Monday, December 14, 2015

Me On Monday - December 14th

Big wave to Sian & others, who you can connect with by clicking here:  http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.ca/

Royal Botanical Gardens - a quiet corner
My week & weekend had some heavy focus on Christmas, including lots of baking. Mr Man said that for him Christmas is shortbread so I made shortbread.  The new to me recipe I used required the cookies be frozen before baking -  it was to keep all that butter hard until baking in a slow oven;  look at me talking all  Championship Bake Off like. I also made thumbprints with chocolate kisses rather than jam.  
 
Homemade Shortbread Cookies For Mr Man
 Thursday night was our village's Farmers Parade of Lights, there were 21 farm machinery displays.  The weather was perfect, no rain, no wind & no snow. The streets were packed, the church halls filled with diners chowing down on bowls of chili, the bakery stayed open late to sell hot chocolate & donuts, the main street had port a potties - ah it was festive.
 

Farm Tractor With Fertilizer Spreader
  This was the group's 23rd year of parading.  Each farmer not only decorates the equipment but they ensure both sides have a large sign describing what the equipment is & does.

John Deer Pulls Santa

My favourite this year was the hay flat that had 8 tiny (ride on) John Deer tractors with antlers & leading the 8 was the 9th with a flashing red nose. There was also a manure spreader cleaned out & filled with the local pack of Boy Scouts & Cubs, I'll say no more about this float, but you knew what it was for.   The grand finale was the front part of the big wheat combine with Santa & Mrs Claus. (I used last year's photo as this year's was blurry).


Santa On The Combine From 2014

 On Sunday we made an attempt to visit the Festival of Trees display, which is a fund raiser for the local hospital.  It was not to be, we couldn't even get a parking spot - it was decided that this Sunday because of the rain everyone in the world (well it seemed so) would attend.  We next tried the Sparkle in The Park display, but the rain fog was so bad from the river, we couldn't see most of the displays.  So a dash into the store to get the release of Minions (Mr Man is a huge fan of animation) & I picked up, on clearance, a Christmas movie that I always watch on TV, Love Actually.  I also   got the CD everyone is raving about in the blog world - Lady Antebellum's On This Winter's Night, I have yet to listen to, but I am trusting ...

Some of my special tree ornaments.
Finally A Brown Haired Angel


Best Pink Dress - Glinda

Clara - Nutcracker


Love Angels

Train

The Marilyn Slipper On The 2015 Tree

So that's my Monday look back.  My Monday look forward is to finding some more of the Winter Scavenger Hunt items, some more Christmas baking, finding joy & amazement in each day. 






22 comments:

  1. the tiered poinsettias are perfect for a festive display and I love all the farmer vehicles in the parade - have a great week

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    1. Thanks Helena - the tiered Poinsettias were just a taste of what's to come (wink wink, nod nod)

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  2. The poinsettia "tree" is very striking. Clever! Nice to see pics of the farmers' parade, of which I have heard so much! Enjoy your week. (Let me know if you need anyone to do quality control on your baked wares!)

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    1. O course you can be my quality control - I'm baking again on Thursday, drop by for some tea & cookies ...

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  3. I be interested to hear if you thought the freezing stage, improved the shortbread?

    The farmers parade looks like a wonderful event, and I love your brown haired angel. See, I knew the teachers at infant school were wrong when they said that only the blond girls could be angels. I always had to be a shepherd because I had brown hair - one of the disappointments of my time in school nativity plays!

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    1. Eileen I had never made that shortbread recipe before so I can't compare, Mr Man ate so I'll need to make more, I may just chill rather than freeze, I'll let you know how that goes. How very mean of your teachers were about only blond angels. There's an angel store in St Jacobs (just north of us in Mennonite country) & there are all kinds of dark haired, red headed, blond angels. This Christmas I designate you as Chief Angel!

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  4. Oh! The farm machine parade looks fabulous! Glad you had a nice time:) Love your Christmas ornaments.

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    1. Thanks Linda. I like hearing about others Christmas ornaments & the stories behind them.

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  5. An entire farm machinery parade? And there I was thinking the one tractor all lit up I saw on the way home from my Mums yesterday was festive! It looks like a lot of fun.

    Have a good week

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    1. I bet your farmer's tractor was quite the sight, maybe "he" could be the start of something, with just the right nudge & suggestion (col).

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  6. The farm machinery parade looks wonderful, and well done on the shortbread. They look very tasty. I'm with Mr Man on the minions (which may be appearing in my daughter's stocking). Enjoy your week x

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    1. Louise the Minion movie was fun, it had a few laugh out loud moments which surprised me. There's a preview on the DVD - Secret Life Of Pets, it has some truly laugh out loud moments!

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  7. Love that poinsettia tree. You're ahead of me; I'm saving baking for this upcoming weekend.

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    1. Thanks Karen. I like Poinsettias but because of the cats I can't have. I often go to a large nearby greenhouse to wander in their displays to admire all the varieties of colour.

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  8. So fun that there's a parade of decorated farm equipment! My step-father has worked for John Deere his entire career, and I grew up in a farming community. :o) Have a great week, Mary-Lou! xo

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    1. I really enjoy living so close to a rural area, our property line is literally the end of village, start of farm land. When I look out the front window I see subdivision, out the back I see a barn, horses, crop fields. Thankfully my patio views are at the back! John Deere green is the majority of tractors.

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  9. The poinsettia "tree" looks fab. I am with your man on Christmas shortbread. I always make some . It is a light alternative to all that rich food. I have Christmas cutters to make them look festive.mamazing tractors all decorated. Wish we had something like that.

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    1. I am not sure how easy decorating the tractors was, I know that they gather at one farm & it takes days of planning & decorating. Each piece of equipment had a narrator on board to power the lights & moving parts (very noisy). It started with a simple tractor pulling the hay flat & carolers traveling through the subdivisions.

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  10. What an original idea for a parade! I'm a fan of Love Actually too. In fact it must be time for the annual viewing!

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    1. I'm a come late to the movie Love Actually, it was the song All I Want For Christmas Is You, that sold me to the movie. I'm glad I have added to the collection.

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  11. Replies
    1. We are very proud of our small town Christmas parade, it is surprising how many people in draws in from all over the region.

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