***Very OT*** CHRISTMAS ***OT***

Hey! I could be insulted by tha... no wait, you said "spoiled." Ok.

Elizabeth

Accusing Mirjam of anything can lead to WW3.

And now, having finished my next-to-last Christmas present (well, "finished" as in last stitch is in and it's soaking in OxyClean, not as in washed/ironed/framed/wrapped), I am going to bed. I have done quite enough 25-count over-1 for one month, and will be very happy to go back to the comparatively huge 18-count stitches of the final Christmas present. That's for the person I'm having Christmas Eve dinner with, so I have the full 10 days to work on it.

Neither in my knickers nor my knockers, thank God, Gill!

Er - just noticed "DESIGNATED" Elf of Peace? What cruel so-and-so lumbered you with THAT job! Something (Obviously Lucille) did get them in a twist - but she won`t any more. She`s consigned to cyberspace from whence she`d only been released by accident when I got the new computer! Like Tia, I don`t OFTEN killfile and only have a list of three!

Lovely sunny day here - and the roses are STILL blooming. Not many, but we`re grateful for any in December.

Still no stamps and I still have the cards to finish off. Maybe it`s just our little post office that`s run out. They can do those nasty little printed sticky things, but I like proper Christmas stamps on my cards if possible. They`re quite nice this year.

Pat P

Actually, I designated myself as the Elf of Peace!! I got sick of everyone griping and being unkind and figured.."what the hell"!It is my part towards making this whole Christmastide, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice etc more in the spirit of the Holiday Season. I think I covered most bases in that one sentence! LOL.

Oh well, I will probably lose, but I felt better; probably like a cat throwing up a hairball they helps no-one but the cat!

I wish our Christmas stamps over here were as pretty as the ones from UK. My cousins always make a point of putting them on their envelopes to me!

Gill

Oh no, someone send an ambulance...applause could cause extreme fatigue enough to have someone drop onto the floor, unable to get up from the exhaustion.

I think it was a wonderful effort O Elf of Peace. There have been some unattractive things said - I particularly disliked the idea of having so much food we would send what we didn't like to Africa. I can't find the source of humour in that!

Something one should remember - on my local group people were witchhunting away about Holiday Trees etc. and of course someone had to bring up wicked Muslims who come here and want to change things when suddenly we had a post from a 22 year old fellow in Teheran who hopes to be living here with his family next April. He has a pretty good command of English but not quite enough to grasp (thankfully) the full intention of these posts. So it would not hurt to remember that we can never know who is reading what we say, or where they are.

Would that people in Africa could have enough food daily to be picky about what they eat!

I am not excluding myself from saying things I shouldn't, I know I have.

You haven't lost, you win lol

Naaa! Definitely not meant for you. The brat part maybe, but the language part, never.

;*)) L

As long as everyone is getting things in a twist---I am about to throw a wobbly fit of my own. Roses! I ask you. Roses!!!! We have about a metre of snow in the street. My car got stuck going into the church parking lot last night, and then got stuck again coming out the other side two hours later. The winds are hitting 60 k/hr. And I have to go to another @#*& meeting in an hour. AND not a speck of edible chocolate in the house, unless I want to start gnawing on the cooking stuff. (Liz from Humbug sent me a luscious recipe that she should post on the board, so I need that chocolate for cooking it) AND my across the street neighbour has a lawn display that includes Santa Cows, a manger scene, carolling penguins, a train, lighted candy canes, and toy soldiers, and I just hope nobody sends her that Synchoronized house video 'cause she'll do that too. Honestly, I can snap my car headlights off when I reach her place as it is lit enough to see by. There. Knickers suitably twisted. Dawne

I am wondering if our Brat is trying to say she is not a spoiled brat??? I better shut up quickly.

Dawne Peterson wrote: > ...... Honestly, I can snap my car headlights

I will have to admit to being one of those with a massive light display on our lawn. DH takes Thanksgiving week off so that he can do the decorations. We have 24" high candy canes that line the driveway and the walkway up to the front door (must be at least 3 dozen of them) with twinkling lights strung from one to the next. At the front of our driveway, we have two 8 foot high air filled toy soldiers. Then in the oak "pine island" there is a lighted moose (the white wire/light kind) who moves his head and a white wire/light Christmas tree and a little red sign with a kitty on it that says "I LOVE Christmas". The River Birch "pine Island" has two white wire/light deer -- one laying down and one feeding, both set back amongst the bushes. There is also DH's anniversary gift from MOI -- a lighted sign that says "Mele Kalikimaka" in red with a green palm tree and little yellow stars as the dots over the letter i. Between the two "pine islands" is the white wire/light Santa, sled and three "flying" reindeer that rock back and forth on their support posts. Almost forgot, both pine islands are outlined by the little twinkling white lights. We are on a rounded corner lot so we also decorate the side yard. We have an 8 foot air filled Christmas tree with presents and a projector that projects a picture of holly and Happy Holidays on the side of the house. The back deck has lights strung on it and individual lighted figures -- Santa, reindeer, Star of Bethlehem and snowflake. All of the eaves of the house (at least the ones DH can easily reach on his 20 foot extension ladder) are strung with icicle lights. All the bushes and small trees around the front of the house have multi-color lights strung on them and there is lighted garland adorning the front porch railing. Each of the front windows of the house (upstairs and down) are decked out with French Horns and green garland with red bows. The front door is surrounded with multi-colored lights, wide red mesh ribbon that is decorated with small berry & pine cone picks and a berry garland at the top. The white rocking chairs on the front porch have big red bows on them and there is a pine cone and greenery garland strung between them. On either side of the front door, there is a small decorative country style wagon filled with greenery, flowers, decorations, etc. One is being "driven" by a kitty in a Santa Suit and the other has Mrs. Santa kitty at the helm. DH also puts lights around the garage door and there is a big plastic picture of Santa & the Mrs. sitting in rocking chairs having a cuppa!! Our neighbors -- especially the kids -- love our decorations. Most of the time the kids who come trick-or-treating will sk if we are going to decorate for Christmas :-). We think of all the decorations as our gift to the kids of the 'hood. One neighbor (who is a pilot) teases us and says that the ATC at Atlanta-Hartsfield issues a Holiday Advisory warning incoming pilots NOT to be deceived by our lights -- we are NOT on the flight path for the landing strip -- LOL! I won't even go into what the inside of the house looks like. I don't think I have enough time to write it all and you guys certainly don't want to sit here and read it -- LOLOL! One thing tho' -- I don't decorate the Babies. The tinsel they both have hanging from their tails is a direct result of both of them sneaking under the tree, meandering through the presents to get to the water in the tree stand. There must be something about pine flavoured water that really attracts kitties -- LOLOL! CiaoMeow>^;;^<

I don't know if I should get in line in front of you or behind you on this one!

There was a feature on the news last night about a couple in a small town near here who spend two months putting up their display. They have the same lighted moose you do! It makes them happy and provides something to do for people from the area. And I am sure my neighbour is happy too. In the city I where I grew up, whole blocks would put up matching decor--"Candycane Lane", "Silver Bell Crescent", and one bachelor art teacher who lived with his mother would spent months making a different display every year with discarded mannequins and big dolls, papier mache figures, turntables, usually based on a movie or Disney attraction. He put out a collection box and donated money to charity. I do wish my neighbour's display had not gone up the day after Halloween, but I can appreciate her Christmas spirit if not the cows in santa suits. Dawne

aaaah. Link arms--what the heck. It's Christmas. Dawne

Lucille

Oh go on - take a photo of it, and I`ll take one of the rose just outside my kitchen door!!! LOL!

Pat P

PAX, Tia Mary

Flipping Hell, Tia! That`s a good excuse! Like I said to Dawne - take a photo!

Glad I don`t live next door, anyway. Doubt if you`d be able to see the absolutely fabulous sunset we have here tonight with that lot blazing forth!

Pat P

Hee hee! Well I`d never be able to resuscitate - she`s one of the three! I wouldn`t know until it was too late to decide if it was worthwhile!

Pat P

Well, DH puts our lights, etc. up during Thanksgiving week but they don't get turned on until 6:00 PM Thanksgiving night. I could handle the cows in Santa suits if they were smallish cows. My Santa & Mrs. kitties are only about 10" tall and sitting by the front door. Our decorations *sound* extravagant but they aren't so extravagant I could expect to collect any money for a worthy charity. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

Watch it Pat -- you used foul language and now you will start to get violent and make anyone who has read this post be violent too!!!! As for seeing the sunset -- OF COURSE I would be able to see it. Our lights don't come on until it's dark outside -- after the sun has set. It's an unnecessary waste of electricity to have the outside lights on before they can be truly appreciated. If you lived next door in *this* neighborhood you would still be able to sleep at night -- all the master bedrooms are on the back of the houses :-)