I know, it's all over the top - and yeah it is a lot of work - but on the up side, it takes care of any notion of letting clutter build up too much because once it is time to take all this down and pack it away I am ready to clean every nook and cranny of this place and organize for the coming year - sick to death of clutter by then!

So, on with the tour :) Stepping back into the hall we'll pass these pictures I did. They are shameless copies of Mary Engelbreit work. I don't sell them so no infringement here, I just redraw the Santas I like most - color them in with a variety of media including markers, crayons, colored pencils, and even a bit of glitter here and there. We have thirteen right now - might do more sometime, but not this year.


And into the heart of any home, the kitchen.

Before we go any further, what hostess wouldn't have a little somethin somethin to offer her guests? Would you care for a slice of yummy cake and a cup of coffee?
The boy baked this cake - I hate cooking - it is delicious and devilishly simple. The recipe can be found at the bottom of this post, you'll be surprised at how wonderful it is.


And on with the look around...
The view as I wash dishes.


The dogs' favorite part of the house, their cookies are stored in the large Christmas tree cookie jar.


To the other side of the stove - just because there were not enough colored balls throughout the house...


And then the far side of the sink. I love this little tree with its cabinet of ornaments. It is one of those advent deals - one ornament per day. Even the cabinet is pretty. This was a gift from my D1 and her husband a few years ago. Just love it.
Gus and Fiona love this area because their kibble is in the Santa cookie jar.


Now the top of the cabinets and all the cookie jars and such up there. I'll not show every one - just a sampling. There are 106 pieces of Christmas kitchen ceramic. I counted just for you :)





and as we pass from the kitchen to the dining room, one more pair of Engelbreit al la me...


There will be more tomorrow :)

In the mean time, here is that recipe:

1 yellow cake mix of your choice
1 container Coconut Pecan Frosting

Mix cake according to box directions except use milk instead of water. Add the frosting to the batter. Mix well. Bake in tube pan well greased, though non stick spray works just fine. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 mins. depending on your own oven.
Update - I meant to say that adding a bit of shredded coconut and a hand full of crushed pecans makes the cake even better. Now the boy must bake another for a Christmas function we are attending tonight. Party - I'm supposed to bring a dessert, but as I hate cooking....

Hope you've put on some nice carols, lit a fire in the fireplace, and have something lovely baking - or like me, have a cinnamon candle giving off a yummy aroma...


So please, come on down the hall, pass the arch there...

To this opening to the family room...

Through the arch you can see the fireplace - and the tree in the corner. Around the base of the tree I like to gather some of my Santas - and a few smaller trees. More on them later...


Love my cozy fireplace. Here is the broad view...


And here a few close-ups of the mantle display - modeled on an "I Spy" idea. Pack in as much as possible from as many types and styles of small trees, deer, small animals, and Santas as possible and this is what results. Embiggening these can be fun, see the detail - can you spy the corgi?





On the wall next to the tree is this shelving unit.
Do you think more Christmas bling could be packed in here? Actually, one shelf is not arranged - one of the casualties of this year's time crunch due to trip. Just haven't taken care of this detail yet.


Here are a few close-ups of the tree so that you get a taste of the many ornaments we pack in. Most of the ornaments are homemade by the kidlets and me. There are a few still from our very first tree, low these many years ago - and the balance were gifts. Stay married long enough and you can build quite a collection.



So now the Santas. I used to make Santas every year and around the tree base there are three that were a joint effort between me and my D3 (the musician). She sculpted the heads from sculpy - I did the hair/beards and all the rest. These guys are totally original, one of a kind - my own creations. Here, the internet world premere of my toys -
Santa of a German flavor...


My personal favorite, Santa of a Scandinavian flare...


And my more magical mystical style Santa...


I like to recycle old clothing to dress my Santas, using the Christmas outfits from when the kids were little, old fur coats (all fur trim is real, brown is taken from an old rabbit fur coat my sister gave me to cut up. Other Santa's are trimmed with white mink from a friend's old coat - you'll see them later), old belts - all sorts of things. Sometimes I get lucky and find a terrific old sweater at Goodwill - which is how my red Santa got his suit.


These are the windows to either side of the fireplace. My falther made these shelves on which is displayed my religious iconography collection.



The couch, all decked in warm Christmas throws and silly pillows (notice boy in Santa hat sitting at table in adjacent room - doing school work)

And the other couch, decked with a Fiona...

Below Fiona's couch? Gus, in full advanced whining mode - his tennis ball is under the couch.


A sampling of my Nutcracker collection - clustered on top of the shelving unit. These were all gifts from family.

Some of the Christmas stuffies massed on top of the computer cabinet

And my daughter's Russian cone doll collection which sits atop another cabinet.


And there you have it, the family room in all its Christmas glory...
but there is more - oh yes there is :)

I'd love to have you in person. And as I've said before, I'm no photographer - and this is just a little Cannon point and shoot camera- but I'll do my best to give you a little tour of the craziness that is my home for Christmas.


This lovely wreath was a gift from one of the hubs "co workers" (I'm not sure that term actually fits - but it's the best I can come up with) The wreath arrived in it's gorgeous splendor with only the greens and bow. I added the sparkle.


The welcoming committee.

Because people need a little warm up before the door opens.


And into the land of Christmas Fairy barf - as my children have labled the homestead.

There's more. Oh yes, much more, but it should come in doses.

Come back in a bit for the next look see:) Between now and then, just to get as close to the feeling as possible, put on some Christmas music. You can bet that Christmas music is playing here.

Turns out I was right to be worried about Rosie's soreness last night. When I called the vet this morning he said she shouldn't be sore at all and to bring her right down.

Turns out her bandages were rubbing her heel raw - disaster averted. Other than trauma to her mom, all is well now.

Rose is in her stall happily munching fancy hay wondering why she keeps going on road trips.

I think I need some Valium.

My horse Rosalie had surgery yesterday.

For a year and a half we have been fighting lameness issues. She has a condition called navicular disease, which, in her case, means she has a cyst in one of the bones in her foot. The cyst was caused by a disruption in the rate at which dying cells are replaced by new cells. Happens in horses sometimes.

Until fairly recently there was no real treatment except pain management. Now there is a drug that can be had by jumping through many hoops including begging the FDA to let you import it (from France) and the drug is VERY expensive - but has shown promise in restoring the cell replacement balance and even regenerating some bone. Because I believe in trying to solve the underlying problem rather than just fixing pain - and because the risk of breaking the bone was too great if we just fixed the pain - we bit the bullet and jumped through the hoops. She was given the drug last March. Along with several other steps to ease her pain of course - shoeing changes daily horsey aspirin, careful physical therapy.

Rose did in fact show some improvement following administration. The cyst has decreased in size by about 15% and shows some increased bone density. However, after eight months, she is still "off" at the trot for a significant percentage of the time.

So yesterday we took the final step and she had surgery to strip away the nerve that sends pain messages from her heel. She'll still feel the front half or more of her hoof.

Now we have 30 days of total stall restriction and then, hopefully, I will finally have a horse free of pain and I can watch her float big and beautiful across the pasture again - or better yet with D2 in the saddle collecting ribbons at horse shows...

Vet called yesterday morning and said all went well, going to pick her up later this morning.







I'd really like to be able to do another dose of the Tildron - but that will simply have to wait a bit. That drug is seriously expensive.

Here's to hoping I have new pictures of Rose being ridden to share with you all in the coming year.

Update - I've picked Rosie up, gotten instructions on wound care - bandaging - dietary management, etc. OMG I was not prepared for the cost of after care. Bandaging every 2 days for 30 days - about $20 per. And if she gets it wet or it gets bunchy or saggy gotta do it more often. It is horse bandages for me for Christmas!
If this horse is not sound and ready to roll when we get through this, I'm going to be certifiable.

Update #2 - I'm trying very hard to be reasonable and not freak out here. Three and a half days after surgery the horse is limping big time. But that is to be expected right? I mean, she does have four incisions (all be them small ones) with stitches. Makes sense she'd hurt right. Even though the surgery was to remove a nerve so that she wouldn't hurt any more. But of course the nerve was the one that feeds the back half of her hoof. Not her ankle area where the incisions are. So it is only reasonable to expect her to hurt right? Right? in a small worried voice on the verge of a totally irrational panic attack...

Gentle readers,

I'm not one to try to sell things on my site - but Christmas is in full swing and I thought I'd risk throwing one plug out there.

If you are, like me, often shopping for people who don't really need much "stuff" and want to get them something with meaning, I'd like to suggest buying a nice little instrumental CD made by a fine young lady with an eye on a career in music. Yup, plugging my daughter's CD just this once. You could support her a little and give the gift of music with a story behind it. And with a name like "The Pleasures of Hope" - CD was made and named before hope was given such a bad name - how can you miss? Unless of course everyone you know is into heavy metal or rap. I'd be happy to email anyone further info on the story of Alex and Irish music if you are interested in the background as well, but not ready to really post it on line. Not sure she would appreciate me giving her full story to the world in general.

I would include some clips here for you to hear, but I have no idea how to do that. I know many of you have already followed my link and heard a little so you know how well she plays. She is still in the process of trying to pay off the money it took to put the CD together (we sort of refer to the boxes of discs stacked in the basement as insulation right now). Being in school she doesn't have much time right now to do the little concerts that help sell it.

If you are interested in picking up one, or two, or three :) it can be purchased on line here (you can listen to clips here as well, there is fiddle, harp, and concertina - fast and slow) - or you can let me know and buy it from me directly for a few dollars less. I'll send them off to you for $15, shipping included - for one, a little less for multiples.

OK, that's all - will not hear from me on this one again.

Merry Christmas madness

I can't resist, here are a couple more pictures from the markets in Bangkok






This picture shows flower garlands hanging in rows. The ladies sitting at the table are stringing them.

The people we saw working in the markets were generally happy - laughing and talking to each other. Our guide told us the Thai are known for their happy attitudes and laughter. I must say, I believe him.

So first full day in Thailand we are all running on adrenalin as not one of us in the group of thirteen has had anything like enough rest for the previous two days.

As I mentioned in the last post we were traveling with OAT. My husband and daughter had done a month long trip to China and Tibet with OAT in the summer of '08 and they were so impressed (and I impressed with their stories) that it was a no brainer to use this bunch again. You see, I contend that when traveling in a country where the writing is unrecognizable to anything like the alphabet we were taught, you should not try to go it alone. OAT uses natives to guide their groups so that you are getting a view of the country you are touring through the eyes of someone who has lived their life there. Another wonderful thing about traveling with OAT is that, even though you do see all the known (touristy) highlights, you also get off the beaten path and visit homes, schools, and factories. By traveling with OAT we were able to see so much more than we ever could have on our own, because there was no time lost just figuring things out. Add to that the indispensable fact that OAT had scouted out western style "Happy Rooms" every hour and a half to two hours in our travel so that only if desperate did we have to "get happy" like the natives - read Asian style stand up potties ladies, they think our sit down accommodations are just nasty. Also, all our hotels - though never the Ritz Carlton - had AC (and with temps in the 90s every day, that AC at the end of the day was more than welcome), clean beds, flushing potties, and food tempered a bit to the western palate (though fish sauce was ever handy if you wanted to add a bit of fire in the hole).

So after a breakfast of mostly recognizable foods - the buffet at each hotel catered to both eastern and western tastes so there was always something new for the adventurous to try. and the fruit? OMG it was heavenly- We hit the streets beginning with a bus tour and walk through the Bangkok flower market.



Orchids in Thailand are like daisies here. They are everywhere. We found orchids on our beds at night, orchids scattered on the table. Orchids hanging from trees and bunched in front of shops. People's yards full of orchids. WOW!



And the smell of the roses! Heaven. The flowers were unbelievably inexpensive. Large bundles of roses for a dollar - you don't even want to know how cheap the orchids were. The colors and varieties - boggled the mind. It was magnificent.


These arrangements are meant as temple offerings to the Buddha. Women sat arranging these by the dozen. Also stringing sprays meant as gifts or for hanging on the fronts of boats or rear view mirrors of vehicles or to hang on spirit houses.

Our guide bought each of us a small garland which he presented us with later in the day


After the flower market it was on to the fruit market for some exotic things I had never seen or heard of, much less tried.


These are pear apples, or sometimes called rose apples. They tasted like a bland apple. Though pretty - they didn't make the cut for me. Too many other much more wonderful fruits to gorge on.


Like these! Thailand has about twenty varieties of bananas and we tried several. They were all just scrumptious. I ate every one I could get my hands on. The other fruit here is pemelos. They are similar to grapefruit but much larger, sweeter, and firmer in texture. I loved them!


This odd critter is a dragon fruit. The pink skin is not edible but the meat inside is white with tiny seeds sort of like strawberry seeds and the taste is sweet and yummy. Again, I ate as much as modesty would allow.


Here are the rombutan (hairy thing) which has a fruit inside that tastes something like a grape, and the mangosteen which was an odd sort of fruit indeed. The outer skin is more than a quarter inch thick soft almost mushy - red thing but the fruit inside is off white and in sections with a small pit in each section. Tasty but almost not worth the effort to get the skin off (if you can call it skin, which it isn't really - and not edible either)




Last here I have Jack fruit. It looks a lot like Durian, but isn't. Jack fruit doesn't stink at all and the meat is soft and a bit custard like. It is sweet and tasty. We only had a chance to eat it twice, but enjoyed it both times.

Other fruits we sampled were sapodilla, lynchee, mango, coconut, papaya, tamarind, and I positively pigged out on the best fresh pineapple I ever ate. It was included every morning with breakfast and most evenings for desert. I have never ever had such wonderful pineapple!

Funny thing about Durian - we did see some in the markets but never got close enough to smell them - every single hotel we stayed in had a "No Durian" sign at the front door.

Well that gets us close to lunch time on the first day, I'll pick up from here next time. I think this is long enough for now :)

And the adventure begins -
So as most of you already know, our grand excursion was a trip to Thailand, a place I've always wanted to see. We traveled with a tour group called OAT (overseas adventure travel) and it was a trip of a lifetime.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step and we traveled a bit more than 10,000 miles just to get there. The steps consisted of leaving home about noon on a Wednesday and driving four hours to Atlanta where we spent the night (sort of) because we had to be at the airport by 3:30AM. Our first flight (two hours to Chicago) left at 6AM. Once in the windy city our layover was four hours then we boarded my first ever 747 for the 14.5 hour flight to Tokyo. A flight with four movies, arggg, but that is what it takes and I got to see UP, which is a very cute movie. Have I mentioned before I hate hate hate flying? But I refuse to let my fears keep me from seeing the world. Didn't help that this was one of the bumpiest flights I've ever been on. Pilot had to climb a bit to get out of the bumps - United lets you listen in on air traffic control which the hub was doing. He kept chuckling so I asked what was so freaking funny - as I squeezed the blood flow from his thigh. The pilot was asking other planes ahead of us what conditions were, they were making cracks about the jolts - haha, very funny.

Anyway, our final flight to Bangkok was delayed more than an hour so we spent a good four hours in the terminal in Tokyo. Our family has a travel rule. You must leave an airport to count as having been TO a country. You can say you have been IN Japan if you were making connecting flights (which we all have now done at least once), but you cannot say you have been TO Japan until you have actually left the airport. None of us has yet been TO Japan.

Care to guess how long the flight from Tokyo to Bangkok is? You'd think after already flying a solid sixteen hours that the hop from Japan would be no biggy right? Seven, seven more hours. And because our flight was delayed we arrived in Bangkok at 12:15 AM. A further two and a half hours to do the passport control/immigration thing, collect baggage, meet with our tour group and tour guide, and load up on the bus for the ride to our first hotel.

We made it to bed at 3AM and our first wake up call was four hours later.

From the time we left our home (excluding the brief stay at the Hampton Inn Atlanta Airport) we traveled more than 40 hours (all airport layovers included). To say we arrived exhausted would be an understatement of biblical proportions. But excited and ready to explore and at 7Am we hit the streets ready to do just that.

Now, the great confession. We in this family love Christmas. I know many of you do not and that makes me a little sad, but we just love it. From the first pauper's year of our marriage to now we have tried to fill each Christmas with love,fun,and traditions of our own. And I am afraid I must admit that I decorate to the extreme. At least I do keep it to the indoors. No runway lights in the yard or anything, just a few simple, tasteful wreaths on the door and front windows. But open the door and Wow, people tend to wander through with their mouths open for a bit, then walk through again and giggle.

Why am I telling you this at the end of a long story about our trip? It's like this, since the girls left for college I have tried to have all the house decorated before they get home the day after Thanksgiving so that they come in and are greeted with the Christmas they love right off. They can then finish the last few weeks of classes and exams having already sampled the warmth of our home at Christmas. The trees are always already up (we have two, one in the family room and one in the living room) and lit so that on Friday night we can decorate one together and Saturday the other - without the hassle that is setting up and lighting the trees. However, this year we were leaving for the trip on Nov 4 and returning just 3 days before leaving again to celebrate Thanksgiving at D1's home. I knew that between exhaustion and time shortage, the only way the house would be Christmas ready when we came back for these couple days before D2&3 return to school was for the house to be fully decorated before we left - and it was. By Halloween almost every single Santa and globular ornament was in place.

We were laughing at ourselves. Well ok, they were all laughing at me - I kept some of the shades down so the neighbors wouldn't think we (I) were nuts. I'm a mom what can I say, I wanted everyone to have the holiday we have come to cherish - tacky colorful ornaments, music, cheesy Christmas movies, food and all. It had to be done.

So what greeted us when we finally arrived at the Hotel Tawana in Bangkok, Thailand?




On the balcony above the Christmas tree can be seen me, the boy, and the mother of Adam Savage(of Myth Busters fame)



I'll begin showing you pictures of the craziness that is our home at Christmas soon.