One More Time

O.K. yes, I know the Holidays are over.

Can you bear just one more cheery image?

How about this?

A real bird was decorating our little outdoor tree!

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Dreaming of Sugar Plums

en.wikipedia.org Santa Claus Sugar Plums. Confection label, showing Santa Claus on sleigh with reindeer., 1868.

I’m not sure what a sugar plum is exactly, but that’s what my dear old Mom used to call me – “Sugar Plum.”   Isn’t Sugar Plum a lovely endearing name? Better than Dork or Snort I must say.  Did you know I have friends who actually call me Dork?!!!  I am immune after years of this but no wonder there are some odd looks from people out in the public.

“Tis really the season” here in the Virginia countryside and ’tis ripe for dreaming.  The weather outside slides from frightful to delightful in the course of hours, but there is a happy tension in the air that makes us ready for a White Christmas.  Bing Crosby used to sing that one.  Does anyone remember Bing and his dreaming of a white Christmas?

Awaiting Santa in Lexington, Virginia

Some folks have their decorations up and it’s only the first week in December!   Downtown Lexington is beginning to look all decked out in its best finery.  And we bought the tree(s) today – real ones – with the real scent and the real, sticky hands, real light stringing disasters and of course, real avalanches of needles on Dec. 26th.

In an effort to save tree lives, we once or twice tried plastic varieties. The poor things died quicker than the real ones.  Either we could never put them back together or one great segment of the thousand points of light would give out never to be seen flickering again.

Anyway, now we have two trees -one for the inside and one for the outside.  The little one will stand on the deck with some edible ornaments for the birds.  The inside tree will light up a window and when it’s all adorned, Bill and I will sigh and say it is the most beautiful tree we have ever had.  We mean that too, every year.

Tipsy Toy Soldier

Yesterday we went to Lowe’s for a new high powered battery operated leaf blower.  Lowe’s is in the holiday spirit too because we were greeted by what must have been a tipsy toy soldier who was leaning on a Christmas tree.  Sorry for the trash can in the photo but it was just there.  The giant soldier must have blown over in the wind or the people who put him up had a bit too much to drink too.

I haven’t dreamed of sugar plums yet, but my hopes lean toward laughter, family, friends, playing in the snow, and the magical lights and moments of the best Christmas we have ever had.

What about you?  May all your best dreams come true.

From Wikipedia:  A sugar plum is a piece of candy that is made of dried fruits and shaped in a small round or oval shape.  “Plum”in the name of this confection does not mean plum in the sense of the fruit of the same name.  At one time, “plum” was used to denote any dried fruit.  “Sugar plums: may be made from any combination of dried plums (aka prunes), dried figs, dried apricots, dates, and dried cherries, but traditional sugar plums may contain none of these.  In one recipe, the dried fruit is chopped fine and combined with chopped almonds, honey, and aromatic spices such as anise see, fennel seed, caraway seeds and cardamon.  This mixture would then be rolled into balls, often then coated in sugar or shredded coconut.

 

 

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