Merry Christmas to you all!
Here in the Midwest, it certainly looks like Christmas right now–we had a nice snowfall, but I’ll be hoping the pretty white ground cover will last until Christmas, because warmer temperatures are moving back in over the next few days. I’m typing this blog at our kitchen table, and took this photo of our deck and barns a few minutes ago. What kind of Christmas weather do you expect this year, in your part of the world?
Last year we visited our daughter down along the Gulf a couple weeks before Christmas, and it was a real treat to see Christmas lights on massive live oak trees in Bay St Louis, sailboats strung with Christmas tree lights, and listen to carolers who didn’t need so much as a sweater!
Have you done any Christmas baking yet? By now, I certainly have during other years, but this year I’m behind on everything. Still trying to finish up Christmas cards and gift wrapping, planning menus, getting ready for family to come home. Maybe it’s just as well that the cookies aren’t done yet, because they’re such a temptation! What are your favorite cookies this time of year? Mine are Christmas decorated cut-out cookies, but our grown kids always ask for their grandmother’s date pinwheel cookies. Guess I’d better get busy!
Here is our dog Sage, who always looks proud of himself when he has a toy in his mouth. Our floors are a veritable minefield of dog toys, but they sure saved on our furniture and shoes!
Last Christmas photo: here is our Christmas cactus–which always knows when it’s supposed to bloom. I think that’s amazing! I got this plant years ago from an inspirational author you may know, my dear friend Lyn Cote.
Fo those who leave a comment, I’m doing a giveaway: a copy of An Aspen Creek Christmas, a Love Inspired novel in the stores right now. This book meant a lot to me as I writing it. It covers some things I connect with on a personal level–animal rescue (we always have two dogs, and they’re always rescues) and adoption (I was adopted at the age of three and that moment was a huge blessing in my life.)
I’ll send Kindle e-pub version of this novel to the winner, or a hard copy, if the winner is in the USA and prefers that.
BTW–anyone who signs up for my e-newsletter at www.roxannerustand.com will receive a free e-cookbook, and in my next newsletter there will a link for a free, full-length novel (for new AND prior subscribers.)
Best wishes to you all for a wonderful Christmas, and a happy, safe and healthy New Year!
Roxanne Rustand
USA Today bestselling author Roxanne Rustand is the author of over thirty-five traditionally published novels, and four indie novels. Prior to 2007 she wrote for the secular market, but since then has been happily focused on inspirational fiction and sweet romance. A Golden Heart winner in 1995, she has received two RT Bookclub Magazine Reviewers' Choice Awards, and has been nominated for an RT Bookclub Magazine Career Achievement Award. She is currently writing for Harlequin's Love Inspired line, and is continuing with self publishing. She and her husband live in the country with three horses, two goofy rescue dogs, and a half-dozen barn cats.
Brr…the photo from your kitchen is beautiful, Roxanne, but it looks very cold. Yes, I’ve gotten most of my baking done. I even have a terrible burn on my hand to prove it. I don’t recommend sliding a cookie sheet into the oven without wearing your glasses. :(
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I wish snow was even a possibility…but I think it’s supposed to be in the 50s.
Merry Christmas, Roxanne! My view is SW Michigan is similar. Today feels like a heat wave at 23 degrees after Monday’s frigid northern blast. Our local photographer Joshua Nowicki has some amazing shots of Lake Michigan on his web page. Thanks for the photo of the Christmas cactus. My mom had one. Makes me miss my parents at Christmas. Finished crocheting my daughter-in-laws scarves last night. Getting ready for my youngest son’s visit. Family Christmas is Friday, because youngest son works over Christmas. First time all the kids have been together in a long time. Need to wrap presents, do some baking, etc. Blessings in the New Year.
Hi Roxanne! Merry Christmas. Our Christmas cactus wasn’t quite as sure as yours this year – it is very large, but only decided to have three flowers this year.. We have done some baking this year, but not as much as usual.
Our weather this year doesn’t look promising for anything Christmas-y. 50s and raining! My 9 year old son is still hoping for snow though.
Jill, so sorry to hear about your burn. It sounds terribly painful! Without my glasses, I wouldn’t even see the stove :) Merry Christmas to you, too!
We had some bitter windchills for a few days, but from here til Christmas we’ll have mid 30’s and then 40 on Christmas Day. So we may not have a white Christmas, either. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Yes! I so agreed about the bitter cold. During mid-fall temps in the 20’s seem terribly cold. Now they seem balmy! :)
I googled Nowicki and so enjoyed looked at his photos. Amazing. I had never see frozen sand towers before. As he noted, they look other-worldly! Thank you for sharing his name. You live in a beautiful part of the country.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I wish our Christmas cactus would grow larger It stays the same and looks awfully anemic. I must be doing something wrong!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I hope your son gets his wish. What part of the country are you in?
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Someone just gave me a Christmas cactus. Hopefully I can take care of it. Yours is gorgeous. Not much baking going on as we have to pack up our kitchen and replace ancient cabinets. Next year hopefully we’ll be settled in our new place.
Mine has lasted for a number of years now, but it either has too much light or I’m doing something wrong with watering….or something. Its blooms are beautiful but its leaves (fronds?) look pale and sad.
Moving sounds like an adventure…but also a lot of work! :) Are you moving far from your current home?
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
My “Christmas” cactus (which was my mother’s before becoming mine) starts blooming for Thanksgiving, and has sometimes bloomed until Easter! I water it once a week, and it lives on a stand in by a window with good light, but not too much direct sunlight. Thankfully it doesn’t get a lot bigger, because it’s already bigger than I’d really like it :-) I understand they like to be pot-bound…
Anyway, fun to read about other people’s cacti! As far as baking goes, I always make at least one batch of cut out sugar cookies. I used to make date bars, but cutting up the dates is a lot of work! It’s not really baking, but I make fudge to give for gifts for those hard-to-buy-for people, and usually make 8-12 lbs!
Merry Christmas to you all!
I made candy yesterday, and I’m mailing it to my brothers.
Hmmm….maybe my plant needs less light. Yours is really prospering!
Many years ago, a sweet, elderly dentist gave me a wonderful recipe for fudge that I made for years. Then my brother starting making Dr. Gillham’s fudge, to give to clients in one pound tins at Christmas. He makes 50 or 60 pounds of it, which boggles my mind. That is a LOT of work! :)
Merry Christmas, Roxanne! I’m not doing any baking this year, which is sad, but I’m trying to get a nasty case of acid reflux under control, my son’s family is away, and my daughter is pregnant and finds sugar and gluten both aren’t sitting well for her either. But hey! Christmas isn’t about cookies! It’s about Jesus.
Meanwhile, here in SE BC, Canada, we’ve had a lot of snow in the past week. so it’s definitely going to be a white Christmas. Which is great, because we got the grandgirls snowshoes this year!
Since our home is under renovation, I haven’t baked, decorated, or even put up the Christmas tree. Church is our second home, and since I’m in the choir, I’ve eaten plenty of cookies, enjoyed singing in our Christmas concert, and look forward to our candlelight Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services. After all, Jesus IS the reason for the season. :-)
Roxanne, my mom had a green thumb and had a Christmas cactus most of my life! Hers looked just like yours and so did some of her friends. I think it puts its life in the blooms for Christmas. Glad you enjoyed Joshua’s photos. We are proud to have his talent. He posts daily on Facebook, so I can enjoy the lake from the comfort of my warm house!
It’s cold here in northern Utah, too. I might be ready for spring anytime now. I don’t do much baking, and I don’t do nearly as much decorating. My thought is “what goes up, must come down again”. Your Christmas cactus is beautiful. My grandmother had a big one that bloomed every year. I think my cousin inherited it. I’ll have to see if she still has it and get a start from her.
Your book looks and sounds wonderful. I’d love to win a copy of it.
Growing up in Illinois, I’ve seen my share of snow! i live on the Oregon coast now, so much of what we see is lots of rain and mid-40’s temps. Though this last week, it’s gotten below freezing during the late night/early morning times.
I haven’t done the amount of baking I used to do either in years past. Really, we don’t need all that sugary stuff hanging around the house to be consumed! I do make my pumpkin pies for both Thanksgiving and Christmas so there’s always that.
I love all the fun pictures you’ve shared, especially the Christmas cactus. I’ve never seen one bloom, it’s so pretty! I tend to kill houseplants, so I don’t have any…lol!
Merry Christmas to you and yours Roxanne, here’s hoping you’ll still have snow on the ground to enjoy! Wishing you a blessed New Year as well :-)
I’m a little bit jealous of your cactus. I’m good at keeping my plants alive, but I cannot get my Christmas or Easter Cacti to bloom again. I know there’s a trick, but I haven’t perfected it yet. Merry Christmas, Roxanne!
We’re moving about 12 hours away, from northern Virginia to Bowling Green, Kentucky. We’ll be close to my daughter,son in law,and grand children; and an hour and a half away from our son, daughter and new son in law. It will also be a much cheaper area. And……we will have a driveway and a garage instead of a numbered parking spot. And…..it will all be one level instead of a three level town house. My knees are looking forward to that! God bless!
Terrill, I have no idea why mine blooms, especially since the rest of the plant looks so anemic! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas from rainy Northern CA! We don’t have a white Christmas around here!!
My mom would say that’s why your’s is doing so well. She says you have to treat it a little bad in order to force them to bloom. She deprives hers of water for awhile and hers always blooms.