A Life, Lived

Confused Period of Time

This is me . . .

If you want me I'll be on the sofa chips, shortbread, and mince tarts within reach, reading my Christmas books.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

It looks as if Santa figured out the COVID protocols and restrictions and found our house.

May all that is beautiful, meaningful and brings you joy be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Difficult Relatives

If there was one good thing to come from COVID it has been that your difficult relatives are most likely to be anti-vaxxers and thus uninvited to Christmas dinner. If there are any difficult relatives left on your guest list look for this wine . . .

Travel Tuesdays - Christmas in Rome

Here is another collection of shots taken the year we spent Christmas in Rome.

Travel Memories in Christmas Ornaments - Part 3

Last Thursday and Saturday I posted an assortment of some of the travel ornaments that we have on our tree this year. We haven't been doing much travel because of COVID and it looks as if that might get extended even more so this is as good as it gets right now.

Here is the last of the collection.

It is a bit heard to read now (this is one of our earliest ornaments in the travel collection) - San Francisco. We bought this on our only visit to Fisherman's Warf.

This ornament from Maine is hand painted on a piece of slate. We bought it on Deer Isle which was the main centre for slate mining in the n0th century.

The iconic red phone booth from London. Another super expensive purchase from Buckingham Palace. One good things is that it isn't cheap crap made in China. The Queen has standards, don't you know?

This metal cowboy was purchased in San Antonio. I was in the city for a conference.

This is one of those two for one posts. The golden ornament is a bit of a redwood tree that has been plated. We bought this after hiking in Muir Woods State Park outside of San Francisco.

The lighthouse is from Cape Breton Island. The tartan used to make the scarf is known as the Cape Breton tartan. "Black for the wealth of our coal mines, Grey for our Cape Breton steel, Green for our lofty mountains, Our valleys and our fields; Gold for the golden sunsets, Shining bright on the lakes of Bras d'Or, To show us God's hand has lingered, To bless Cape Breton's shores.'

This is one of my favourite. When we visited Naples, Italy we made sure to wander via San Gregorio Armeno also known as the street of the nativity makers. At one of the shops we bought this angel to commemorate our trip.

This kayaking Santa was purchased on one of our trips to Maine. Sea kayaking is a popular pastime in the area and clearly old Saint Nick enjoys it during his downtime.

Travel Memories in Christmas Ornaments - Part 2

On Thursday I posted an assortment of some of the travel ornaments that we have on our tree this year. We haven't been doing much travel because of COVID and it looks as if that might get extended even more so this is as good as it gets right now.

Here we go with Part 2.

This is a depiction of the White House Christmas from 2008. I was in DC for a conference.

This is a two or one post.

The Snowman is from Cheticamp on Cape Breton island. Rug hooking is a popular local craft and we bought this at the famous Flora;s Gift Shop.

The little green man walking energetically is a bit obscure.

These figures were created in 1961 by Karl Peglau, a traffic psychologist. Actually, Karl had the idea to use characters that showed the pedestrians what to do instead of just relying on colours which could be confusing, especially for children. He then handed over the task of creating the image to his secretary, Anneliese Wegner, who designed the charming, little hat-wearing ampelmannchen.

These green and red characters were used in East Berlin to teach children about road safety. Then they went on to appear in cartoons, games, radios broadcasts, and bedtime stories. They were an important part of the culture.

When the Berlin wall came down East Berliners were eager to adopt all aspects of the west. However, they did not want to lose their ampelmannchen. You see them used at cross walks in Berlin to this day.

When we first visited Lucca, Italy we were surprised to see so many representations of Pinocchio. It turns out that the author of the original story lived in the area. In fact, there is a Pinocchio theme park just outside of Lucca.

Another two for one post.

The first is obvious - Paso Robles, one of our favourite wine destinations in California. We have visited 4 or 5 times and i am yearning to go back.

The carved Santa is from Maine. It is carved into a small buoy. It is an example of the strong folk art talent on the East coast.

This was brought at the Hancock Shaker village outside of Pittsfield, Ma. If you are in the Berkshires this is a fascinating place to visit.

Another obvious one - from a trip to Vegas.

Yes, Paul and I went sea kayaking when we were staying in Stonington, Maine. This ornament commemorates our day on the water.

Finally something from Canada! We camped in Algonquin Park in 2003 and we purchased this ornament in Huntsville.

 

Travel Memories in Christmas Ornaments

Jake and Lucca are not always like this:

In fact, even at four years old they view the Christmas Tree as just another extension of their world of toys. We thought that they might have grown out of it by now - all of our other cats had. Anyway, it means that the very fragile and breakable ornaments remain packed away for another year. One of these years the beautiful hand-blown Santa that I bought for Paul while we were in Poland will make an appearance on the tree.

In the meantime we make due with our non-breakable travel ornaments (and there are PLENTY of those). Here is a selection from the 2021 tree.

Norwegian straw wreath. It is traditional for Norwegians to decorate with straw that has been woven into intricate shapes and tired with red ribbon or yarn.

Tugboat from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Buoys from Stonington, Maine. Home of one of the largest lobster fishing fleets on the east coast.

We bought this unusual Santa at a Christmas market when we spent Christmas in New York. We were drawn to it because of the use of blue instead of red. Perhaps it was meant to be a Democrat Santa?

Red and white are two of the three national colours of Norway. They feature in many Norwegian Christmas ornaments. Here a handstitched felt reindeer. Interestingly, I rarely saw blue, the other national colour, used.

The Queen of England's Christmas Tree. Purchased at Buckingham Palace. Given what we paid for it the golden coloured thread might have been real gold. LOL Whatever, it is a nice, none-breakable ornament for our tree.

The famous lighthouse from Savannah, Georgia made into a Christmas ornament.

God Jul means Merry Christmas in Norwegian.

 

Travel Tuesdays - Christmas in Rome

Nine years ago we spent Christmas in Italy. Much of the time was in Rome. Here are some shots from the beginning of our stay there.

Rum Balls

When I think about starting my Christmas baking this is generally the first recipe I approach. It's been my experience that as long as you have a cool spot to store them, these rum balls get better with age.

It's is an approachable recipe - just grind things up, measure, mix, roll and you are done.

I think it was about 30 years ago that the mother of a student I taught sent me a tin on the last day of school with a note to enjoy the contents over the break. I enjoyed the contents so much that on the first day back I asked the student if he could get the recipe from his mother. I've been making it ever since.

The recipe says to roll the rum balls in confectioners sugar however I have always rolled them in chocolate sprinkles with some green and red sprinkles mixed in for festive colour. The rolling part can get messy - particularly if the mixture is too moist - if that happens add more ground vanilla wafers or confectioners sugar until it is a proper consistency for rolling. In my old age (i.e. recently) I have started to use a small cookie dough scoop to help measure out the right amount of mixture. It sure cuts down on the mess! The scoop I use holds about 1 tablespoon.

Enjoy.

Rum Balls

1 cup crushed vanilla wafers
1 cup ground pecans
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/4 cup rum
Chocolate sprinkles (for rolling)

Grind nuts in a food processor - you want an even consistency.

Grind the vanilla wafers in a food processor - you want some small bits so don't grind to a complete powder.

Add in the remaining ingredients.

Place the chocolate sprinkles in a bowl. Shape the mixture into balls. Roll each ball in the sprinkles.

Store in a cool spot.

Travel Tuesdays - Bologna at Christmas

Continuing with my traditional rehashing of the year we spent Christmas in Italy.

Our second stoop was in Bologna.