Christmas Preparations 2013
 

I made my cakes today. So far thats it for me. What have you done?

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I expected Aliantha to have listed things like sunscreen, bug dope, frozen margaritas, flip flops, etc.

Cakes look yummy though. :-)

They will look better when they are decorated. :)

The kids are giving little bags of their favorite granola to all their teachers this year. We already go through quite a lot of it ourselves, so I started doubling production way in advance so I wouldn't be killed in the first week in December. So far I have 6 of 13 bags ready and waiting.

Meanwhile I'm still looking for gift inspiration for the kids. I have a couple ideas, but I always have to come up with far more than I need so I can hand good ideas over to the various relatives who will otherwise buy them crap they will hate. I only have to come up with one gift for everyone else on my list, so they don't get to take up mental space for a few more weeks.

My office desk area as of yesterday. :-)

That doesn't look like the Christmas Cactus I'm familiar with. :haha:

Define "familiar". :D

"I know too much about cacti to be familiar with them. "

I've almost started thinking about Christmas gift lists. I also dream of fruitcake, but there's no point making any - I'm not supposed to eat it right now, and my family hates it. Sigh.

I like it.

I didn't think there were any of us left. Or maybe it's a Scots thing?

You're tempting me ... I may just throw caution to the wind and make fruitcake after all!

We used to make fruitcake with all dried fruits, none of the candied stuff, lots of nuts and a good rum soak. A lot of people would hear fruitcake and run away screaming, but I just figured more for me. :D

C9 ceramic LED lights. They will last 22 years at 3 hours per day. You can connect as many as 90 stands safely. $6.98 for 25b lights on a 14 ft strand. That's 8 in the picture. They are not quite as Jolly looking and warm as the traditional bulbs, but they're not as icy cold as the little clear lensed leds either.

I like the big c9 bulbs because they look festive in the daylight as well.
I need to decide if I am going to go with a full sized tree, or a little one on the coffee table. I think it might be smarter to go with a small tree this year so that I don't have to build up the ornaments supply in a hurry

The only candied fruit i use is ginger and cherries. The rest is rum soaked dried fruit. Also, almonds, walnuts and pistachios. I think this years cakes are going to be yummy. After baking, i sprinkled them with lychee liqueur. Now they are bundled up for a few days till i get my decorating supplies.