Love having a Fireplace....

...especially during a rainstorm.

Looking In

I love looking into our house (and other peoples:) and seeing the glow of lights from the tree.

Christmas at the Garvers

So glad my Mom is with us for another year (and will be for many more...you promised mom!)

Socks....always a good gift for Dad!

Wison....the comedian.

Brother Robert, Mom and our nephew Nate.

Enough computers?

Enjoying the new slipcover.

Brad and his fiancee Laurel.

Love the t-shirt from Sam, bicycle MPG-infinity!

Merry Christmas

The tree is finally up...

...and Sam's home.

Happy happy Joy joy!

Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an "eggnog-aholic" or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it!!!! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it.

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, pumpkin and mincemeat - have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

thanks to Rural Revolution from whom I stole this....Merry Christmas!

Wood Floors

We decided to pull up the carpeting in the family room last week...

....and wish we'd done it years ago!

The floors are not in great shape, but compared to the dirty, grimy, 'less than 5yr.old' carpeting (whole other post there....ugh) they are a breath of fresh air, literally. 9+ cats had taken their toll on the carpet (aka~ alternate litter box).

You can sort of see that the carpeting was once very pretty....or at least clean.

The red is the 'water-proof' padding.....now there's an idea. I'm not sure there's much hope once a cat chooses a spot to use to relieve themselves, but having the urine stay in the carpeting rather than soak down to the floor doesn't help.

Our Christmas tree will be going in that back corner....someday.

Notice the corner of the couch where our much loved cats (said dripping with sarcasm) have sharpened their claws. I can only assume this process is necessary for all the hunting they do around here.

And then we covered the floor with a rug...I think it makes the sitting area more cozy and we like the warmth under our feet (and the cats may need a new decorative accessory to ruin).

Christmas decorations are up....

...now we must go get a tree!

And when we do, hopefully I'll post some pics of the finished product. For now, here's one of my favorite decorations made by our eldest son when he was about 6yr. old....I just love it.

Vanilla

I'm making vanilla.....did you know you could do that?

(I didn't)

You need good vodka, and I'm not sure what constitutes 'good' but this was the most expensive one that Costco sold (don't laugh) so that's what I went with.

Using a fairly sharp knife, I cut down the middle of 9 vanilla beans

(3 beans per cup of vodka) ....

....leaving an inch at one end.

Put vanilla beans in a glass jar, cover with vodka, secure lid and

store in cool, dark place for 2 months.

This was started a month ago and it's turning a nice brown color but still tastes a bit like...um...vodka? Because I don't drink vodka I'm just guessing....it doesn't taste like wine:) Since commercial vanilla extract usually has simple syrup added to it, it won't ever taste quite like that. I could add sugar water but probably won't, it'll be fine for baking.

....from a recipe on Simply Recipes

Good Point

This is something I have been saying for YEARS....only he says it better and less passionately* than I ever could.

*passion is my husband's euphemism for the intense emotional response I have to life's absurdities...most people would just call it anger.

------------------------------------------

Hijacked planes as missiles is something that would only work once. Previously, hijacked passengers and crew had a sort of assurance that if they cooperated, they wouldn't get hurt. Hijackers were after some other kind of demands, not killing everyone on board. Once the 9/11 guys blew up that bargain, it changes the likelihood of passenger cooperation dramatically, and radically reduces the odds of another success. If people know that they're going to die if the hijacker succeeds, they're better off trying to fight off the hijacker, it can't be any worse and it might be better.

All the security stuff is pointless compared to that behavioral shift by passengers and crew.

~John Alexnder Thacker

Security???

“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" ~ Benjamin Franklin

I think it's time for a collaborative effort on our part to shame the TSA and their agents. What if every person in line watching this kind of atrocity were to hold up their cell phones to record the procedure? Let's make it OBVIOUS that they are being recorded....ALL THE TIME. Instead of laying the burden of civil disobedience on the shoulders of just the selected individuals who are singled out for searching, we all can participate in letting the government know that this must END. Even those people who are just dropping off a loved one are usually within site of the security measures. Take out your phone, hold it up, and let them know you are doing it...stand up for your rights before you have none.

Potatoes

In the spot recently vacated by the sweet potatoes go our newly sprouted russet, reds, and yukon golds. We have planted potatoes from Nov. thru Feb. here and had good luck with all of them.

This year I had them hanging in our bedroom window in the 'solar dehydrator' for a month while they 'chitted' (fancy term for forcing them to sprout).

We plant them deep but don't cover with more than an inch or two of soil until they get to be about 6 inches tall. It's easier to 'hill them up' this way than to try and build up the soil above ground level. If you don't cover emerging potatoes they can be exposed to sunlight, turn green, and become toxic.

The final touch are the ever attractive 'cat guards'....doing double duty this year as protection for passers-by to keep them from falling into the holes. In other words....a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Or they could just be shade for the cat :)

More info on growing potatoes in California here.