Thursday, Dec. 11

We slept late again this morning, but I still had time to do a treadmill session and resistance workout. After that, I sat down to the computer for a while, before choosing something to wear to the Master Gardener potluck luncheon and Dirty Santa gift exchange.





I decided on a jewel tone green turtleneck, to be worn under one of two choices of periwinkle blue knit shirts. I started to press one of the shirts...made of nylon and spandex...but had the iron temperature too high, which sort of melted a little spot on one sleeve. The other shirt had somehow attracted an obvious oily spot on the upper part of a sleeve. So I opted for the shirt with the melted spot, which, once it had cooled, wasn't real noticeable. I wore the shirts over tan pants, and added some sparkly jewelry to make the outfit festive.





Today was sunny, but an icy wind blew, so it was shivery getting into and out of the van. The event was held at the county Extension Services office, where a Master Gardener committee had done a nice job of decorating with white, lace-looking disposable table clothes over plain white table clothes, adding clear glass vases, wrapped in glittery gold ribbon and containing tall white candles as centerpieces. The vases were surrounded with sparkly white Christmas tree balls.





The potluck table also had white lace-looking table clothes, but red table clothes were underneath. The centerpiece in the middle was a decorated wreath around a large candle. At the dessert end of the table was a large bowl that looked like a cup and saucer, filled with "Little Cutie" tangerines.





Most of the potluck choices were things that I can't eat, like dressing with sage, and several veggie dishes with cheese. I did have a slice of turkey, a few green beans, some corn, and a carrot dish, plus a roll. There was also pre-cooked cold shrimp and cocktail sauce, so I ate a generous portion of those. I sampled tiny portions of a couple of desserts, including a mouth-watering Mexican wedding cake (only a taste of that, because it was made with real butter and lots of sugar). I ate lightly, because I didn't want to be too full for the meal served at the dinner theater we attended during the evening in another town.





Following the lunch, the MGs played Dirty Santa. This involves randomly picking numbers out of a bag, and then choosing a gift when your number comes up. Hubbie was number 5. At his turn, he chose a large basket of gardening stuff. As folks' numbers came up, they could choose a gift from under the tree, or steal someone else's gift. Gifts could be stolen twice before they were "locked" and couldn't be stolen anymore.





The two most unusual, and most stolen, gifts were a large battery operated chicken that hopped and clucked and made other sounds. It caused great hilarity, until a second battery operated item was unwrapped...a balding man on a potty, making vulgar sounds, finishing with a grateful strain of "Halleluja."





Hubbie's basket of gardening goodies was stolen once, but he stole it back in another turn, and it became "locked."





The event started at 11:30 a.m. and wasn't over until around 2:30, because it takes a long time to complete the Dirty Santa game.



At 4 p.m., we traveled to another town to attend a dinner theater event. Before we went to the theater, we stopped by a drug store to pick up a couple of the mechanical chickens similar to the one given at the Master Gardener party. Two people were so enchanted by the chicken that they wanted to give them to family members for Christmas. We found a big box of chickens dressed in Christmas garb that flapped their wings and sang Christmas carols. They were priced at $15 each, which seemed pricey to us, but we bought them anyway. Because we spent over $25 at the store, we were given a $5 coupon to spend on anything $5 or over on our next visit.



We arrived at the theater around 6:15. The facility is in a modified store front, which was formerly a restaurant. The dining area tables were decorated with black table clothes and napkins and lighted white candles, while the rest of the area was festooned with traditional Christmas decorations.



The meal was buffet style, with choices of sliced pork loin, grilled Caesar chicken breast, steamed veggies, corn on the cob, and steamed rice. Desserts included blackberry cobbler, cheesecake, chocolate cake, and coconut cake.



The tables were situated so that everyone had a good view of the stage. We were fortunate to be on an upper level, affording us a completely unobstructed view.



The play was a hilarious British comedy about a group of ladies (and one gentleman) who attempt to do the play "A Christmas Carol," but get everything wrong. The actors wore cheesy costumes, and used sets made of cardboard. Each actor played several characters. One lady, a great-grandmother, played a little boy and then a little girl, while a ninth-grade girl played Scrooge's grown nephew. A woman played Scrooge, and a man played Bob Crachet's wife.



At intermission, Mother and I visited the ladies room. As we were wending our way back to the table, we saw one of the play's character, a woman, take a pink stadium blanket to our table and ask Hubbie to watch it. Later, the man in the play, who from time to time flirted with the older ladies in the audience, retrieved the blanket and laid it across my knees. The woman actor told him to "stop playing with that lady's knees, and bring the blanket back."



The play ended about 9:30 p.m., and afterward, we stopped back by the drug store to spend the $5 coupon. We found a wooden puzzle, suited to one of the great-children who will be visiting Saturday.

A brilliant full moon shone against a velvet black sky on our trip home, and there were several homes along the way dripping in Christmas lights. It was nearing 11 p.m. by the time we arrived in our driveway. After such a full day, we were all ready to crawl into bed.

Wednesday, Dec. 10

I couldn't face the winter wind this morning to go to water aerobics. Instead, I did a treadmill session, got ready for the day, and headed to the kitchen to prepare holiday fare for this weekend.



I started by baking a pie for tomorrow's Master Gardener potluck lunch and gift exchange. As the pie was baking, Hubbie, who was elsewhere while I was putting it together, sniffed the air and commented appreciatively, "Nothing smells better than an apple pie baking."



"Except that it's a cherry pie," I laughed.



He blamed his olfactory mistake on a stopped up nose. "I guess my smeller isn't working right," he said.



This time, I watched the pie carefully, to keep the crust from getting "high brown," as Hubbie described the cherry pie I took to his daughter's house last Sunday.


There were scraps of pie crust left from trimming around the edges of the pie plates. With a rolling pin, I flattened these into a single layer, smeared butter on it, sprinkled it generously with cinnamon and sugar, rolled it back up, pinched the ends, and baked it to a golden brown, about 20 minutes. This made a treat for Hubbie to have with coffee. None for me, thanks. Pie crusts are too high in fat, and the pre-made ones also contain yellow dye, which I'm highly allergic to.



Speaking of last Sunday's cherry pie, Hubbie's daughter e-mailed, saying that Son-in-Law really liked it, and would I mind giving her the recipe. No problem. Buy pre-made crusts. Put one in a pie plate. Pour one and half cans of light pie cherries into the crust. With finger tips, wet crust edges with milk. Put the top crust on, pinching to close. With finger tips, spread milk on top to brown the crust, bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cherries bubble and crust is golden brown. The recipe is on the can of cherries...except that I use one and a half cans for a fuller pie, and I use milk to brown the crust.



The second pie I made this morning was apple, to be given to my daughter for her birthday while she is here Saturday. She loves my apple pie and requests one each year. Hubbie was running errands while this pie baked, so he missed the actual "nothing smells better than an apple pie baking."



Once the pies were done, Hubbie air popped popcorn for me to use in making baked fruited popcorn. He also cut up candied cherries, and broke pecans for the recipe. I cooked a butterscotch type syrup to coat the popcorn, cherries and pecans, and then baked the mixture for 20 minutes. We made a second batch after supper. One batch will be our contribution to the Second Friday events downtown, and part of the other batch will be included in an exchange gift for the water aerobics Christmas lunch Friday.



In between pies and popcorn, Mother boiled chicken to have for supper with mashed potatoes, chicken broth gravy, and English peas. The rest of the chicken and broth will become chicken noodle soup for Saturday's lunch, while Daughter, Granddaughter, and great-grandchildren are here.



Hubbie and I finished the evening watching our favorite college basketball team romp over their opponents.

Tuesday, Dec. 9

It was almost 8:30 before we got up this morning. I guess we're feeling the effects of the Christmas rush. I headed for the treadmill right away, and then had breakfast after my workout. Mother came over later in the morning and put together a graham cracker cookie Christmas house to use as an example at the workshop Saturday.

While she did that, I wrote a press release for the Master Gardeners, announcing an upcoming nine-week training. Hubbie is actually the publicity chairman for the organization, but he prevails upon me for press releases, public service announcements, and photography, which I'm glad to do.

By the time we completed these tasks, it was lunch time. After lunch, we went to our polling site to vote on a quarter cent economic development tax. Usually any mention of tax is doused by voters in our town, but this one passed almost two to one.

Back home, Hubbie, Mother, and I worked together to make veggie/fruit muffins and potato soup . Hubbie is handy at peeling potatoes, using the food processor to shred carrots, etc., which makes it easier and faster for Mother and me to put together recipes. He's also a willing dishwasher, and keeps utensils, and bowls washed as we use them.

Even though today was quite warm, muggy, and rainy, the soup and muffins were very good for supper.

After supper, Hubbie and I went shopping. We stopped first at the video/music/book store, where I picked up a "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul," and a CD of Christmas music. The CD will become one of the 12 days of Christmas gifts for Mother. The book will be one of her Christmas Eve gifts.

From there, we went to the WDCS for several grocery items, and token gifts for several men in Hubbie's family. It's almost impossible to find suitable gifts for men, but since most of them like hot and spicy foods, we chose gift boxes of bottled hot sauces.

Then we went to the everything's a dollar store, where I found Christmas themed clear plastic bags to use for food gifts.

Lastly, we stopped at the other discount store, where Hubbie bought a bag of chocolate cream drop candies, and a bag of ginger snaps. While at the WDCS, a friend told us that melting a bag of chocolate cream drops in the microwave, and then adding a half cup of peanut butter, will make a small batch of fudge, so Hubbie wants to try it. None for me, thanks.

Our friend was looking for the chocolate drops at the WDCS, but there weren't any, so Hubbie told her to try the other discount store, where he'd seen them a few days ago. I don't know if she went to the store, or not.

On the way home, we saw a van upended in a ditch, three wheels comically in the air. The van apparently got too close to the edge of a restaurant driveway and nose-dived into the drainage ditch.

By the time we reached our driveway, it was windy and sharply cooler. Predictions are for the temp to drop into the 20s tonight. Often, when the weather here in the south dramatically changes from warm to cold in the same day, there is tornadic activity. Fortunately, today there was not, at least not in our state.

Monday, Dec. 8

I started the day with water aerobics. The pool temp was tolerable, if not warm. The alternate aerobics leader gave us a good workout, though, which I needed.

I didn't do much for the rest of the morning after I got home, but after lunch, Mother and I went shopping. She wanted to Christmas shop for me, but felt she needed me with her to choose what I wanted. So I got early gifts of a digital bathroom scale, plus five-pound and eight-pound exercise weights. I'm anxious to use the weights, but not so anxious to step on the scale.

While we shopped, Hubbie ran several errands, including taking the Christmas stockings to the bank, and stopping by a grocery store to pick up four cans of icing to use at the gingerbread house workshop on Saturday.

We didn't make a menu for the week, since there are several lunch and supper events coming up, so I began thinking about what to have tonight and tomorrow night. Since there was one pork chop in the freezer, I decided it could be used along with a partial bag of frozen veggies, onion, bell pepper, and canned mushrooms, to make a stir fry, served over instant rice for tonight. Tomorrow night, we'll have potato soup and sandwiches. Another meal has yet to reveal itself to me for Wednesday night.

Tour of Homes and Festival of Lessons and Carols

I started the day with a treadmill session and resistance exercises, which felt good after a two-day hiatus. While I was on the treadmill, Hubbie hung the flag on the well house, in honor of Pearl Harbor Day.

Then he peeled turnips to be cooked and put in the freezer. These are turnips that a Master Gardener delivered to us from his garden a couple of weeks ago. There are also two pumpkins, used as part of the outdoor fall display, that need to be roasted for the freezer, but we probably won't get around to these until next week.

About 11 a.m., Hubbie went to the WDCS to put gas in the van, and pick up a deli chicken for lunch. We enjoyed the chicken with baked potatoes and corn on the cob, while listening to Christmas CDs.

At 1 p.m., Hubbie and I went downtown for the Christmas tour of historic homes. Four American Foursquare homes were open to guests. The first home we visited is a single-family dwelling that had been converted to apartments, but is now restored to a family residence, again. The Christmas tree in this home featured a large collection of hand-blown glass ornaments. The massive antique dining room table seats 14 people. Originally, the owner said, there was a pedal at one end of the table that could be pushed to summon the butler.

The second home, now 100 years old, boasts several pieces of original furniture that are also approaching the century mark. This home has four fireplaces, pine floors, and a mahogany staircase. Instead of a clawfoot bathtub in the bathroom off the master bedroom, the tub stands on four brass eagles.

The third house keeps to a historic look in all but the kitchen, where there is a massive stainless steel refrigerator and stove. The patio adjoining the outbuilding features a huge fireplace built from large stones salvaged from nearby home renovations. Today, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace that felt good in the chill air.

At the fourth and last home, the most interesting feature (other than the architecture) was the Christmas tree that held a collection of "Wizard of Oz," ornaments, dating as far back as 1984. The staircase was lined with a collection of various sizes and designs of nutcrackers.

All of the homes are owned by young families, so each had cute children's playrooms and bedrooms, and lots of photos of the children. At one home, a dulcimer player entertained with Christmas music in the living room. Most of the homes had elaborate Christmas displays, but the owners of this home opted for decorations more nearly mirroring earlier times....like live magnolia leaves, pine springs and pine cones, etc.

Mother didn't join us for the tour, because most of the homes have high steps to the porches, with no hand rails. She also can't climb the stairways to the second floors of these homes. But we got back home in plenty of time to pick her up to go to the Festival of Lessons and Carols at 4 p.m.

Attending this service has become an annual tradition for us. The service consists of nine lessons that begin with Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden, to the promise of the Messiah, and then to the birth of Christ. Interspersed with the lessons are hymns and carols. Each year, the community flute choir provides music, as well as an organist and a guitarist.

This year, the organist played a beautiful piece called, "Cathedral in the Snow," which we had not
heard before, but which was accompanied by wind chimes that evoked images of a church nestled in winter woods, with a gentle wind rustling icy tree limbs.

Another moving part of the service was the chant of Psalm 85. And we were very impressed with the beautiful voice of a soprano who sang the Negro Spiritual, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy."

It was a very festive and pleasant day, but we were ready to relax when we got home.