CHRISTMAS DECORATING 2022 PART 3

Here are some more of the decorations that we have up this year. You can see the other two parts that we posted HERE and HERE.

We take the chance to hang a decoration on a cabinet knob or door pull, like this sparkly Santa hanging from a cabinet knob.

This is dead space below the sofa table and we have some Christmas themed boxes that we keep down here.  They double as decoration AND storage.  The Santa one is full of bows.  The round one has spools of ribbon.  The red/white striped one is a recent addition and we're keeping blank cards in there. Another has extra strands of lights if we need them.

Here is what is on top of the sofa table, using our wonderful apothecary jars we bought a few years ago:

We have filled them up with various Christmas items. Here is one end.  Bows are great quick decorations.  The large bowl shaped one is filled with Lindor chocolate truffles (our holiday Christmas guilty pleasure).  The container is an old holder made OF Christmas cards that are stitched together.  Each side is a different part of a card. We put our Christmas cards in it each year.

Some more bows (told you they make great quick decorations, ha).  The smaller one has white fluffy stuff in it and it sparkles like snow.  That's not showing in the photo but it is pretty.  A little stocking embroidered by one of my Grandmothers hangs on the top and then there's a Christmas sign we enjoy.  In the back is one with candy canes in it.  And lastly, on the end is a Rudolph coffee mug that I won in an "ugly coffee cup" exchange once.  We LOVE it.  It's not ugly, it's cute and very vintage looking.

We don't do a lot since we have a small space but it puts us in the Christmas spirit and that's what matters.

HOBART SUNDAY

 I didn't take any food pics the last week (though there was plenty of good food had!) so today will be two for one Hobart pictures.

He had been watching us for a few years getting water from the machine.  So a couple of weeks ago, he went over there and meowed and we laughed and filled up a glass for him.  Oops!  Now here is his newest trick:

He goes over, meows and we fill up a glass with cold water and he sits there and waits while it fills up.  And then he runs to wherever we put it down...

...and drinks his "tall water" from the glass.  He still has two bowls of fresh water (changed several times a day) that he drinks out of and NOW we have to leave a glass sitting in middle of the floor in the dining room so he can drink out of it, because...

#notspoiled

WHEN DO YOU OPEN YOUR PRESENTS FRIDAY DEBATE

 On Friday in the past we have done a "Friday Food Debate" where we tackle some burning questions of the culinary world, ha. We have expanded it now to other fun and different regional uses of words in addition to food related words and even other things to debate.

It's been about three years since we asked this and with new followers and new people commenting, we thought it might be fun to bring back.  And regular commenters, please add your answer so we can all compare.  Or maybe you have changed your tradition?

This week, the burning question is:

There are really only two times you can open presents at Christmas.  "Christmas Eve" like I did while growing up, or "Christmas morning" like 2nd Man did when he was growing up.  Of course, Christmas morning/day could be anytime after midnight.  We have some friends that say they stay up until midnight and then open at 1:00am.  There are those that do a split, opening one or two the night before and the rest in the morning.  

2nd Man and I have sort of adopted the latter tradition...we get to open a present after dinner on Christmas Eve and the rest when we wake up Christmas morning.  I guess even though we both grew up with different traditions, we've made our own now.

So...when do you open your presents?

Christmas Eve?  Or Christmas Day?

VINTAGE COCA COLA SANTA CLAUS

 Who knew this would become the thing many of you asked about?  Several emailed us and/or commented asking about our Santa.  Here are some up pictures and details about the history of them: 

These didn't come together.

The Santa belonged to my Grandparents.  Grandma always put it under the tree as a decoration and as a little kid, I was enthralled by it.  Some years later, they added Rudolph because they just looked like they belonged together.  When they moved to a new house in the 70's and were downsizing, they passed Santa and Rudolph along to my parents who did the same thing with our tree.  It was always under or beside the tree as part of the decorations.  When my parents passed, I had to make sure to take care of Santa and friend and now they sit around to watch over our Christmas.

Not sure who they will get passed to for another generation to enjoy but we'll figure that out someday.

The Santa was made by The Ruston Company and still has the original tag.  Grandma said she got it in the late 1950's.  It's older than both of us!

Check out his boots.  They are stitched leather, still shiny after more than 60 years!

Because this was sponsored by or maybe even sold by (not sure) Coca Cola, he is holding a coke bottle.  This has been so well taken care of all these years, this is still the original bottle that it came with.  It even still has the metal cap on it.  No liquid coke in it of course, it was made in a solid color to look like it was full but just so cool and vintage.

Look at this face!

It looks like the image of Santa that we all know and love.  The detail is so nice.  While the body is stuffed fabric and the lower part of his beard is fur, the face and hands are rubber and still in great shape with no cracking.  He (and Rudolph) get carefully wrapped up each season and are packed into their own storage box...ready for next year.

Now we don't know what they do in their off season, but they are back in time for Christmas every year.

CHRISTMAS DECORATING 2022 PART 2

Here is some more of our decorating for this year.

The wreath on our front door.  Made for us by a coworker a few years ago and we love it.

We love poinsettias but of course, can't have live ones with a kitty so we use artificial ones.  This one we put in a vase we have out the rest of the year.  We put it on top of these tin containers we have to just add height and keep some Christmas theme going.  It's always nice to keep some containers on hand because not only do they add Christmas decor, they serve as a container for treats if we need them!

This is our dining table.  We have these glass containers on the table year round.  Sometimes, we have candles in them, other times citrus or other fruits, but at Christmas, we do this.  We put glass ornaments, red, silver, and gold, in them.  It is so pretty because the shiny metallic captures all the light in the room and makes them sparkle.  This year, we added this runner  embroidered with silver thread snowflakes.

This artificial plant is normally in the corner where the tree is now, so we have to move it.  This is by the front door and we just stick a big red bow on it and it's the first thing you see.

For those asking, here is Hobart's stocking hanging from a cabinet knob.

Shhh, don't tell him but he has some new toys in there, including a fun new laser toy, and some snacks. We have catnip up high in a cabinet so he doesn't "seek it out".  Because he's been a good boy.

This is our bar/storage cabinet in the living room.  We love these artificial poinsettias, found them downstairs a few years ago.  They are made of a velvet fabric and look so real.  Last but not least is our favorite thing to put out, our vintage Coca-Cola Santa and Rudolph.  The Santa has been in my family for years.

One more post with some more things, hope you enjoy our little tour of Christmas!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Yesterday was a "beat the rain" day.  We went to the farm and did what we needed to do and the sky was getting darker and darker.  Then last night and this morning, the bottom fell out and it rained and stormed as a front moved through.

The other night, we had some beef left over and decided to make them into fajitas.  We cooked them with some fajita seasonings, some pepper strips and onions and then instead of tortillas, we decided to keep it a bit lighter and used hearts of romaine lettuce for the "taco shells".  Another great way to use up what we hand on hand.

And here is Hobart in all his glory.  On his quilt that stays on a sofa table behind the couch.  He jumps up on the couch and then up onto the table and quilt so he can lay there and observe his surroundings, because...

#notspoiled

TAKEOUT OR CARRYOUT FRIDAY FOOD PHRASE DEBATE

 On Friday in the past we have done a "Friday Food Debate" where we tackle some burning questions of the culinary world, ha. We have expanded it now to other fun and different regional uses of words in addition to food related words.

We haven't done one in a while and figured it was a good time to bring it back. 

This week, the burning question is:

Apparently, there are regional differences in this once again.  When you go to a restaurant and order food to bring home, or of course have delivered to your home, people call it one of several things.  "Take out" is the most common, used by about 70% of the country, mostly in the West, NW, and North central.  In the South, "to go" is more common.  In the Midwest, "Carry out" is mostly used there.  And on the East coast, "takeout" and "carryout" are used interchangeably.  There is even another we thought of, "take away" is another term that some people use, though not as common as the usage of the others.

2nd Man and I thought about and we say "to go" here.  If we don't use that though, we default to using the term "takeout".

So, what do you call it?

Takeout?  Carryout?  To go?

PUTTING UP TURKEY STOCK

 Will have more Christmas decorations in an upcoming post.  So today, we'll have a food related post.  Before we get too far beyond Thanksgiving, one thing we always like to do after we roast our turkey and are done with it is make some stock for future use.

After taking the meat off the bones (bones not gnawed on of course, LOL) we put them in a baggie and keep in the fridge for a day or two, until the excitement of Thanksgiving calms down.

Then we get a pot, add water (we use bottled water just to keep it pure and clean), we bring it to a quick boil and then reduce to a low simmer for about 2 hours.  You can put anything in here you want, vegetables, seasonings, etc.  Our turkey is so well seasoned we find we don't have to add anything but again, it's entirely up to you.

After a couple of hours, we take out the bones.

Then we use a strainer over a bowl and line the bottom with paper coffee filters.  Of course you can also use cheesecloth, but we were out.

We do this to make sure to make sure we've strained out all the little bones and bits we don't want in our stock.

We like to use these takeout soup containers.  For this batch, we had these two full and another about 1/3 full that we put in the fridge to use in the next few days.

Lastly, we pop them into the freezer and we're good to go for the next soup or stew.

CHRISTMAS DECORATING 2022 PART 1

Christmas decorating is up and done.

We have a few new things this year.  

On this table, the rest of the year we keep a box with teabags in it and a dish with sweetener packets.  This year, I found a box to move the tea into and then this teddy bear Christmas dish.  The top lifts off and we keep the packets in there.

It's a nice change for the season.

The addition this year for 2022.  You may have seen the other two of these last year in our Christmas decor.

If you didn't, here they are all together.  This is from a popular/iconic Texas burger chain called Whataburger.  The chain is so popular, they have a whole online catalog of merchandise.  In 2019 they came out with the first one.  Then in 2020 they had a second.  Last year we ordered the 2021 version but due to supply chain issues, they cancelled the order.  This year they did have one and of course we had to get it.

Now the three of them adorn the front of the hutch in our dining room.  They fit so well here.  If we get any more nutcracker employees, we'll have to open up a franchise for them, ha!

And here is the tree up and in all its glory:

For those new to the blog, this tree was downstairs in our recycle area with a note on it saying "FREE!".  It's 9 feet tall and is pre-lit with LED lights.  The cool part is that if you push the button to turn it on, it's white.

Push it again and...

...it changes to multi-colored.  We love it and it fits in this corner perfectly as we can see it from the kitchen, dining and living room.  The table isn't finished, have a runner we need to put down.

We decorate the tree with our collection of "Old World" style ornaments (glittery, sparkly, glass).  This year, we got to add some new ones.

A very sweet friend gave us this new ornament and we love it.  It's a wonderful sparkly red barn with a cow in front and other neat details.  It hangs next to the pig given to us by another dear friend who carried it back with her from overseas just for us.

They also gave us this beautiful pineapple, symbol of hospitality and welcoming.  We needed one for sure!

    We don't have a fireplace, so our stockings are always hung on the dining room hutch with care, ha.  This is where we usually put them, above where the nutcrackers are.  This year, we added these wonderful round metal ornaments.  They are made of a galvanized type of metal and each one has our initial on it.  We decided to hang them from the toe of each stocking.  SO cute!

More decorations in upcoming posts...

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Yesterday was a misty, gloomy day.  But I got some things done at the farm.  Can't believe it's already December.  Where does the time go?

2nd Man made this the other day, so good, especially in colder weather.  It's ground beef, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, potatoes, carrots, peas, onions and seasonings.  All cooked together the same pan, it's almost like a simple stew.  We had some leftover beans from the night before and served those on the side in the same bowl.  So comforting on a cold evening and isn't that what makes it comfort food?

Here's Hobart, sleeping on his blue fuzzy blanket.  Well, OK, technically this isn't his blanket, we ordered for us for chilly evenings on the couch but, of course, he discovered it and so now we have to cover him up and leave his head uncovered and in this case his leg and tail, because...

#notspoiled

WOW MORE CDS TRASH TO TREASURE

  Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock where people can put the things they don't want.  I've found quite a few cool items over the last few years.

Here's another of the latest (and might seem familiar):

So I went downstairs to check on things and found not one, not two but THREE ADDITIONAL binders full of CD's.  If this sounds familiar, no, the bottom one is not the same one that I had already found a few weeks back (read about that HERE)...

Here is that one!

This was another one, the same size.  Plus two more.

The large one is FULL of CD's again.  Another 256.  Then a medium sized one filled with 64 CD's.  And finally, a smaller one holding 32 CD's.

SERIOUSLY?  I mean, we understand people don't use them as often as they used to but WOW.  Between all four, we now have well over 600 new cd's for our use.

Another nice variety of artists, Pentatonix albums, Luther Vandross, Beach Boys, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Hudson, Maroon 5, Jimmy Buffet, Prince, a little classical, some bluegrass...I could go on and on.  A lot of "Greatest Hits" by various artists and those are always nice because you get the best of the best and songs you are more familiar with.

The weird thing is the second large binder matches the first one I found (same brand).  Too coincidental.  Maybe they threw the first one away and didn't find these until they unpacked more stuff.  We'll never know.

All we DO know is that their trash is definitely our treasure.  I told 2nd Man that whatever we do at the farm, we need to make sure we have a stereo system that will allow these to be played, either physically or from the cloud.