Twas the night before Christmas. . .

A Visit From Saint Nicholas by Clement Moore

ILLUSTRATED FROM DRAWINGS By F.O.C. Darley.

Twas the night before Christmas,when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief,and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap—

When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blitzen—
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So, up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys—and St. Nicholas too.
And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack;
His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little month was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke,
it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump—a right jolly old elf;
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" more Christmas stories available free at Project Gutenburg

And Hippopotamuses Like me too!

Now a few years ago, my brother was dating a woman from Argentina. She casually mentioned to us, that in Argentina, the people think all Americans smell like Hamburger. I of course found this just great, and told all my friends, asking my non-American friends if they too thought that. One of my American friends was very paranoid about it when she arrived in Ireland. I must say the phone call that followed (beside everyone being drunk) was just too funny.

I know, you are now wondering why on Earth I would bring this up. Well I have a good reason, and I am about to show my ars. . .I mean American stupidity that we are all so well known for.

Do the Irish all smell like Irish Spring Soap?


hahaha!


Two wonderful friends, Sir Roy and yokospungeon (their real names, seriously, giggle) and their gorgeous daughter Lilly made me some homemade soap.

hope you can see all the detail that went into it.


I love it!

They live in Ireland (oh and Sir Roy, I still have that Christmas card that your wife so lovingly sent out a few year ago. It goes up every year.)

I couldn't smell anything through the plastic it was sent in. So I opened it up and...

Irish Spring! How freakin' cool is that.

Of course this is me being naive about what scent Irish Spring really is. And this soap smells better than the store bought stuff. Husband said maybe the water smells that way, and they hate it so much that they send it to the Americans. haha!

So we had a fabulous time talking about hamburgers and springs.

But Sir Roy, Yoko and Lilly. Thank you! I love the soap, and the timing (not just Christmas) is spot on.

Hope you have lots of Craic on Christmas day!

Depression gift, Squishy Blocks

If you have a sewing machine, you can whip this up in no time at all.

First you need 6 squares of fabric, all the same size. Then they need to be sewn together like this.





Finish off the blocks, by sewing them into cubes, flipping it right side out and stuffing it. Sew the last opening together. If you hand stitch as horribly as I, you can hide it with yarn outlines.

If you have time, and the know how, you can stitch in your own pattern. Here is my butterfly.

I didn't have a hoop, so husband made me one out of a peanut can container. I do so adore him.

And the finished project should look some what like this (if not better)


I still have several more to finish up. But I think the two new babies in our family will eventually enjoy them.

Dog update

Give me a moment and I will compose myself.


They will be keeping him for 10 days. If I want him back, it will be $700.

He is 14 years old, his hips are starting to hurt. He has lost a lot of his teeth. We will let him go.

I saved him from being put down 8 years ago. I gave him 8 more years of life that he wouldn't have already had.

He's a good boy.


deleted. I was responding to a nasty email. But ya know, it doesn't really matter. You guys are great. Thank you for understanding

Can it get any better?

Yesterday husband and horse neighbor went and picked up 3 bales. He has a hay spike and I told him what happened to me, so he offered to pick up a few before the blizzard hits.

Husband was backing up the truck, hay son started yelling for him to stop, then move forward. Husband was a little slow on the draw. Our puppy had chased a field mouse under the truck and her paw was now stuck under the wheel.

Horse neighbor was trying to help her, and I guess our older dog Link, thought that he was hurting her, so he bit him. Bad.

4 puncture wounds on the back side of his upper thigh. Link wouldn't let go for what seemed to be the longest time.

Horse neighbor wanted to shoot him. I don't blame him one bit. I have never had a dog bite some one, and at 14 years old, Link has never bitten anyone.

Horse neighbor went to the ER, got some pain meds, and a cleaning, no stitches, but he has to take it easy on that leg for about a month.

The county will be out today to take Link. More than likely he will be killed because of this. Horse neighbor says he will try to prevent that from happening. He likes Link, and knows him to be a very loving dog. But Link messed up and will probably pay for it with his life.

We don't have the money to pay to keep him from getting killed. We told hose neighbor that we would help pay his medical, but they declined.

So for Christmas this year, I get to watch my dog get dragged away.

Stay tuned for a happy post in a few moments.