December 16, 2021 - Msg 117397: Thank you, Boo.
I enjoyed your writings.

Regis
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117398: Hey Gang..Just a reminder..Try renting the “Mayberry Man” and the Mayberry Effect movies over the Holidays.
They both are AWESOME you won’t be sorry! But be warned you may get the “alergics” watching them...*Especially the scene at the Mayberry Trading Post where the “Old Man” gives his speech...
https://youtu.be/Ja3cQxv9Fws
https://youtu.be/yv7nabnYzFY

G-F..
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117399: While you’re at it here’s a Christmas🎄Story Told by “Festus”....”‘Twas the Night afore Christmas”...
https://youtu.be/7PeHsPEL8q8
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117400: *Applause* Well done, Boo! A good ending to a good story!

John Masters
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117401: Enjoyed your Mayberry Christmas story very much, Boo! Such a great job that you did with it-thank you for gifting us with it.

*************
possum u.a.r.
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117402:

BOO--I also add a hardy "well done!" What a wonderful gift
that you have, and thank you for sharing it with us all.

And now, after Boo and festus, how about the well-told story by none other than Paul Harvey! My, how I miss that man's wisdom everyday day at noon.
Anyway, I think most of you have heard this one before, but how about one more time...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY2pTAAn9pc

More later,
MDC :)
December 17, 2021 - Msg 117403:

The Hubacher Brothers say Merry Christmas! :)


December 18, 2021 - Msg 117404: Good Saturday all. I hope all is well with everyone.

Very nice story Boo, and very well written. I liked the name tou came up with for Opie's mom.

GF, Helen did reasonably well considering how wet the snow was. I still need to get her new rubber stuff on. A funny note, the last few days I have been noticing what seemed to me to be a smell like and electrical fire. I was sure something on my furncae was going bad. Had gone down several times to check it out, but everything seemed to be working well. I finally decided it must be the fan motor going bad again. Hard to believe though, just having it replaced back in July. Then finally last night it dawned on me. My Helen parts had come in a few days ago and I brought them into the house to warm them up/ I figured the rubber stuff would be much easier to work with at room temperature than sitting in my cold garage. Well I went over to the corner where I had set them and gave them a sniff. Sure enough, that was the culprit. Those rubber parts were really smelling. So out to the garage they go. I'll just have to deal with them cold. Sure made me feel good that was all it was.

MDC, I love Paul Harvey. I loved his "Good Day" at the end of his broadcast. I too miss him much.

Well guess I best get moving. Got laundry to do. Getting to cold to work out in the shop now anyway. Boy, I have really turned soft since retiring. Dirty, dirty me.

Asa
December 18, 2021 - Msg 117405: You know, Porch...we need to go up and surprise the Hubacher brothers. Let's do it!

John Masters
December 18, 2021 - Msg 117406: Asa..You sure got the nose 👃🏼 of a Bloodhound!...Funny thing, when I unboxed my “Snow Joe” I noticed the same thing, the new plastic and the rubber from the paddles sure stunk up my garage...It must be some kind of a mix of plastics, vinyls, and rubber...Your talent in this area must have been from your Dragster Days smelling all those bleach burn-outs?
🏎💨💨💨💨💨

G-F
December 18, 2021 - Msg 117407: Asa used to Say...
I just love the smell of burnt rubber and Nitromethane in the morning.....It smells like.... VICTORY! 🚦 🏁🏁
*In my BEST Bob Duvall voice...G-F
December 19, 2021 - Msg 117408:
Well, y'all are gettin' silly again! ha
But glad the furnace is fine.
So how about this one, Boo and Ro can join up on
writing a novel together, and can use pen names Frick and Frack! haha
JM, let's just do that! :) As you know, I did that 'for real' for
several years. Guys with arms like tree trunks tearing up
at the Christmas story. It was amazing, God's word will not return void. :)
BOO--I heard "Merry Christmas Darling" today, and I also went to
the Fiesta Bowl parade! I know that you like both!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR1ujXx2p-I
Wow, Christmas will be here in SIX days!
I saw on facebook that our SPOT has his three crosses lit up
again this year!
God bless my friends,
MDC
December 20, 2021 - Msg 117409: Yea buddy GF, We need to come up with candles that smell like nitro exhaust and burning rubber. We would make tons of money. lol Rig it up so that instead of flickering we could have the candle popping away. What do think?

MDC, Ro and Boo writing a novel together? What a novel idea. But then again, it might turn out like it did when Winchester and B.J. on MASH were asked to write a paper on a medical procedure they had performed on a patient. lolEgo's sure got in the way.. But I doubt that would happen with our Texas gals.

I watched Christmas Story the other night. I just love some of the lines in that movie.
"What a great lamp".
"You used all the glue on purpose".
"It...It....It was....soap poisoning"!
"That blankety blank Olds would freeze up on the 4th of July on the equator"!
So many more.

Well I do need to get the laundry done. I was going to Saturday but got side tracked. But I have reached a point where I am living on whims now. That won't so. (if you catch my drift)

Later taters.

Asa


December 20, 2021 - Msg 117410: “We’re all out of glue.”

“Some men are Baptists, others Catholics; my father was an Oldsmobile man.”

“I triple-dog-dare ya!”


December 20, 2021 - Msg 117411: Thanks everyone, for the very kind comments concerning the christmas story. I am glad you enjoyed it. Someone asked about how I came up with Opie's mother's name. I had decided on a name but Possum suggested Faith, Hope and Charity and I really liked the idea of Hope, so I changed it. Thanks, Possum.

Well, busy week around here and getting things ready for our trip. Hope you all are getting good weather and enjoying the Christmas season.

As far as writing a novel with Frick (or Frack), who knows. lol..I kind of like the idea of everyone writing a short story for the porch in whatever style they like. No judgment on grammar or writing style. Maybe just take a childhood even or memory and make it into a short story. I am thinking about A Christmas Story, that Asa mentioned; it was written by Gene Shepherd (not sure I spelled that right) about his childhood and talk about funny!!! Now, Im sure some of you could come up with some hilarious memoirs of your childhood, especially at Christmas time. I challenge you to try. :) I will set my mind to work trying to think of a memory to write a (short) story about...no long novels, I promise.

Better get back to work..laundry waits. Wonder what Romeena is up to? she must be busy with christmas activities. Check in, Ro.

Boo

Where is this quote from, Asa?:
"How about a nice football?"
December 20, 2021 - Msg 117412: Here we go: A Story from My Childhood: Suzie the Kidnapper

My weary parents were not youngsters. They met and married after my father was divorced from his first wife and had two young sons. They lived in a little, typical family home of the 50's era, on a typical street in Corpus Christi, Texas. Small, three bedroom, one bath homes, narrow sidewalks lining both sides of the peaceful streets. There were usually children riding skateboards or with metal roller skates strapped to their tennis shoes, all over the utopic neighborhood. Mothers were at home, Dad's went off to work, and kids walked to the nearby schools.

My dear mother, who was a lovely, raven-haired woman, resigned from her secretarial job at a local bank to be a stay-at-home mom. A few years later, she gave birth to my older sister, Susan. Now, little Suzie Q, or "Princess," as she was nicknamed by my father, was what they called a "pistol". She was bold, an expert at tantrums, and very stubborn. She became a sort of legend on Dad's side of the family. I will list just a few of the things she did to terrorize my parents. She climbed on kitchen cabinetsand found some medication, which she s*cked the outside off of, and returned to the bottle. She hit my blind uncle in the middle of his forehead with a large wooden mallet while he was napping on the couch (THAT woke him in a hurry). She decided to "ice skate" on Mom's dresser in her socks and fell, cutting her forehead from ear to ear, requiring stitches. She climbed on the glass shelves at the local drugstore, bringing down shelves full of delicate glassware (the owner simply told my mother, "we have insur@nce, now please leave"). She put our big Buick in reverse when mom ran into the Maverick Market, and it rolled backward into a ditch (mom came out of the store to find the car in the ditch, front end pointing towards the sky). She ate her spinach at dinnertime, and later my mother found her lying in the middle of the street, arms raised, waiting to lift the next car that came by (she knew from watching Popeye, that spinach gave superhuman strength). All these things were small potatoes compared to...the kidnapping.

When little Suzie was about five, she began asking for a baby sister or brother. She was relentless. My mother was 34 at the time and had zero intention of having another child, but Suzie persisted, and Mom and Dad persisted in ignoring her...until THAT day.

One afternoon, police cars began patrolling the streets of their usually uneventful neighborhood. People were out in droves searching for a missing two year old little boy. Mom rushed into the yard to ask what had happened and was told about the missing child. He had been missing for over an hour and the entire neighborhood was frantically searching for the little boy who had been in his own yard playing, and then couldn't be found.

Mom soon went back to the house to check on Suzie, and heard noise coming from the attached garage. She opened the door and peered into the dark garage..and there he was. There stood a blond-headed little two year old in a diaper. He looked up at my mother and simply stated, "Der is spiders in here".

Poor Mom then picked up the child and flagged down an officer. When questioning Suzie about the incident later, her story was, "Well, I saw him and told him to follow me home, and he did".

I was born a year later.

The End.

Boo
December 20, 2021 - Msg 117413: Oh,mercy!! I can't quit laughing!! Boo, that is too much-this IS the same sister you now call "St.Susan"?? What a turn about she did- LOL

You should really have this story published! Maybe Reader's Digest would be interested in it. I love it and am gonna go back and read it again!

Oh, well,thank YOU for selecting one of the names I suggested as Opie's mom's name. Any one of those three would've worked nicely,I think,but "Hope" just feels right.

I'll think back on long ago Christmases and see if I have a story,although it sure won't compare to yours,Boo! You set the bar high,my friend!

**************
possum u.a.r.
December 20, 2021 - Msg 117414: Thanks Possum. Yes, she has changed for sure but still has a little stubborn, bossy streak at times. lol I just posted my story on Facebook to embarrass her!

Boo
December 20, 2021 - Msg 117415: Boo...Funny Story..When you grow up as the middle child of 5 kids in the family the stories are many too.
I think I have mentioned it before how grateful I am to be a
“Free Range Kid” of the 60’s before the term was a title.

Not saying those times were all things Mayberry with all that was going on in the world, but we made the best of what we had to work with..We had bikes with banana seats & high rise handle bars, and made ramps to jump Tonka trucks like we were Evel Knievel...Helmets? As long as you had your Army helmet after you were done playing war, you were good to go!.👍

The Five & Dime was the place to go, (after collecting pop bottles) for the deposit money, one could go home with a bounty of penny candy....(on a good day)...Lol

Yep...Those were the GOOD OLD DAYS...Amen?
*(Except Romeena rode her horse 🐎 instead)...lol

G-F

December 20, 2021 - Msg 117416:

Wow, good stuff! Boo, St. Susan sure beats everthing, you know that?! ha
Being #3 of 8 kids, most of my stories involve cleaning diapers, washing diapers,
or hang up diapers on the clothes line to dry! haha
You all know my Christmas story of Santa coming to the door, so I'll
spare you that one. :)
Like GF said, we too were pretty free to ride our bikes all over the neighborhood. Lots of fun putting playing cards into our spokes, etc.
We would drag home Christmas trees after christmas, and build
'forts' with them. Mom was always home or always a homeroom mother,
baking cookies and brownies for the class.

God bless all you good people! :)
MDC


December 21, 2021 - Msg 117417: Nostalgia is a desire to return to an earlier time in life. An example of nostalgia is the craving to be back in childhood again. ...
noun. A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness.

I know we can’t live there anymore, but isn’t great to stop by for a visit from time to time?...May our Good memories be abundant, and may our Bad ones can be consigned to oblivion...

G-F
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117418: Good afternoon, porch! Mild temp at 51°, and sunny here in the Dallas area today. Just got home from lunch with my son, and a visit with my dernmatologist, to have a second clean-out on the site of a small skin cancer on my leg. The first removal still had some cells on the margins, per the pathologist, but I'll bet there aren't any there now! Thank God for modern medicine.

OK, now y'all have gone and done it! Don't fling a challenge down at an amateur writer unless you want to read her stories! I've got one, dealing with Christmas, that I'd just love to share. Actually, three of you have seen it, but I'll share it anyway. (I'm editing out that part I told you three about, about all the food and stuff, not needed here and makes the story too long.) Anyway, here goes:

WHEN MY GRANDPA MADE SANTA REAL
My maternal grandfather was a gruff and grumpy old curmudgeon. He adored little babies, liked toddlers up to a point, and barely tolerated his grandchildren as we approached school age.

I was a small child during the WWII years, and my mom’s sister had children around my age. Nobody had much money, food was rationed, and my uncle was in Germany with the Army. Out of necessity, my grandparents, my aunt and her children, and my parents and I all lived on the same property. My aunt and my cousins lived in the same house with my grandparents, and my parents and I lived in a tiny two-room house at the back of the property. My dad was never allowed to join the Army, as his job was considered vital to the war effort, making him exempt. He was disappointed, and eventually actually quit his job so he could join the Army. Then the war ended two weeks later, and his enlistment was canceled, but that’s another story.

Winter arrived, and it was a particularly cold and wet season that year. We children were stuck in the house a lot, with not much to do. Television wasn’t a “thing” yet, and while my mother had taught me to read when I was four, I soon ran out of books that were written at the limited level I had achieved. We had very few games, other than “Old Maid” and “Go Fish” with cards, and we weren’t allowed to play with the dominoes after we lost one.

One of my cousins, the oldest boy, had informed us younger children that there was no Santa Claus. Of course, we were terribly upset, very shocked and refused to believe him. The more we protested, the more he insisted that Santa was just a story told to us by our parents, to make us “be good” during our wintry confinement.
Naturally, we questioned our parents about it, and they told us he was wrong, but he kept telling us the same story whenever we were out of earshot of the adults. He was nearly three years older than his younger brothers and I, and stood at least a foot taller, so we listened to him. After all, he was a knowledgeable and worldly third-grader, and we had just started school! We finally stopped asking our parents about it, and just moped around, convinced that our parents were either pretty dumb, or weren’t telling us the truth. Neither option was acceptable.

The Christmas season finally arrived, accompanied by all the usual holiday activities. My mom and her sister baked cookies, and my grandmother made a delicious fruit cake. There was a Christmas tree (a real one) in the living room in the main house, and presents would mysteriously appear beneath it from time to time. We children were strictly warned to leave them alone, and not to try to sneak them open. We were told that if Santa arrived and saw that we had tampered with the existing presents, he would not leave any more. Apparently, there is no time limit with regard to getting on the naughty list.

Finally, the big day arrived. Christmas Eve! My dad’s family were gathering at the home of one of his aunts, for a Christmas Eve celebration. We were invited, of course, and my maternal grandparents, along with my aunt and the cousins, were invited as well. With my uncle overseas with the Army, they would have been alone had my dad’s family not included them. We were jittery with excitement all day, and could hardly wait to join the festivities with my dad’s family.

Finally, we were all gathered at my great-aunt’s home. The house was small, and there were a lot of us gathered there. We children were finding it hard to nibble sandwiches and experiment with dips, when we were thinking about the tree standing in my grandma’s living room at home, just waiting for the presents that Santa was (or wasn’t?) going to leave that night. That issue was still in question. Very much in question.

We got more and more jittery, and there were several little kicks or pinches when no one was looking, as the older cousin continued to make fun of us for believing. He would just grin and shake his head “no”, and we knew what he meant. The adults never seemed to notice, but we never missed his little shots.
Finally, at the end of the meal, my grandfather stood up, and looking at the three of us younger children, he told us to come with him, we were going for a walk. Mystified, we started to question, and he reminded us of the naughty list, and told us we had better quiet down and come with him. Our mystification stemmed from the fact that he had never, ever, indicated that much interest in us or asked us to accompany him anywhere. Mostly he just growled at us to leave something of his alone, and quit bothering him.

At the door, as we were going outside, the older cousin was about to step outside with us, assuming he was going along, but Grandpa stopped him. He told him he was to remain in the house, only “the babies, as you call them” were invited. Chagrined and not too happy about being left out, our tormentor remained in the house.
So, with our curiosity and excitement building rapidly, we put on our little jackets and followed him outside. With him in the lead, we began to walk along the sidewalk, beneath a clear, star-studded sky. About a block from home, he suddenly stopped, pointed upward, and said, “Look! Look! There he goes!!” Uh, there who goes? “Santa! There goes Santa!” Puzzled, we looked up, and sure enough! A bright red light, closely grouped with a few other red or white lights, was moving slowly and silently across the sky, very high up. We watched in awe, until it finally disappeared behind a distant bank of clouds.

Grandpa turned toward home, and we followed. Barely a word was spoken. When we reached the house, my older cousin greeted us with “Well, babies, did you see Santa?” followed by gleeful laughter. We just looked at each other, smiled, and didn’t say a word. My grandfather, however, thumped him hard on the head with a work-hardened finger, said “Too bad you missed it!”, and gave him a little shove.

Now, all these years later, when I think of that event, of course my adult reasoning power tells me that what we saw that night was an airplane. In a city with a major airport and four military bases, that was bound to happen. However, deep in my heart, I know that I really saw Santa. Oh, he wasn’t flying high in the sky, in a sleigh with bright lights on it. He was present in the form of a crusty old man, who loved his grandchildren in his own way, and was tired of seeing them teased and ridiculed. Knowing there was sure to be a plane flying overhead at some point, he had decided to give us a little nudge. He brought us the precious gift of childlike belief. He gave us a few more years of that tender time, when anxious children await the coming of Santa, just shivering with excitement. For just a little while, he gave us Santa Claus. As long as love like that exists in the heart of a grumpy old grandfather, Santa lives! I don’t know about the other children, but for me, he gave me Santa Claus forever.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Keep looking up! --Romeena
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117419: New Book...”Stories from the Front Porch”...Sounds like a Good One!....G-F
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117420: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0727IivxTb1m-g9-dD94xVdmg
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117421: I posted that link above, it was just a test to see if I could post a photo. I’m trying to learn to do some things.

Boo
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117422: https://images.app.goo.gl/VA7WxouUhZeYb1rW6
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117423: I give up. I can’t get it right. lol

Boo
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117424: Such a sweet story, Romeena! Thank you for sharing it. How I miss the days of childhood and the excitement I felt at Christmas. I believed in Santa until age 7 and I wish I had been older when I found out. By the way, your grandpa sounds a lot like mine. Lol

Boo
December 21, 2021 - Msg 117425:

BOO, it worked for me.
I saw a photo of your beautifully decorated home,
and the second one said Merry Christmas with bells and snowflakes! Thanks! More later, MDC


December 22, 2021 - Msg 117426: Beautiful story, Ro-thank you for sharing it!

Happy Birthday,Spotty!! Welcome to the 62 Club, YOUT! Have a happy day!

*****************
possum under a rock

December 22, 2021 - Msg 117427: Hey Possum...What’s a YOUT?...https://youtu.be/U7BMCZdXSlk In my best Fred Gwynne voice..G-F
December 22, 2021 - Msg 117428: Good Morning folks! hope everyone is up and ready for face the day.

Just stopping by to wish our Spot a very Happy
Birthday. 62 ain't so bad.... I hope you have a wonderful day.
Prayers and blessings to all
Big Maude
December 22, 2021 - Msg 117429: Good morning, porch! Boo, your links worked fine for me. Your front porch looks so beautiful, and I love all the many Christmas greetings! Now you have to tell us how you did it!

I've got one more batch of cookies to get baked. I made the dough yesterday, and put it in the fridge to chill, as it has to be rolled out, and unless chilled, it's too sticky to be rolled. It makes the beloved "sand tarts" that my mother always made at Christmas, taught me to make, and they will always and forever be my favorite cookie. Very simple to make - but a bit labor intensive. A pound of butter (room temp and soft), 8 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar, a generous teaspoon of vanilla, and 4 cups sifted flour. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar and vanilla, and the flour (a little at a time.) Then with a wooden spoon, blend in 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped pecans. Refrigerate, preferably overnight. On a lightly floured board (or a countertop!) roll the dough in batches, to about 1/4-1/3" thickness, and cut with appropriate cookie cutters. Mine are always Christmas - stars, little trees, whatever. Handle gently, dough is fragile. Using parchment paper on a cookie sheet, spread them an inch or so apart, and sprinkle lightly with regular sugar, tinted with food coloring. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Watch closely, let them brown very, very lightly, just a little more around the edges. Let them cool on the cookie sheets, resting on a cooling rack. Don't try to handle when they're hot, they're too fragile, but get quite manageable when cool. Incidentally, this same dough makes a great crust for an "icebox pie", like the one you can make with Eagle Brand milk and lemon or lime juice. Just roll it out on waxed paper, place it dough-side-down over a pie plate and peel off the paper. If it tears, no problem, you can just press it back together. Bake until golden brown, let it cool, put your filling in and refrigerate. Very simple, very easy!

Happy Birthday, Spot! 62, huh? You're just a young'un! Wait until you hit 82! Now, there's a shocker. I never dreamed I'd be this old, but you know what? 82 ain't so bad, either! Hang in there.

Well, better get busy around here. Got to finish those cookies! Also, a bit of sprucing up is in order, and my carpet cleaner friend is coming this afternoon to clean up some spots in the living room (where Trinket threw up nearly a year ago.) I cleaned the spots perfectly, but now they have "returned." I wonder what causes that???

Blessings, friends, and keep looking up! --Romeena
December 22, 2021 - Msg 117430:

O OH, better watch out, Romeena has a wooden spoon! ha!
Ro, those cookies sound heavenly. And last night was 'your' ep with
Ernest T and 'Romeena' playing leap frog over the tree stump! :)

Well, the next couple of days will be pretty busy ones,
so i will say now
"a very Blessed and Happy Christmas to all. Jesus is the reason
for the season, and I aint takin' it back!" :)
LOVE TO YOU ALL!
Peace and Prayers,
mdc
December 23, 2021 - Msg 117431: Hey, ever'body! Just Gomer, checking in for the first time in ages. A very Merry Christmas to one and all, and a Happy 2022. Best of luck to you and yours!
December 23, 2021 - Msg 117432:
Boo I am impressed with your writing talent. Thanks for sharing a sample with us. Consider doing what Romeena did by writing a book such as a fictional novel.
And regarding your postings Msg 117420 and Msg 117422, since you stated that you wanted to post a photo, this is what you need to do. The html command. Since your links posted correctly, that is why people can click on them to view your photos but not see them here.

from Poor Horatio
December 23, 2021 - Msg 117433:
I meant to say the following in my previous post. The html command "a h-ref" is for posting links whereas the html command "img src" is for posting photos. Your postings used the "a h-ref" command so your hyperlinks are correct. I had to include the hyphen to avoid the censor here but they do not appear in the command.

from Poor Horatio
December 24, 2021 - Msg 117434: Good early morning, porch! It's Christmas Eve! I'm remembering the days when this big old house would have been filled with the laughter of excited children, preparations for a Christmas Eve celebration, usually at my parents' home, and my own preparation for the Christmas Eve service at church, and cooking for whatever I was contributing to the festive meal that evening. Lots of preparation for Christmas dinner the next day, usually at my home. (I can bake a mean turkey!) Now, today, my contribution to the celebration tonight is some spinach dip and an assortment of cookies. We will be gathering at David and Brittany's lovely new home. Tomorrow, the Christmas dinner will be at Eloise's home. When our kids, David and Brittany, got married, Eloise said that she only thing she asked was that Christmas Day and the meal would be at her home every year. Since I was accustomed to celebrating Christmas Day whenever my schedule at the hospital permitted, that was no big deal for me. The day, and the meaning thereof, was not confined to a date on the calendar for me, not then, and not now. It was an easy concession for me, and it made Eloise happy. She doesn't ask for much, and there was no need for me to make an issue of it. So, Christmas dinner is always at her house. My Dale had passed before the kids married, so things were very different for me anyway. It has worked very well.

So, this morning, instead of rushing around with my hair on fire, trying to get everything done, my little contributions to the festivities are safely finished and tucked in the fridge. About all I have to do today is watch a beautiful presentation about Jesus' life on TV. I'm recording it, so I can leave it when I need to.

Trinket missed her groomer appointment, as the groomer's van is in the shop - yet again! Poor girl, she has more trouble with that bloomin' van! Anyway, I noticed that Trinket is looking pretty ratty, and needs a bath. I have never bathed her myself, but it's going to happen today. I'm going to get her in the shower with me! She's not going to like it, but it's going to happen. I have a little shower chair in there, so I can sit down and use the hand-held shower head to reach her. She's probably going to freak out, as she doesn't even like it when I get in the shower. She opens the laundry hamper door and goes inside while I'm in the shower! Something about lying on my dirty clothes seems to give her some security or something. Weird little dog, but I love her. I want her to look and smell clean at the family thing tonight, so it's going to happen. Should be interesting!

Well, away I go. Merry Christmas to one and all, and remember - Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Blessings, and keep looking up! --Romeena
December 24, 2021 - Msg 117435: Thank you PH. I am not very computer literate so your explanation is beyond me. I will talk to Bruce about it. :)

Sorry to be away for a few days. Been busy with christmas and vacation prep. Romeena, I hope you enjoy your time with family. I make the cookies you describe but I roll them into balls and bake, then dredge in powdered sugar, then again after they cool. My mom used to form the dough into crescent shapes but rolling into a ball is the easiest and fastest. I like the way the little snowballs look, too. I made a batch this week that turned out better than any I had ever made. I toasted the pecans in the oven first and then ground them in the food processor. The result was a very melt-in-your-mouth texture. So good! My favorite christmas cookie, for sure. I didnt make any cut-outs this year, just too many other things to tend to. I made Bruce's favorite no-back peanut butter chocolate oatmeal cookies and made some more chocolate covered cherries. I am going to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies later because that is what everyone in the family wants the most. For tonight, I am making sausage balls, queso dip, my famous ranch-bacon-sour cream-and cheese dip, and St. Susan is bringing the tamales and sandwiches. We always just do party type foods on Christmas Eve. We arent even having Christmas dinner tomorrow because we will be preparing to leave and probably just try to get some rest before the trip. The weather is very warm here and we arent feeling very Christmasy anyway. I will probably attend the 11pm candlelight service tonight in the little historic church I grew up in. Its a beautiful white church with stained glass windows...right in the front is a huge stained glass window with an image of Jesus that is made entirely from sea glass of different colors. It was made by a local artisan after hurricane Celia did so much damage to the church back in 1970. The artist collected the glass himself and it is something amazing. Maybe I will be able to share a picture of it here.

Anyway, I had better get back to work, just wanted to drop and wish everyone a Merry and safe Christmas Eve.

Boo
December 24, 2021 - Msg 117436: Merry Christmas to all of my Porch family.
Prayers and blessings !
Big Maude
December 24, 2021 - Msg 117437: Merry Christmas Porch friends! I have been reading the stories on this page of some of your Christmas memories.Such wonderful memories you have! I don't get to stop by and visit much anymore but I sure miss you all.Prayers for all of you at Christmas and in the new year-Ky girl
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117438: Merry Christmas, Porch Family!!

Thanks to all who sent Christmas cards and for the warm greetings here on our porch. Hey to Ky girl!

Gotta jump in on the sand tarts discussion- I made them too! I make 'em the same way that Boo does btw. Good little cookies!

Well, y'all have a wonderful Christmas-love to all!

************&
possun u.a.r.
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117439: Looks like Santa left me an ampersand under the tree,along with some new rocks- ha!

possum again
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117440: Merry Christmas all.

Boy, I had a nice long post typed out yesterday and when I went to click on the post your comments button, my wifi had a hiccup and I lost everything. I felt like Andy when he got 10-4ed in the middle of his talking on the radio. Oh well, wasn't nothing earth shattering anyway.

I hope and pray you all have a blessed Christmas day.

Asa

BTW Boo, your quote was the Santa Clause on Christmas Story I do believe. :)
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117441: Thanks to Possum. lol ok

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b00fzJQZ0PVKL7DjB_kpnfsg

Boo
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117442: Merry Christmas Porch Family! Quiet day here and that’s ok. Last night we had a small family gathering and small white elephant gift exchange. It was fun.

Hope you are all well and blessed.

Much Love,
Boo
December 25, 2021 - Msg 117443:

BOO- Loved your picture of Lydia! :)
KY GIRL--It has been a coon's age since we've seen ya.
Please set a spell when you can. Missed ya!
Poor ole ASA, first your pistol falls apart, and now your post does! ha Good try buddy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Porchsters!
Hey to SPOTTY, NN, STERLING, FRANKIE, MEDWIN, BRISCO, md, BILLIE RAY AND ALL!

With love,
mdc


December 25, 2021 - Msg 117444: Hey to PH, I'm giving your image help another try. mdc

December 25, 2021 - Msg 117445:

OOPS! Sure did not mean to have that so big!
Oh yes, that's why I don't try to do it!! mdc


December 26, 2021 - Msg 117446:

Maybe I should try to sweep and clean the porch! :) MDC


December 26, 2021 - Msg 117447: MDC...I tried to call Papa Bear several times but it goes straight to voicemail..Sounds like he’s not home...
“There’s Nobody Here!”...*In my best Big Maude voice..Hope Everyone had a Great Christmas🎄 God Bless is Everyone!

G-F
December 26, 2021 - Msg 117448: Dang! Looks like Santa's suit exploded on the Porch! Ha! Very festive, MDC!

And a very Happy Birthday to MDC!!

Hope that everybody had a nice Christmas. Good Sabbath to all.

possum again
December 26, 2021 - Msg 117449: Happy Birthday MDC. Thanks for letting us know Possum. I'd hate to miss it.

By the size of that post MDC, I'd say the porch may be sagging. You get under that porch with them spiders and get it shored up! lol

GF, I declare, I thought Big Maude was right here on the porch. Do you do Elenora Poultice as well? lol

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. My sweet wife got me a picture of Earthrise, taken by the Apollo 8 crew back in 1968. Dang, It is just stunning. Then she got me all of the patches of every Apollo flight and put them in a picture frame. Just spectacular. And all I got her were two dozen canning jars. Dirty dirty me. :)

Well I tried my hand at some bread pudding and it came out pretty good for my first attempt. I was proud of myself. And now I can do some tweeking with it and see what I can do with it to make it better. I think my next attempt will have some nuts in it. It could use some crunch me thinks.

Well off to watch preaching. Last one of the year. It'll be good.

Prayers for all.

Asa
December 26, 2021 - Msg 117450: g-f, do you take off on Ralph Henderson?

Happy Birthday to Steve. Hope it's a good one.

Asa, email me a picture of Earthrise if you can. I have an iphone and use it to send pics via email. Its pretty easy that way.

Well, Christmas Day was just us four here at home, getting ready for our trip. We leave tomorrow for Colorado. Yay! Please pray for us as we have quite a long drive on the interstate just to get out of Texas. We will stop in Amarillo tomorrow night and that is a 10 to 11 hour trip if you stop now and then for breaks. The following morning we will drive on to Colorado Springs and that will take about six hours. We are sure looking forward to see the mountains again and looks like the weather will be pretty good in that area. We are going to try to make it to Grand Lake to snowmobile and I expect it will be pretty darned chilly up there. No snowtubing for me this time, though. I am getting too old and out of shape for that. The young ones will be snowtubing on Fraser hill, though, in Winter Park.

Well, I will be checking in from time to time and will certainly be on here to wish all of you a happy new year!

Boo
December 26, 2021 - Msg 117451:
Wow MDC, when I examined that image you posted in Msg 117444, it is about 5000 pixels in size. Before you post an image, right click on it, select PROPERTIES from the menu, and examine DIMENSIONS.
That is way to big for the Front Porch. You need to shrink it down to about 10% of that size, around 500 pixels. You can do that by adding WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes to your HTML post exactly like below
< img src="https://www.psdgraphics.com/file/merry-christmas.jpg" width="500" height="500" >
I had to include a space after the < and before the > to make this command display and not activate. So just remove both spaces before you post.

from Poor Horatio
December 26, 2021 - Msg 117452:
Boo, I pray that you and your family have a safe Colorado trip. Also, regarding the links you posted in Msg 117420 and Msg 117422 of trying to post just the photos here presents a new challenge for me. I guess that might be because they are stored on a cloud storage device and I am not familiar with cloud.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday. As for us, it was just an immediate family supper. We are keeping a low profile since travel is still too risky. Not only are we trying to avoid the virus, but also we don't want to get stuck out of country if the border closes suddenly.

from Poor Horatio

from Poor Horatio
December 27, 2021 - Msg 117453: Good morning, porch! I trust everyone had a safe and happy Christmas. From what I've been reading this morning, it would seem that all went well. I know I certainly did. We had a lovely evening out at David and Brittany's house on Christmas Eve. Those two work together like a well-oiled machine, and make everything look so easy. Good food, served buffet style, and if anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault. Brittany had the house decorated so beautifully, yet so comfortable and casual. Several of us went upstairs and watched "The Polar Express" in the movie room - yes, the movie room. David has a sound system in there that is amazing. When that train came chugging in, you could feel the vibrations in your chair! The room is insulated, and David had a riser built over part of the floor, and there are seven recliner chairs, so everyone has a good view, and honestly, it was as good as, or maybe better than watching it in the theater. They're loving their new house, and I am so happy for them.

On Christmas Day, we all gathered at Jerry and Eloise's, and had her traditional tenderloin roast, so good! Brittany's sister, Terri, brought a beautiful and delicious Pavlova dessert, which is one of my favorite things, and which I have never attempted to make. I found recipes online for the dish, and found that there are many variations. Terri had made one very large Pavlova, but it can be broken down into smaller presentations, even down to individual servings. Actually, I recognized it in the individual presentation as a dessert my mom used to make, which she called "Cherry-Berries On A Cloud." Same dessert, different presentation. Delicious!

Well, I need to leave this keyboard and get busy around here. Got a few little errands to run, and then I'm going to just crash with Trinket on my lap for a while this afternoon. At the moment, the sweet little thing is in her cuddlebed under my desk, keeping my feet warm! She is never more than a few feet away from me, and usually tries to be touching me somehow. Amazing, the bond that one can find with a little animal. She just offers unconditional love, and I don't know what I'd do without her.

Oh, here at the end of December, I have a gorgeous purple and white iris in full bloom in the back yard. I know I have several out there that are classified as re-bloomers, but they usually repeat in late September or early October. I've never had one bloom in December before! Sure is pretty!

Blessings, friends, and keep looking up! --Romeena