Words for Wednesday 25/12/2024

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Computer issues led her to bow out for a while.  The meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud. 

Huge thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh who challenged us last month, despite it being a very busy month for him.  This month Wisewebwoman is providing the prompts and they will appear here.  Charlotte (MotherOwl) has selected light blue as the colour of the month.

This week's prompts are:

• Wreath
• Pine
• Ribbon
• Stealth
• Chimney

and/or

• Toboggan
• Wolf
• Plum pudding
• Ambience
• Blizzard

As always, have fun.

 

Huge thanks to Wisewebwoman  and Charlotte (MotherOwl) who provided us with the prompts this month.

 

Not only is it Christmas Day for those who celebrate there are a plethora of other celebrations around the world; religious, cultural and family celebrations.  If you are feeling overwhelmed or are too busy, not to worry, there is always next week.

 

I hope that whatever you celebrate (or don't) you have a pleasant day and an excellent New Year.  Please also spare a thought for whom this is a very, very difficult time of year. 

 

 

Sunday Selections #411

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  I am a bit more random this week, and am featuring 'installations' in our town centres.

The first comes from a town centre close to home.  The installation were put in quite recently (November) and I hadn't seen it until I went Christmas shopping (shudder).  There are two of them facing each other titled 'I Am & I Hope' by Nathan J Lester.

 On those dangling ribbons people had written their wishes and/or a description of themselves.

I only saw one description which read simply 'I am AWESOME'.

The hopes were more varied and included: I hope
'for the best',
'for mental fitness'
'for diversity'
'for biceps'.

Some less rushed day I will explore further.

I went into town one day last week to do my usual shift on the crisis line.  It was a hot day, with a squillion people (conservatively speaking) rushing from shop to shop.  There were other signs that Christmas is nearly here too.

I liked the wooden star benches, and suspect they are illuminated at night.

 The Christmas trees are new addition.  If you embiggen you might be able to read the sign which described them as a 'Live Christmas Tree Forest' and invites us to snap a selfie or hang a bauble.

I was there early and there were no selfie takers and the baubles were few and far between but I do like the live forest.  And it was a hot day and the scent of pine was delicious.

Christmas is indeed very almost here.  For those who celebrate I hope it is everything you could hope for.

However it is also a difficult time of year for many; including the bereaved, the lonely, the poverty stricken.  With that in mind we will have a very low key Christmas and I will spend Christmas evening volunteering with Lifeline.  Judging by my shift this week it will be a very, very busy night.

River posted a Sunday Selections on Saturday featuring Christmas in her part of Australia.  It puts the decorations here to shame.  She promised more for today too, so for much more Christmassy bling please visit her posts.

Sunday Selections #359

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.  River is having a blog break at the moment (and will be missed), so I am keeping the meme warm in her absence. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  Christmas is almost upon us.  For those who celebrate Christmas can be many things; holy, happy, stressful, lonely, miserable, or some combination of the above.  Calls to the crisis line increase dramatically and won't slow till the end of January.  I don't think there is any one image which can capture the complexity of Christmas.  So instead I am going to post some of the things which distracted me from the tasks I 'should' have been doing this week, and eased negativities as well.

Starting as I so often do, with the sky.

Then to the garden.

Our silk tree is coming out a little more each day.

An individual bloom (plus bee).

The corellas have been congregating too.  

And a few Christmas themed images (not my own) which made me smile.

For those who do celebrate Christmas I hope it is truly wonderful.
And I hope that tidings of comfort and joy become the norm for us all.

The cake you have when you are having a drink.

We have been giving Christmas cakes as presents for over twenty years now.  The basic recipe has remained the same, but we have improved it  fiddled with it in that time.  The smaller portion keeps adding to the list of recipients.  I am not certain how many we are making this time, but have now made seven and have the fruit soaking in booze for the next batch (which will include a medium sized cake and five or six smaller ones).  Having made the cake we water it on alternate nights with caps full of rum and brandy.  The alcohol the fruit was originally soaked in disappears in the cooking process.  Not so the additions.  Hence the cake you have when you are having a drink.  It is seriously rich and I think that if you had a big slice you would be some danger from the breathalyser bus.

Booze soaked ingredients

In a recent post about the glories of fine healthy salads (which somehow got derailed) Spectra indicated that she would like the recipe.  Lou has also expressed an interest.

So here it is.

Traditional Christmas Cake


200g (6.6oz) raisins
200g (6.6oz) sultanas
200g (6.6oz) currants
100g (3.3 oz) glace cherries
100g (3.3 oz) chopped mixed peel
100g (3.3 oz) slivered almonds
about 250g (8.3 oz)of the marmalade of your choice - which works out to 1/2 a jar
300g (10oz) Wholemeal Plain Flour
60g (2oz) Wholemeal Self-raising Flour
250g (8.3 oz )Soft Brown Sugar (I use about 125g brown sugar and the same of dark brown sugar)
250g Butter (8.3 oz) (plus a generous extra lump for luck)
5 Large Eggs
3/4 cup Brandy/Rum/Orange juice (whichever you like - we go the mixed rum and brandy route)
1 dessertspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon]
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
approx 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Prepare the fruit at least the day before and preferably a week or so before you make the cake.  Mix all the fruits together, including the almonds and the marmalade and half the brandy/rum/ combination.  Cover the mixture and set it aside until you are ready.  This year we have also been adding generous handfuls of dried cranberries to the mixture - it is a remarkably forgiving cake.

The cake tin you use needs to be both greased and lined with greaseproof paper - extending the paper over the sides of the tin.

Melt the butter over a low heat.  Stir in the brown sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift the flour and the spices.

Add a little of the flour and spices to the fruit mixture alternately with the melted butter, starting with the flour.  Lastly stir in the rest of the brandy/rum and vanilla essence.  The mixture should be stiffish, but not stodgy.

I have made it in a variety of cake tins, which should not be filled more than 2/3rds the way up the sides.

Cook in a slow oven (150C or 300F) until a skewer comes out clean.  Add a cap full of your chosen alcohol(s) as soon as you remove the cake(s) from the oven and stand on a cake rack until it is cool.

When the cakes have been cooked and cooled we water them with alcohol a capful at a time at least every second night.  Yes, they are a bit of a pain to make, but they are worth the effort - and they keep really well too.

Large and two small(ish) cakes

Meduim sized cake