It's Christmas Day -- Merry Christmas!

Last night was Christmas Eve and a variety of decorations were visible in the park. Lights, wreaths, garland, poinsettias, etc. can be seen when we are out and about walking Angel.

A couple of RVs have a lighted pattern projector with lights projecting on the sides. Another has a 5' pole with a string of lights in the center and other lights strung at angles from the top of the center pole diagonally to the ground creating an illusion of a tree of lights, especially pretty after the sun goes down. One RV side of us has colorful lights strung around their awning. One on the other side of us has wreaths, garland and candy canes.

Jesus is the reason for the season; we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas with Blessings to All!

My candy cane garden flag is hung on one of our bare walls. I slid the pocket opening through the rung of a slacks hanger. In the triangle portion below the hook of the hanger and above the flag, I hung an angel made of beads. It fits perfectly in that space. 

Candy Cane Garden Flag

Angel made of beads

I kept many of the santa ornaments I had.  When I had enough, one day I was going to create a Christmas Tree and decorate it using all Santa ornaments. For this year, I sorted through the the box of decorations and selected a few more to hang inside the RV.

My special snowman globe Sister ornament

Olde World Santa ornament with glitter accents hangs flat against the wall.

Hanging Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus ornaments

The clubhouse is festively decorated. The other morning when I went to do laundry, Santa's elves had clothes on the line. 

Clothes of Santa's helpers on the line in the laundry room

After we took the RV out to fill the onboard propane tank, which had last been filled April 1, I hung a santa windsock at the entrance to our screen room so we could see it blowing in the wind from inside the RV. 

Santa windsock is blowing in the wind through our screen room.

We added this lighted camper ornament this year. Because I was not sure if we would have enough power for our lighted decorations, we initially put the ones we decided to keep in storage.   

Lighted camper ornament

Christmas Eve...

There was a get together in the clubhouse. Everyone who attended took a wee snack, their own beverage, and a small gift to exchange.

Christmas tree in the clubhouse

Wee snacks

Close-up of Christmas Kabobs -- Mini brownies, marshmallow and
strawberry with swirls of chocolate syrup 

Beautiful bracelet, earrings and a polka-dot cooler
received in the gift exchange

Floor mat received in gift exchange

Christmas Dinner

Dinner was at 4PM. The jellied cranberry sauce went over so well for Thanksgiving, I decided to do that again. The other item I chose is a chocolate cake. So far, it looks like there will be a nice turn out with a good variety of food choices, i.e. turkey, ham, scalloped potatoes, desserts, and much more.

A glimpse of the food table...

Other Things...

Besides enjoying many Christmas shows on television, including the Disney Christmas earlier today, December has held a variety of activities.

Much Needed Bath

December 6th our baby, the RV, that is, got a bath! What a difference it made! We had cleaned the front of it when we were at Blue Mesa Ranch near Gunnison, Colorado. During that cleaning, we had to remove a lot of bugs we had picked up in our travels. This time it was the humidity here in Florida creating a lot of mildew spots. The maintenance man here at the park did a real fine job.

After baby's bath...

The Bear

You heard right. We learned one morning that a bear had visited the park. Bears like to feed on the berries found on some of the palm trees.  He left a pile of evidence along the south drive, including  all of the berries he had eaten from the palm trees. The south drive is the one I refer to as the "shady lane" because one side has a lot of trees and brush along a fence row making it somewhat shady.

We are told that bears do wander into parts of the city of Ocala. They are removed to other parts of the National Forest where the bears and people are safe. Apparently, some are dropped not far from here where they eventually make their way back into the National Forest.


Trimming the Tree...

One morning while walking Angel, we heard the sound of a chain saw. A tree trimmer was high in the pines trimming out a couple of dead limbs. One of the larger dead limbs had already been hoisted to the ground.  

Tree trimmer in the Pine Tree

Dead branch already lowered to the ground

Things Change

While reading and catching up on some other blogs, we have learned that the area outside of Ehrenberg that we left in January of this year (2017) had a visit from a group of Rangers, four or five. Their message to the boondockers was that they are now enforcing the two-week rule. They came in to the area to check license plates and to let the people know if they are still there at the end of two weeks, they will issue tickets to people violating the two-week stay rule.

In case you are wondering whether they have options, yes, they do. It is still free, but technically, they will have to move 25 miles away every two weeks or to a different national forest, or other BLM land.

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Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner and What to Fix...Or Not!

Thanksgiving Day was celebrated with others in the park where we are staying. The park owners cooked a turkey and a ham. People attending signed up to take a side dish or a dessert. There was a good variety of food. A minimum of thirty people  attended. With another table set up on the other side of the food table and still others coming in and out who filled plates to take back to their units, the number attending was probably closer to forty.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Jellied Cranberry Sauce and Broccoli Salad

Dressing and Gravy

Only part of the desserts

What to Make for a Potluck Dinner? 

That is always a big decision! Many of the dishes I thought about taking, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, you name it..., were already on the list, so I decided to take Jellied Cranberry Sauce. I bought four cans, chilled them in the refrigerator, then slid them out of the can into a square pyrex dish and sliced each of them into seven slices. We brought only five slices home with us. I love having leftovers to serve with other meals.

Earlier in the month while sorting through a box of recipes equivalent to the size of two plastic shoe boxes, I found a favorite old family recipe for marinated carrots. There were not many vegetables on the dinner list. Since I knew it had a tasty sweet and sour combination and should go well with other fixin's for a big dinner, I decided to take a chance and fix it, knowing full well I might end up bringing the entire dish back home.

Marinated Carrots (with slices of Onion and Green Pepper)

Marinated carrots

A few people tried it, but... I did end up bringing most of the dish back home. These carrots, because they were marinated, kept well in the refrigerator, and tasted wonderful as a side for nearly every entree I cooked. Voila! All of the people who did not like carrots actually did me a favor because it left more for me and John to eat!

Below is the original recipe (not doubled) if you would like to try it. I actually doubled it when I made it in order to have a large dish. Thanksgiving Dinner was at 4PM on Thursday. I made it on Wednesday forenoon, and left it to set in the refrigerator to marinate the rest of the day and all day on Thanksgiving until the 4PM dinner. I stirred it a minimum of three times: Wednesday evening before going to bed, Thursday forenoon, and again before serving it. (Note: I tasted a carrot Wednesday evening before going to bed; and it tasted terrible because it had not set long enough. By Thursday forenoon, it was so much better, and by the time we were ready to leave for the dinner, the taste was to die for, the best marinated carrots I had ever made.

MARINATED CARROTS
(An old family favorite)

2 pounds carrots, cleaned and sliced
Boil with 1 teaspoon salt until tender.
Drain.

Bring the following to a good boil:
1 10 1/2 ounce can of tomato soup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 cup oil (I used olive oil)

Combine with the cooked/drained carrots:
1 large onion - I slice it somewhat thin horizontally and quarter it.
1 green pepper - I cut it in half and slice it somewhat thin vertically from each side, cutting slices in half again.

Pour hot dressing mixture over carrot mixture.
Stir to coat all carrots, onions, and peppers.
Let set 26-30 hours to marinate. When cool, put in refrigerator.

What should I take to the next potluck?

I would appreciate your suggestions on what to take to the Christmas potluck dinner. Leave your comments in the comments section below. Thanks.

Thanks for visiting.

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