A look back at Christmas past (a true Friday Smile)

I had planned to share a different post today.  I thought Seth Apter would have us share our ARTifacts wrap-up some time in December, but that didn't happen.  So I'll share it sometime in the new year.

Because I didn't have a post for today and frankly haven't had time to create one, since I'm trying to get my Christmas decorations put away, I decided to share a post I created a few years ago of Christmas day.    I  hope it puts a smile on your face.  And because it truly should make you smile, I'm foregoing the jokes, quotes, and photos of the History Museum today to bring you this post I'm sharing with Annie and her Friday Smiles.   You can find Annie at A Stitch in Time.  So sit back and enjoy a look at Christmas past.

I called it "Christmas Joys and Woes."

I'd like to begin by explaining how I created this spread I call "Homemade Christmas."  I concocted this idea one night while preparing to invite a few of my dear friends who do NOT have children or family close by to share Christmas at my house.  I sent individual invitations that read:

Dear __________,

You are invited to a unique Christmas.  My home will be open any time after Sunday, December 22, so feel free to arrive any time.  Please let me know the approximate time you plan to arrive, so I have adequate sleeping arrangements for you.

I will provide Christmas breakfast, and will provide a ham for the carnivores, but I ask that each person bring or make at least two dishes they would not normally prepare for Christmas.  In addition, these dishes must be homemade only.  By that, I mean no canned food, no mixes, no boxes that contain ingredients none of us can pronounce.  Keep food choices as fresh as possible, and please let me know what you plan to bring.

RSVP:  XXXXXXXXXXX

Now smart people would stay home.  After all, we had just had a huge snow storm that blanketed the midwest.  And I was asking that friends bring only items that had to be made from scratch.  What can I say, other than they appeared to be adventurous and willing to accept the challenge.
           
I planned to show photos. but when I turned my camera on, the battery was dead.  I knew it would be at least three hours before it was charged, so I decided there would be no photos of breakfast.

I personally thought I prepared a modest breakfast, hoping it would fill everyone up enough to last till dinner could be served.

After I plugged the camera into the battery, I noticed the little light was not coming on, which meant it was NOT charging.  I scrambled to find the old camera that has no settings.  It's more or less a point and shoot camera with no corrections whatsoever, not even a flash.  Since it has no card, I knew I had to have fresh batteries.  But the only ones I had were rechargeable, and the instructions warned to NOT use rechargeable ones.  Still, I had to try.  It was all I had!

To take my mind off the camera problem, I started the dishes.  This is the first house I've owned that has no dishwasher, so every dish, pan, etc., is cleaned by hand.  As I was washing dishes,
 

Sherry (who does not like to be photographed) yelled that Scott was here.  I quickly dried my hands, found the camera, and proceeded to take the very first photos of the day.
 
Scott had brought a ton of food.  And some people think men don't cook!

After greeting Scott, I went back to washing dishes, and that was when I realized my sink wasn't draining properly.  What else could go wrong? After all, I had just had a plumber in to unclog the sink about a month before.  But this time, I had Scott.


And Scott had tools.  It didn't take him long to fix the problem with his handy vice grips. But, that was the last photo I got because the camera started beeping, which meant I had to get the photos off the camera or else they would die with the batteries.

So off I went before these few photos became history.  Then, try as I might, none of my AAA batteries were charged enough for the camera.  It refused to turn on, even though I put fresh (rechargeable) batteries in the camera three different times.

(ED note for Chris: See the mailbox behind Scott.  He is 6'5", so you can see how large the mailbox is.)
 

So even though I have only a few photos of the day, I created a spread in my altered book of Christmas and our over-the-top meal we all prepared in my kitchen.
 
I will leave you to drool over this meal.  I'm still drooling over it.  It's a vegetarian's dream meal (other than the ham, of course).  There were appetizers and dips to die for, along with homemade kale chips (which topped my list of favorites).  There were soups and salads and potatoes and cooked veggies.  There were main dishes and pies for dessert.


And other than a few traditional favorites, like pumpkin pie, deviled eggs, and mashed potatoes, these were not traditional Christmas fare.  And no carnivore went hungry or complained about the lack of more meat.

As for my camera?  I have no idea what my options are.  ED: I took the camera back to the place I purchased it, and they replaced it with a new one exactly the same as the one you see in the photo above.  The same thing happened with it.  I'd had it less than a month when the second camera wouldn't charge.   When I took it back, they didn't have any more of the same model, and since it was right after Christmas, their supply of cameras was nearly non-existent.  However, they had one they thought I wouldn't like.  It used REAL AA batteries, and I was over the moon with happiness.  That's my "NEW" camera I love so much.  It will always be called my NEW camera (also a Nikon) after the lousy ones I had in the past.  Even though it cost $110.00 (USD) more, they gave me 100% credit for the defective Nikon.
  
As for my book spread, I started with gesso, then I scrunched white tissue that I had dotted with white pearl paint that doesn't show in the scan.  I added computer generated text that I tore and colored the edges using my new ink pens I got for Christmas.  I added some green holographic ribbon and confetti snowflakes for decorations, along with a tree I sewed and dotted with paint from a previous project.

Thank you for joining me as I looked back at a homemade Christmas past.  Now let's visit Annie because it never hurts to start the weekend with a smile.