Decorating for Christmas

I started decorating for Christmas today, but I've still got a lot to do. This old house was built in 1909. Like most houses built 104 years ago, the rooms are large and the ceilings are tall. It takes a lot of decorating to have any kind of impact in a house so big. I had to buy quite a few decorations during the first several years after I bought this home. I could still add more, but I don't need a house this big anymore. The plan is to downsize in the near future ... and I don't plan on having a house big enough to use all of the decorations I already have ... so I don't let myself buy anything new.

Over the years I've gotten more efficient in getting the decorations put up. The biggest help was a pre-lit tree. Not having to string lights on a 9' tree saves a couple of evenings of decorating! The first couple of years I couldn't really afford an artificial tree big enough for the tall ceilings and size of the room, so I had to buy a real trees. I hate real trees. I hate having to add water, I hate vacuuming up the needles, and I hate the sap that gets all over my hands when decorating ... and then again when I'm undecorating. Yuk!

It used to take well over a week to decorate, but I can usually get it done in three or four days now ... less if the kids help ... which they rarely do (much to my chagrin). When they were little (and no help at all), they always wanted to help. I let them, but it really just made more work for me, but I never told them that ... I let them think their assistance was saving me work (instead of the fact that their "help" made more work for me!). I was so excited when they were big enough and old enough to actually be helpful rather than a hindrance. Sadly, once they hit that magical age, they no longer felt the need to help. So, I usually do 90% (or more) of the decorating. I've gotten good at nagging them until they can't stand to listen to me anymore, but the task is predominantly mine.

I spent about seven hours decorating today, and I've probably got at least that much more yet to do. It's so cold out, though, that I don't know if I will be able to force myself to go outside to hang wreathes on all the windows and drape the garland around the picture window at the front of the house ... but I might brave the elements and hang them.

Once I get everything decorated, I'll post a few of my favorite pictures. This big. old house is a lot of work in upkeep, and it costs a small fortune to heat and cool ... but it sure looks pretty all decorated for Christmas :)

My Cranberry Granola Cookie Recipe

It's actually a Cranberry Granola Coconut Almond cookie.  Here is my recipe ... and my notes!

WARNING: 

Be careful who you give these to!
Every one who tastes them will come back begging for more. 

There will be no more small talk, like "How have you been?" or "That's a pretty blouse. Is it new?" No, after you give them these cookies, pleasantries fly out the window. They no longer care how you are or if your blouse is new ... all they will say is ... "Do you have any more of those cookies?"

1 Stick Butter (softened)
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 t. Vanilla
1 C. Flour
1 1/2 C. Granola
Cranberries (probably about 1/2 - 1 cup, but I don't measure ... I just throw them in.)
Almond Slivers (probably about 1/2 - 3/4 cup, but again ... I don't measure)
Coconut (same as almonds)

1. Cream butter and sugar together. When mixed thoroughly, add egg and vanilla.
2. Add flour.
3. Add granola, cranberries, almonds, and coconut. (At this point I mix it with my hands ... it's too thick for a mixer).
4. Form into PATTIES (not balls) and place on greased cookie sheet. (The cookies will be just moist enough to hold together, and they do NOT spread.)
5. Bake at 350º for 10 minutes. (The receipe I tweaked to come up with this one said to bake them 12-15 minutes, but I like soft cookies, so I take them out at 10 minutes.)

Snowbound and Nesting :)

I live in an area of the country that sees snow in the winter, but it typically melts in a day or two because the temperatures generally don't stay below freezing for very long. Sometimes when the schools close, the streets around my house will be completely snow free, so I can only assume there is snow in the county ... someplace! Even though we see snow in this area, we don't usually get but a few inches at a time, and since it doesn't last, people never get used to driving in it. Folks up north laugh at us when they see the mess we make of traffic when there's just a dusting a snow!

Winter storm Cleon has been racing through the area for almost 24 hours now.  We had sleet and freezing rain overnight, but sometime after I went to bed last night, it switched to snow. After a high of 70º the other day, the low of 7º tonight is particularly brutal. Sunday, winter storm Dion is coming with more of the same. Ice, freezing rain, sleet, snow, and more brutal cold.

Work was called off, so I got to stay home today. My vehicle is frozen solid in the driveway. Fortunately, I have plenty of groceries, and my Christmas shopping is done, so I have no reason to leave my toasty little nest! This morning when I got up I put a roast with carrots and new potatoes in the crock pot. Then I made a batch of my cranberry granola cookies ... and my gosh, they really are the best cookies in the world!!

My New Favorite Cookie!!!

My boyfriend routinely declutters, so how he manages to find more things in his house to throw away never ceases to amaze me. Last weekend he held up a shiney gold tin. It was round, and slightly larger than the average cookie.

"Can you think of anything I could use this for?" he asked.

I smiled and said, "Well, you could give it to me and I could fill it full of homemade cookies for you."

He liked that idea!

I planned on making chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, but then I remembered him raving about a cranberry granola cookie he discovered when he was at his cabin down south. He's only been able to find it in the bakery of a grocery store down in Georgia. They were out of them when he and I went there in October, so I didn't get to taste one. Without knowing what the cookie looks or tastes like, I decided to surprise him with my version of  those cookies.

I glanced over a recipe I found online and headed to the store. The recipe didn't have any nuts in it, but I bought some almond slivers to throw in (he loves nuts in his cookies!). I also grabbed a bag of coconut, which was also not in the recipe. This particular recipe called for applesauce in lieu of sugar for sweetening, but I used brown sugar anyway. Cookies are supposed to be indulgent ... not nutritious!!

The only resemblance to the recipe online and my cookies was the amount of granola, flour, and eggs. My daughter tasted one and said it was yummy, so I filled the tin with still-warm cookies and drove to his house to deliver them. I poured him a glass of milk as he ate his first cookie. He claimed to love it and quickly ate several more. I hadn't tasted them, so I didn't know if they were really good, just so-so, or barely edible! He seemed to like them ... or was doing a good job of pretending to! I kissed him good-bye and headed home.

I kept a dozen for myself and took some to work the next day. I sat at my desk sipping coffee and going through my email, and reached for a cookie ... and I fell in love before I finished chewing the first mouthful! These cookies were really, really good. I knew I'd found my new favorite cookie ... but please don't tell the Snickerdoodles I said that!!

An Accidental Thanksgiving

I usually celebrate Thanksgiving with my kids, one of my sisters, her husband and young son, and my boyfriend and one of his daughters (I sure wish they would think up a new word for a boy/girlfriend for someone my age!).

Click here to read a humorous story of one particular Thanksgiving a few years back.

This year both of my daughters work on Thanksgiving. One works from morning until evening, the other works from afternoon until midnight. My son's presence is a bit of a wildcard, and my boyfriend and his daughter are going to his cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. His daughter recently started a new job and doesn't get any vacation for a year, so these four days are the only time she'll be able to go anywhere. And I think the fact that she wants to spend it with her father is very sweet!

I didn't really want to prepare a gigantic feast for just three people (my sister's son doesn't eat enough to qualify as cooking for four!). I was a little worried my sister might get her feelings hurt, but I called her and told her I was just going to skip Thanksgiving this year. She understood. I'm sure if her husband and son weren't going to be around for Thanksgiving, she'd want to skip it, too. I already had a turkey, so I figured I would cook it one day while I'm off and freeze the meat for quick dinners in the future.

So, instead of a traditional Thanksgiving meal, I decided to enact Plan B ... have the kids over Wednesday evening, and just make a chicken/dressing thing in the crockpot. And then I got to thinking ...

Enter Plan C ... I already had the turkey and would have to cook it soon, so I decided to just take Wednesday off and cook the turkey and have a "mini" Thanksgiving a day early. What I intended to be an easy crockpot dinner with my kids quickly turned into a full-scale, cook all day, Thanksgiving feast. The only thing missing (food-wise) was cranberry relish. And, since I always cook like I'm feeding a regiment of troops, I had enough leftovers to send a full Thanksgiving dinner to Blue Ridge with my boyfriend and his daughter to enjoy together on Thursday!

I honestly didn't intend to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm glad I did. With my kids all now adults, there is no telling how many more Thanksgiving dinners there will be when we can all be together. We all live in the same town right now, but who knows if that will always be the case.  I don't know what the future holds, but I'm glad my present included an accidental Thanksgiving with all my kids ... and several of their friends!

High Fashion!

I went to lunch with some co-workers the other day, and spied a man at the next table wearing a gold and lilac paisley sport coat. I pretended to be taking a picture of a co-worker, but snapped this photo instead ... and it's just too good to keep to myself! This man is either not married or his wife is too timid to tell him the truth ... that in this day and age of instant sharing, he's likely to find his bad taste being exploited on social media ... or someone's blog!! (Those with strong stomachs may click on picture to enlarge.)

Congratulations to the Winners of the Goodreads Giveaway!!

I was on vacation when the winners for the free copies of A Summer in Ocracoke were announced on October 20th. The books were shipped to them the very next day, but I failed to announce them on my blog (shame on me!)

Tami Spring - Palm Desert, California

Ashley Irby - Mineral, Virginia

Chloe Curtis - Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex (England)

Missy Strait - St. Augustine, Florida

Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to the winners!

Vacation Pictures

Here are some of the pics from our week in Blue Ridge. It was hard to pick them ... each one was so pretty, but I couldn't post them all! (Click on each picture to enlarge it.)

This is a view of the mountains behind his cabin. The foliage was pretty right off the deck, but the mountains in the background didn't have much color yet.

We packed a picnic lunch and went to Amicalola Falls one day ... GORGEOUS waterfall, and definitely worth the hike!

The falls trickled all the way down the mountain.

Here we are at the bottom of the falls ... it was quite a hike to get to "the bottom"!!

A few days later we packed another picnic lunch and drove the Cherohala Skyway. We were told it was prettier than the Blue Ridge Parkway. While it was very pretty, we both thought the Blue Ridge Parkway was much more scenic.

When my daughter's and I were in the area last summer, we called these signs "Wiggley-woops"! As you can imagine, these signs are always on a curve, so we risked our lives to get this picture for my girls!

 Here are a few last pics (of the Ocoee River) from our drive home ...

It's nice to be home ... but I'd rather be back in Blue Ridge with the best friend I've ever had!

Just got back from vacation

My friend and I spent a glorious week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia. We had hoped to hit the autumn leaves during their peak color, but we were a little too early. Even so, the views were breathtaking. I'll post more pics later, but here a preview of the view from the Cherohala Skyway. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Beware the Night Owl!!!!!!!

Does anyone else ever get tired of the incredibly stupid studies done by "scientists"? Take this one, for instance:

One U.S. sponsored study funded the expenses for a group of gay men and the scientists conducting the "experiment" to live in a country in South America (Brazil or Venezuela) for three years, to study why gay men have promiscuous sex when they are drunk.

First … and this is just a hunch on my part here … but because alcohol lowers inhibitions? And secondly … perhaps for the same reason heterosexual men have promiscuous sex when they are drunk? And thirdly … (this is more of a question, but it's also a point) … they could only conduct this experiment in South America? Would the results be skewed if they did the study in the United States? Personally, it sounds more like those gay men and a team of "scientists" found a way for taxpayers to fund a three-year trip abroad under the guise of a scientific experiment.

Which brings me to the real story (below).  After reading this particular "study", I have deduced a few facts about the scientist in charge of this little endeavor: 

• They are a morning person
• This person is now divorced … and I suspect it was quite bitter
• Their ex … whom they perceive to have the characteristics of "The Dark Triad" … was a night owl. 

I have read about a number of ridiculous studies, but this one takes the cake:

Australian researchers have discovered that a preference for staying up late or into the early hours has a direct link to anti-social behaviour and so-called Dark Triad traits.

The Dark Triad traits consist of narcissistic and selfish actions, cunning or deceitful Machiavellian behaviour and psychopathic tendencies. The Dark Triad is a group of three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.

• The narcissistic personality is characterised by a 'grandiose self-view, a sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, and egotism.
• The Machiavellian personality is characterised by manipulation and exploitation of others, with a disregard for morality and a focus on self-interest and deception.
• A psychopathic personality is characterised by thrill-seeking, selfishness, callousness, lack of personal affect, superficial charm, and remorselessness.

The paper claims the results are consistent with a 'niche-specialisation' hypothesis. Niche specialisation is the process where traits have developed over time, through evolution.

Dr Jonason said in the study: 'It could be adaptively effective for anyone pursuing a fast life strategy like that embodied in the Dark Triad to occupy and exploit a low-light environment where others are sleeping and having diminished cognitive functioning.

Such features of the night may facilitate the causal sex, mate-poaching, and risk-taking the Dark Triad traits are linked to.' For example, humans and animals may have evolved to be night owls because the low-light conditions made it possible to carry out these behaviours and actions without being seen.

Really, Dr. Jonason … isn't this just a little heavy-handed? Just because I like to stay up late and hate to get up early, you're branding me a "promiscuous, mate-poaching risk-taker"?

As one of those dreaded creatures, I am offended!! I might be a night owl, but I'm actually quite afraid of the dark … and I'm very quiet when up late so as not to wake or disturb anyone.  My covert actions, carried out in a "low-light environment where others are sleeping and have diminished cognitive functioning" include reading, writing, updating my author's website, folding laundry, dusting, making grocery lists, wrapping presents or shopping online for the perfect gift for loved ones, signing and addressing cards for family and friends for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just because I know someone could use a few kind or encouraging words, pinning recipes or funny jokes on my Pinterest page, or playing word games on my iPad.

Golly … reading what I do at night just gave me shivers … I DO sound dangerous!!!