The Preppy Pink and Green Puppy: December 2011

Christmas Day Fun

Our 2011 ornament. I have one painted every year by a super talented artist. This year it was great to be able to add another D family member to the gang.

Mother, Sissy, and Hadley, along with Dave's dad, brother and step-mother joined the boys and us at our house on Christmas day for a late Christmas lunch. Dave and his brother deep fried the turkey outside while I cooked inside, which consisted of a roast, popovers, roasted potatoes and other traditional side dishes.

Before everyone arrived Dave and I exchanged gifts. He often says I have a hard time saving my pennies. Perhaps this pink argyle piggy bank will make it easier.

Hadley sent us some beautiful flowers that were the perfect centerpiece.

Sissy and Hadley

The boys waited patiently for turkey or roast beef to fall on the floor. Unfortunately their daddy is a good carver and all the meat made it to the platters.

Mother, enjoying watching Hadley watching everything going on.

Even though Hadley was with us last year, I really considered this her first Christmas. I can't wait to be with her next year when she's walking and talking.

After everyone left and I cleaned up, I found Angus in his usual spot. He was SO sad on Wednesday when I took the tree down. He's been quite sick lately that I actually left the tree up two days longer than I normally do (that sucker normally comes down on the 26th- like clockwork) so that he would have a few extra days to rest in his favorite spot.

Thank you for your readership in 2011! I've loved telling my stories, sharing my pictures, and getting to know you all over the last few years.

I wish you all the best in the new year.

xo xo

Merrry Christmas To All

This Is My Kind of Christmas

Photo: Slim Aarons

Cavalier Claus

It's almost time...

The Tree Farm

The last several years Dave and I have choosen and cut our Christmas tree at Snickers Gap Tree Farm, located on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The farm has over 40,000 trees in various stages of growth and always has a super selection of trees from which to choose.

We took our time walking around the farm, admiring the different varieties and sizes of trees. We also wanted to tire out Spencer and Clancy since we had a holiday part to attend that night. :-)

This dog helped his dad get their tree back to the barn!

This year we choose an eight foot tall Douglas Fir. Douglas firs are a fragrant, forest green tree with soft, medium length, uniformly green needles. The tree has fairly strong branches which make it a great choice for hanging ornaments.

We always have a great time at Snickers Gap and are excited to do it again next year.

Cavaliers On Parade

For the fourth year, our area Cavalier group participated in the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade through Old Town Alexandria. It's always great fun and if I do say so myself, we are the hit of the parade. This year, Spencer and Clancy joined over 40 of their closest pup pals, all decked out in their tartan and plaid finery.

We were a little worried about how Clancy would do with such a large crowd, but he was a trooper.

While waiting to start, I walked around a bit to admire the other groups who were near us in the lineup.

It was soon time to march!

Spencer took on his usual role of greeting the parade goers. My friend A has nicknamed him the Mayor. He was gracious enough to let Clancy join him in his annual grip-n-grin.

We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year. I better start shopping for new outfits. Heaven forbid the pups wear the same thing two years in a row.

Country Ham Biscuits

Yesterday I made country ham biscuits for a holiday get together I have this afternoon. My grandmother always made biscuits Christmas as well as race parties and I knew they'd be a hit with the ladies I'll be with today. My grandmother was from Roanoke and was famous for her biscuits using Virginia or Smithfield ham. But don't tell. Instead of using Annie's biscuit recipe with shortening and other goodies, I cheated and used Bisquick instead.

Making the dough.

Kneaded and ready for the biscuit cutter.

I brushed the top and bottom of the uncooked biscuits with melted butter before putting them in the oven.

The ham, from Calhoun's. I cooked it in a pan for about one minute per side.

Biscuits cooling.

Five dozen, all assembled.

Voila! These are very easy to make and a 100% sure fire hit at any holiday gathering. You should try them sometime!

P.S. I was feeling very Suzy Homemaker after baking and decided to make my shooting instructor something for Christmas. Like the biscuits, this was super easy to do. I'm so glad that Dave saves a lot of the shells we shoot! I think it will look perfect on the door of her shooting shack.