Holiday Season 2011

Holiday Season 2011

It was Picasso who said, “It takes a long time to become young,” and now I understand exactly what he meant.  I travelled and visited a lot of places during my first year of retirement but finally it hit me about a month ago, I’m beginning to feel young again. I have more energy, feel healthier and have no trouble walking three miles along whatever nature trail I happen to be on.

I'm filling my living room with rainbows almost every morning thanks to the Florida sun.

 A hanging prism does the trick.

Tea, toast and rainbows every morning while I count my blessings.

This Christmas I took more care with decorating the front of my house and this year I decided to bake bread for the first time in five years. 

This bread tastes surprisingly good.

The reason I’m having a surge of interest is because my time is more relaxed, I’m not in a rush to get everything done before Monday morning looms around, and I feel free of all the restrictions that have been imposed on me over the past years. Most likely the restrictions were self imposed but the restrictions were there in my brain nonetheless.

Live Tree #1  outside the front of the house.  

It’s the week of December 25^th through December 31^st and there are three important events to celebrate this week.

Sunday is Christmas day and I like all the hoopla involved. The street where I live is all lit up and it’s a cheery sight. Also I got word that my friends from Wales will be visiting in February, my son and one of my grandsons will be visiting in January and my daughter and her family will be visiting in February. The great thing about living in Florida is that people like to visit because there is so much to do and the weather is usually sunny.

It's Christmas in Florida and my geraniums are still blooming.

Tree #2 in the TV room. I plan to keep this lit up year round.

Tree #3 in the kitchen because that's where I spend a lot of time

Wednesday is my birthday and for the first time in my life I actually baked a Birthday cake for myself, and it’s a very tasty piece of confection. I don’t think there’s such a thing as growing old with grace but the truth is, either you die young or you grow old and I didn’t want to die young. I can’t believe that I actually thought I was old when I turned forty. I’d cut off my right arm to be forty again.

 This is a Paula Dean lemon cake served with blackberries, peaches and ice cream. It's a good tasting cake.

Saturday is New Year’s Eve, we call it Hogmanay in Scotland and I haven’t thought about counting my blessings or making New Year resolutions for mega years.

New Year’s Resolution #1	Eat Japanese food more often and drink some hot Saki with it.
New Year’s Resolution #2	Listen to more classical music; Strauss, Ravel, Beethoven etc. Listen to some Puccini arias once in a while.
New Year’s Resolution #3	Walk further before eating ice cream for lunch.
New Year’s Resolution #4	Wear more perfume, light more candles and get a new hairstyle.
New Year’s Resolution #5	Take a trip to Montreal, I’ve never been there.

I purchased some new toys this year and must say that I really like them.

I like this Sansa Fuse MP3 player better than the Ipod.  I use Rhapsody which I think is better than Itunes because for $10.00 per month I can download as many song tracks as I want. So far I've downloaded 500 tracks.

I love my kindle and I may never buy another book again. E-books are the way to go. I can read all the classics again and they're free.

This is a TomTom GPS device for the car. May I never get lost or take a wrong exit again. The thing I like  is that the device tells you what lane you should be driving in so that you don't miss your exit.

My next project is to update some of my household electronics. The trouble with getting older is that your possessions age along with you. My TV, DVD Player, Stereo and Cell phone look as if they came out of the Ark. The question is since they all work and work well, do I really need to replace them even if they’re old?

By the way: My grass looks greener because I spray beer on it. I found this beer recipe on the web and not only does it fertilize it seems to keep the bugs at bay as well. Mix 1 can of beer (not light), 1 can of soda (not diet), ½ cup of mouthwash (any kind), ½ cup ammonia, ½ cup dish detergent (don’t use antibacterial). Put it in one of those sprayer containers that attaches to the hose and spray over the grass on a hot day. It actually works.

Since my grandchildren may possibly read this one day after I’m long gone, I decided to insert a few photos of my favorite things. These give me a sense of my own ancestry and although they’re probably not worth a whole lot of money, I like having them around.

This is a horn from a breed of Scottish cattle. It belonged to my grandfather and is over one hundred years old. He was a Forrester.

This is a ruby and pearl (really small stones) engagement brooch that belonged to my grandmother. It's over one hundred years old.

This is an original pen and ink drawing of the crest of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, my father's battalion. It's the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the artist was my father and he drew it while serving in the army during World War II (1944).

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddha