A PIECE OF CAKE !!! (Updated regularly)

Tess: What are we going to do for the anniversary?

TCC: What anniversary ? Did I forget something ?😖

Tess: The blog anniversary. February 6th. It is a year old.

TCC: You're kidding !

Tess: I am not.

TCC: Wow !!! Tempus fugit ! Well, what are we going to do ?

Tess: I believe I asked you first.

TCC: What about a video ?

Tess: They hate our videos.

TCC: No, they don't !

Tess: Alright, they hate mine. I am baking a cake.

TCC: What kind of cake ?

Tess: A Fraisier cake.

TCC: What's a Fraisier cake ?

Tess: A strawberry cake.

TCC: Strawberries aren't in season. It's winter !

Tess: We have a lot in the freezer.

TCC: Ohhh, a Fraisier cake!!! French for strawberries. I get it.

TCC: Who are you baking it for ?

Tess: The world.

TCC: What are we going to do, email it to them ?

Tess: I guess we will have to eat it for them.

TCC: Deal.

So, a BIIIGGG  THANK YOU to the ONE HUNDRED AND THREE COUNTRIES  !!! WOO HOO 🎈🎉🎊!!!🌍🌎🌏 who have visited TheChamCham blog during the past THREE YEARS. We now have over 😮FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT VIEWS !!!😀😁👍😂🤩 We hope you will continue to visit. (I'll eat a piece of cake for each and every country.)  

Tess: Oh no, you will not!

TCC: Why not ?

Tess: We are on a diet.

TCC: What about the cake ???

Tess: It is a sugar free, fat free sponge. Strawberries have hardly any calories and the frosting is cool whip.

TCC: (groans) You're cruel.

Tess: I love you too, Honey.

TCC: Kiss me when you say that.

Tess:  Sorry. You are not allowed any sugar.

TCC: 😭.
             

And a VERY special (alphabetical) THANK YOU 👏 to :

ALBANIA🇦🇱, ALGERIA, ARGENTINA, ARUBA ,AUSTRALIA🇳🇿🐊🐨🦈, AUSTRIA, AZERBAIJAN, BHARAIN,

BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BELIZE, BELGIUM🍷🍺🍫, BOLIVIA,

BOZNIA-HERZOGOVINA, BRAZIL☕, BULGARIA, CAMBODIA, CANADA,🇨🇦⛸️🏒, CAYMAN ISLANDS,

CZECHIA🇨🇿, CHILE, CHINA🥡🐼, COLUMBIA, COSTA RICA 🦖🦕 , CROATIA, DENMARK🧜, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 

ECUADOR, EGYPT🐫, ENGLAND🦊🏇👳👟ESTONIA,         

FINLAND, FRANCE🗼🍷GEORGIA,🐩,GERMANY🇩🇪🥨🍺GREECE🕊️ ,GRENADA, GUAM, GUATEMALA, GUYANA,  HONG KONG, HONDURAS, HUNGARY,

INDIA🇮🇳🐃🌺, INDONESIA, IRELAND🇮🇪🐴🍀,ISRAEL🇮🇱🍯🐝, ITALY🇮🇹🛵🍕🍝,JAMAICA🏝️🐠, JAPAN🇯🇵🐕 🍣🍱🍛🍵🍜🍥⛩️, JORDAN, KENYA🦁🦒🐘, KUWAIT, LATVIA, LEBANON, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, MALAYSIA, MALTA, MACEDONIA, MEXICO🇲🇽🐍, MONGOLIA (Hi !!! You're late to the party, but you're welcome just the same😁👍)

MOROCCO 🌞🐍🦂🐫(Well, it's about time !!!) , NEW ZEALAND,

NICARAGUA , NIGERIA, NORTH MACEDONIA , MYANMAR, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PANAMA, PERU,

                  PHILIPPINES, POLAND, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, ROMANIA🦇🏰, RUSSIA❄️🐻, SAUDI ARABIA, SERBIA, SCOTLAND🥃,SINGAPORE, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA,

SOUTH AFRICA💎, SOUTH KOREA, SPAIN, 💃🐂, SRI LANKA, SWEDEN🇸🇪🦔, SWITZERLAND⛷️🧀, SYRIA, TAIWAN, TANZANIA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (Tess and I are still shocked to find that we have fans here, but HELLO and welcome!!!😁) TURKEY🦃, TURKMENISTAN 😯, UKRAINE,

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNKNOWN REGION🛸👽 (That's a new one on both of us !!!  Is that anywhere near WESTEROS🐉🏰  ???)  URUGUAY, U.S.A.🇺🇸🗽🌃🌉🦅,U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS🍹🌴, VIETNAM🐖

AND THE UNITED KINGDOM🇬🇧💂🏇

It's been quite a year and we look forward to what's ahead.

Hey ! We're at a loss for animals,food or flowers,etc. for some of these countries. Could you help us out? And we hope no one is offended by the emojis. If you are, let us know. We'll be glad to change them.

                                                                                                                                                        

The X-Files: Believing and Dispelling Disbelief. (AKA: Venting is Good for You!)

I used to love The X- Files. No, that is not exactly true. I used to live and breathe and adore The X- Files. Mulder was the love of my life,

Scully was my role model, 

The Alien Bounty Hunter

made me feel the first naughty feelings that my pure, innocent love for Mulder would not allow, and the flip-flopping loyalty of Assistant Director Skinner kept me on my toes. Trust No One, indeed. 

I lived for Sunday nights and eventually, when the series went into syndication I watched it every night before bed and strangely, no matter how scary or upsetting the episode had been only moments earlier, I slept like a baby. I eventually figured out that it had something to do with Mulder's voice. His soothing, droning monotone, especially during his frequent narrations, relaxed me and lulled me to sleep. I would miss that if I had not found a man in real life with the same ability. I used to have recordings of Mulder's voice on my cellphone for when I could not sleep. Now, I have my Mr.Cham, whose well-educated and well-read mind jumps tangentially from one subject to another with such quiet passion and ease, requiring only my appreciative ear to keep him going, and with his soft, yet rumbling baritone and enveloped in his big bear arms I am rocked to sleep in a warm cloud of brilliant blather. (I love you💗)

My love for the series was so intense that I even registered as an Extra hoping to have an opportunity to work on the show, to go to the studio, see the sets for Mulder's apartment,

the office,

etc. to be in the milieu, and perhaps get a glimpse of David or Gillian.

 (my mother met Mitch Pileggi

in Whole Foods once and was completely smitten by him! She LOVES big men. We have that in common, if nothing else, so why does she not love my Mr.Cham?)  

Being naturally shy and not harboring any "artistic inclinations" as TCC loves to say, it was a huge step for me to even go to Central Casting to register, have my picture made, call the work line every day (which I did diligently for two seasons before there was a rush call, I was chosen and I grabbed my garment bag and flew out the door knowing that this could be my only chance. And then I got stuck in 5 o'clock traffic on the 405 Freeway. (If you are from California, you know that was a disaster) My little dream was about to end. I burst into tears. "Stop that!," my mother said. "You'll ruin your makeup."  (Not the comforting words I was hoping for). I did not care about that. I was heartbroken.

Miraculously, we made it to 20th Century Fox Studios. I was a little late but they were just stopping for dinner and that saved me. Two experienced extras took me with them to the sound stage next door where there were tables and chairs set up and then we went out the huge back doors where a catering truck sat in a permanent sort of alcove and we were given Chinette paper plates plates with salmon fillets, wild rice and fresh steamed green beans,

(I did not take pictures on the set, we were not allowed, but I wanted to give you a visual

Mmm, that looks so good. I think we will have that for dinner tonight.)

There was coffee, iced tea, and lemonade to drink but I was a milkaholic then and a motherly extra found a carton for me in the cooler. I saved the milk carton and one of the green beans as my memorabilia of The X-Files. I think I still have them somewhere. Another time, we had grilled steak with mushrooms, wild rice, and zucchini. Yummy. After dinner, the wardrobe supervisor came around and decided that he did not like what I was wearing. It was my first time, and apparently  I had not chosen the right dress for a "hospital visitor" but luckily they have you bring two other choices and he liked my blue dress and asked me to change but did not tell me where. 

When I was dancing we sometimes changed in the wings with our mothers or nannies or our teacher helping us to do so discreetly. My mother had left me and I did not want to keep anyone waiting so after a bit of looking around I found Scully's apartment bathroom and changed in there! What fun! It was empty except for the mirror  (her bathtub was out in the hall for some reason and Mulder's apartment and the office sets were already gone because the episodes were filmed out of order and they had already finished the ones that included those sets. That was another disappointment). 

We worked (sat) on the hospital set for hours and I never saw anyone from the show and when the episode aired a few months later "Audrey Pauley", neither I, nor any of the other twenty some extras were in it and that scene was not used. I found in my brief career as an extra (13 jobs), that this was common, especially on The X-Files on which I worked three more times, "Improbable", "Jump the Shark" and "Release" and never made it on screen. I thought perhaps it was because my hair was the same shade as Gillian's (was at the time) but there are episodes with other redheads so that was not it. Other extras were blase about it. Most were doing it for the money. I was surprised at how many were not fans of the show and a few had never even watched it! That was the only reason I was there! I remember the catering more than anything else. Of the shows I did, they definitely had the best food, except for dessert, or the lack thereof. I think it had something to do with Gillian. Only melon slices

and Halloween sized candy bars

were made available at the Craft Service table. No doughnuts, cake, cookies, ice cream, or cheesecake which were available on every other set I was on.













 "Jump the Shark" was probably the best experience because The Lone Gunmen (Bruce Harwood, Tom  Braidwood  and Dean Haglund)

were there that day and they were fun during actual filming, but I wondered why the three of them looked rather down in between times, until I saw the episode. I will not "spoil" it for you in case you have not seen it yet.

On "Release" I was supposed to be a "Detective". It was a hot day and when I checked in, one of the makeup ladies waved me over to the makeup trailer to touch up my makeup. "What are you today?" ,she asked while she got expertly removed the mascara from under my eyes. I explained the hot car and she recommended a different brand of mascara. She was right. "Well, " I said. "I'm supposed to be a Detective but..." At that moment one of the P.A.'s (production assistants) walked through and looked at us through the mirror.
For some reason she had taken an instant dislike to me on my first time there, but to this day I still cannot imagine why. "No, she said. "We're going to make you an upscale perpetrator."  Then she walked out. The makeup lady looked at me questioningly. "What was that about?" "She does not like me." I said. "Why not, honey?" "I have no idea." But all four times that I worked on the show, twice at Fox and twice on location, that P.A. looked daggers at me the entire time I was there. When I told My Mr. Cham this story years ago, he had a theory but I will not repeat it here because I think his opinion is prejudiced by his feelings for me. But I do think that it is wrong to dislike someone you do not know who has never given you a good reason to do so. 

I did not really enjoy being an extra. I think it takes a certain kind of personality. But it was an interesting experience and I thought that I would share it with you.

I suppose my romance with The X-Files began to falter when the series moved from Canada to California. It did not seem like the same show. The constant sunny brightness of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas simply could not compete with the atmospheric weather driven visuals of Vancouver. Then David Duchovny's departure at the end of season seven not only left a void, but the rush to provide closure for Mulder's fruitless search for his sister Samantha ,which was already irretrievably muddled, brought it to an abrupt and wholly unsatisfying conclusion. Frankly, I would have rather the story line had been left unresolved, especially since it could have been given a better treatment after David Duchovny's inevitable return. 

The deaths of several characters beginning with The Well-Manicured Man, (John Neville)

( In the feature film The X-Files : Fight the Future -which I hesitate to admit that I watched 228 times over two years because unlike a lot of fans of the series, I loved it), The Alien Bounty Hunter (it was not him, it was one of his clones clearly shown to us in the following scene aboard the spaceship but for some ridiculous reason, Brian Thompson was never seen again!) I was hoping that the character would return eventually, I mean if The Smoking Man can survive being thrown down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair, not to mention a missile attack and Jeffrey Spender can be shot point blank in the face and live to tell the tale, then certainly an Alien Bounty Hunter with shape-shifting capabilities could pop up again! But alas,no. 
Then the rest of the syndicate members and Cassandra Spender, and then
Alex Krycek, (Nicholas Lea)

The Lone Gunmen (I always hoped that their deaths had been faked and they were in witness protection somewhere, I need them to fix two broken laptops!)
And what of Gibson Praise?

Last seen on the series finale, he is perhaps in witness protection, but we may never know.

I watched the six episodes of Season 10 with great anticipation and great disappointment although not as disappointing as the dismal and disturbing second feature film "The X-Files: I Want to Believe", which made "The Shining" look like a pleasant vacation in the snow. (I hated it! " I Want to Believe", not "The Shining", although it is not exactly a "fun" time at the movies, but then it does not pretend to be.)
I had hoped that the unanswered questions from the series and movies would finally be .....answered, but they were not. Instead, it veered off into silly directions, introduced new characters that were not interesting or likable and quite frankly, I felt that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were merely phoning it in. (My first cell phone was a Nokia just like Mulder and Scully's in FTF. I even put Mulder's name on my mother's telephone number so that when she called me, the screen said -MULDER. I loved that. Until I heard her voice, instead of his.)

There is an old saying : "You cannot go back." It is very true. I do not even want to watch reruns of the original series and the six new episodes that began last Wednesday night (an odd choice) ,have done little to tempt me to watch. I would rather pack up my kitchen for our upcoming move and the thought of having to do that seemed overwhelming a few months ago. But at least that will be a step forward into a hopefully bright and exciting future instead of dwelling in the past. 

Fans are upset by the "revelation" that The Smoking Man (William B. Davis)

is the biological father, at least in part, of Scully's son William ,who we were told was Mulder's (that always seemed far-fetched to me). I was not surprised in the least. It made perfect sense from a character who has kidnapped, murdered, lied, corrupted at every opportunity and taken great pleasure in making Mulder and Scully's and everyone else's lives a constant turmoil of fear and danger and sadness. Did you really expect him to be nice now?

I suppose I am in the minority of those who watched Mr.Davis' cleverly written Season 7 episode "En Ami" and had my suspicions about what really happened on Smoky and Scully's little road trip which seemed to be confirmed with Scully's pregnancy confession on the season finale back then. Now, the series has reached back to that episode for inspiration (fifteen years too late) and presumably the next five episodes will revolve around the search for William (daintily stifled yawn).

Even David Duchovny thought that story line was boring when he wrote the Season nine episode, "William" which had the baby placed for adoption with a couple in Wyoming and that was the end of that. I am not interested in watching what will undoubtedly be the standard angry teen, teary-eyed Scully and bored to tears Mulder wasting five hours of my time.( I have forty-seven herb and spice jars to wrap in bubble wrap!) When did television become so dull, when did the audience's feelings and desires become an after thought and who is the "brainchild" behind all of these reunions, reboots, reimaginings, rehashings, and retreads? ( I do not really want to know. I have 23 pot holders and oven mitts to organize by size, color, and holiday.)

But in all seriousness, it does make me sad. Never again will I feel the way that I used to about any of it and that is a shame. But then, there are many things that I used to "love" that I do not anymore. We change, we grow up, we move on and now apparently, so do they. Time was, we could go back and visit the happy memories of our youth and they were right where we left them and it was a reassuring reminder that some things did not change and that we knew where to find them them. Television has changed that, and not for the better. I have not owned one for years. When hour shows were reduced to forty-eight minutes and half hours to twenty-two , padded out with repetitive and annoyingly loud commercials sometimes six in one station break, I gave up. I stopped going to the movies too when people seemed more interested in their refreshments than in the movie and a devoted credit reader like myself was practically swept out of her seat by the very rude, broom -wielding teen readying the tiny multi-plex "theater" for the next showing. Film credits get longer every year. Why, if you are not expected or even allowed to read them?  

 A friend loaned me their laptop nine years ago so that I could see what all the fuss was about. When it came time to return it, I was miserable and I wanted one of my own which my new employer bestowed upon me that Christmas. I have worn out two since then and that same (and present) employer replaced it right away, knowing how lost I would be without it. And then his exploded and I replaced his. Except for the loss of our beloved Windows Live Movie Makers, I think we are content. With the laptop I have music, movies, television, radio, this blog, my virtual farm, books, shopping, and Google right at my fingertips. It seems perfect except when it blows up and you lose everything but I am trying not to put all of my eggs in one basket this time and I would suggest that you do not do that either.

I do not vent often but it has been a long, exhausting year and I would have welcomed a little paranormal diversion (Calgon, take me away!). 

Scully's hair for this season. I do not like it.

I loved it like this, and almost cut my then 33" long hair because I was that crazy about the show and Gillian Anderson's hair, makeup and wardrobe. I came to my senses after everyone I asked about it said the exact same thing to me ...........

                                                " Are you crazy????????????????"
I MUST have had temporary insanity, but thankfully it passed , because if I had done it, I would have regretted the loss of those thirty-three inches and the fourteen that have grown since then, thanks to my herbalist's special hair growth serum used by myself, my mother, several friends and finally My Mr. Cham, (who reluctantly agreed to try it a few months ago.) I think he had envisioned the same abuse that poor Ricky got from Lucy

but it is nothing like that and he is quite willing to have his twice weekly treatments with me now. 

Gillian with Charles Nelson Reilly from one of my favorite episodes "Jose Chung is from Outer Space" (with a cameo by Alex Trebek. I love "Jeopardy". I took the test once but I did not do well. That was years ago and I would be in another age group now and I have thought of trying again, but other things must come first.)

Another favorite , "The Unnatural" written by David Duchovny and featuring The Alien Bounty Hunter( Brian Thompson).

                             Adorable picture. I used to play SuperPokePets online before it was discarded. I had three pets and I made an X-Files scene with my male bunny dressed as Scully in Mulder's office complete with Pencils in the ceiling. I made another with the cornfield, white domes and plenty of bees. I would love to have shown you but sadly they were lost with about 100 other photos when my first laptop died.

Did anyone buy the Mulder or Scully doll? I almost did until I found out that his clothes did not come off. Calm down, I only wanted to be able to change his clothes. I was never a Barbie doll girl. That was my sister. I had a stuffed Chimpanzee (and now I have a real live Monkey Man. Kidding.Sort of.)
 that went everywhere with me, wore clothes and I was stopped more than once because she looked pretty real. Apparently I was a big "Beverly Hillbillies" fan and someone found it for my mother for me for Christmas when I was six. I was a "special" child, as my mother puts it. I also had a Herman Munster puppet, but that is another story.

There were no "Thunderbirds" dolls or puppets/marionettes when I was a child but apparently there are now and as My Mr.Cham told you in the Christmas post, I will finally have my very own Virgil Tracy sometime in April. I am very excited. And according to the website, his uniform does come off! Oh, Mr.Cham! What have you done?

So, I do not know if I will ever re-visit The X- Files. At present, I am very wrapped up with THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW on Netflix and trying new recipes! Guess who my guinea pig is?
I am almost through with the fourth season. According to IMDb, there were seven so I am trying to find the other three but so far I have not had any luck.

Oh, well. I guess I will have to be satisfied with alphabetizing my cookbooks. Luckily, that will not take too long.

 I only have three.
                               Tess🌷

We Wish You A Merry Christmas......and A Happy New Year !!! (UPDATED JANUARY 4TH)

 Every year My Tess plans the holidays around a different theme which includes the decorations, the menus, the music, activities, even what we wear.

In the nine years (this month) since she became a part of my life and ultimately, stole my heart
(Aww ! 😊😍) we have had had Victorian, Russian, Hawaiian, French Creole, Amish, Renaissance, German, and last year Depression Era Christmas which wasn't depressing at all and was actually fun !

 A few months ago I was informed that it was not 2017, that it was, in fact, 1943 (she changed it to 1945 later) and that we are at war !!!😨 Not us.We're fine, but that our Christmas theme this year will be WWII. Of course, she got her idea from those BBC farm shows that she loves (especially Wartime Farm. I think she has a crush on Peter 😣.)

When I saw the first grocery list I noticed that there wasn't a turkey on it anywhere but there was a "murkey". Is that a typo ???

When I found out that business would keep me away from home for Christmas this year I expected tears, but Tess is adaptable and has learned over the years that plans may have to change without much notice. "Have slow cooker, will travel" is her credo. As you may know, we have been talking about selling the house and moving to a small farm and there are so many beautiful farms over here that I thought it might be a nice idea to find one where we could spend the holidays (who wants to spend Christmas in a hotel ?) and at the same time we could get a taste of farm life without actually moving. I'm not trying to talk her out of it ,I simply want to be sure about what we're getting ourselves into.

I wanted to surprise Tess, so I looked at a few farm stays websites and found one that sounded perfect, paid them a visit and made the arrangements. Tess thought we would be celebrating in the aforementioned hotel so when I told her to pack yesterday morning,she was surprised but she did it and we drove out of the city and into the country. Where are we going? , she asked once. You'll see, I told her, Because she trusts me, she didn't jump out of the speeding car and eventually I slowed down and turned into a hidden dirt road. I put the windows down and told her to inhale. Horses!,she smiled. A few moments later the horses appeared in a pasture in the distance. I tooted the horn and someone opened the gate so that we could drive through. We parked and got out and I introduced my better half to the owner. As everyone who is lucky enough to meet her is, he was charmed by her, which made me feel six and a half feet tall. He told us the cottage was all ready and to let them know if we needed anything. Tess looked at me. I told her I had rented a cottage for us for the holidays. She was speechless and when we drove past the barn and she saw it, she was thrilled. The cottage is small, (for me,not her.) but Tess thinks it is utterly charming and perfect. YAY !😁

After we unloaded the car, including Tess' two steamer trunks (I'm kidding ! She only has one) ,we settled in and Tess made tea from the welcome basket in the little kitchen, then we had a nap and later, took a walk around the farm, visited the horses, cows and........GEESE !!!

(psycho main title theme ) We gathered up an armload (mine) of wonderfully fragrant fallen greenery and took it back to decorate the cottage. Tess brought one of her little feather trees (goose feathers, of course) and I sat by the fire and watched her decorate it from her ornament box. Thinking we would be in a hotel, she had wanted to make it cozy and festive. And it is.

Our tree and the putz underneath it. No, the tree is not exploding, but three strands of twinkle lights on a two foot tree is apparently too much. It looks great in person !

The nativity is the smallest one I have ever seen. Tess thinks it is 1/12 scale but she can't remember.

The deer family is bigger than the holy family but she loves them "dearly".

She made the graham cracker houses

and the spice cookie ornaments,

she  has been collecting the gold bead and pearl garlands and glass ornaments since she was a child.

 I had fun playing with the train set.

These are my contribution to the decorations. It's us if we were snow people.

I used the egg shells Tess discarded when she made our tea.
Me: Are you sure you don't want these ?   Her: Yes. What are you going to do with them ?
Me: Secret.  She only smiled indulgently. When I showed her later she thought they were adorable and had me put them on the table with the tree and wanted a picture. She would have made a great mother. She will be a great stepmother.

Today we went into the nearby village to pick up groceries for our Christmas dinner, Boxing Day, etc.
It is a pretty little village and Tess had great fun in the shops. She doesn't like supermarkets in the U.S. which is why she orders the groceries, but she enjoys food shopping here. She only rejoined me recently and I was really missing her home cooking after months of restaurants and take out. I've outgrown most of my clothes since she's been here, but I'm not complaining (and neither is she 😉.)

Here's the menu for our Christmas Dinner-

 I asked Tess how we could have all of this with rationing in WWII and she said that a smart and frugal wife would have been saving up and doing without for months in order to provide her husband with a Christmas dinner fit for a King.  That's my baby. 💑

Tess is baking now and the cottage smells amazing. The cottage came with a good supply of firewood so I won't be doing any lumber jacking while we're here but I can still enjoy building up a nice, big roaring fire. It's cold here now but I don't think we'll be getting a white Christmas. We wouldn't have back home either.(Although it's apparently snowing there now. Typical.)  I asked Tess if we were sticking to the WWII theme. We are. She says we can pretend that I'm a General home on leave. Do I get to wear a uniform ? No, she said.you're on leave.
That doesn't seem fair.😞 Oh well, at least I'm not expected to do anything expect be a good sport. No shopping, no cooking, no heavy lifting. And tomorrow there will be a great dinner and presents (What the heck is that ? Did I ask for one of those? I'm kidding. She knows me like a book and always gives me exactly what I need or want because she remembers what I say all year long.) and music and shows and movies, sticking to the theme, although via her laptop. I know it will be fun and it pleases her to please me 😗. I've never had anyone go to the effort that she does to make life and especially holidays unique and enjoyable. And it isn't about how much money is spent. I had an ex who thought that's what mattered, and maybe back then I did too, but I'm a different person now. A happier, wiser, more relaxed and contented person with my values and priorities in order and My Tess deserves 90% of the credit for that. Although she was born with a silver spoon in her rosebud mouth she is the sweetest, most down to earth and genuinely good person that I have ever known. She's a homebody by nature, camera shy to a fault, is always a lady, has no artistic inclinations and thinks I hung the moon. I am truly blessed. My only complaint- I have to remind her to cash her paychecks and then she hands them back to me "for the farm". I see the household account and monthly bills and marvel at how my angel does so much while spending so little. (I think she should hold seminars or write a book. She always laughs when I say that.) She says that she was taught by the best. Nope, not her mother, who has more shoes than Imelda Marcos, but by her Nanny/Governess, Miss Belle. If we had been home for Christmas this year, Miss Belle was going to celebrate with us for the first time. She rarely leaves Louisiana, so Tess was very excited. (Tess' mother is spending the holidays in France with Tess' sister, so I'm VERY excited😉!) I feel bad that we had to cancel on Miss Belle, but we'll make it up to her somehow.

A former "friend" of mine never called Tess by her name, referring to her instead as "The Ginger Geisha"

because of the way that she looked after me and pampered me, long before either of us even thought of becoming a couple. Tess did not care for the nickname (or the friend) but she never admitted it. As annoying as he was, he didn't lose my friendship until he tried to poach my Tess with offers of more money, travel, her own Mercedes (she despises cars and would gladly vote for the return of the horse and buggy. That's how dumb he was). He also thought that she wouldn't tell me but she did because his "offers" became increasingly ungentlemanly and she asked me to tell him to stop, which I did before I gave him his walking papers. He went too far when he called her a liar- which she is not- and he was unceremoniously banished from our lives. She told me she would rather live in a mud hut with me and cook over an open fire and do the laundry in a creek, all for free, rather than work for a neanderthal like him !

I think that was the day that I fell in love with her.  For the first time. 💕


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY ! WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR !(Here's our little Christmas video).

  HOLIDAY UPDATE
********************************************                                                   
The note in our welcome basket invited us to Christmas Eve service in the village church so we bundled up and went. Although neither of us is Episcopalian, we enjoyed the sermon and music in the charming little Victorian church built in 1872 .Back at the cottage we warmed up again with hot chocolate and cookies and then turned in. The cottage has feather beds (GEESE AGAIN !!!)

and it was like sleeping on a cloud. In the morning I woke up to the aroma of Tess' delicious coffee☕ and something baking in the oven. I got up and showered and dressed (still no uniform 😞) but my robe and slippers were laid over the chair by the fireplace and I put them on and went downstairs. Before I could even say "MERRY CHRISTMAs", I was handed a big mug of my beloved bean (how someone who doesn't drink coffee can make such great coffee, is beyond me) and a plate with a hot, flaky apple turnover (shaped like a bow tie for some reason)

I also got a very sweet good morning kiss💏 from a very adorable redhead. 💓The tree was lit🎄, Bing Crosby was singing "White Christmas", I put a couple of logs on the fire 🔥and settled into "my" chair and Tess joined me to open our gifts to one another.🎁🎁

We didn't have room under the tree so we piled them on the sideboard where, if you look closely, there is a fireplace playing Christmas carols on the laptop even though we have a perfectly nice one across the room.

Apparently, we will be expecting an addition to our family around April.

That's right, I've gone insane and ordered a Virgil Tracy doll for Tess from BIG CHIEF STUDIOS AND SIDESHOW TOYS. There is a waiting list and he will probably arrive around Easter but I couldn't resist giving her this card in one of her packages.

She screamed with delight. 🙀

 I'll probably live to regret it. I can see it now. Virgil sitting in my chair at the table (in a booster seat),
wearing clothes I've grown out of, taking afternoon naps with her and sitting on the kitchen counter playing his tiny white piano while she sings and cooks for HIM !!! OH, WHAT HAVE I DONE !!!😱 Calm down, maybe she'll get bored with him like kids do with their toys. I'll probably find him in a box in the garage with her other discarded childhood puppets. No, not My Tess, she'll love him even if his thick hair falls out and he loses his action figure physique and gets termites. It's alright, I'll order a Tin-Tin doll for me and the four of us can have dinner together and watch movies and...What am I saying ??? It's a doll ! Then again, so was CHUCKY ! I'd better watch my back. I wonder if they have a Hood doll.....

Aha ! I'm ready for you Virgil. Bring it on !

I had a previous social obligation in London that afternoon so I got dressed and drove into the city.
Tess' plans for the day included cooking and joining the owners to feed apples🍎🍬🍪, peppermints and gingerbread cookies to the horses. She was also hoping to procure an unfertilized goose egg for the custard for our cake (She did !) 

                                                Our hostess graciously let Tess take this photo to show me the difference between one of those and a chicken egg.
                                            We're going to need some bigger cartons !!!😯

 I was back in time to shower, and join Tess for her afternoon nap (one of her beauty secrets. I don't want to know what the others are). The note next to the slow cooker said - Dinner at eight ? That sounded good to me as I climbed into the feather bed and went to Heaven.

We didn't wake up until after nine (Darn Tryptofan !) but nothing was ruined and we sat down at Tess' very pretty and festively set table.

She even made our hats. Hers is pink, mine is blue.

Tess doesn't believe in small crackers. She used empty baked bean tins instead ! Toffees, candy canes, sesame honey candy, barley candy, gum.


We  listened to a Bob Hope Christmas radio show and 40's music while we ate.

BOEUF  BOURGUIGNON






GRATIN DAUPHINOIS (Au Gratin Potatoes)







Later, we slow danced under the kissing ball,😉to the Michael Buble C😖hristmas album.

then moved to the sofa and had dessert.🍰🍨 ☕

Apparently we were celebrating Mery Cheestoes 145. (I'm kidding !!! She isn't laughing.)

It was really delicious !!! 😋😍 The pictures don't do it justice. Yellow cake, vanilla custard, sour cherry jam, whipped cream and buttercream frosting and pomegranate jewels (I've been instructed not to call them seeds) and sliced almonds.

We watched movies:

WHITE CHRISTMAS (1955) Because it starts at the end of WWII it met our viewing criteria.

The Bells of St.Mary's (1945)

Tess loves Ingrid Bergman and this movie made her want to become a nun. She changed her mind
(lucky for me !!!😅) when she found out that nuns weren't allowed to have ponies.

Christmas Dinner was delicious ,as you can see, but the next day we decided to postpone Boxing Day until New Year's Day (sacrilege, I know). It was a gastronomic overload so we took a break for a few days.

 On New Year's Eve I had another social obligation and I asked Tess to come with me but she begged off and I went with friends. In her defense, she doesn't like crowds, loud music, and she doesn't drink ,so I wasn't surprised when she said no, but I always like to ask her anyway. I called her at Midnight and woke her to say Happy New Year. The sound of her sweet,sleepy voice made me wish I had stayed at the cottage with her. When I got home she was asleep but she had left a dish with 12 grapes for me (does anyone else do this ? She says her family always did. It's supposed to be lucky for the coming year.).Of course, I ate them and went to bed.

New Year's Day started late in the afternoon after several mugs of Tess' hangover cure (for me,

not her) and a couple of bananas, a nice long bath and a massage. Now, I was ready for Fish and Chips, Waldorf salad,

Ginger Beer, and more cake. Tess compiled a playlist of our favorite Britcoms and we spent the rest of the evening on the sofa watching -

                                                                FAWLTY TOWERS

MR. BEAN

                                                                                              GRACE AND FAVOUR


ARE YOU BEING SERVED ?

                                                               THE                                                              GOOD LIFE

ONLY WHEN I LAUGH

                                                                 BLACKADDER

                                                                ALLO, ALLO


AND OF COURSE (though technically, not a Britcom) ,


 WARTIME FARM

(I also received bars of soap and an orange, (among other very nice things.) two gifts highly prized at Christmas during WWII. My Tess loves history.)

Spending the holidays here was a great idea, if  I do say so myself,  Tess and I could see ourselves living here someday. We were invited for cocktails the day after New Year's (we both had ginger beer) and the owners happened to mention that they might be getting ready to sell the farm and move closer to their son and his family. They are both in their 70's and although it is only twenty acres, the place is too much for the two of them and a hired man to take care of. 

I looked at Tess.

                                                                 Tess looked at me.

I'm not sure what will happen, but we've decided to take a few more days to think it over. 

We'll keep you posted.😉