Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[Breezy_Carol]

@easyas123, not a fan of taxidermy. I had one group home I went to that was like walking into a zoo of dead animals. Did you get any snow this morning? I know there was some in Cambridge. DS went to Blackwater Wildlife refuge. Invited us to join him but we passed because it was too cold.

@apirateslifeforme, I am glad your pictures arrived.

@flyingdumbo127, our church is part of the United Methodist Church, which is global. There are different districts for organizational purposes, but one general conference over them all. That is why there is quite a bit of division when there are churches in so many different countries.

 

[easyas123]

not a fan of taxidermy. I had one group home I went to that was like walking into a zoo of dead animals.

I understand, not everyone is. I'm not a huge fan myself, but married a hobbiest taxidermist - is hobbiest even a word? Well, you know what I mean. I wouldn't even classify us as "fans" of it...as that would imply taking a glee from the death of these animals. No - everyone of them pictured (besides the otter, we found her already passed away but it was not known to us how/when/why she passed) provided our family with meals. And some of them graced other families with meals. and we are good with that. One of the properties my husband hunts, he does so for the owner, a local church. He keeps the herd down by culling a few per year, and the congregants share the meat. It's a win-win.

Did we get some snow? NO! And I would very much like to enjoy some at some point this year or early 2021! If we got any flurries, I missed it. But I hold out hope that we will get one nice snow this season. It's funny you mentioned Blackwater - we were just talking yesterday about what to do with ourselves on Christmas Eve morning. We have in years past enjoyed a movie at the theater. Not this year - so we thought maybe we'd take a nice hike somewhere, that was one of the options we had on our list! (side note, if you haven't already gone - the Harriet Tubman museum is just incredible and 110% worth the trip...it's truly inspiring)

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thanks, Carol and makes sense! Probably all churches (my current church is considered Protestant but it's a Disciples of Christ congregation) depend on the region and who is running/attending them! I am so enjoying yours from afar

Easyas123, I am also not a taxidermy. I do like your Christmas tree all lit up though

I'm glad your mail came, Apirateslifeforme! Hugs always on Josh!

Working on the Nativity set. In real life, both the stable and figures especially are much bigger than they appeared in small cell phone pictures. It was bought years ago at a church sale. We'll never know which figures may have originally came with it. I'll probably in years to come keep some of the current figures but try to find smaller others along with a stable. It does mean a lot to me that my friend wanted me to have this one.

I sure hope all of you are having a warm and good night!

 

[PollyannaMom]

I forgot to post, too, that I always remember that today is Pearl Harbor Day, "a day that will live in infamy." It's something that I've taught Josh already, even though I'm sure he doesn't understand it.

I went over the very basics with my little kindergarten-age charges this morning as well - the "light on the details, heavy on the respect" version, but they were actually quite interested.

We also started Christmas traditions in other countries. If anyone has used the NORAD Santa-tracking website before, you click on the "library" building on the page with the village, and then on the yellow book. It brings up a map, and the row of flag icons below it is how you choose countries to read about. ("Student A" this morning wants to move to Germany, because "they started Christmas yesterday!"- i.e., it talked about St. Nicholas Day. )

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Good morning.

@PollyannaMom , that’s for the info or NORAD. I bookmarked the link and sent to DD.

Follow up with my new MD this morning. Back later.

QUACK.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning all. Another chilly day, with a high of 38, and we are already at 37. Not a fan of taxidermy either, gives me the creeps
Day 2 of retirement..he keeps telling me he's retired,,I keep telling him that since he is, my retirement is over, lol! So far he's updated his new laptop from Windows 10S to regular Windows 10, and installed something called Linus Office program. And that's all he's done in 2 days, lol!
Have a good day everyone!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Quack back Love the dalmations, Lynxstch!

I'm attaching a picture of my new Nativity set. I shared it with the friend who gave it to me and was so touched that she liked how I displayed the figures and said she believed her mom would like it too. I may down the road as I said get some much smaller parts for this but it means so much to have a set at last and that came from a dear friend.

Hugs and love to all of you, special friends, too!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Quack back Love the dalmations, Lynxstch!

I'm attaching a picture of my new Nativity set. I shared it with the friend who gave it to me and was so touched that she liked how I displayed the figures and said she believed her mom would like it too. I may down the road as I said get some much smaller parts for this but it means so much to have a set at last and that came from a dear friend.

Hugs and love to all of you, special friends, too!

That is gorgeous! What a great gift!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I am wondering how you all keep all of your ornaments and decorations in such great shape? Ours always wind up all broken!!

 

[lynxstch]

I am wondering how you all keep all of your ornaments and decorations in such great shape? Ours always wind up all broken!!

I store all of mine in totes, all of my many Hallmark ones are in their original packaging. both the boxes and whatever they used for packing material that year. Any others are individually wrapped in tissue paper, or bubble wrap if very delicate. The totes get stacked in a corner of the cellar that noone but me touches, so if one breaks, I am the one responsible. Every now and then one will have something come off,,I just hot glue it back on, lol.
I have 1 that I made when I was a very young child (maybe 4 or 5) ,,it is a red clay star, with silver and gold glitter on it. That one gets handled VERY gingerly, and gets hung near the top of the tree, just as its sentimental to me. That goes in it's own special little felt lined box, and is carefully put in a spot in a tote where nothing else will be set on top of it.
Temp went up to 39 , is now down to 36 and just feels like winter weather. But there is no snow in our forecast, at least up till Dec 22!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

@flyingdumbo127, that nativity is beautiful. And how special that it is a gift from a friend.

Doctor visit was good. BP still higher than she liked so upped one of my meds. Recheck BP in 3 weeks. I really like her.

We wrap our ornaments in tissue or put back in original packing. I have two ornaments that were my parents, just big balls with Charles on one and Betty on the other. They are faded and from 1949, the year they were married. I decided to hang them this year.



Tree is almost done as far as decorations. We had another tree in the attic that was DH's mom's then he had at his office. It is a small (5-6 ft) and pre-lit with fiber optics. We decided to place it in the dining room window (on the front of the house) so neighbors can enjoy it. And we won't need the dining room space for a large dinner on Christmas.

Now that DH and I are retired and can't go anywhere anyhow, I am ready for a big snowstorm.

 

[snappy]

My delicate decorations are in a lot of tissue too. The hand made and gold painted nativity set pieces my MIL made are wrapped in tissue paper, then rolled up loosely in individual hand towels. They then are laid in a bed of shredded newspaper and stored on the floor of my closet in a large Rubbermaid tub.

I keep some breakables and candles sitting all year in curios, and glass front china cabinets and one secretary in the dining room and foyer. I kind of like looking at them in the glass when I pass through. We used to keep some of the wooden and other non breakables in the attic but decided a couple of years we are too old for that so I downsized stuff and what I kept are stored in 6 stacked rubbermaid containers in a roomy guest bedroom closet. I realized this year I have more items to give way if none of our kids want them. I am trying to not buy more stuff at this point. More is less.

 

[lynxstch]

Governor Hogan had another press conference today..talking about the vaccine and how they will handle who gets it, when etc. And , FINALLY, he had a mask on! He must have heard me complaining about it, lol! He was asked if they are thinking about more shutdowns, lock downs etc. He said not now,,that as long as hospitals aren't at capacity, they will leave things as they are now, unless something changes drastically. He did say they expect a lot more cases between now and the next few months
Dinner here is going to be homemade stir fried rice, and butterflied breaded shrimp. Another day where hubby accomplished his goal of doing exactly nothing, lol!
Have a great evening everyone

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thanks, Pea. I am sorry about your broken ornaments I've had that happen in the past, too. Should I ever get a small indoor Christmas tree again, I'd need new mini ornaments for it, too. I'm planning to bubble wrap the Nativity figures and put them inside a small plastic box with a lid. The stable, I'm thinking will just go in a medium trash bag. I'm hesitant to bubble it because it's fragile! I'll store both safely away in my closet.

That is really special, Lynxstch that you still have your old red Christmas star. Very smart of you to keep the original Hallmark ornament boxes, too! Please keep warm! about your Governor's report. You all know what the news is here

Thanks you, Carol, it really special to have come from a friend. Love that you have two of your parents ornaments! Take care, friend! I am glad you like your doctor!

How awesome that your MIL made some nativity figures, Snappy! You are very wise that less stuff does often=much more!

Have a good rest of the afternoon/evening all! It's just about 2pm here.

 

[easyas123]

Wow- I’m pleasantly surprised, I had heard all kinds of bad things about shopdisney.com -specifically their shipping....but my order arrived today!

Salmon for dinner this evening.

 

[gwynne]

@flyingdumbo127 Your Nativity set is lovely. What a beautiful gift!

We are having leftover roast from the freezer stash for dinner. I need to do a better job of keeping track of what's in there. Maybe I need a smallish whiteboard or something.

We have a small 2 ft tabletop tree this year. The lights are on a timer and it's fun when it lights up each day at 4.
They are talking about snow Fri. We'll see.

Hope everyone has a nice evening. Quack

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Hooray for speedy orders, Easyas123

Thanks, Gwynne. That's cool your Christmas tree light's are on a timer!

EAT: Forgot to say I did get the Christmas magnet today, it's little but cute.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We bought some new candle-type lights for the windows this year. They look like real candles with a flicker. They are battery operated and go on for 8 hrs, then off for 16, so no more having to plug in and unplug, etc. I like them so far!

We had garlic chicken pasta tonight with cheesy-cauliflower that everyone really liked. Another Aldi’s success.

I’m glad you have all had better luck than I have keeping things safe! It’s kind of the running joke in my house that so many of my favorite things were broken - living with a baseball player in the house. Always throwing balls around or hitting things! He’s not responsible for the ornaments and such, but everything else of mine has wound up broken at one time or another! I did a few yrs ago buy a ceramic Disney tree centerpiece that has managed to stay intact so far. I will post pics of it once I set it up. We got the outside done but not the inside yet. Busy week!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

We discovered, after a mishap, that we can't store anything heat sensitive in the attic. I had stored snow globes with my Christmas things the first year here. They froze and broke. Also, candles melted. So candles are in the basement and snow globes stay in the china closet.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Slipping thread!

I like the sound of your new candles, Pea. I enjoy real candles for Christmas Eve candlelight service and lighting them when that's my duty as a Deacon but otherwise prefer battery operated!

I'm sorry you found that out the hard way, Carol

Wishing everyone a sweet good night.