In with the new…
Welcome 2016!
May you have love, health and happiness throughout the year!
Did you make any resolutions for this year? Better yet, if you did will you keep them?
Out with the old…
Out with the old…
Another year has come and gone. Where did the time go? It doesn’t seem possible that 365 days have passed since 31st December 2014. But they have. Wow!
Any resolutions for 2016?
Does your city, town or village do anything to send off the old year? If you live in or near Edinburgh, they put on a fantastic night of entertainment/. And yes, the Scots call New Year’s Eve Hogmanay. That’s a fun word. Hogmanay.
2015 ~ A look back…
Looking back at 2015…
In mid-June, I released my Children’s Chapter Book Tim’s Magic Christmas.
Blurb:
For Tim Frost, Christmas 2011 is a washout. No Santa. No presents. Nothing. His father lost his job when the mill closed and now the family is on the verge of losing their home.
A chance encounter with Nick Kringle, a modern-day Santa Claus teaches Tim that the greatest gift you receive is the gift of giving.
The book has been well received at the events I’ve attended since its release and the closer it got to Christmas the better things went.
Top 10 blog posts of 2015
9. Author Interview with Mystery Maven Maggie Wheeler
8. A Way from Heart to Heart by Helena Fairfax
6. The Highland Lass by Rosemary Gemmell
4. Gilli Allan ~ her author’s journey
3. Robbie Burns Night with Janice Horton
The stockings were hung…
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
The stockings were hung…
… by the chimney with care…
waiting for the arrival of the man with flair
not to mention his long, curly white hair
Shh… he’s arrived, sat on a barrel as his chair
Sneak in and see what what he has, if your dare
But remember, t’is the season to share…
And now my poem is over (thankfully, you say)
But before I bid my final adieu, if I may…
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Merry Christmas everyone!
**********
Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases. May all your wishes have come true.
What did you get in your Christmas stocking? Were you naughty or nice? Treats or a lump of coal?
Santa Claus Comes Tonight
It’s Christmas Eve…
Santa Claus comes tonight!
The lists have been made. The shopping is done. Perhaps a wrapping marathon is in your future tonight? And there’s always the assembly of bicycles and other toys so that everything will be perfect in the morning.
Did you know you can track Santa’s progress as he makes his way around the world? NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) has a website dedicated to following the jolly old soul’s whereabouts. 2015 marks the 60th anniversary of NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) tracking Santa’s flight. Pretty amazing when you think about it.
Tracking Santa is a fun activity for everyone, not to mention it keeps the little ones occupied when you’re trying to clean up after your Christmas Eve supper. You can follow Santa at the Official NORAD Santa Tracker site.
And in keeping with Santa coming tonight, enjoy this video.
Christmas baking ~ Treats I grew up with…
Christmas baking
When I was growing up the Christmas baking started before Halloween to ensure there was enough to get us through from Christmas Eve to after New Years.
My mum had a set of metal Christmas themed cookie cutters – Christmas tree, bell, holly leave and Santa with his bag of toys on his back.
Mum’s shortbread recipe:
1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.
Once these were out of the oven and cooled, they were put in special cookie tins that were only used this time of year.
Another treat that was made for Christmas was chocolate fudge.
My mum used the Carnation 5 minute fudge recipe. Easy to make and did it ever taste good!
The fudge was stored in a waxed-paper lined tin with sheets of the paper between the layers of candy to keep them from sticking to each other.
Mum also made mincemeat and cranberry tarts which she froze. Now we didn’t have a big freezer and the tiny one in the top corner of our fridge was barely big enough for a brick of ice cream. Being the resourceful person she was, all the tarts were individually wrapped in foil and placed in one of her large roast pans and buried in the snow outside the backdoor.
They were brought in as and when needed and warmed in the oven.
I always knew when I came home from school at lunch time and my grandmother was perched on the stool at the end of the counter that it was fruitcake making day. She always came to help.
During the Christmas baking season our house always smelled so good with the aromas of the various holiday treats. Thinking back to these days, I’m getting hungry.
What seasonal treats did you have when you were young?
Christmas must sees
Here is my list of Christmas must sees…
I’ll start with a couple of animated programs:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I caught this one on TV the other night and found myself singing along with “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch…”
A Charlie Brown Christmas I admit at the end when the Peanuts gang yells “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” I get a little lump in my throat.
Now for some movies…
Some of these I must watch at specific times:
A Christmas Story My husband doesn’t like this one so it’s popped in the DVD player while I put up and decorate the Christmas tree. He’s usually off doing something else so it works out perfectly.
This next group, while it doesn’t matter which order I watch them in, there are only certain versions I like…
Miracle on 34th Street but it has to be in black and white – not this colorized nonsense – and the one with Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn.
The Bishop’s Wife with Carey Grant and David Niven.
Holiday Inn where White Christmas is sung for the first time.
White Christmas I love the costumes in this film. This is the only one I’ll watch in colour… somehow this one wouldn’t be the same in B&W. Not that it was made that way but many moons ago, all there was were Black & White televisions.
It’s a Wonderful Life but not the colorized version. Hope this is another that has to be in good old black and white.
Christmas Eve I have to see A Christmas Carol and not just any version. It has to be the black and white, 1951 with Alastair Sim version. (I know, I’m picky) I think this is the movie that turned me off colorized films in the first place. How many of you always thought the bed curtains in Scrooge’s room were a deep, reddish burgundy shade? And what did they come up with when they colorized the movie? Green!
Christmas Day, starts after the presents are opened, the meal is finished and it’s quiet time… relatively speaking.
First movie popped into the DVD player is Holiday Affair with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. It’s another classic in black and white. Unfortunately the imdb link didn’t work for this one.
And in the afternoon, while the turkey is cooking and we might be having snacks…
It’s the 1945 version of Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck.
That’s my list of Christmas must sees… what are some of yours?
Cards – to send them or not to send them… that is the question
Do you worry and wonder about sending cards at this time of year? Okay, this might be a bit late because most of the mailing deadlines have long since passed.
Well the folks at https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check have put together a couple of tongue-in-cheek infographics to help you through this troublesome dilemma.
The New Adult…
The Pro Adult…
And some fun facts about holiday cards...
- Americans send 1.6 billion holiday cards annually [source]
- Women purchase an estimated 80% of all greeting cards [source]
- E-cards have become an environmentally friendly alternative to paper cards [source]
- Christmas cards originated in London, where Sir Henry Cole commissioned the first in 1843. [Source]
- Despite the separation of church and state, it’s customary for the President and First Lady to send White House Christmas cards each holiday season. [source]
- Calvin Coolidge issued the first official Christmas message to the American people in 1927. [source]
About Grammarly…
Grammarly is a simple and powerful writing app that corrects more types of spelling and grammar mistakes than any other software on the market. The product suite comprises: the Grammarly Editor online editing tool; browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari; Grammarly for Microsoft Office; and Grammarly for your Desktop, a convenient desktop editor for Mac and PC.
As a company, Grammarly’s mission is to improve communication among the world’s more than 2 billion native and non-native English writers. Millions of registered users worldwide trust Grammarly’s products, which are also licensed by more than 600 leading universities and corporations. Grammarly is an Inc. 500 company with offices in San Francisco and Kyiv.
After Dark Series Wild Boys Book 4 Cooper by Melissa Foster ~ BOOK PROMO
AFTER DARK SERIES
BY MELISSA FOSTER
Wild boys
BOOK 4 Cooper
Wild Boys After Dark: Cooper (Book 4)
Release Date: 1st December 2015
Pages: 132
Genres: Erotic Fiction / contemporary Fiction
Everything’s naughtier after dark… Fall in love with the Wild & Bad boys. Long enough to burn up the sheets and short enough to leave you craving more.
If raw emotions, cursing, dirty-talk, or intense, passionate sex that sometimes includes a silk tie, turn you off, then the After Dark books are not for you. *NO CLIFFHANGERS*
Suitable for readers 18+ due to sexual content.
WILD BOYS AFTER DARK, Book Four
Cooper
Four years ago at a film festival, Cici Fine met Cooper Wild, a man who turned her world upside down in the span of one deliciously perfect week. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of: sinfully sexy, intelligent, and incredibly loving. When the festival ended, they returned to their own hometowns with promises of forever. But Cooper disappeared, and Cici was left to raise the daughter he never knew about alone.
Cooper is finally thinking straight after years of being lost in grief from the tragedy that killed his father and left his mother blind. Now he’s on a mission to find the woman he left behind—the only woman he’s ever loved.
But Cici Fine is no longer a naive young girl. She’s a savvy businesswoman with big responsibilities, on the cusp of a life-changing move. When fate brings the two together, they’ll put the old adage to the test and find out if love really can conquer all.
BUY LINKS
ABOUT MELISSA FOSTER
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.
Authors Links:
Sign up for Melissa’s newsletter to stay up to date with releases and giveaways
http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter/
GIVEAWAY
MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST
MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST
For Minnie (1892-1971) and my Dad (1913-1969)
As a child, spending time at my Grandmother Minnie’s farmhouse east of Athens was something I always looked forward to. Christmas Day was even more special because all the aunts, uncles and cousins were there, too. No matter how horrendous the weather or long the journey, everyone always made it. Without fail, the Petawawa faction was always last to arrive, leaving the rest of us chomping at the bit so that Christmas could begin!
You have to picture the scene – nine kids, six parents, Minnie and my Uncle Winston cheek and jowl in the two rooms downstairs and without benefit of indoor plumbing until 1970. Dishes were washed and rinsed in two large galvanized washtubs that were hauled up onto the table and filled with hot water from the kettle on the woodstove and cold from the buckets on the counter brought over from the well on the other side of the road. And if you had to go, it was either make the long trek to the outhouse or use the thunder-mug upstairs in Minnie’s room or the one on the stairs.
My love of reading began during those Christmases at Minnie’s. My cousin from Toronto gave me a book every year from the time I turned ten.
1970 was the last year for family Christmas at Minnie’s and the first with indoor plumbing. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but to us it was. With how commercial the holidays have become, I long for those simpler times.
I still have most of those books (I think I only ever parted with one – a book of fairy tales).
What are some of your favourite Christmas memories?