The Goat: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Friday, December 30, 2011

I'm going to have to update this description because I never did get the artist and title of this sculpture, which is of a boy riding on the back of a dolphin on a big wave. There was a family taking pictures right next to the plaque and I gave up waiting before they were finished. What you see here is a tiny portion of the wave with a palm tree in the background. I liked the mixture of textures and the five or six different colors of green against that bright blue sky.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Thursday, December 29, 2011

POTD - Major Award

A friend of mine (UP Annie) sent this handmade pop-up card to me in her Christmas envelope, which she made. I knew I was going to enjoy her card so instead of opening it in my car, where I open most of my mail, I tucked it in my purse so I could read it when all of my attention was focused on the letter. Then I promptly forgot about it for two days! Sheesh! When I realized what I'd done, I think I made that face shown above!!

I thought the pop-up card would make a funny photo of the day, but wasn't sure how to photograph it. When my friend showed up at dinner tonight with a leg lamp shirt on, I knew I had the perfect background! Thanks Matt for being such a great model and backdrop!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Please fill my stocking

It's the same thing each year.

A few weeks before Christmas my husband and I have "the talk," the Christmas talk. Are we getting each other big gifts (no), what are we going to do for Christmas Day (go to the Christmas Day dinner with the transplant community), and last but not least I mention that he is responsible for filling my stocking.

It's the same thing each year.

He rolls his eyes and ends the conversation when I mention the stocking.

A week before Christmas I remind him. "Don't forget that you are responsible for filling my stocking."

He rolls his eyes and says, "I never know what to get you!" (which by the way is so untrue. He knows that the kitchen aisle and the paper/crafting/scissor aisle are all the further he needs to go.)

This helpful information is given to him each day until Christmas Eve when I stand in front of him and literally point to the door - "GO!"

Actually, I got that wrong. This year around noon on the day of Christmas Eve he sighed and said, "I never did get to the store. I'm sorry." Like he was given a pass because it was just a few minutes past noon. Ha!! Then, I stood in front of him, pointed to the door and said go.

I don't know why he does that because, just like every year, he comes home with a huge grin on his face, carrying three or four bags from Target saying, "I don't think all of this will fit in your stocking, is that OK?"

Then he spends about 20 minutes wrapping up a few things.
You know that I have already set up a wrapping station for him so it's easy.

And he can just hardly wait until I get to dive into my stocking.

This year in my stocking I received...

dishcloths
pot holders
sharpies
a brand new box of 64 Crayons
(he was so tickled. He said, "It's been a long time since I've gotten you a new box of those and look on the back, you can upload a photo on the Crayola site and turn those into coloring pages!")
a package of pens on a rope
A two pack of scissors
multi colored silicone spatulas
some candies and a few other kitchen goodies.

This is exactly the type of things we both love to give and receive. I was pleased as punch! I loved my stocking. And he really did have a great time shopping for all of it. I don't know why he resists so much. I'm actually surprised that he didn't buy me a package of Post-its. That's usually a guaranteed Tom gift to me.

I gave him - a bacon press, new plastic cutting board, Salt and Pepper grinder set, some Penzey's Spices and two of those long handled back scratchers. And probably a few other things I can't remember right now. We tend to give upgrades to our worn out kitchen tools as gifts. I like that.

Am I the only one that has to go through this? I doubt it, but it sure feels that way.

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Element

One of the small burners in one of my rental condo stoves died within a few months of buying the condo. It was so low on the list of things to do that I had never called anyone out to fix it. The condo across the hall, mine as well, had dishwasher issues this week so I finally called in a repairman. Being without a small burner is one thing, being without a dishwasher is an entirely different matter. This guy repaired both appliances and for the first time in five years, the stove is running with all four burners. Good deal. The photo above is a close up of the burner element. Of course I loved the repeating lines.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Indulgences

I've got a question for you. All of you.

At what point in the holiday festivities do you stop indulging?

We all know the New Year is coming and Getting Organized and Lose Weight are high up on many a New Years list - even if you don't have a list, or make resolutions.

Back to the things that run through my mind.

Do you abstain from most of the goodies from Thanksgiving to New Year?
Do you bake only the things you like so you will have more of a chance to have more of it?
Do you bake things you don't love so you won't over indulge?
Do you cruise the cookie table at all events eating a small bite of everything so it feels like you didn't have much at all?
Do you give yourself a day or two to indulge and then stop?
Is Christmas Day the end of the sugary snacks?
Do you ask your family to hide the goodies from you?
Do you have an end date? or maybe you don't even think about it?

Are you none of these?
Are you all of these?

Am I the one obsessed?

It's true, I'm a diabetic and the holiday season is amazingly hard on me. I can smell the sugar in the air and I can hardly resist. I made very little in the way of baked goods this year. Since we had our cruise I just knew I wasn't going to have the time to get it all baked, wrapped and delivered. I made chocolate covered pretzels and they were really great, but I didn't feel the need to eat them all :) I didn't make my very favorite Christmas delight, Kookie Brittle, because my willpower was at an all time low. There were some cookies still in the house that I managed to find today and that's when I thought about when I was going to stop. Then I wondered if anyone else had to tell themselves to stop?

I am so very grateful that I have not gained a bit of weight, except that one cruise pound which I have lost already, but I must stop the madness. I can feel myself wanting to wander through the kitchen to see if I can find a cookie, maybe some chocolate chips, anything to feed this sweet tooth that had too much this season. I realize that even if no one else has to, I have to give myself an end date and stick to it.

Salad in a Jar

photo and info from fat girl trapped in a skinny body

I've been hanging out at Pinterest quite a bit lately (you can follow me if you'd like. I have a button on the left side near the top) and food in a jar for gift giving was all the rage before Christmas. One thing I never once thought of was a whole salad in a jar, including the dressing. It wouldn't necessarily be in the gift giving category, but more of a homemade convenience food. (Brilliant!) I make salad and put it in a container, but I still need to add stuff. I love to eat salads but preparing them is the chore I dread. I have already gathered a few jars that would be perfect and I got my favorite salad fixin's at the store the other day. Now to create the salad.

So to redeem myself from a possible whiney post, I'll end it with the Salad in a Jar. You can pop on over to Julia's sight and read her hints on making a salad in jar that will last a week in the fridge and how she keeps her homemade salad dressing from separating. I do believe I will enjoy her website. I'm glad I found it.

This is just one of the many things I'm going to try in this upcoming year. I may make a list of the new things I've done. or not. we'll see if any of it is blog worthy :)

Don't forget to let me know about your indulgences and how you handle them.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Monday, December 26, 2011

POTD - Christmas Candle

This candle was one of the many ornaments on the Christmas Tree where we had Christmas Dinner. I thought about photographing more of the ornaments, but I was so taken with this candle that I realized that this was the only one I wanted at this time. I'll kick myself in a few days, but for right now, I'm happy with that decision.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Sunday, December 25, 2011

POTD - Merry Christmas

This fabulous Christmas Tree with multi-colored lights was something I discovered in a park in St. Augustine. I had been wanting to find a public tree so I could practice my "bokeh" technique. Bokeh is the out of focus background in a photo. In this case, I chose to have the entire picture to be out of focus so that the Christmas lights would blur.

Merry Christmas!
Kristin

Saturday, December 24, 2011

POTD - Green and Rust

Have you ever seen these giant round containers in and around cities? I have and yet I don't have a clue what they are used for? Are they treating waste water? Is this fresh water? Does it NOT hold water at all? Well, in Jamaica there were several of these all next to the dock where our ship pulled in. I really liked the patina of container and the rust and white of the stairway. The funniest thing though, was that I took this picture because I thought the palm tree was a mural on the side of the container. It wasn't until we walked back by it a few hours later that I realized it was a real palm tree.

Leave me a comment if you know what these containers are for because it's driving me crazy.

Thanks!
Kristin

Friday, December 23, 2011

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments! This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival. For more Friday Fragments finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time. Thanks!

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I didn't put a tree this year. I love my Christmas tree and I love going through each and every ornament, but I go through this every couple of years and I just can't begin to put up the tree. I have a set of lights on the windows and I have the stockings hanging as well as a few other decorations, but not the full blown decorating thing.

I'm not even Bah-Humbug! I am loaded with Christmas Spirit, just not the tree.

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I have this little Mexican clay Nativity set that I love, but I do something funny each year. Sometimes I don't notice until I put everything away after Christmas, but today I made it my photo of the day and so I noticed right away, but after editing. I rarely get the Joseph figure in the correct spot. Usually I put one of the Wisemen thereby mistake because he has this red heart looking box in his arms. I arranged my Nativity scene, took all of the photos I needed to pick out a good photo of the day, edited the photos, picked my favorite and added it to my 365 Photo Project calendar. Then I saw it. No Joseph. One Wiseman. Too funny.

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Our transplant community is having a Christmas Day dinner. This has been going on longer than I've been a part of the community, but it's so nice that I'm now more involved. I did make a suggestion this year and asked that the organizers listen to me -- I didn't like the food that we'd been served for the past few years -- so I asked if a few of us could make the side dishes and the organization could spring for the meat and dessert. Thankfully everyone agreed. Now I'm petrified that we won't have enough food. I just found out that we will have almost 50 people. I'll be a busy bee cooking Christmas morning!

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I teased my husband when I got home yesterday afternoon that I could tell he was super busy because the dishes hadn't been done and the overflowing trash was still there. He never does those jobs anyway and I truly was just teasing. I went and took a nap, due to a short sleeping night, and when I got up he had done the dishes, taken out the trash and was at the store buying groceries for the week. I love those types of surprises.

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That's Tom and I just last week on Grand Cayman.

Pretend that the water is a gorgeous blue because it truly was!!

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Today - 23 December 2011 - is the six year anniversary of my husband's liver transplant. What a blessing and what a Christmas gift it was for both of us. We have truly been blessed as Tom has really had very few complications since his transplant and is living a much happier life. He's still a grumpy guy, but those times come far less than they did pre transplant. :o) Who knew that one of the darkest times of our lives came to be the beginning of the happiest years of my life.

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I hope that you are enjoying Hanukkah or Christmas or the Solstice or whatever it is that you celebrate this time of year. I also hope that you stop by Mrs. 4444's place for more Friday Fragments!

Have a great day!
Kristin

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

POTD - Under Water Vision

I saw this boat hanging out in the port in Jamaica. It doesn't look like it gets a whole lot of business, but then again, I could be very wrong! You wouldn't get me on that boat, that's for sure. I can do a cruise ship, but not something this small.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Our Room with a View

My husband and I have been married for ten years, as of June 23rd, 2011. We have been on quite a few cruises and we have always had a great time together so my husband booked us on a Christmas Cruise on the Norwegian Sun as our anniversary gift to each other.

I wholeheartedly agreed!

The cruise he chose was the Western Caribbean - Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Bahamas. We had never been to any of those places on previous cruises, so I was excited to go.

People always talk about the rooms on the cruise ships. Tom and I got a porthole view room just once, on our first cruise. The second cruise we got a balcony and we have had a balcony room ever since. I won't cruise without one.

On with the tour of our room.

We were at the very back of the ship - the last door on the right. This hallway actually doesn't look that long in this shot - it was around 800 feet long...OK, maybe 750. A football field is 100 yards or 300 feet. On any of the decks walking from the front of the ship to the back just didn't seem like a big deal, but getting onto the elevator at the front and walking this loooong looong hallway seemed like it took forever! There were several elevators that came to our floor at various points along this hallway, so we didn't have to walk it every time. I'm just being dramatic.

When we got to our room, this is what we saw. Our room was actually about 3 feet shy in length from all the other standard balcony rooms because we were that last cabin. There had to be enough turning room for carts and other assorted items in the hallway, so our room was shortened to make this possible. The other cabins on this side of the ship had a larger sofa that pulled out into a bed and there was a curtain between the sofa and the bed.

We had a nice closet on the right and a pretty big bathroom, for a ship bathroom, on the left in the hallway. I didn't get a photo of the bathroom - it was all white and just didn't photograph well at all.

This looks very odd, but this is the two views of our balcony. On the left is extended portion of our balcony. On the right is the normal size of the balcony on our side. Where the glass ends is essentially the end of our room and where the balcony should stop. Since we are the last room, we get that extra 10 feet or so. We got a lounge chair, too. We could see the entire side of the ship and the back, too. The balcony was worth every square foot that we lost in the room. Tom and I spent hours and hours out here.

The sunrise and sunset were never in the same place in the sky (from our balcony) because the ship was moving in a different direction from the morning or evening before - having the side and back view was advantageous. I saw a sunset that hardly anyone on our side of the ship could see from their balcony. Have I mentioned that I loved our balcony? OK, I thought so.

Here's the back of the ship that I took when we were docked in Cozumel. See those back balconies - they are just huge compared to the others.

We got the pleasure of watching another ship come in and dock. We were actually a captive audience - we weren't allowed to go to our ship until this one coming in was fully anchored and it took about 30 minutes. Still, I enjoyed seeing it all in action. It didn't make for good pictures though.

That was a quickie tour of the room and I tossed in the docking of the other ship just so I could show off that gorgeous Caribbean blue water.

I hope you have a wonderful day.
Kristin

POTD - Made in the Shade

Out on the deck, just outside of the Garden Buffet on the Norwegian Sun, is a wonderful space to dine. The blazing sun and the rain could ruin an otherwise great meal, but the ships designers came up with this giant tent like structure to shade nearly the entire deck. The sun shining on the white fabric really accentuated the perfect seams. Of course I loved the play of lines and couldn't wait to feature this as a photo of the day.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Monday, December 19, 2011

POTD - A Plate of Donuts

If I haven't mentioned it a million times already, I am in the final days of my 365 photo project. Trying to come up with fun things to photograph elude me sometimes, so I keep my eyes open for possible photo topics to keep in my pocket and pull out when I need them.

I saw a blog post about donuts a while back and a plate full of donuts seemed like a real nice photo subject. Bavarian creme, chocolate with sprinkles, a couple of nutty donuts and some powdered sugar ones. Don't you just want to grab one and dive right in?

Me, too! and I know the secret!!

The secret is that these are not full sized donuts. They are mini ones. Very mini!

The tiny round sprinkles just look huge on that mini confection if you think about it.

All of these donuts are actually decorated Cheerios!

Yepper - Cheerios.

I kept putting the donuts in the freezer to keep the chocolate from melting as I arranged them on the plate for the photo shoot. I realized that this was a great picture to show the scale of the plate of donuts. I think we all know the size of a pound of butter.

That little teeny plate I found at the flea market. It's a small Holly Hobby plate. I picked it up for a dime. I'd looked in nearly every shop for something small to put the donuts into or on. I'm so fortunate to have found this plate near the end of our flea market tour.

I'd like to thank The Unconfidential Cook for the Tiny Treats blog post which started this whole quest for mini donuts and a teeny plate to put them on. I had so much fun and the donuts are the official photo for Day 353.

I hope you have a great day!!
Kristin

12 more days of my 365 Photo Project. Just 12 more days!

POTD - Mexican Snowglobes

Ticky tacky snowglobes make me squeal with delight every time I see them. I did my best to arrange these before I took a photo. However, not all stores understand my kind of vacation photography. I think I was making the poor woman at the souvenir shop a bit nervous. We made her day though an bought a few items, but not a snowglobe.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Four C's

When you think of the Four C's, does a church in Cozumel come to mind? I'm sure you probably thought of the Four C's of a gemstone - cut, clarity, carat or color. Well in this case I'm talking about the Corpus Christi Cathedral in Cozumel, the island's largest Catholic Church. That actually may be the Six C's!

I just got back home from a week long cruise of the Western Caribbean and Cozumel was one of our stops.

I saw the bell towers from the ship and knew that those towers were going to be a destination for me. Once we got off the ship, I couldn't see the towers anymore, so I had to explain what I wanted to find and after a pow wow with a few taxi drivers, we finally found one who knew exactly where I wanted to go.

I was immediately struck by the intricacy of the ironwork on the three sets of doors that open up to the body of the church.

I don't know why these plowers were hanging here, but I bet they were just gorgeous a few days ago. I still thought they looked nice, even with the faded flowers.

The man on left hand side of the photo was praying (and watching me take photos when he didn't think I was looking) the entire time I was there. He had a picture he was holding in his hands.

The side windows were the same yellow, green and blue glass, but much smaller and less ornate.

One of the side isles was decorated for Mary.

I think the translation is Tender Mother.

I think I took a picture of every window in the place. (I was obsessed)

A close up view of the bell tower and one of my favorite types of palm trees. They have super sleek trunks without any stubble from old palm fronds.

I hope you have enjoyed a quickie tour of the Corpus Christi Cathedral on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. For more Sundays in My City, please visit Unknown Mami who always has a lovely party on Sunday.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Friday, December 16, 2011

Returning Home

The Norwegian Sun is headed back to Port Canaveral. We've had a nice voyage with some rocky seas, some rain and quite a bit of cloud cover. There still has been plenty of sunshine, lots of activities both on the islands and on the ship and the rocking only made me sleep longer. Have I mentioned how wonderfully I sleep on cruise ships? Well, I do. I've taken a nap each afternoon, except for one, for at least 2 hours but most have been closer to 3 hours. The most wonderful part is that I don't get that groggy-I-should-not-have-slept feeling. I can pop right out of bed and run out the door.

I didn't take as many pictures as I'd hoped, but I did take one each day for my 365 Photo Project. I wasn't going to mess that up! I just had a hard time getting good shots when I was in a taxi or walking with a group of people. So many of the people I wanted to take pictures of were the local folks, but if they catch you photographing them, they want some money. So very very few people photos - sorry 42N!

The buffets, the ice cream station, the outdoor grill, the two dining rooms, the 24hr pizza and pasta station, and the specialty restaurants (Steak, Asian, Brazilian, Italian, Bistro and Tapas) all made for great dining options all day and night. Speaking of...one of the places had the best popcorn! I may go grab a small bag before I head back to the room. I'm sure I missed a dining option in there because there were so many, but all in all we were never without something to eat. Thankfully, I usually only ate a late breakfast or early lunch (I tried really hard to sleep in late) and dinner. So many people that I talked to ate way too much. I know I ate too much, but I went for quality rather than quantity :o)

That's all I have time for right now - I should be back with photos by the end of Saturday or on Sunday.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Washy Washy Happy Happy

So far so good!
The Norwegian Sun is a lovely ship that's been around for about 10 years as this ship anyway.
One of the very first things we noticed was the hand sanitizer woman in the skywalk onto the ship. You couldn't get past her without getting a santizer spritz on our hands.

At the restaurants before walking in there's someone - "Washy washy happy happy," they say as they hold out the bottle and spray our hands. As much as I hate sanitizing sprays, I'm fairly happy about it being a ship wide thing. I bet it really helps keep cold and flu bugs from spreading.

In the morning we get to our first stop - Cozumel, Mexico. I didn't bring my computer so no photos from me until I get home, but I expect to take some fun shots.

Thanks for all of the wishes and blessings about my dear Mocha. I told my husband that I only thought about her 400 times today, but am so grateful that I don't have to worry about her.

My internet minutes are few, so I'm going to scoot.

We're having a blast!

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

Saturday, December 10, 2011

On the Good Ship Lollipop

On the Good Ship Lollipop.

Well, this ship is called the Norwegian Sun. This will be my home for about a week. I've cruised on Carnival and Princess, so I'm really looking forward to the Norwegian line.

This is going to be our stateroom. We always have a balcony room when we cruise so we can open the door and get ocean air all night while we sleep.

There is an internet station, which costs a bit of $$, but I'm sure I'll check in a couple of times, but I'm not taking my own computer. It's a scary thought to leave my computer behind, but I can do it :)

I can do it knowing I have access to a computer!

Click to enlarge the map.

My Aunt and Uncle live part time in the Cayman Islands so they are going to come pick us up on Tuesday and give us the nickel tour. I'm excited to spend the day with them - how fun!

I'm looking forward to the cruise and not worrying about the health of my sweet Mocha. I think I cried myself out yesterday and the evening before and I hope to just enjoy the vacation with my husband.

I hope you have a wonderful week.
Kristin

Friday, December 09, 2011

Friday Fragments

It's Friday Fragments Day!!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments. Usually this is a post full of fun and funnies, but not today. Just fair warning if you care to scoot by quickly, it's OK.

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival. For more Friday Fragments finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time. Thanks!

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I can hardly think of anything else but the passing of my kitty. I've cried gently and I've violently cried outloud into a blanket I just got out of the dryer. I've sobbed walking into the kitchen and seeing the kitty food dishes. I tear up just thinking about trying not to cry. My eyes are so swollen that I'm wondering if I will ever get them to go down before I have to go to sleep.

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She was 15 years old and not well. It's OK, I know. It was time. She was throwing up and not keeping a lot of food in her. She was literally starving to death before my eyes. I couldn't do that to her any longer just because I loved her. It was time. I have to keep telling myself that it truly was time.

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My husband, who can be so gruff and sharp at times has a super sticky sweet kitty voice that he uses to talk to cats. He adores them. He complains about having to pick things up from the floor, but will get down on his belly in a second if it's to play with the cat.

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Mocha loved me best. If I was gone her world was incomplete and she let everyone know it. If my husband was gone she hardly noticed. Maggie, Mocha's sister who passed a few years ago, now she loved Tom. Her life's mission was to get fed and sit on Tom's lap. Mocha looked at me with such love in her eyes and she never looked at anyone else that same way. She could look at me for hours, if it weren't for those cat naps!

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At least I can stop worrying about her. I've been so worried for so long. I might be crying from that great relief.

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I wrote on Facebook that I was taking the kitty in for a semi-frantic trip to the vet. By the end of the evening when I told of the passing of my sweet kitty I had received nearly a hundred messages of love. In a couple of hours I was hugged, loved, consoled, prayed for and blessed. I thought Facebook birthdays were fantastic, but the outpouring of love for my Mocha, husband and me was amazing. I am so very grateful for that. Thank You.

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Not the uplifting Friday Fragments post that I usually have and hardly even a fragment, but I could have gone on for days and this was the perfect thing to keep me fairly brief.

Thanks for being a Friday Fragment friend, or a friend of Mrs. 4444 or a Facebook friend or just someone who stopped on by. It means a lot to me.

Have a great weekend.
Kristin

Thursday, December 08, 2011

POTD - Best Of...Mocha

POTD - Mocha

It's been awhile since I did a Best Of photo of the day and today I unfortunately have reason to bring back an image from the past.

My dear sweet kitty was put to sleep today (Thursday Dec 8th, 2011) in my arms. Her sister, Maggie, passed away, with me by her side, July 31st, 2006.
Two beautiful, crazy, loving and totally food obsessed sisters.
My world improved the day they came into it.
We had Maggie 10 years and Mocha 15.

Kristin

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Trips and Treats

I have been so busy making treats and trees that I haven't even started decorating my house. I find that every couple of years I never actually get out my decorations! It's pretty easy to do since I don't have any children or parties at my house, but the main reason the non decorating happens is because I have a big event or vacation in December that takes up my time.

This year I have two things - I have the once a month potluck tonight and I've been doing the centerpieces for the tables. (those paper trees I blogged about the other day)

AND my husband and I are going on a cruise for our 10th Anniversary. Our wedding anniversary was in June, but a Christmas time cruise fit into our plans a bit better. So, I've been preparing to go away by getting the cat sitter all lined up and the mail tended and new clothes purchased and stuff mailed out to family and friends and and and -- the list is long.

Don't worry, I've broken up that TO DO list by making treats! I've never made Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods before, but it was very easy to learn and I think they turned out great. This batch came out better than the first and that's just because I had better "sprinkles" for the outside. I bought regular sprinkles the other day and the yellow and orange and pink bits just didn't look right. I finally found some that were all red, white and green and it made for a much more cohesive look. I love the Chanukah Blues so I always like to add in a little of that when I'm making Christmas treats.

I made three different kinds of pretzel treats - white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The ones pictured are the milk. I ended up drizzling a little white chocolate over the top, but I never thought of getting a shot of them. Hopefully I'll remember to get a shot when I'm at the potluck.

I'm not taking my computer with me on our trip (shudder!!) so I'll probably only get to post a few times while gone - I'm assuming there is a computer/internet station on the ship. If not, then this blog is going to be very quiet for a few days.

Hope you have a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Snowman and Kisses

I wanted to use the wrappers from all of the Hershey Kisses that I unwrapped for yesterday's baking project, but it was difficult figuring out how to feature them. I put them into jars and they looked cool, but not when I photographed them. I realized that they needed to be background. So I searched through the house and came up with a little wintery scene. My folded paper trees with my new salt glazed snowman from Eldreth Pottery , and the scattered wrappers made a lovely scene. I really loved that the glitter on the two big trees gave some sparkle in the photo!

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

POTD - Tracks

I found this location by just driving around and keeping my eye out for something that might be interesting. The sun was getting pretty low in the sky but no sunset colors yet. I drove toward an industrial area when I passed over the train tracks and realized that there was a cutaway to a utility road right next to the tracks. That's the perfect place for me to be able to pull in and evaluate the area without being in traffic. I really liked this spot and when I saw this view I knew exactly what I wanted to capture. If you enlarge the photo you can see the train tracks disappear and then come up again over another little hill. That was what I wanted to see.

Enjoy!
Kristin

I didn't think the enlargement was big enough - so here is a larger, smaller version :) Not sure why I got a kick out of that view, but I did. Do you see that we have some leaves turning? Yep, it's still fall here in Jacksonville.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Folded Paper Christmas Trees

Something inexpensive and abundant. That was my criteria for a Christmas project. I wanted to make the table decorations for our potluck on Thursday, but I didn't have any starting point. I remembered making these magazine trees and did a little search and found that they were quite popular all of a sudden. Tutorials were everywhere! Even Martha Stewart had them on her site.

You start off with a magazine or a dozen magazines :o)

If you do that next step through the entire magazine, it will end up looking like this.

You can do each step one at a time to each page or you can do the steps all at once. On the magazines I tend to do one step at a time through the entire magazine. On the little books, at the end of the page, I found it easier to do all three steps at once.

I cut some of the magazines in half (quite a chore!) and made some smaller trees as well as the big ones.

I sprayed the big ones with silver spray paint and then covered them with a fine glitter. I thought it would look more silver, but it just painted the very edges of the tree. I haven't quite decided if I'm in love with them or not.

Once I finally thought about it awhile, I realized that I could use a readers digest or a small paperback to make the smaller trees. I went to a thrift store or two and purchased all of the small 190 page romance novels. The ones with the women draped in some man's arms on the front cover! I tore the book in half (very easy!) and took off the cover and back and made these little trees. I love their color so I won't even spray paint them. All of the trees - big and small - will be going to my Liver Transplant Support Group Potluck as the table decorations. I think they are going to look great.

The trees were super easy to make, as you can see from the steps above, and I was able to fold the pages as I watched TV. That's of course always a bonus!

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin