SNAP THAT
Monday, December 23, 2024
Christmas Lights & Short Break
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Skywatching in Mid-December ~ Skywatch Friday
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
In another week it will be Christmas.
In today's photos you'll see that there is no more snow on the mountains. Our temperatures are currently two times higher than the norm (usually 5 Celsius but currently anywhere from 9-11 Celsius) and there is no likelihood of the white stuff by next week unless things change substantially. It's okay by me. In fact we don't often get snow in December as far as I can remember.
I took these photos on December 18th. It was actually a beautiful and warmish day.
You can clearly see the "line" on the mountain. |
The mountain in the last photo is called Grouse Mountain and is home to one of the ski hills in the local area. The 'line' going from top to bottom of the mountain is where the skiing slop is located. The ski slopes in the area opened last week or the week before. At that time I could visibly see the snow on the mountains. At the moment there is none and none is expected soon. I
I hope it doesn't mean major losses for the skiing companies but they've been having a difficult decade. The future doesn't look that promising either. I got curious and found this article on the issue if you'd like to read more.
Thank you for joining in and reading my Skywatch Friday post today. I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 16, 2024
Holiday Thoughts ~ Tuesday
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Night & Day
Night & Day by Robert Louis Stevenson
Monday, December 9, 2024
Countdown to Christmas ~ Tuesday 4
Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where 4 questions hopefully help us to blog, meet people and think about things in general.
Sometimes the simplest questions can be a bit difficult to answer.
Today's topic is the countdown to Christmas.
1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Do you use an advent calendar?
The lead up to Christmas was always a special time. Every year our schools and our churches would prepare by rehearsing a play about the birth of Christ and also rehearse for the singing of Christmas carols. I was in our small church choir and always enjoyed the singing but I was never into acting. I remember having to play an angel once and I was so nervous for weeks on end and on the day of the performance. I didn't have the same issue in the choir because I didn't sing solo.
At home we kids didn't have much to do but we were so excited with the anticipation of eating all the wonderful baking our dear mom would make each year. In fact, when she wasn't home I'd sneak into the crock pots and try to help myself without it being noticed. Many years later mom and I had a good laugh about it as she admitted knowing what was going on, lol!
No one that I knew ever used an advent calendar and in fact I never even heard of one until well into adulthood. Now I usually send one to my niece in advance of Christmas. This year I didn't get a chance to send her an advent calendar due to our mail strike.
2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?
We always stayed home at the holidays. My mother was known for her wonderful cooking and every major holiday, including Christmas she would make so much food and people would drop by all day and into the night to eat and to visit. She loved being of service in this way.
These days I stay home because now I make the dinner. Sometimes I host people, either family members or friends for dinner. I'd like to host moreo often but my energy levels simply aren't there when it comes to holidays.
3. What foods did Mom and Grandma make for those days? What snacks were out? What is the food situation in your home today?
In those days the usual menu for Christmas was the traditional bread stuffed turkey and all the fixings like mashed potatoes, green beans, corn niblets, tomato and lettuce salad, coleslaw with raisins, Hawaiian salad, gravy and a variety of canapés (sausages, crackers, cheeses, pickles) and snacks (nuts, chips, dips etc. Desserts were plentiful too with jellies, cakes, puddings, dessert bars, pies and ice cream. Growing up I always felt that we prepared way too much food because there was always a lot left over though people ate a lot too.
I resolved to make far less food once I started cooking myself especially since I don't have an 'open' house. I strive to make plenty of food so people can eat their fill plus have a bit left over for later.
4. What is Christmas dinner for you and yours? Goose? Turkey? English Roast Beef?
Christmas dinner is usually stuffed turkey because I'm very traditional that way. However I will often make something different, like ham for New Year's Dinner especially if we had turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are feeling 'turkied out', lol.
As the years go by, I'm wonder how long I'll be making a larger holiday meal. I keep saying, I'll make a chicken instead of turkey. But last Christmas and again for the most recent Thanksgiving, we had a smaller turkey instead. That way I got to stuff it because a turkey doesn't seem complete to me without stuffing. If I can find a small turkey for Christmas dinner we will have that again this year. We also have mashed potatoes, baked Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, various types of salads, pickles, cranberry sauce, gravy and some kind of dessert. Snacks usually consist of a variety of cheeses, crackers, pickles and crudités.
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Beautiful Pastel
Thank you for stopping by and visiting my Skywatch Friday post.
Thursday, November 28, 2024
A Few Scenes from the Week
Hi friends and fellow bloggers,
Here are a couple of snapshots to end the month. Wishing you a fabulous end of November. See you in the month of December.
Christmas Lights & Short Break
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This is a lovely gospel song sung in Swahili and has special meaning for me. It is special because on my first trip to Kenya a gr...
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Hi friends, It's been incredibly hot here. Yesterday on the news they said it was the hottest day of the summer so far. But I went out...