Christmas Countdown - 2017

[CGYager]

Good Thursday morning friends. Been a few interesting days here, weather wise. Nice during the day and then a stray rainfall here and there. It's kind of nice, but the limbs that I cut off the tree and am waiting to burn in the fire ring, will require at least a day or two for drying out. Of course on the better side, I have not had to water the grass for over ten days.
I am putting in at the store to go back on day shifts. I have several Department Managers that are asking their managers if they can get me at their department, which is nice and humbling. Not sure if it is an age thing, but recently, I seem to be having trouble getting a good "night's" sleep. A few of those and I wind up sleeping a good portion of my days off. Of course I leave those decisions in the hands of God to do what He seems best for my life. And I should mention, as of today, 2 years - 7 months & 4 days to go.
Have a nice day everyone and a great weekend ahead...

 

[Holiday]

Morning everyone,
It's been an overly hectic morning. We were meant to be having our wood burning fire put in this morning but they have uncovered some random live water pipes inside the chimney breast that need sorting before they can proceed. Their plummer cant make it till next tue so the whole thing has to be put off till then. Ugh!!!!! This keeps happening with every project in the house. Things keep on being uncovered that we need to deal with.

Makes me think of The Money Pit with Tom hanks and Shelley long LOL !


View attachment 38466 View attachment 38467

Still , it's an amazing old house and we love it
The roaring fire will be worth it come autumn/winter.

Have a great day all and hope your week is going well.

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your setback! Hope it's taken care of quickly so you can enjoy that roaring fire this fall!! xx Have a great day Festive!

 

[Festive Spirit]

We are in an old house in Bellville, and it can, at times, be a challenge. Still, we love ours, too.

Good luck with your remodel!

Thank you!
I wouldn't change things if I could

Lol..I just watched that movie a week ago!!! Never seems to stop with old houses.

Yeah tell me about it

Think I'll watch it tonight. Could do with a laugh!

 

[Holiday]

Good Morning, MMC!! It's going to be a beautiful day here with a high of 74. I love it!! It's been another crazy week here but it looks like things are slowing down now. Which is good, I have projects I need to work on. I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Hope things slow down & you enjoy this beautiful weather! Any luck apartment hunting?

 

[Holiday]

Good Morning Everyone! It's a nice cool morning here, we will barely hit the low 70's today. We are working around the house today and maybe freezing some green beans from the garden. Hope everyone has a merry Thursday!

Enjoy your cool day missiechick!!

 

[Festive Spirit]

Good Thursday morning friends. Been a few interesting days here, weather wise. Nice during the day and then a stray rainfall here and there. It's kind of nice, but the limbs that I cut off the tree and am waiting to burn in the fire ring, will require at least a day or two for drying out. Of course on the better side, I have not had to water the grass for over ten days.
I am putting in at the store to go back on day shifts. I have several Department Managers that are asking their managers if they can get me at their department, which is nice and humbling. Not sure if it is an age thing, but recently, I seem to be having trouble getting a good "night's" sleep. A few of those and I wind up sleeping a good portion of my days off. Of course I leave those decisions in the hands of God to do what He seems best for my life. And I should mention, as of today, 2 years - 7 months & 4 days to go.
Have a nice day everyone and a great weekend ahead...
View attachment 38472

Good luck with the shift change. I hoep your sleeping pattern improves for you. Sleep is so important. Hope you have a great day.

 

[SnowflakeMom]

Good Morning, MMC!! It's going to be a beautiful day here with a high of 74. I love it!! It's been another crazy week here but it looks like things are slowing down now. Which is good, I have projects I need to work on. I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Have a great Thursday, Made and hope you can work on your projects!

Good morning MMC! Merry Friday Eve!!

Not a lot to report on Gracie other than she had to spend another night in the doggie hospital. She is supposed to finish up her IV this morning. Hopefully she can come home. She was doing better & they got her to eat a little - but only 1/2 cup. Hopefully she ate again last night! xx I didn't go see her. I knew I would want to take her home & she would want to come home so I figured it might be better to let her be. BUT if she has to stay tonight again, I'm going!!! Miss my girl!

It was a busy night last night! I made a fruit pizza for tonight. My sister, Dena & I put up 6 1/2 dozen ears of corn at moms. We need that garden corn for Christmas Eve, ya know!! Then I went home & made my 1st batch of fresh salsa for the year. YUM-O! I diced onion, bell peppers & jalapeno peppers for our pizza tonight! I didn't sit down til 10:30.

Tonight we are going to a small "winery" to celebrate 2 of my sisters birthdays. Just the girls are going. It's not actually a winery but they carry wine from a local maker - my friends brother as well as other wines. This is what the website says:
"We have a beautiful stone fireplace and pizza oven outside in our wine garden. We provide all the makings for pizzas for you to prepare and cook your own pizza while enjoying your wine under the stars."
They supply a pepperoni pizza & we can bring in whatever other toppings we want! Should be fun!! I made the fruit pizza for our dessert & my sister bought the birthday girls tiara's! It could be chilly thought tonight. Supposed to get down to 49º!

Have a wonderful day everyone!!!

Dang...sorry to hear Gracie had to spend another night...continued prayers for her!
Have fun at the winery...sounds like a fun place...wow 49!! That is def some fall weather!

Good Thursday morning friends. Been a few interesting days here, weather wise. Nice during the day and then a stray rainfall here and there. It's kind of nice, but the limbs that I cut off the tree and am waiting to burn in the fire ring, will require at least a day or two for drying out. Of course on the better side, I have not had to water the grass for over ten days.
I am putting in at the store to go back on day shifts. I have several Department Managers that are asking their managers if they can get me at their department, which is nice and humbling. Not sure if it is an age thing, but recently, I seem to be having trouble getting a good "night's" sleep. A few of those and I wind up sleeping a good portion of my days off. Of course I leave those decisions in the hands of God to do what He seems best for my life. And I should mention, as of today, 2 years - 7 months & 4 days to go.
Have a nice day everyone and a great weekend ahead...
View attachment 38472

Good Luck CG...I hope they can get you on the day shift!
Have a great day!

 

[Holiday]

Good Thursday morning friends. Been a few interesting days here, weather wise. Nice during the day and then a stray rainfall here and there. It's kind of nice, but the limbs that I cut off the tree and am waiting to burn in the fire ring, will require at least a day or two for drying out. Of course on the better side, I have not had to water the grass for over ten days.
I am putting in at the store to go back on day shifts. I have several Department Managers that are asking their managers if they can get me at their department, which is nice and humbling. Not sure if it is an age thing, but recently, I seem to be having trouble getting a good "night's" sleep. A few of those and I wind up sleeping a good portion of my days off. Of course I leave those decisions in the hands of God to do what He seems best for my life. And I should mention, as of today, 2 years - 7 months & 4 days to go.
Have a nice day everyone and a great weekend ahead...
View attachment 38472

Good luck to you CGY & your shift change! Things will work out for the best. I hope you get some sleep too! Enjoy your day!

 

[Holiday]

Dang...sorry to hear Gracie had to spend another night...continued prayers for her!
Have fun at the winery...sounds like a fun place...wow 49!! That is def some fall weather!

Thanks SFM! It would be great to get her home today, if she's ready!
I'm looking forward to tonight!
They changed our forecasted low to 48º now! LOL!

 

[CGYager]

Good luck with the shift change. I hoep your sleeping pattern improves for you. Sleep is so important. Hope you have a great day.

Thank you so much Festive and a wonderful afternoon to you as well. I hope this delay in your home plans will be the last one...

 

[CGYager]

Have a great Thursday, Made and hope you can work on your projects!


Dang...sorry to hear Gracie had to spend another night...continued prayers for her!
Have fun at the winery...sounds like a fun place...wow 49!! That is def some fall weather!


Good Luck CG...I hope they can get you on the day shift!
Have a great day!

I appreciate that SnowflakeMom. I hope you have some wonderful plans for this final August weekend and that they all come to pass...

 

[CGYager]

Good luck to you CGY & your shift change! Things will work out for the best. I hope you get some sleep too! Enjoy your day!

Good morning Holiday and thank you for the well wishes. I am praying that you will be able to bring Gracie home today. Have a wonderful Thursday...

 

[Festive Spirit]

Can you tell us more about traditional Christmas chocolates and chocolate Advent calendars in the U.K.? We don't have those in the U.S., and I'm curious about them after hearing about them in U.K. TV shows! (e.g., Mrs. Brown's Boys mentioned something called "Chocolate Kimberley.")

There are certain chocolate brands that bring out large tins of chocolates for the christmas season. For most Brits, Christmas isn't complete without their favourite tin of Chocolates under the tree for Christmas For us, it's Celebrations. Not sure how or why this is but I suppose it goes back to the old days when chocolates were for special occasions. These tins only come out for the season so seeing them appear is sign the festive season is on it's way.



Chocolate Kimberley is primarily popular in Ireland. They are two soft ginger flavoured cookies with a soft marshmarlow filling in between. We have similar ones done by Cadbury.



The chocolate advent calender is an absolute must do tradition on Decmeber 01st! Just thinking about it makes me so excited. Everyone has to have one!! They are made up of 24/25 doors which are usually mixed up so you have to search for each number door. Makes it all the more exciting. You open a door every day in december to reveal your daily chocolate and countdown the days till Christmas. The chocolates are Christmas themed like santas, reindeer, candy canes, snowmen etc. There are of of course various ones you can get ranging from simple and cheap to luxurious and expensive! Nowadays you can get them with other treats inside such as sweets and even votive candles and alcohol minis


The advent calender as a decoration/ornament will have their doors/windows displayed consecutively. Some just open to reveal the day and some you can fill with your own little treats. I have a wooden one with 24 draws which my husband leaves notes inside each

 

[Holiday]

Good morning Holiday and thank you for the well wishes. I am praying that you will be able to bring Gracie home today. Have a wonderful Thursday...

Thank you!

 

[Holiday]

There are certain chocolate brands that bring out large tins of chocolates for the christmas season. For most Brits, Christmas isn't complete without their favourite tin of Chocolates under the tree for Christmas For us, it's Celebrations. Not sure how or why this is but I suppose it goes back to the old days when chocolates were for special occasions. These tins only come out for the season so seeing them appear is sign the festive season is on it's way.

View attachment 38474

Chocolate Kimberley is primarily popular in Ireland. They are two soft ginger flavoured cookies with a soft marshmarlow filling in between. We have similar ones done by Cadbury.



The chocolate advent calender is an absolute must do tradition on Decmeber 01st! Just thinking about it makes me so excited. Everyone has to have one!! They are made up of 24/25 doors which are usually mixed up so you have to search for each number door. Makes it all the more exciting. You open a door every day in december to reveal your daily chocolate and countdown the days till Christmas. The chocolates are Christmas themed like santas, reindeer, candy canes, snowmen etc. There are of of course various ones you can get ranging from simple and cheap to luxurious and expensive! Nowadays you can get them with other treats inside such as sweets and even votive candles and alcohol minis
View attachment 38475

The advent calender as a decoration/ornament will have their doors/windows displayed consecutively. Some just open to reveal the day and some you can fill with your own little treats. I have a wooden one with 24 draws which my husband leaves notes inside each

I love advent calendars! For years I have bought them for my friend & her husband & their 3 kids. They surprised me last year & gave me one! It was fun!

 

[Skippy1707]

The chocolate advent calendar is an absolute must do tradition on December 01st! Just thinking about it makes me so excited. Everyone has to have one!! They are made up of 24/25 doors which are usually mixed up so you have to search for each number door. Makes it all the more exciting. You open a door every day in December to reveal your daily chocolate and countdown the days till Christmas. The chocolates are Christmas themed like santas, reindeer, candy canes, snowmen etc. There are of of course various ones you can get ranging from simple and cheap to luxurious and expensive! Nowadays you can get them with other treats inside such as sweets and even votive candles and alcohol minis

They come with a variety of decorations as well - the shop brought ones are often found to have characters of favourite children's cartoons, some have Christmas scenes or Christmas depictions on them, baubles, trees etc.....I brought my mother in law a candle advent calendar last year which she loved. Some contain beauty products, you can also get ones that have Lego inside.
They are a must have in our house - we all get one, even my 60 year old mother in law has an advent calendar.
You also get pet advent calendars as well for cats and dogs which contain a daily treat for them!!!

 

[Festive Spirit]

Could only upload two photos in post above but here are a couple more advent calendars

Yankee Candle


Kids Lego themed with lego minis inside

 

[Festive Spirit]

Traditional and most common are the character ones made of cardboard which will start appearing any day now!



Last year I got the boys star wars ones with light sabers that lit up when pressed!!

 

[Festive Spirit]

I love advent calendars! For years I have bought them for my friend & her husband & their 3 kids. They surprised me last year & gave me one! It was fun!

I remember you talking about buying them over the last few years!

 

[Skippy1707]

I wonder if you could send them abroad as they are a food stuff? Might make a nice surprise for an American penpal or swap x