A nice Christmas was had by all here.

With close scrutiny by almost anyone outside of our little family, it was a pretty boring one with no sparkles or illuminations or pizzaz. But that is how we live and that is how we like it.

We give very minor gifts and we will make opening a simple thing like a calendar from England last an hour as we sit together and study each and every month's photograph, wishing we were there again, ooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over the wonderful landscapes and architecture and, of course, the sheep. All the sweet sheep on the moors and dales.

In fact, we must have begun our Christmas at 9 a.m. and didn't finish up til noon, and we only had a tiny little pile of about 8 things to open, most of them calendars, from each other, from dear friends (Thank You dear ones!).

I used to get presents for my pets. I don't anymore. The reason is that the things I would get for them (for the dogs anyway), were usually not that great for them, like rawhide chewies... I have stopped giving them those things as they could swallow chunks of them, and I hate to think of those chunks messing up their innards in any way. So no more chewies. And dogs are happy with weird things - unlike humans who seem to be generally materialistic and want gadgets/things/stuff to make them happy. We are so OVER ALL THAT here. When you come right down to it, what makes my doggers happy is attention from us! Nothing makes them happier than to get bum-scratches thru their furs, ear rubbies, big smooshes on the noses, and to be let out the front door as the tiny amount of snow that fell on Christmas Day here came down from the sky, and they could romp in it if only for a few minutes.

That made them both very happy indeed. And they didn't have to ingest something that might have made them sick.

I used to give my (former) cats a box of catnip for Christmas and I'd just sprinkle it willy-nilly on the living room rug for them, making quite a mess but a mess that could easily be cleaned up with the vacuum once they were through rolling in it and acting like drunken cats! So funny. But dogs don't do catnip. So we give them what they crave, attention from us.

In fact, I gave Paul a gift of a baseball cap

tan in color, that I found on a website that makes items with dogs (see the collie dogs at the top of this entry? that's the site), and on the front of the cap is a picture of a cartoonish collie dog and under it the caption is "It's All About the DOG" - boy-howdy, does Paul ever LOVE that cap. He keeps uttering that phrase all the time here now.

It's All About the DOG!

Ain't that the truth?

Dogs rule here. And they told me they had a very nice Christmas, too.

Since we were just the two of us (Paul has the last remnants of the flu still), I made a simple dinner, no big deal, as my big-deal-cooking days are over for now. We had spaghetti with parmesan chicken breasts with marinara sauce over them. Period.

Paul snacked on my latest batch of cookies (molasses spice) later on for dessert, and I snacked on a chocolate or two that he gave me.

Oh, one big thing we got for both of us was an ice cream maker (Cuisinart) which we will be trying out in the days to come after Paul comes back from the food store with the pertinent food items we need for simple vanilla ice cream. It will be nice to have some ice cream without all the extra added attraction ingredients in it... just simple stuff. Yes, sugar is in there but none of those unpronounceable other things.

I will report on that adventure once we've done it.

We watched a DVD I gave Paul about the many ways they celebrate Christmases, past and present, in Yorkshire, England. Oh, that was lovely. Better than I'd expected. How they sing carrolls in the pubs according to traditions, different in each village, and we really enjoyed it.

Better end here. I sent it off before I'd finished.

Cheers,

Bex & Co.

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog...

He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world...

When all other friends desert, he remains."

~ George V. Vest ~

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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (9) Share on Facebook		2012-12-26 10:31 AM After the Dance A nice Christmas was had by all here. With close scrutiny by almost anyone outside of our little family, it was a pretty boring one with no sparkles or illuminations or pizzaz. But that is how we live and that is how we like it. We give very minor gifts and we will make opening a simple thing like a calendar from England last an hour as we sit together and study each and every month's photograph, wishing we were there again, ooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over the wonderful landscapes and architecture and, of course, the sheep. All the sweet sheep on the moors and dales. In fact, we must have begun our Christmas at 9 a.m. and didn't finish up til noon, and we only had a tiny little pile of about 8 things to open, most of them calendars, from each other, from dear friends (Thank You dear ones!). I used to get presents for my pets. I don't anymore. The reason is that the things I would get for them (for the dogs anyway), were usually not that great for them, like rawhide chewies... I have stopped giving them those things as they could swallow chunks of them, and I hate to think of those chunks messing up their innards in any way. So no more chewies. And dogs are happy with weird things - unlike humans who seem to be generally materialistic and want gadgets/things/stuff to make them happy. We are so OVER ALL THAT here. When you come right down to it, what makes my doggers happy is attention from us! Nothing makes them happier than to get bum-scratches thru their furs, ear rubbies, big smooshes on the noses, and to be let out the front door as the tiny amount of snow that fell on Christmas Day here came down from the sky, and they could romp in it if only for a few minutes. That made them both very happy indeed. And they didn't have to ingest something that might have made them sick. I used to give my (former) cats a box of catnip for Christmas and I'd just sprinkle it willy-nilly on the living room rug for them, making quite a mess but a mess that could easily be cleaned up with the vacuum once they were through rolling in it and acting like drunken cats! So funny. But dogs don't do catnip. So we give them what they crave, attention from us. In fact, I gave Paul a gift of a baseball cap tan in color, that I found on a website that makes items with dogs (see the collie dogs at the top of this entry? that's the site), and on the front of the cap is a picture of a cartoonish collie dog and under it the caption is "It's All About the DOG" - boy-howdy, does Paul ever LOVE that cap. He keeps uttering that phrase all the time here now. It's All About the DOG! Ain't that the truth? Dogs rule here. And they told me they had a very nice Christmas, too. Since we were just the two of us (Paul has the last remnants of the flu still), I made a simple dinner, no big deal, as my big-deal-cooking days are over for now. We had spaghetti with parmesan chicken breasts with marinara sauce over them. Period. Paul snacked on my latest batch of cookies (molasses spice) later on for dessert, and I snacked on a chocolate or two that he gave me. Oh, one big thing we got for both of us was an ice cream maker (Cuisinart) which we will be trying out in the days to come after Paul comes back from the food store with the pertinent food items we need for simple vanilla ice cream. It will be nice to have some ice cream without all the extra added attraction ingredients in it... just simple stuff. Yes, sugar is in there but none of those unpronounceable other things. I will report on that adventure once we've done it. We watched a DVD I gave Paul about the many ways they celebrate Christmases, past and present, in Yorkshire, England. Oh, that was lovely. Better than I'd expected. How they sing carrolls in the pubs according to traditions, different in each village, and we really enjoyed it. Better end here. I sent it off before I'd finished. Cheers, Bex & Co. "The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog... He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world... When all other friends desert, he remains." ~ George V. Vest ~ 2003 - Present Archives at Diaryland 2007 - 2009 Archives at WordPress 2009 Archives at JournalScape 2010 Archives at JournalScape 2011 Archives at JournalScape 2012 Archives at JournalScape Read/Post Comments (9) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top