About 33 million real Christmas trees were purchased in the United States and cost, on average, about 35.30 U.S. dollars in 2012

Featured person—one of the staff at Morse Museum—here in the great gift shop http://www.morsemuseum.org/

Most of my pictures today are from Winter Park, where I spent most of my Saturday. This morning I finished my shopping for dinner on Friday….drop off some mores sales to the post office and generally ran all over =====but I AM DONE….Hip hip hurray.

In a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos in October 2011 the following results were obtained:

83% agreed that Christmas is a about spending time with family and friends
62% agreed that Christmas is a time when we should be generous to people less fortunate than ourselves.
41% agreed that Christmas is a about celebrating that God loves humanity. 24% disagreed with this.
40% said Christmas is a good excuse for taking time off and doesn’t really have any meaning today but 34 % disagreed with this.

http://www.eauk.org/culture/statistics/christmas-facts-and-quotes.cfm

DragonLaire $7.00 USD

ANOTHER GREAT CHRISTMAS IDEA FROM PUBLIX

Chocolate Dipped Matzo Crackers

A quick recipe for that last minute gift–someone you forgot or to take with you to the office or when you call on friends. Or to have ready for unexpected visitors:

Line a baking sheet with matzo crackers and cover with chocolate chips

Heat in 300 degree oven

until the chocolate melts

then spread with a spatula

sprinkle with sea salt, if desired

Let the chocolate cool to room temperature to harden

Break into bite size pieces

Place in small gift bags.

http://www.publix.com/

Slightly more than half of the public (54%) says they plan to attend religious services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year. By comparison, about one-third of the public (36%) says that they attend religious services in a typical week.

http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/18/celebrating-christmas-and-the-holidays-then-and-now/

ARRIVAS HOUSE Historic St. Augustine Vintage Brochure

DragonLaire $6.90 USD

ANOTHER POSSIBLE ADVENTUE:

SWANNEE RIVER WILDERNESS TRAIL

Unique experience from first timer to the traditional outdoor enthusiast.

Trail is 170 miles from White Springs in the north to the Gulf of Mexico.

Activities: canoeing, camping, boating, hiking, biking, birding and horseback riding.

Spirit of Suwannee Music Park (north Live Oak)

Suwannee River State Park (Ellaville, on a bluff overlooking two rivers)

Advent Christian Village (Dowling Park)

Lafayette Blue Springs State Park (Mayo)

Convict Springs, Suwannee River Rendezvous (Mayo)

Town of Branford

Fanning Springs State Park

Town of Suwannee

www.suwanneeriver.com

For park reservations: www.reserveamerica.com

The holiday season is prime time for retailers. December 2010 saw a total of $27.2 billion in sales. This was a 44 percent increase in sales over November 2010.

http://statistics.about.com/od/Applications/a/Christmas-Statistics.htm

ELEPHANT Metalic CANDLE Holders Two Double

DragonLaire $199.50 USD

Ron opens up about filming in France:

http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/outlander-producer-ron-d-moore-7011425

It is estimated £22bn is spent by UK households at Christmas, with the average household spending £835. Of this, £161 is thought to go on food and drink and the rest on gifts (£634) , cards, trees and decorations (£40). Source: YouGov

http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/outlander-producer-ron-d-moore-7011425

BEAD NECKLACE Green with Multi-color Highlights 17" Large

DragonLaire $19.78 USD

Honorable Mention:

Domestique Furnishings & Decor

Furniture Store · Home Décor

763 W Montrose St

Clermont, Florida

(407) 592-2881

http://www.domestiquefurnishings

The most votes for the Christmas song our respondents wanted to NEVER hear again went to Cliff Richard’s ‘Mistletoe & Wine’. The older the respondent, the more familiar they clearly were with this classic, as they wanted it off the airwaves more than the younger generations. Men were more inclined to vote for Cliff than women, while for 16-34-year-olds all they wanted for Christmas, was for Mariah Carey’s festive hit to stop playing.

http://www.vansonbourne.com/news/our-blog/christmas/twelve-stats-christmas/

STAR TREK Beamed hope into American Culture 9/7/1991 Orlando Paper Article on

I THOUGHT I’d do another WHATEVER day and see where the insanity that hides in my mind takes me—be sure to leave bread crumbs so you can find your way back.

18% of UK shoppers stated that they did more Christmas shopping online than they had originally planned.

http://www.veinteractive.com/blog/10-christmas-stats-for-2015/

Why do they call it Dutch Apple Pie?

Wikipedia says: Traditional Dutch apple pie comes in two varieties, a crumb (appelkruimeltaart) and a lattice (appeltaart) style pie. Both recipes are distinct in that they typically call for flavourings of cinnamon and lemon juice to be added and differ in texture, not taste.^[8] Dutch apple pies may include ingredients such as full-cream butter, raisins and almond paste, in addition to ingredients such as apples and sugar, which they have in common with other recipes.^[9]

Ok so now we know what it is, but why the name? Well there’s this …Dutch apple pies—the type usually decorated with a lattice of pastry on top—have also been around for centuries. A recipe for apple pie very similar to today’s recipes appeared in a Dutch cookbook in 1514.

In fact the idea that apple pie is American is a fallacy—The first written apple pie recipe goes back to 1381 in England; it was printed by Geoffrey Chaucer and included apples, figs, raisins, pears and a pastry shell (but no sugar). …That’s over 200 years before the first British colony (184 years for Spanish colonies) was founded in the US.

So maybe American as Apple Pie isn’t such a good comparison after all.

Shoppers around the country say they are planning to spend an average of $882 for gifts this holiday season, up from $861 last year according to the 31st annual survey on holiday spending from the American Research Group, Inc. Planned gift spending for 2015 is $23 above spending in 2007 and $25 below spending in 2006.

http://americanresearchgroup.com/holiday/

WHY IS Sex on the Beach (not the drink the actual activity) used in movies and books as an ultimate experience?

First is the fact that isolated beaches are becoming harder and harder to find. Huffington give you it’s number one choice (for secluded not what you might be planning on doing there):

Bowman Beach, Florida of Sanibel Island’s linen-white sand beaches. One of the problems with beaches on Sanibel are the shells. It renowned for it’s great abundance of shells—they’re everywhere which might leave you with some impressions that hurt and might even break the mood.

Then there’s the sand….have you ever gotten it in your shoe and tried to walk…and think of that same substance in more private places and yeah OUCH—then combine that with the stinging qualities of salt water (which doesn’t rule out fresh water beaches….but you still got the sand honey.)!!!!

Then there is the pollution—-Polluted water isn’t the only health threat for Southern California beachgoers: The sand at some of the region’s most popular beaches can be laced with bacteria even when the water is clean.

A UCLA study…shows that, although water bacteria levels may meet state health standards, sand acts as an incubator in which microbes can flourish …. “Even on days when the water is very clean, bacteria is still in the sand for a week. and trust me California isn’t the only place with this problem.

I won’t even go into (oops sorry) the creepy creatures, birds and so on that can also dampen that MOMENT.

So guys and gals let’s skip the beach for that romantic interlude and your private parts will thank you.

Visiting friends and family is the single biggest reason Americans travel during the holidays. Visits account for…43 percent of long-distance trips during Christmas

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/america_on_the_go/us_holiday_travel/html/entire.html

WHAT DOES I MEAN when the ingredients label says natural flavors?

According CNN: In the Environmental Working Group‘s Food Scores database of over 80,000 foods, “natural flavor” is the fourth most common ingredient listed on labels. The only ingredients that outrank it: salt, water and sugar. Ok

Now it’s getting scary

While Wikipedia tell us:

Natural flavoring substances

Flavoring substances obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical, microbiological or enzymatic processes. They can be either used in their natural state or processed for human consumption, but cannot contain any nature-identical or artificial flavoring substances

So that’s about as clear as natural, or not, mud.

And Forbes has the best definition but no relief for concerns According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (Title 21), the term natural flavor essentially has an edible source (i.e. animals and vegetables). Artificial flavors, on the other hand, have an inedible source, which means you can be eating anything from petroleum to paper pulp that are processed to create the chemicals of flavorings. For example, Japanese researcher Mayu Yamamoto discovered a way to extract vanillin (the compound responsible for the smell and flavor of vanilla) from cow poop in 2006, as reported by the Business Insider.

Oh please—so Apples and the pies they’re made of are really immigrants. Sex on the beach is better enjoyed at bars and no body has any idea what a natural flavor is or for that matter isn’t.

The growth in Christmas spending in the UK was higher than any other European country, and was only surpassed by the U.S., which experienced Christmas retail growth of 2.9% (to reach £374.461 bn).

http://www.retailresearch.org/shoppingforxmas.php