Sunday, 24 December 2023

Sunday Seven


What I got up to this week --

RUDELY AWAKENED: by the fire alarm one night at midnight. Luckily, it turned out to be a false alarm but I still had to schlep down 11 flights of stairs. My calves are stiff now from that unaccustomed exertion and I've got a plantar fasciitis flare-up in my right heel.

EXCHANGED: lovely Christmas emails and art photos with an old friend from Winnipeg, who in retirement has become an accomplished artist and also does fused glass work.

WATCHED: the finale of Holiday Baking Championship on the Food Network. I follow this show faithfully because I like the fun judges and host. The winner, a bakery owner named Ashley, was undeniably the best cake designer/decorator among the finalists, so it was a well-deserved win!


ENJOYED HOSTING: my holiday wine 'n cheese 'n cookies get-together. Everyone seemed to have a good time. One guest brought a delicious light cheesecake as well for us to feast on. Another guest gave me a beautiful decorative "Charlie Brown tree" in a seasonal mug. Here's a photo of it, preceded by a shot of my cookie tray which someone in last week's comments requested to see. Clockwise: mince tarts, fruitcake cookies, whipped shortbread, oatmeal raisin cookies, and soft ginger cookies.


DISTRIBUTED: to various friends, my Christmas goodies tins with the same selection of homemade cookies. They were well received, so that was nice.

WORTH THE WAIT: Finally saw the Barbie movie, which has just now started streaming. An absolutely brilliant, blistering satire of gender relations, Mattel and our society. LOVED IT!

LOL OF THE WEEK: For some reason, this really tickled my funny bone --


33 comments:

  1. I always trust your judgment, so I will finally deign to see Barbie. If I had been at your holiday wine and cheese I would have enjoyed one of those cookie trays as my very own. That's my idea of heaven. The Santa's Helper’s mug is adorable. Is the sprig actually planted in it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Merry Christmas, A fine looking boat of Vikings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds as if the holiday season has got off to a good start for you Debra apart from the damaged caused to your right heel re: the false alarm.
    Care to share your whipped shortbread recipe sometime - it sounds good.
    Continue to enjoy yourself over the coming few days, and thank you for being such a very loyal blogging friend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cookies look great! We received a lovely tray of cookies recently. So appreciated!

    Merry Christmas, Debra!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the tree in the mug. What a wonderful gift.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love those Vikings. Glad you had a good week. Have a lovely Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Moving with Mitchell -- No, there's no soil in the mug. I believe the greenery is stuck into one of those green foam blocks that florists use.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the Charlie Brown tree 🎄!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I watched the Barbie movie last night and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!
    Your cookies look yummy! Well done!
    Happy Christmas, Debra!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh my God your cookie platter looks delicious too and I'm dying to try them fruit cake cookies. Maybe a cookie swap in the future sometime! And I can't blame you about that fire alarm something like that in the middle of the night's enough to scare the s*** out of you.

    And a happy Christmas Eve to you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I saw Barbie and highly endorse it. The satiric intent is well-taken, but I endorse it visually. There's no computer animation involved. Barbieland is made-up of old-fashioned sets, just like the technicolor movies of the 1940s. The director Greta Gerwig wanted the artificiality to be as tactile as possible since, after all, toys are like that.

    I love that the bake-off winner has tattoos. I dare say she'd be out of place in Barbieland.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I hope the ginger cookies aren't too soft. I wouldn't want them breaking up when you ship me the box of them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ha,ha, those vikings are great. I want to see the Barbie movie. I hope your heel is getting better. Merry Christmas Debra, and very best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Those cookies look wonderful! And your party sounds equally wonderful. Happy Holidays to you my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Enjoying your Sunday Seven. Also loved the Canadian Santa post from yesterday. Merry Christmas
    Jayne from Ontario (alas not a hipster).

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am not sure I have read one negative review of the Barbie movie from all corners of the blogosphere. Am I in that much of a bubble?

    It sucks about the plantar fasciitis flare up.

    ReplyDelete
  17. @ Anonymous (Jayne) -- Welcome to my blog and thanks for leaving a comment!

    ReplyDelete
  18. @ Old Lurker -- Barbie may have been well received in the blogosphere (at least the progressive little corner of it that we're in) but I know that on YouTube there's a lot of misogynistic ranting by some fascist incel extremist woman-hating types.

    ReplyDelete
  19. that tree is seriously cute! now i will have to watch the barbie movie. my kids keep telling me to watch it and i have resisted but now i will cave in! have a wonderful xmas debra!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Another good week. Although I was surprised that it's Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sounds like you've had a very eventful week in the lead-up to Xmas. Love the Vikings' selfie -- a very handsome and approachable looking bunch of raiders, especially the middle front guy... ROWRRRRR!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Stopping in to wish you a very happy Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy Christmas to you!
    I am glad you are here and part of the blogging community and being my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Vikings selfie looks so cool

    ReplyDelete
  25. Good looking cookies & Vikings, too. And yes, Barbie is fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  26. That would a quick tree to set up. Merry Christmas! He gnomes if you've been bad or good.

    ReplyDelete
  27. As far back as I can see, all blue eyes in the Viking if-selfie. Season's greetings, Debra.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The Vikings look so happy! I still don't trust 'em, but they did a good selfie.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I finally saw Barbie, too, and really liked it. Greata Gerwig is very talented. The Charlie Brown tree in the mug is cute. Your cookies look delicious. Years ago the X man and I lived on the 11th floor of an apartment building where kids set off the fire alarms regularly. We went down those stairs many times. It got old, especially since we were carrying a one-year-old baby with us. Sorry about your plantar fasciitis. You and Mitchell should hobble around together.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  30. Yes, what would have been if the Vikings had these posibilities....I think the world would not exist anymore....
    But let´s hope that it will be getting better....
    Nice X-mas post and so many cookies....
    All the best and a good time
    Violetta

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a fun and full week you have had!
    Cheers,
    E

    ReplyDelete
  32. Eleven flights of stairs after being rudely awakened? I think more than my calves would hurt! YIKES.
    Your cookies look so good--another talent that you have. I love the Charlie Brown Tree; what a sweet gift!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Fun post. Love all things Vikings.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are welcomed and appreciated!

However, comment moderation is on and no comments will be published from trolls, haters, bots or spammers.