Hi, Everyone! I can't believe Christmas is four days away!
Even more unbelievable is that Terry and I are flying to Albuquerque
early Saturday afternoon and catching a shuttle to Sante Fe
for Christmas with Terry's sister, husband, and family.
My Kitchen This Afternoon aka My State of Mind
Laundry to be Washed on the Floor, A Sink Full of Dishes,
Financial Papers Everywhere,
and On Hold with a Call on My Computer
('Cause I Still Can't Hear on My iPhone)
December 21, 2023
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
We've spent many Christmases with the Dalys over the last forty years
from Delray Beach, Florida, to Breckenridge, Colorado, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
We've watched our niece Deirdre and our two nephews Kevin and Conor
grow from new babies to amazing adults. It's always a joy to be with them.
Terry and Conor Playing Pool
Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
December 25, 2018
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Cathal and Kevin Strnging Lights on the Tree
Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
December 24, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Deirdre Baking Goodies for Christmas Breakfast
Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
December 24, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Cathal and Noreen Preparing A Christmas Dinner Dish
Breckenridge, Colorado, USA
December 25, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
We're only in Santa Fe three nights, but we're planning
to squeeze in Bandelier National Monument,
a place I love and haven't seen in many years.
It will be awesome to share it with our family!
Alcove House Kiva, Bandelier National Monument
Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
I'm sharing three of my most favorite Christmastime songs:
The first is Innkeeper written and sung by Lennie Gallant,
and lucky people in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
heard him sing it live tonight in his The Innkeeper's Christmas Tour 2023.
I think Gallant is one of the finest contemporary Canadian singers.
The second is Winter Song written and sung by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.
They performed Winter Song for President Obama and his family
as well as many spectators at the National Christmas Tree Lighting in December 2010. (Wikipedia)
The third is Huron Carol or Twas in the Moon of Wintertime.
It is Canada's oldest Christmas hymn,
and it was likely written by Jean de Brébeuf in 1642.
He was a Jesuit missionary at Saint-Marie among the Huron
near modern day Midland, Ontario.
The English lyrics were written by Jesse Edgar Middleton in 1926. (Wikipedia)
I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date and Nicole's Friday Face Off.
Rain's theme is Christmas Cookies, so here are two pictures of
my mother-in-law Marie's Whiskey Cookies which I always make for Christmas.
There are more raisins, chopped dates, and nuts in them than batter,
and I love how the Irish use whiskey and other spirits in their Christmas treats,
unlike the proper Baptists in my background who used grape juice for Communion.
Christmas Cookies
Aurora, Colorado, USA
December 21, 2023
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Christmas Cookies
Aurora, Colorado, USA
December 21, 2023
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
And More Christmas Cookies Friday Afternoon
Aurora, Colorado, USA
December 22, 2023
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
And for Nicole, I couldn't resist these darling Christmas faces
I spotted in a Circular Quay store in Sydney, Australia:
Koala and Kangaroo Faces
Sydney, Australia
November 8, 2023
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
If you celebrate Christmas or the holiday season, have a wonderful time!
If you don't, have a wonderful weekend!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
My next post will be soon! 🤞
On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved
Safe and amazing travels. And a Very Happy Christmas to you and those you love.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue! Wishing the same for you! Hugs!
DeleteThe cookies look so lovely. The monument looks rather unique and unusual.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Roentare! Bandelier National Monument is special because it preserves the pueblo structures of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Most of the structures date to two eras, between 1150 and 1600 AD. I experience a mystical connection with the pueblo dwellers when I wander among their homes and see their rock paintings and petroglyphs. New Mexico is the most other-worldly state I've been in. It is truly unique and beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!
DeleteMy house is in pre-Christmas chaos too. There's the normal pre-Christmas chaos and then we had the big rain storm on Monday. Of course, if it isn't one thing or another nature has to throw in her hand too. Smile. I hope the storm went out to sea and didn't head up to your family in NS. Have fun to Santa Fe. I've been there 5-6 times and it is one of my all time favorite cities. And Iove Bandelier too. Will climb all those ladders up to to sacred kiva? I don't like heights but I've done it twice. Have a wonderful holiday and visit. Merry Christmas. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erica! Hugs right back at you, and may you have a wonderful Christmas too. I feel like I've literally moved mountains this week! I just took the last batch of peanut butter blossom cookies out of the oven. As I was attempting to express to Roentare, I find Bandelier to be a mystical place where I feel connected to the pueblo people who lived there. Oh yes, I will climb all those ladders again and explore the sacred kiva. I like to touch the surfaces to feel the people even more. I'll be looking for the Sipapu near the fireplace that symbolizes the portal through which their ancestors entered this world. I'm getting better with heights, although I will never like narrow ledges on cliffs. I've had to be "rescued" too many times. So embarrassing! Take care! Enjoy!
DeleteI hope you and Terry have a wonderful Christmas with your family, with lots of fun, excitement and new memories! Love that Koala Santa and his Six White Boomers! My favourite version of the Huron Carol is by Bruce Cockburn, who sings it in Huron --
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/hrd4Sw0peZg?si=SQ1Jp543u3zWOxEi
And my other favourite version is by the Canadian indigenous singer/actor Tom Jackson, who sings the traditional English language lyrics --
https://youtu.be/QCa6BM6-F24?si=U5IDyngEiSdCBlt4
Thanks for the Christmas wishes, Debra! And thanks for the links. I loved Cockburn's music, and the animals in Jackson's version were beautiful, especially the moose! No matter how its song, Huron Carol is always beautiful. Hugs and love to you. Have a wonderful Christmas weekend!
DeleteHope you enjoy your visit and the monument too. Just got done helping the kiddos bake their cookies. Merry Christmas to you and Terry and all your family on the other side of the province.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you too, Pat, and all the people you love. I can just imagine that there was lots of colored icing and sprinkly things when you were baking cookies with the kiddos. I went through that phase with Deirdre, Kevin, and Conor were that age. A few minutes ago I just pulled the last pan of cookies out of the oven ~ now to figure out how to pack them in my carryon. Hugs and love to you!
DeleteWish you and Terry a wonderful rest of the holiday and an excellent 2024! Also, all that food looks great. Bring on the cookies!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ivy! May you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday as well! I've eaten way too many cookies today ~ lol! Best wishes to you for a great new year!
DeleteThank you! My only complaint is that the holidays whooshed past toooooooo fast.
DeleteHi Louise. This is a lovely post. All the fun photos and songs. Travel safely, have fun and bring back more photos. Thank you for joining FFO and have the best Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nicole! I had a lot of fun putting it together. You have a wonderful Christmas too. I bet yours will be delicious! Hugs and love to you!
DeleteLovely cookies and faces! Have a wonderful Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine! Have a happy Christmas with your loved ones! Hugs and love to you!
DeleteI got around to as many people as I could today. I'll be computer less for the next several days. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy your holidays. Your cookies look yummy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Natalie! The cookies are hard to resist, and my waist proves it ~ lol! I made double batches of both, and they are dispersing around the country as people go home with care packages. I hope that you had a wonderful holiday, and I wish you the best of new years! Hugs to you!
DeleteI hope you have a wonderful Christmas
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adam! I hope you had lots of fun with your family and kiddos. All the best in the coming year!
DeleteYour families--whether it's your side or Terry's--are very close, aren't they? That's something to be cherished. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Hi, Janie! I hope that you had a good Christmas with your family and loved ones. Yes, our families are very close, and I do cherish that. Family, love, that's what it is all about! Happy New Year! Love and hugs to you!
DeleteA great selection of photos and music. Wishing you and Terry a very happy holiday!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leigh! Our holiday was great! I've known and loved Deirdre, Kevin, and Conor from when they were born, and I love them to pieces. Have a happy 2024!
Deleteprecious friend Louise Merry Christmas to you and Terry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletemay God keep showering his grace upon you both always and to loved ones!
health peace and joy each day amen!
will come back to read post inshallah
You are such a good friend, Baili! I'm so glad you are in my life! you've had a big impact on me, my friend! I'm going to be catching up with you! Inshallah/God willing! How fun we have the same expression. Love and hugs to you!
DeleteIt is always so nice to see you posting precious friend Louise 😍
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you both my lovely sweet friend Louise May health be the strength, joy be the light and peace be the guide to you always!
So enjoyed looking at different pics from previous Christmas. Family is special and adds beauty to life to such particular festivals specially.
Your cookies are sooo tempting!!!!!
Safe travels my friend. Stay safe and healthy and happy always!
Thinking of you ❤
We had a lovely visit with our family in Santa Fe, Baili. And this time, there were no glitches or illnesses with our travels. I still haven't broken the habit of pushing myself until I crash and burn. As busy as we were in Santa Fe, I had time to relax and I slept so well. I think you would love Santa Fe, Baili. It's a deeply spiritual place with a long history as a crossroads of peoples and cultures. We're hoping to get back again later this year when it's warmer. I walked around with crampons on my footwear because it was so icy! And thank goodness Noreen lent me a pair of long johns for the Farilito Walk, because it was cold! Wishing you and your family God's blessings in 2024!
DeleteI've been off blog and late checking in on everyone's Christmas. It looks like yours was terrific -- those cookies look great, and isn't family time the best? Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI'm perpetually late, Jeanie! You have my complete understanding and sympathy. Family time can't be beat! The Barbours (Terry and Me) reigned at trivia. It was not a good trivia night for the Dalys on Christmas night - lol! They will probably slaughter us next time. Conor reminded us that we never held back and let them win when they were kids either. He should see my MacBeath family play anything! I missed seeing my side of our family, but I was with family I love just as much. It's all good! Blessings to you and your loved ones in the new year. And hugs to you!
DeleteI love seeing people baking for Christmas! Those cookies look delish!
ReplyDelete