Just been burgled

Good to hear, James

 Hi Cathy, all's well over here as long i'm inside. outside it's freezing cold.  

Terry, did he have chocolate in his beard?

cath, are you familiar with modern advent calenders in England ?

Well, I plan to send someone out around tomarrow for an local food drive but I've been reading of your extreme weather over there and in some places the people are running out of gasoline and food supply's. Hope it stops soon...turns an bit milder for you all.

Soda baths are made with baking soda not caustic soda as one gal found out recently trying to say she was face burned by someone that threw acid in her face...so she could aquire the sympathy of everyone in collecting  big money donations from her plight. Courts made her pay her own health bill and give the donations back. Other kind of soda is in various drinks...such as soda pop....of which I hardly drink these days...they contain an lot of sodium. Wanna get screamed at by the heart clinic I go to..drink anything much other then purified water or herbal teas.  You know they gave me two prescriptions at the hospital thoerh other day...one is an narcotic...the other one says "can cause fatal heart attacks in people with heart disease"...I've not taken either one of them...and feel there's more money down the drain so as to say. I'm going at this like an kid with "Chicken Pox" more of less and the nights really bother me too!...they are the worse for the inabilty to lay down and sleep for pain. But it looks like things are progressing well right now for the time duration they have me on before I have to be well and make an "all clear" doctor's visit as an "follow up".

Ok Ron...that was no "Santa Suit"...it was you in your shorts going out to get the morning newspaper in the big freeze going on over there in England...sorry I thought differently. The big bag must of been your Sir Authur replica shieild to keep wind blasts away from your hairy knees? Just let me know if you need to borrow my "bigfoot" slippers. ( I might even be able to scrounge up some stripped"Love ya" socks up to your knees from an era gone by ).I also have an furry miltary type bomber hat with flaps that go over the ears...and hand warmers. Just kidding!!!

Catherine...the new advent caldendars probably end with "eat at Joes" or this will be 50 cents please! I hope he answers as I'm wondering also. I've seen all kinds of the calendars...those with tiny chocolate figurines...to small gift presents. My yearly thing use to be lavish boxes of cookies and candies and sometime breads...I had one planned before all chaos started here recently healthwise. So the daughter in-law was going to do them and she got called back for training class up-dates...so kind of put aside for anwhile right now. I use to do about 23 of these boxes in years past. Then the daughter in-law's younger cousins came over one year and did the snowflake cut out cookies in pyschedelic colors for me. Next year I cut them down to traditional again....and less boxes. Just took a bigger plate at the family gathering. Her sister wants to do Christmas Dinner this year at her house...since my daughter in-law and son did Thanksgiving........of which we bought most of it for her to cook. I get to traditional at times and at times am now where I can't do those big dinners like I use to...but I actually "miss" doing them in ways..I've done them all since 1976 for my family here except for an couple my hubby's older sister did as were vistiing her. My house gets to looking like an restruant at these times.

This will be my box this year if I can yet do them..don't know about it though....larger the crowd..the harder it is to do.

Cashew Triangles....dough with cashews pressed in them...and baked and heavily drizzled with choclate in an zig zag pattern on top.

Russian Teacakes...called variaous differnt names also....they are into balls, baked and rolled in powdered sugar,

Green iced and sprinkled with an darker green.. Christmas Tree "Sugar cookie"...these are cut out shaped cookies.

the strip in the box next is half spiced gum drops and half small wrapped candy canes.

Then come the lemon bar cookies

We end it with thumbprint cookies..rolled in walnuts, pressed down and baked and then filled with Jelly or Jam...I make sugar-free Apricot...sugar free strawberry and regular "Blueberry" or Bosenberry Jam cookies.

Then I thought an small plate of chocolate frosted "brownie" bites also as an extra.

Looking though right now that I'll most likely "buy it" this year if anything. I have an  assortment of mini-candy bars I was going to also decorate and small cakes as well. I have them in my freezer right now. They were peanut butter cups, three musketeers, and Kit-Kat wafer bars. I thought one plate of these also...we ususally have this kind of stuff at the family get togethers on Christmas eve..if not the weekend beforehand.. and through out the next days unto and through Christmas Day. but you know..time changes all things. For the most part they are shared with others also at least starting one week before Christmas most the time. I figure to be doing good to get the house decorated and the gifts qrapped this year...and the meal doing's planned for the most part.

I think you have an incredibly warm and generous heart Shirley - and try to do too much!!  I imagine that trying to do everything you outlined above would make your stress levels soar and create the situation where your body says "enough"!  Maybe it is time to cut back on your expectations of yourself and let others start to spoil you.  I think 30 odd years of doing what you have been doing for the family is more than enough and it's time the younger generation took over in their way!!  Why not sit back and enjoy for a change??  I'm worried about you dear!

Really glad to hear that it's baking soda and not caustic soda (but I think that is more a description of the wit that said it, than the ingredient to add to a healing bath!! lol)

I know Cathy..I get told this all the time, but you know....sometimes its the "bride"  type cooking that makes me want to do it for another year. They put an roast beef out also for Thanksgiving and it looked very "solid" and not condusive to eating with au jus sauce and looked more gray then brown at that....but I do like my son's cooking.. now he makes an pretty good steak on the BBQ. I know, if they never practice, they will never learn... Right? I have my faults too..esp when it comes to blowing up eggs in the microwave...I cook them to long.  I solved that one with an microwave egg poacher.

Its So cold over here at the moment, and some can be so ungrateful, only last night my wife felt sorry for the snowman in our garden, she went and brought it into the hallway overnight to keep warm, when she got up this morning it had p***ed on the floor and left!.

The government keeps telling us to keep our eyes on our neighbours during this cold spell, the old woman next door to us is too lazy to take her milk and newspapers in and hasnt even been bothered to call and check how we are!