tone and sentiments about Judeo-Christian belief, in countless speeches over the past year he has sympathized and supported pro-Islamic theology and practice. Just recently, he encouraged Americans “not to jump to conclusions” about the Fort Hood shooter being a Muslim extremist. And he refused to say anything when the Muslim extremist and president of Iran publicly accused the U.S. of actively planning and plotting to stop mankind’s real savior: i.e. Mahdi, the imam that Muslims believe will be the ultimate savior of mankind.

Fourth, President Obama has enabled an anti-Christian agenda unlike any former president by revising America’s religious history, minimizing the role of religion today, passing secular-progressive legislation and turning a blind eye to issues like atheists’ lawsuit to remove the national motto (“In God We Trust”) off of the walls of the new Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., or the ACLU’s disposal of Veteran memorial crosses in the Mojave Desert and at Mount Soledad. Every time President Obama has had an opportunity to stand for Christianity in any way, he has not only denied it but disdained it.

A grave manifestation is Obamacare’s incorporation to use federal funds to pay for abortion and thereby force people of conscience who are pro-life to pay for the terminations of life in the womb across the country. (What a tragic piece of legislation to pass in the shadow of the day when we celebrate the birth of the world’s savior, Jesus Christ.)

What President Obama, like many other liberal politicians, needs is a paradigm shift – a new way of seeing America, which is really an old way. It’s the way our founders viewed America, and it incorporates a good ol’ fashioned Christmas proclamation of Christ’s birth. That America is the one I outline in my new (January 2010) paperback expansion of my New York Times best-seller, “Black Belt Patriotism,” which is ironically the same Christmas gift I’m sending to the president!

And there is one gift that I propose the president give this nation. Since Obama prides himself on being the technological president, in lieu of his Christmas proclamation this year, I suggest that he just send out across the nation the online link to a YouTube video that I had posted under the title, “Ronald Reagan Christmas Address (12/23/81).”

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=119611

That’s right its Christmassssssss time! More so then any other time of the year Christmas is chock full of traditions. There are simple ones like the candle lit Christmas eve mass and family parties. Then you get things like The Christmas Pickle.

An ancient Teutonic tradition (god bless the Germans!) the Christmas Pickle Ornament is as essential to a properly festooned Christmas tree as a star or angel are to most American trees. The story goes that the head of the family would hide a jar of Claussen pickles the prized pickle ornament in the tree and the children would compete to find it – the first to spot the pickle won a prize.

Or the Krampus

In Austria and some of the rural parts of Eastern Europe, there is a pre-Christian tradition that has hung around still today. It is the Krampus, an incubus who is considered by many the “evil alter-ego” to good ole Santa Claus. On December 5, bands of debaucherers outfitted in Krampus-wear (really elaborate and scary masks, horns, and sheepskin coats) roam the streets, drunk, looking for trouble, whipping those who’ve “been bad” (i.e. are standing within striking distance).

How about Broom hiding in Norway?

The hiding of all brooms on Christmas Eve night is a very old Norwegian tradition. In the old days people believed witches and evil spirits come out on this night looking for brooms to ride on, so they hid them in the safest places possible. Today, Norwegian women still hide their brooms, mops and brushes before going to sleep, while the men sometimes sneak out of the house and fire a shotgun to scare off the witches.

Not your cup of tea? Are you a single woman? Try Shoe tossing

In the Czech Republic single women perform a very unusual ritual on Christmas Eve Day, to find out if they will marry in the following year. With their backs to the house door, they throw one of their shoes over their shoulder. If the shoe lands with the heel towards the door, she will definitely stay single for another year, while if the front of the shoe points towards the door, it means she will move out of her parents’ house, and she should start making wedding preparations.

Now on to the traditions the wifey and I have. First is generally wrapping the remaining presents (though often this happens the morning of as we wait for the family!) This year is pretty different in that we’ve actually both finished wrapping presents way ahead of time. Go us!

The other tradition (going on 2 years now) is the family (her mom, step mom, dad and sis) come over to our tiny apartment for small breakfast and to open presents. My family (who I miss dearly) lives in Florida and so do not get to come over. Later that night we go to her moms or her dads house for dinner (it switches) and there are the traditional friends party.

Another one that we’ve done the last couple of years is having friends over for dinner sometime in December. This year it took place the Sunday before Christmas. We the wifey cooks a delicious main course and the friends bring the sides, apps and desserts. There will be talking, hugging (present giving sometimes) drinking and much laughter. Someone may or may not chug the last vestiges of a rum bottle. A good time is all.

Love the eggnog the night before. Yum! One of these days we’ll make our own.

The wife and I also started a tradition of buying each other a Christmas Tree Ornament each year. We give each other these ornaments the night before Christmas. We’re gonna need a bigger tree soon probably:

This is all leads up to the real tradition. We watch Bill Murray in Scrooged. Never heard of or seen it? Oh man that pains me. Watch it! If you hate it that is okay (opinions are like assholes and all that jazz) but don’t tell me because I may hate you forever. We settle in together on the couch and watch this movie every year. We quote it year round and I could probably recite the entire movie line for line.

Scrooged trailer:

What are your traditions? Oh an Merry F’ing Christmas all of you!!!

Christmas Season in Poland

One of the reasons I became an exchange student was not only to learn other cultures and traditions, but to also take part in them. Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around Europe, but this year I have been fortunate enough to take part in a Polish Christmas in Koszalin. I have written about my sights in Berlin, Germany during this Christmas season but my Polish sights and experience mean so much more to me. Berlin was more like a vacation, so I took the time to see the sights and absorb it all. Poland is a much different experience. I have become so attached to this remarkable country that I just want to observe, discover, and experience as much as possible and not just from a traveler’s or tourist’s point of view but from a person who actually is involved in the Polish culture. I experienced most of this season in my city of Koszalin, which isn’t a popular tourist city but I was also able to travel to Wrocław.

Christmas Season in Koszalin, Poland

I find the month of December here in Koszalin to be reasonably simple and not over the top. Stores here are filled with candy and Christmas merchandise such as ornaments and house décor. Malls are filled with shoppers during the weekends with some additional entertainment like angles walking amongst the crowds. Stalls within the mall are set up selling miniature Christmas trees, Christmas pastries, and ornaments. I am saddened to not find traditional Polish ornaments or dolls for sale. Everything for sale is so modern. Polish objects are usually found within Christmas Markets and unfortunately Koszalin doesn’t have one. Other than the mall and Town Center not many lights or decorations are to be found around the city. It’s hard for people living in apartments to decorate outside.
The center is beautifully lit up at night gleaming off the fresh snow.. Temperatures here are really cold this time of year dropping to a range of –13 to 5 degrees F. Snow boots, thick coats, hats, scarves, and gloves are a necessity.

Saint Nicholas (Mikolajki) Celebration in Poland
Celebrated on December 6th, 2009

Most European countries take the time to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day with their families. Each country however celebrates this holiday according to their traditions. This year on December 6th I had the chance to take part in some of the Polish traditions of the holiday Mikolajki, or otherwise known as Saint Nicholas Day.
Kids here in Poland typically wake up on the morning of the sixth and find small presents by their beds. My experience was a bit different. On the night of the fifth my family had just arrived home from our trip to Berlin. We ended up getting home around midnight and when I got to my room Saint Nicholas already came for me. He was so nice in getting me a shopping bag, a Christmas tea mug, and lots of candy. Saint Nicholas day is usually a holiday for children to receive gifts but sometimes he visits adults as well. He visited my mother this year and left her a nice Christmas breadbasket. It’s typical for him to give small presents like soaps, shampoos, Christmas items, and lots of chocolate. Stores around Koszalin started to sell Christmas merchandise about a week before Saint Nicholas Day, unlike the United States with holiday items on the shelves after Halloween. Saint Nicholas also visited my grandparent’s houses and left my sister and me presents so my Babcia (Grandma) dropped them off. Families don’t tend to get together and celebrate this holiday and there aren’t any special meals planned or church services that day. It is a preparation day for what is about to come.

Saint Nicholas (Mikolajki) Celebration At School Class
Celebrated on December 4th, 2009

My school here in Poland has three grade levels and each grade is split up into individual classes. Throughout the whole year you remain with this same class of about 30 kids. You celebrate holidays in school with your classmates.
For Saint Nicholas Day my class planned a secret gift exchange. A week prior we picked names. I ended up choosing my friend Ola so I wrapped some glass jewelry I brought from the Untied States and added some American candy for her. I have been unable to find peppermint candy canes here. Only fruity flavored ones. Our party was scheduled during one of our classes. A student from a different class joined us dressed as Santa Claus. We gave him all of our gifts. We had to do something special to receive our gift. Some sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas and others sang pieces of songs. I decided to sing a bit of “Jingle Bells”. I received some soaps and a really cute heart pillow CD case from my friend Ala.

Christmas Season Activities

During the Christmas season many families take part in various activities to bring the family closer together. Here are just a couple:

The One and Only Christmas Tree. (Ta jedna, jedyna choinka.)

In the United States I’m accustomed to purchasing a Christmas tree with my family in the beginning of December and decorating it with them. Here in Poland my sister and I got a chance to scout out the perfect Polish Christmas tree two weeks before Christmas.

An old Polish tradition is to purchase a Christmas tree and wait till Christmas Eve to set it up and decorate it with your family members. My sister and I bundled up and set out to find a perfect Christmas tree to place in our flat.

Here in Koszalin it really isn’t too hard to find a place to purchase a Christmas tree, but finding the perfect one is a different story. The Christmas trees are cut down and wrapped in netting and are driven to empty lots around the city. I would say within a mile radius there are about seven or eight different tree vendors. I thought picking out a Christmas tree would be fairly easy but trees aren’t so thick with branches and bristles. Most are about medium size and are somewhat bare compared to trees I’ve seen in the United States. We were looking very hard for the thickest tree so we could fill it with tons of decorations and ornaments. We ended up catching a bus and went to another Christmas tree lot to continue looking around. It took some time but there it was. It stood out to me because it was so full compared to the other trees I’ve seen. It took me some time to actually notice why it was so full. It was two trees in one. The trunk was about a foot in length then it parted into two separate trunks each with its own branches filled with bristles. Karolina also liked the tree a lot.

We purchased this 7 foot tree for 120 zloty which is equivalent to 45 US dollars. The tree workers wrapped our tree in netting for easy transportation and were set to go. There was one problem; we were a mile away from home and couldn’t walk all the way home in the freezing cold snow. Karolina and I ended up taking the bus home with tree in tow. We got a lot of stares and I felt weird transporting a tree on the bus. I don’t think that happens too often. It wasn’t until we arrived home that I realized that we needed to carry this tree up an additional seven flights of stairs. I’d never put this much work into getting a Christmas tree before. We carefully maneuvered up the stairs until we reached the top and quickly went inside to warm up from our Christmas tree task.

Making Pierniczki (Gengerbread)

My sister and I had the chance to make Polish pierniki, otherwise known as gingerbread, with each other. Gingerbread all around the world is a traditional Christmas sweet. Gingerbread is a very important dessert here in Poland whether it’s gingerbread cakes or cookies.
Karolina and I took the time to make cookies with each other. It was fun cooking these wonderful pastries with her because we had about three hours on our hands to talk, have fun, and also enjoy the wonderful tastes and smells of the gingerbread cookies. We cooked, cut and decorated about 70 cookies to be served this Christmas Eve.

Christmas Season in Wrocław, Poland

I had the chance to explore this touristy town during this Christmas season. It was a treat. A town square known as the Renek was the location of my first Polish Christmas market. My best friend Katelyn, another exchange student, introduced me to this wonderful spectacle.
There were more than 50 different stalls filled with Polish jewelry, pottery, ornaments, and nativity scenes. I picked up a bunch of Polish pottery ornaments and a wooden nativity scene with bee wax sculptures. My mother really likes collecting bee items since my great grandfather was a bee keeper. I thought that would be a nice present for her. My Rotary club from Johnstown sent some extra money for Christmas. I used some of it to purchase ornaments for myself. I will keep them wrapped for my Christmas trees over my lifetime to share with my children one day. They will get to hear all my stories and memories of my time in Poland.
The Polish kielbasa, pierniki, and crepe stalls were also present and sent delicious smells throughout the whole square. My mouth is watering even now. A very small carnival was positioned in the center of this market with a few games.
I absolutely fell in love with the Christmas decorations in the Renek. There was a sleigh with two stuffed toy reindeer available for pictures. The food stalls were unique. One was turned into a huge story pyramid about Christmas and the other was decorated out of marvelous dark wood. The Renek is surrounded with buildings that look like they just popped out of an old vintage European movie which made this whole experience even more magical.

]]> http://gabrieladelworth.com/2009/12/24/my-visit-to-the-pulp-paper-gallery-on-the-danforth%e2%80%a6paper-and-ornament-galore%e2%80%a6part-two/ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:48:12 +0000 Gabriela Delworth http://gabrieladelworth.com/2009/12/24/my-visit-to-the-pulp-paper-gallery-on-the-danforth%e2%80%a6paper-and-ornament-galore%e2%80%a6part-two/

Here are more photos of my visit to The Pulp Paper Gallery on The Danforth. Aren’t these ornaments amazing? It would be quite difficult to choose from such an amazing variety. As you probably know it’s quite a challenge to take photos inside a store and besides it’s was so busy with happy customers. But I managed to take a few shots and made close-ups for you to see some details.

I found vintage like-old world ornaments, funky ornaments, mushrooms and birds were very popular! And also ornament bubbles with dolls or Santas inside. Owls are also very popular. I also found very elegant ornaments with embroidery like details in metallic browns and ochre colours.

Glittered ornaments were everywhere! In many different colours and shapes. I really loved these ones on the photos above. Multicoloured glitter sparkles and red. A fabulous show under the lights!

For those of you that missed yesterday’s post, it’s right here.

DISCLOSURE: I have not received any samples or compensation from for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

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I love nativity sets at Christmas after all, Christmas is all about the birth of our lord and nativities remind us of that. When I was pregnant with my first child I visited a friend of mine who had a lovely nativity. She said she had brought it from home and it was very unique. Because it was breakable the children were not allowed to play with it. While she spoke about where it came from and so on bringing attention to it you could see the kids just itching to touch it. I found that ridiculous! It was like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey. Christ would not want material things to create tension in the home, right?

I decided to have a nativity that was not breakable so my kids could play with it. Funny enough they were hard to find. I finally found this plastic one and I got two just in case. Years later when my daughter was born I found the wooden one. Every year I would set them up and when the kids played with them  they always seemed to play with baby Jesus with care.

Now they are older and I wouldn’t mind having a bigger more chicer one but somehow I don’t think that will happen.

Our wooden Nativity

It’s Christmas Eve, yay!  Here are some felt camera and polaroid tree ornaments I made and gave away for Christmas this year:

These were so fun to make!  I am looking forward to sleeping in and working on crafty projects until it’s time to head over to the Cooks for Super Happy Christmas Fun Time!  Very merry wishes to everyone!

Unless the urge to post overwhelms, I’m taking a break until after the New Year. May your days be merry, your nests bright, and your stomachs full with good food.  Read on for a look at our house this time of year.

This was before the massive snowfall. We've since taken down the flag.

Mercury glass accents (from Ballard Designs, Marshalls and eBay) and magnolia leaf garland on the mantle.

Christmas Eve table: hammered sterling poached from my sister, blue china poached from another indulgent sister, linens from LinenMe, homemade moss balls (crazy easy).