Winston Says Party

Let's party like it's 2012...

Happy New Year peeps...I am SO gonna 

catch that ball wen it drops THIS year.

Yup. 

Be safe and have fun!

Love,

Winston

Christmas 2012 Memories

We had a sweet Christmas and I so hope yours was as well.

This was a photo taken at our friend's Christmas party...so 

wish Dan could have been home for it!

Santa hat brownies for dessert!

Our traditional English Christmas Crackers!

My favorite photo of the week!

And each cracker always contains a paper crown!

Midnight candlelight service at our church was so beautiful...as

was our daughter!

The little reindeer passed out gifts on Christmas morning!

Grace painted Winston's portrait for her Daddy!

And she pained this one for me! I LOVE black and white cows!

Daniel got in late on Christmas Eve! I hated that he missed 

dinner the night before but he was home and that is all that really

matters!

There was lots of  love...

...togetherness...

(We spent Christmas afternoon and evening at my mother's)

...fun surprises...

...sweet smiles...

...and holiday silliness!

Just the way all holiday seasons should be!

Hoping each of you had a lovely Christmas Day!

Love,

Susie Q

With Apologies to Mr. Moore...

A Christmas Poem...old Susie Q style...

Twas the night before Christmas, 

when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring,

 Except for old Susie Q who was still wrapping but...

Okay! I will just sit here quietly...sorry!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Good. He can help me finish all of the..okay! Okay!

The children were nestled all snug in their beds...

Um, so Dan was up working on his computer and Grace is downstairs practicing...but hey...sssh. I know. Ssssh...

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

Okay. What exactly IS a sugar plum? Have you ever eaten one 'cause I sure as heck have never had that odd pleasure.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Let's stop right here. This old Mama does NOT wear a kerchief and I guarantee you that old Billy Boy is not wearing a cap to bed.

Glad we cleared THAT up.

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

My brain NEVER settles...maybe that's why I don't get a good nights sleep but then...what? Okay, okay...

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Now THIS we all know is a falsehood. I haven't flown like a flash since...well...since...like never! More like, "I wearily hobbled to the window." Just keepin' it real here folks...

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

Tore? Me? I would never!

And our windows are so hard to open that  *I* would be the one who "threw up", not that proverbial sash!

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.

Ah...doesn't that sound just as pretty as pretty can be? Okay! I will try not to interrupt!

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

If it WAS miniature, no way would these old eyes see it. I would hafta go back and try to find my glasses and then...okay! OKAY!

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!

Coursers...I never liked that part. Why couldn't old Clement just say reindeer! He had to use some fancy pantsy words like coursers! REINDEER! They are reindeer dang it!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!

And not one mention of Rudolph. The guy looks a little different and poof. Clement leaves him straight out of the poem...

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all.

They could dash faster WITH Rudolph but Clement left the little guy out of HIS poem...guess he wasn't enough of a "courser"...alright. I'll be quiet.

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

Did I ever tell you about the hurricane I was in? Um...okay. Maybe later.

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

There we go again. "Coursers". Sheesh...they like to be called REINDEER!

With the 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.

They better not do any damage up there. My insurance company won't like that one bit...well, I was just sayin'!

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

Here's another problem folks. We have a gas fireplace. There is no *real* chimney to speak of. So the jolly old man is gonna hafta come through the front door. I sure hope he wipes his feet.

Alright! I'll be quiet...

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

I have a REAL problem with this...unless it was *faux* fur. Was it? Well, why DON'T you know?

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

I KNEW he was gonna make a mess...I knew it!

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

What? I didn't say a word!

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

Huh? Oh, I thought you were describing me? Go on...go!

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

Okay. Just a minute. One more issue...I do NOT allow smokin' in here...the old guy is gonna hafta leave that pipe outside. I don't care WHO he is!

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

Now I KNOW you are describing me! How rude!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

Is he jolly because he is plump and chubby? Isn't that a little degrading? I myself am a little chubby and plump (Which, by the way Clement, is a tad redundant) and I am not always jolly. Hmpf.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

Except for that pipe smoke and all that soot and dirt he brought in on his boots...sheesh...

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk

Stockings...okay, here is another complaint. Every year I ask Santa to put Brian Dennehy in MY stocking. For 35 years I have asked the old elf for the same thing. Has he ever come through? Excuses, excuses...Brian would not fit in my stocking, Brian wants to spend Christmas with his own family, Bill might not like it...excuses, excuses. What? Okay...go on. I will just sit here quietly...

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

Like I said, we have no real chimney. The old guy has to use the door! Gee whiz...how many times must I...what? Okay, okay..

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

I just wanna see this old, chubby, plump guy spring anywhere...

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"'Ere" he driving those *coursers*? 

Sheesh...they are REINDEER!

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" 

Like he said...I have been asked to cease and desist all further chatter...

*whispering* Merry Christmas anyway!

Warmly,

Susie Q

Decking The Halls

I have been doing a little decking of the halls...oh,

and the dining room, the family room, the living room...

Every well decorated home needs a Santa Bunny right?

Bill brought this hand made rug back for me from Turkey.

Bill got this for me last week!

One of the first ornaments our Daniel made for our tree.

This is an ornament that my folk's bank in Tennessee made long ago...

I had gone in with my Daddy and they snapped this photo and gave it to us!

It makes me smile!

Just a little walk through the house this morning...

I sure hope your holiday plans are  taking shape

and that you are enjoying all the wonderful delights

the Christmas season brings!

Warmly,

Susie Q

A Golden Lamb Christmas

On Sunday our family went to The Golden Lamb

in Lebanon, Ohio for brunch. It is such a

 beautiful place at any time of year but

simply glows at Christmas time!

The Golden Lamb is recognized as the oldest continuously operating business

 in the State of Ohio. On December 23, 1803, 

Jonas Seaman spent $4 for a license to operate a

 "house of Public Entertainment". The Golden Lamb got

 its name due to the fact that many early pioneers could not read, 

so giving a business a name that could be easily drawn and

 recognized, such as the Black Horse or Golden Lamb, was a necessity.

What fun to meet the most charming Santa!

I had the Vanilla Bean Pancakes with bacon...so good! 

Light and fluffy and tasty!

One of the upstairs private dining rooms, the Henry Clay Room.

Another of the private dining rooms, the Clement Vallandigham Room

This is The Dickens Room!

The great English novelist Charles Dickens visited The Golden Lamb

 during his first trip to America in 1842. Although not quite 30 years-old

 when he arrived in the U.S. that January, he had already 

written Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby

 and number of his other great works. 

Around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, 1842,

 after spending 5 hours traveling the 30 miles from Cincinnati

 on a stagecoach, he dined and stayed here at the inn.

Grace was especially interested in this as she

 is presently reading "A Christmas Carol"!

Many famous people have stayed at the inn over the years...

From Ulysses S. Grant, Warren Harding, John Quincy

Adams, Samuel Clemens and Harriet Beecher Stowe...

...to Barbara Bush, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

Lebanon is a wonderful small town filled with antique and gift shops.

It is also the home to many beautiful old homes. 

I love to come here, and dine at the Golden Lamb,

several times a year. It is always a treat!

Hoping your holiday plans are going well and that you

are taking time to enjoy all that sweet things the Christmas season brings!

Warmly,

Susie Q