Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all...


It's been a week here at the cabin. 

A week of failed plumbing, furniture moving, snow, wind and more furniture moving. 

I've done some baking. Banana bread that was unsuccessful.  Cookies that were yummy.  A batch of refried beans for Christmas lunch and the freezer. 

Tonight my middle chica and her friend arrive. We'll go to a party in town. 
Tomorrow hopefully Santa will come. 
In between I will read "The Night before Christmas" to anyone who will listen.

Wishing all of you a joyous Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, free of plumbing issues and wandering furniture.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

all around the cabin.  O wait. That isn't how the song goes? 

Well, it is here.

A little Christmas tour for you.

We have no snow. It has snowed twice this season, weeks ago, and there is zero snow on the ground. Last weekend I was outside in short sleeves working in the yard. The house I left in Texas has had more snow in December than I have had here in Colorado.

But while it may not feel like Christmas outside, it still looks like it inside.

There are Christmas trees:

Tall and narrow covered with cabin-y ornaments and icicles.

Flat and metal. 

I love this milagro tree. 

It stays up year round some years. 

But at Christmas it has the glass ornaments added on.

And nativity scenes:

 The three kids painted this one 16 years ago. 

(Making them 8, 4 and 2!)

It's my favorite. 

Love the evil angel with red eyes and the little green monster. 

And this one from my mama and Mexico.

While I was trimming wood for the outdoor fireplace I cut 

a few rounds for display. 

I really need a band saw. I miss having one. 

The three wise men are celebrating in front of the empty libation bottles. 

Aren't these guys great? 

There are Santas from my childhood:

This big Santa was made by my aunt when I was about 8 years old. 

Amazed he's still around four houses and 50+ years later.

The Santa bank on the shelf is just about as old. 

As is the the book next to him. 

Goodness, I gave away/sold a gazillion books but there are some I just couldn't part with.

The kids' books were the hardest. There's another large bookshelf's worth upstairs. 

And yes, those are my high school yearbooks in the middle. 

Another Santa from my childhood, against 

one of the kid Christmas books and 

some Mexican pottery, literature and brass. 

My life in a nutshell.
Bookshelves can tell you a lot about a person, don't you think?

A reindeer pillow resting on my most favorite purchase this year. 

Bought that leather chair for $30 and a store credit at the consignment store. 

(And many thanks to my sister in law for keeping me supplied with fabulous winter pillows!)

Hoping I can keep the fern alive through the winter. 

The dry heat isn't that good for it. 

Isn't this a cozy scene?  Fire in the pellet stove. Hallmark Christmas movie on the TV. "Naughty" stockings hanging by the door. And another one of those great needlepointed pillows on the big comfy chair.

This is where you'll find me most nights. 

(Those windows are getting replaced sometime soon.

And curtains. There will be curtains.)

Even the outdoors is trying. No snow but a little greenery.

Kaiser, the bear, tries to hold onto his greenery. 

The deer keep coming up on the porch and pulling it out of his hands.

Fish and deer sporting greenery and ornaments 

on the side porch. 

(Ignore the fact that the wall needs painting. 

This Spring...)

Even the cow's skull over the front dooor is trying to get into the spirit.

There were even cookies baking. Except while they were cooling on the  counter, someone decided to eat some. Actually, lots of them. So I'll have to bake some more. 

(Not mentioning names but C-A-R-L-O-S comes to mind....)

This was two full cooling trays of cookies. 

Bad dog. 

Hope you are also enjoying the holidays and are surrounded by love and the spirit of the season. 

No. 88: ¡Vamos a Hacer Tamales!

¡Vamos a Hacer Tamales!
No. 88: Make Home Made Tamales


Home made tamales. Yum!

I know for many Christmas is a traditional time to make tamales. Lots of people serve them for either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner.  It turns into a family affair with everyone around the table spreading masa and folding up little packets of goodness.  Unfortunately, it's never been a tradition at our house. Every year I say "O! We should have made tamales." But it never happened.

But that changed this year!  Bunny and I decided to tackle tamale making. (So much for the whole family gathering around.  But... you take what you can get.)

I have helped with tamales only one time, about a gazillion million years ago when I lived in San Miguel de Allende. And even then all I did was stuff and fold them up, not actually make the filling or dough.
But I was spurred on by this book, a birthday present from friend Cathy who was also a San Miguel room mate back in the day. I opened it up and there it was: a tamale recipe.

Adorable drawings and lots of inspiration

Fate.

Off to the local supermercado to procure masa and pork plus a bit of chicken because the Big Guy and the Hubs both said they would prefer chicken tamales. No problem, just toss a little extra work in there....

Boiled chicken as requested. 

And guess what? 

They both preferred the pork.

Here's the ingredients for the dough:

Yep. Lard.

Don't tell.

I did not do traditional pork filling which starts with "boil a pig's head". Nope. I went with a pork loin. I have my limits, even if I am trying for authenticity.

We (I) boiled the seasoned meat and shredded it.

Pork loin, seasoned, boiled and shredded.

Masa was mixed with water and lard to make a paste.

Corn husks were soaked until they were pliable.

It helps to put a small plate on top of the husks 

to keep them under water. 

And here's the part where Bunny stepped in.  (She had been pretty much MIA up until this point.)

Bunny wraps a tamale.

With floppy corn husks, pots of shredded meat and a big bowl of masa in the middle of the table, we went to town. It didn't take long for us to get the hang of spreading and folding.

Everything still looks so neat and clean here...

And now I remember why this is usually a group activity. It is time consuming if there are only two of you. We ended up making 10 dozen tamales. That's 120 tamales. Or 120 tiny hand wrapped packages.

Spreading the masa.

Look at that enormous mess behind me. 

Takes a lot of steps and a lot of pots to make tamales.

After we had folded up a few dozen, I stopped the process and steamed a batch. I wanted to make sure they were going to be edible before we did the rest of them.

A bouquet of tamales in the steamer.

¡Sorpresa!  They were actually pretty tasty. Not as seasoned as I would have liked, but there are some wimpy tastebuds in this house. Compromise.

They certainly look like the real thing.

So we did it! And it was pretty fun. Maybe we have a new tradition.
(But next time I'm inviting friends over so we can share the wealth.  And the folding.)

Wrapped up in packages of six for sharing and freezing.

No. 88:  Shredded, folded and eaten.

No. 31: A Winter Solstice Party

No. 31: Have a Solstice Party 

When I realized that we would be arriving back in Texas the same weekend as the winter solstice, I knew this was my chance to knock out No. 31:Have a winter solstice party.

With just a week before the solstice I frantically created an evite and sent it out, truthfully not knowing if ANYONE would be able to come.

My plan was to light up the house with candles to brighten up the one day of the year with the tiniest amount of daylight. O! And I also wanted to see my bunko group friends and others from the neighborhood. A very tiny little party that started out with 6 yeses, 6 maybes, and 6 nos with a few non responders.

 Candles...

and more candles.

We flew into Texas on Friday night late, stuffed ourselves with Tex Mex and called it a day.
Saturday was spent doing last minute kid Christmas shopping, decorating a tree and eating more Tex Mex.

Our pitiful little tree. 

Lights not working, only about a third of the ornaments on it.

But definitely better than last year's non-tree.

So Sunday I realized maybe I needed to get some wine and cheese for this wine and cheese solstice  party. A quick trip to the store got me fixed up.

Happily I had about 14 friends show along with a good group of Bunny's pals. 

There were candles and wine and champagne and candles and it was lovely. Just enough people to visit briefly with everyone. 

We did not dance around a solstice bush (is there even such a thing?), celebrate the longer days to come, mourn the short days just passed or anything of that nature.

Ok, possibly a little bowing to the Sun Gods. 

Or maybe the Wine gods...

Still. It was a party on the solstice and I'm counting it!!

An up close pic of the tree-

looks a little more festive. 

I'm big on icicles, snowflakes and not much else.

Christmas in Texas was great. Got to visit with tons of people, see the nieces and the grand nieces and grand nephews along with my brother and SIL and nephew Andrew. Breakfast on Christmas morning with my MIL, a day spent visiting with my parents. Had a great dinner with some high school girlfriends

Many thanks to Ellen for hosting all these 

beautiful women for dinner. 

Forty years after High School!

I'll be back in Texas next week when my mom has a bit of surgery. 

But now Bunny and I are back in Colorado where winter has decided to arrive with a purpose.
There's snow and cold! 

Deja Vu all Over Again/Welcome 2015

Deju Vu All Over Again  and Welcome 2015

I'm baaaccckkk!!


Seems like forever since I've written a post. I just know I've been terribly missed.

First a little Christmas holiday recap and then some thoughts for the coming year.

The holidays started out pretty much like last year.

Last year before we left town , we found this on our game camera:

Mountain Lion 2013

And exactly one year later, look who was on the game camera again.

Mountain Lion 2014

This picture isn't as clear, but that is probably the same mountain lion, staring into my yard,  less than 100 feet from my front door.

The more alarming part is that Bunny went outside the morning this was taken to get something out of her car. Out the door, over the raised deck and into her car, then back into the house. She came in shaking her head and said "Something growled at me. Twice."  She wasn't concerned because she thought it was Carlos, UNTIL she saw that Carlos was sitting right next to me. Nowhere near the back door.
I found a paw print under the deck.
Fortunately Bunny was NOT anyone's breakfast.

I also managed to maim myself 24 hours prior to arriving in Texas. Again. Nothing broken this time, just slammed my finger in the door of the Hummer. Hard. Three weeks later it still has a BandAid and it still hurts. Another Christmas on pain killers.

Last year.

There was a hospital visit, just like last year. This year it was my mom in for a test.  Last year it was me for a cast.

There was the flu rearing its ugly head again. Last year Bunny and I BOTH got the flu. This year it was Belle.

No Christmas decorations up at the Texas house but I expected that. At least the house was clean.

But Christmas was lovely and we had a great trip there and back. (Unlike last year.)

We returned to SNOW!!!  And Carlos, who had been in the kennel for TEN days.
Look how happy he is to be sitting in Belle's lap for the ride home from the kennel.

Carlos and Belle

And look at the fun snow we got to drive through for the last two hours of our trip!

 Beautiful snow covered mountain drive. 

And this is what we woke up to the next morning. 

Lots of snow!

So the New Year's portion of our holiday was pretty much spent doing this:

Christmas puzzles.

So... Christmas and New Years. Done.

On to 2015.

That means I have less than a year to finish my 60 by 60 list.  Yikes.

I did get No. 31 done. I'll post about that soon.

And while I don't have any resolutions, I do have some thoughts about the new year.  I'll post about that soon, too.

In the meantime, onward to the new year.

Twas the Night Before Christmas in Texas....

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the villa, 

Not a creature was stirring, not even the chinchilla.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with abandon, 

With hopes that "Santa" would soon be landin'.

The teens were lumped up snug in their beds

While visions of Kate Spade danced in their heads...

And I in my sleep mask, the hubs in his shorts

Had just settled in for a few snores and snorts.

When from up above there arose such a boom

O wait! That's just music coming from Boy's room.

Away to the stairs, yelling up to the top,

"We're trying to sleep! Please, please stop."

Outside, the moon shone on new fallen leaves, 

Filling the pool, the gutters, even the eaves.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear 

But the neighbors cats and our two fluffy dears. 

With a swish of the broom and a cry of Scat

I tried to round up our two darling brats.

In Mina, in Marley.

Come into the kitchen.

Scoot Tabby, 

Scoot Flabby! 

To the top of the fence and slipping away

Back where you came from, you wandering strays.

And then in a twinkling I heard the pipes shudder,

Someone was up, probably the brother. 

I gave up on sleep and turning around, 

Down the chimney came Saint Nicholas with a bound. 

O wait! I was dreaming!  But I went straight to work,

Filling the stockings yanked from the mantel with a frustrated jerk. 

Then running my fingers through the hair on my head, 

I shuffled myself back off to bed.

In the morning there will be presents and food galore,

The kids will exclaim "More, please! More! More!"

But for now it's quiet and all is just right.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. 

(My apologies to Clement C. Moore. 

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. )

Karma, Milagros and Me

Karma, Miracles and Me....


Last Friday I was in a mood.  You know. A "woe is me" mood.   Needed things I couldn't find, wanted things I couldn't have. Maybe a little overwhelmed. Hohoho and the Christmas spirit. All that jazz.

In an attempt to put myself in a cheerier mood I drove through McDonald's for an iced tea and paid for the car behind me, too. A random act of kindness. Wasn't sure if it was going to make me feel better, but even if it didn't, I felt like it might bring some good karma.  You never know.

But I was still in a mood driving home.

And then! Milagros. Miracles.

 

These are milagro charms.

For real.

There was a huge box on the back porch from my friend Cathy and inside was a Christmas tree. And for the tree- milagros.
Milagro means miracle. It also means a little charm used as religious offerings, mostly in Latin American countries.
So little milagro charms hung all over this wonderful little tree.  It was beautiful and special and completely and totally unexpected. It was such a treat it made me cry. In a good way.

Karma?

Saturday morning I woke to this email:

"It was great to meet you last weekend at the market in Denver! Congratulations!  You won the pair of earrings!  Just let me know where to send them and I'll get them in the mail. Thank you!!"

Now I enter little give-aways online all the time. I'll stick my name in a jar if there is something I'd like to win.  But do I ever win? Do you? 
I don't.   
But the week before in Denver I wrote my name on a slip of paper and Lo! and Behold! I won some earrings. Fabulous earrings at that. 

Very fun earrings from Aaron Sault Jewelry.

Check out his work. 

Original. Organic. Very cool.

Karma? 

Sunday was my birthday.

I woke up to *snow*.  The first snow of December. 

A dusting of snow.

And the link to the video if you can't see it here. 

I worked, by choice. Why not? I like working.

It was a bit slow but one of the regulars came in and we chatted and I mentioned it was my birthday.
When he left, he said he might stop back by later, before we closed, but that's not unusual. Some people come in twice a day.

And ten minutes to closing here comes this nice gentleman back in the front door with a big box under his arm. It looked like a toy box.  
And he announced "Here is your birthday concert. These guys are going to serenade you. Unfortunately they don't know Happy Birthday but they do know lots of Christmas songs."

Isn't this adorable?

The Birthday Concert

And if, by chance, you can't see this video, click here.

Sorry it's a little blurry.

Totally made me smile.


I came home to presents and cards and flowers and lots of little treats.

Then Bunny and her friend boy took me to dinner. And the restaurant staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me in a wonderfully embarrassing way. (Thank goodness it was early and the restaurant was pretty empty.)

Absolutely a wonderful birthday from start to finish.


So was it all just coincidence?
A milagro?
Karma?

Who knows?
Who cares?

But just in case, I think I'll stick with those random acts of kindness.


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And a poem, given to me by my friend Cherrilla one Christmas probably 37 years ago.
Apparently I've been prone to these moods for a while.
It's copyrighted 1907 but it still holds true some days.

Nobody Cares For Me

I'm just as mad as I can be

For nobody cares for me.

I slapped the cat and banged the dog 

And they don't care for me.

I stubbed my toe on a great hard rock

And jammed my thumb in the door.

But nobody seemed to see

For nobody cares for me. 

Written by M.T. Sheahan.

Sums up those moods pretty nicely.

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I'm traveling at the end of the week.

On Sunday night, the Winter Solstice, there will be a little party so I can see some neighbor friends.
That's No. 31: Have a Solstice Party.

And then there will be Christmas and family and more travel.

Posting may be random. 

But I'm thinking about all of you. 

Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!


Because this is a blog and because I have nothing else for today, I will do what all bloggers do in December. (Unless they are better organized, then they do it in November!) I'm sharing the Christmas decor from around the cabin.

Not much this year, guess I haven't been feeling the spirit yet. I wanted to do a pine cone garland again but for some reason the pine cones are just now falling. Not sure what the delay was. And we have not had snow in December. A couple of little snows in November got me thinking that maybe this winter would be like last: snowy. But so far, I think that was just a tease.  Not to worry. I know the snow is coming.


Mostly I decorate the fireplace because a) it could use some decorating- it has the oddest proportions! and b) there just aren't many other surfaces to decorate. The cabin has a tiny living space.  The living/dining area measures 18 feet by 12 feet. My bedroom is bigger than that.


And doesn't this look cozy?

A fire in the pellet stove.

Stockings hung by the mantel with care. 

(That crazy sun making it impossible to take decent pics.)

And some detail pics:

 Love these stockings. They reverse to "Nice".

Antlers make great stocking hangers.

 So do geodes. 

Last spring when the Big Guy was up, he went rock hunting with the neighbor.

Beautiful rocks now decorate every flat surface in the cabin.

My gorgeous Nativity scene.

In Salida there is the Holiday House. 

It is a non profit that accepts donations of gently used holiday items.

They then offer these items on a "whatever it is worth to you" basis.

I took a wicker light up Christmas tree in to donate and came home with this nativity.

The outdoor animals get in on the act.

Kaiser the carved bear wears a bow.

So does the unnamed reindeer.

(Again, that pesky sun, hard to get a pic. 

On this side of the house it is either bearing down or totally shaded.)

Reusing the frames from Halloween:

A little "Joy" on a ledge.

And last but not least, the Christmas tree!   Straight out of "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

 Many many thanks to my neighbor Sue for sending me this tree.

I was complaining mentioning that there was no room for a tree here and she had just the solution.

In the foreground you see the Thanksgiving puzzle, almost finished. 

One piece left,  waiting for Bunny to get home and do the honors. 

I will be so happy to get that thing off the only table in the house.

Outside I have the Christmas trees in the yard wrapped with lights. The neighbor and I wrapped them last year and because the trees are in "cages" to protect them from deer, I just left the lights up. All year. I was holding my breath when I plugged them in again in November. Amazingly, all the lights came on. A tiny Christmas miracle.

This pic is from last year.

One of my favorites.

The lights look the same this year, only NO snow. 

Bah humbug.

Happy Holidays to all.

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And I have to share.

Yesterday Carlos and I were walking down by the Arkansas River. There was a young American Bald Eagle fishing for his breakfast. We walked down hoping to get a closer look and he flapped off. I thought we had missed him but then I looked up. Always look up! He was perched in a tree about 25 feet away, preening. 

So incredibly awesome. 

Of course, my camera and phone were both safely tucked away at home. 

We will go back looking for him.  With a camera. 

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