★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 22, 2013
★~ Today’s Quote: Christmas puns are really starting to annoy Santa. Please stop using them or yule be sorry!
★~ Christmas Tree Light Day:
The lighting of the Yule log spread throughout Europe. Many believed the log’s flame summoned the sun’s return and drove away evil spirits. Over time Christianity adopted this Norse tradition and the light from the Yule log came to represent Jesus as Light in the darkness.
In time people set candles in their windows on long winter nights to welcome weary travelers. For Christians it became a symbol to welcome Mary and Joseph after their long trek to Bethlehem.
How did lights get on trees? Thousands of years ago ancient Druids and Romans decorated trees. In time Christians embraced the practice as well. Legend has it that Protestant Reformer Martin Luther was the first to put lights on a Christmas tree. Walking home one night Luther was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling through the evergreens he passed. To share his experience with his family he erected a tree in his home and wired the branches with lit candles. Soon a star was affixed to the top to represent the star in the east that shone on the manger where the baby Jesus layed in a manger. The lights and ornaments came to represent the stars and planets in the sky; many Christians place a manger at the base of the Christmas tree underneath.
Until the mid-19th century most Americans and Brits didn’t have decorated trees in their homes because of its pagan origins. They did begin to grow in popularity however, starting in 1848 in Great Britain. The London News ran an illustration of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children gathered around their candlelit tree in Buckingham Palace.
Now in vogue Christmas trees became part of the British Christmas tradition. Soon the fashionable east coast of the United States adopted the practice too. From there it spread west.
★~ Date Nut Bread Day:
The first date nut bread recipe appeared in print in 1939, but dates are one of the world’s oldest fruits. Date seeds have been found in archaeology excavations of sub-tropical areas around the world. Historians believe that the ancient Moors brought the date to Spain and later introduced it to America.
Old Fashion Date Nut Bread Day
★~ Today in History:
♥~ 1956 – First gorilla born in captivity.. “Colo” was born at the Columbus, OH, zoo, weighing in at 3¼ pounds.
♥~ 1958 – The Chipmunks were at the #1 position on the music charts on this day in 1958 as Alvin, Simon, and Theodore sang with David Seville. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late), the novelty tune that topped the charts for a month, is still a Christmas favorite today…
★~Born Today:
♥~ 1905- Kenneth Rexroth, Poet, born on this day in South Bend, Indiana (1905). He lived on Chicago’s West Side, traveled around the States, and then settled in San Francisco when the city was the new destination for young artists. There, he hung out with poets Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He published more than 50 books of poetry, including The Phoenix and the Tortoise (1944) and In Defense of the Earth (1956).
♥~ 1945 – Diane Sawyer TV journalist: 60 Minutes, Prime Time Live, 20/20, Good Morning America; anchor: ABC World News
♥~ 1946 – Rick Nielsen musician: guitar, singer: group: Cheap Trick: I Want You to Want Me, Ain’t That a Shame, Dream Police, Voices
♥~ 1949 – Maurice Gibb musician: bass, songwriter: group: Bee Gees: score for Saturday Night Fever, How Deep is Your Love, Stayin’ Alive; married to singer Lulu; died Jan 12, 2003
♥~ 1949 – Robin Gibb musician, songwriter: group: Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart; see Maurice Gibb: twins
★~ Good to Know:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/bua18A09xfQ[/youtube]
All the musical Christmas light displays this year seemed to look and sound alike but the music and choreography on this one was fun! Music teacher Tom BetGeorge put up 70,000 lights on his home and programmed it to “The Christmas Can Can,” sung by the a cappella group Straight No Chaser. If you are near Newark, California, you can see the house perform at the corner of Lafayette and Rushcin.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/GnLS1H_gjA4[/youtube]
An Australian family set a new world record for having the most Christmas lights attached to their Canberra home, Guinness World Records official Chris Sheedy confirmed on Monday (November 25).
Many friends and neighbours showed up to take a closer look at the 502,165 christmas lights that illuminate the residential property of David Richards and his family in the Canberra suburb of Forrest.
Attaching more than half a million bulbs to his home was a very time consuming task, Richards admits.
“It took me quite a while to set it up. I started in October. I took a week off in October school holidays, and then have worked every weekend since,” he said.
The electricity bill will certainly be higher in the following weeks, but Richards said a local power company was supporting his project.
“It’s about another 2,500 (Australian) dollars per month (US$ 2,300), for the month of December in power, but we’re very fortunate in that ActewAGL are sponsoring it with a green energy program. So, it’s doing something for nature as well,” he said.
It’s not the first time that the Richards family strung up a record number of lights. They set a record in 2011 with 331,038 fairy lights, but were trumped in 2012 by a New York family, local media said. (from You-tube)
#
It’s is snowing. Just a dusting right now, but it’s suppose to accumulate and with luck my yard will soon be a winter wonderland with pups dashing through it. Or something like that . . .
My mother’s fudge arrived yesterday and I immediately started to devour it. OMG good. I know she plans to live forever, but I still wonder if she shouldn’t begin to freeze it for me in the event of her untimely demise. If you tasted it, you’d understand.
I can’t decided if I will make Kolache’s today or not. Not baking is going so well for me, I wonder if it’s wise to tempt fate with more than a loaf of banana bread (not a fan of date nut bread). On the other hand, if I can talk my kid into making them with me, I might give it a try….Decision, Decisions. I think, I need another piece of fudge whilst I ponder…
Off to sing, Let It Snow, Let It Snow to the weather Gods in case they need a little inspiration…You can sing along too….(Note to Vickie our friend, camp helper, and hater of snow—mud or snow??)
Let me know how that baking goes for you. I should have sent you some of my goodies!!! It is tradition for me to bake a zillion different kinds—well maybe not a zillion but a lot! The Christmas lights are beautiful but seems like sooooo much work! Especially if you have to take them down in snow. Note that both of these places featured would not have that issue….
Well, I didn’t bake. Cole and his friend fixed the gate and the garage door and I handled the campers. I did eat baked goods tho and maybe I will be inspired over the next two weeks. Do you have a favorite Christmas recipe?
Good point about the Christmas lights and weather–there does seem to be a correlation.
Morno,
The lights are pretty, but after years of having to put them up outside I’m happy to just admire other peoples efforts.
Glad your snow is falling. There is a nip in the air here too.
Off to get a few things done. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Have a good one.
Ho. Ho. Ho! Don’t let Jack Frost nip at your nose.
Fun childhood memories of driving around looking at Christmas displays. That morphed into a group of us running to view the houses. Fun! Kind of sad the tradition of decorating houses has dwindled. Certainly enjoy the folks who still do for our benefit!
We did the same thing when I was a kid, and Joe and I use to drive around with Cole. Stop at Starbucks for hot chocolate. It is fun. I’m grateful for the people who dress-up our street, and I did move the tree to the window so we shed a little outside light.
I’ve never minded putting UP Christmas lights. We usually have fairly warm decent weather to do that part. It’s the taking down I mind, when the ice and snow are everywhere and I just want it all to be over!
I’m not keen on date nut bread either (must be the nuts, ha!)
Today’s cooler and very rainy — am having to take Dallas out to potty between showers. Poor thing! Wish I’d trained him to use the porcelain bowl instead!
Your right—If you really do put them up Thanksgiving weekend the temps are pretty mild. When we put up lights, tho we waited until spring to take them down. I love the look in the dreary months of winter. These days, we hardly manage to get the polar bear with the lit up nose out front.
The long coated pups do have a harder time of it–Rascal you can just pick up and shake and she is dry and mud free.
Well, I like a good date nut bread (tho I sub peanuts for the walnuts, which I don’t like primarily because they look line little brains) and was going to try out the recipe you linked. But this was the message I got:
PLEASE EMAIL THE INFORMATION BELOW to so we can investigate further. Thank you for helping us keep your site secure.
SESSION ID:
EVENT ID:
REALM:
URL:
SOURCE IP:
0
5625315567497066944
DFW01N
https://oddlovescompany.com/2013/12/christmas-lights-date-nut-bread-day/
24.13.80.3
So something in your tag line got on the naughty list. May have been the combination of “nut” and “ball”. Just sayin.
Sorry–I had to rescue your comment from Spam—I think that happens when you use nuts and balls in the same sentence :-D. Thanks for heads up about the link. It was working when I posted it. It will be replaced! Miss your boys. No Joey in this year Christmas picture was so odd… I know he loves being with his boy, tho. We all miss George especially his cat.