Category: Misc.

Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.

Many other varying cultural traditions and experiences are also associated with Christmas Eve around the world, including the gathering of family and friends, the singing of Christmas carols, the illumination and enjoyment of Christmas lights, trees, and other decorations, the wrapping, exchange and opening of gifts, and general preparation for Christmas Day. Legendary Christmas gift-bearing figures including Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and Saint Nicholas are also often said to depart for their annual journey to deliver presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve.

Happy Christmas Eve to you and yours and may your holidays be happy and bright and safe!

 

 

West Florida Electric Cooperative posted an interesting piece of information a few weeks ago.

Yard inflatables range from simple to extravagant. Operating some inflatables can be expensive. Larger ones consume anywhere from 150 watts per hour to as much as 200 watts per hour.They suggest to instead decorate with solid (electricity free) decorations, illuminated by a small yard spotlight. Still festive, and much more energy efficent.

As always here is a little something to help remind you about safety for our pets. Thanks Alaqua animal refuge for this great visual. Enjoy the holiday with your pet by keeping them safe. Remember the following items can be toxic and harmful to your pets, as well as hazardous(all year not just at Christmas). It’s also important for your pet’s health and stress level to maintain their normal routine.

~chocolate, grapes, raisins, alcohol, salt, blue cheese, nuts, garlic/onion, bones, holly, mistletoe, poinsettias, ivy, lilies, tree water, tinsel, electric cords, ornaments, medications, and gifts.

Started by Christian Knoll (pictured below), Ecosia is a green search engine. 80% of the revenue generated by every search is donated to tree planting projects. It is easy to use and produces relevant responses similar to Google Chrome or Firefox. But this one helps plant trees which this area really needs since Hurricane Michael came through. They also have a cute little feature that displays how many trees your searches have planted! To learn more, visit http://ecosia.org 

Thanks to noahs.notions on Instagram for this great information~

December 9th is Christmas Card Day. It has always been observed on the 9th and this year it falls on a Monday. Sir Henry Cole is the man credited with coming up with the concept for a commercial Christmas card. The first card was created in 1843 and had a picture of a family celebrating Christmas together with the words A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year To you. In 1915 Hallmark published it’s first Christmas card. They adopted the the format of 4 inches wide, 6 inches high, and folded once.

Americans purchase about 1.6 billion Chrismas cards each year. How about you? Are you going to mail, email, message, text, call, or skip Christmas cards this year?

 

December has 31 days and is the 12th month of the year and the last month of the year. It is the first month of winter. Of course Christmas is in December but did you know National cookie day is the 4th? Also celebrated is cocoa, pie, cupcakes, cotton candy, and chocolate brownies days. We have Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on the 7th and St. Lucie’s Day on the 13th. Boxing Day and Hanukkah and Kwanza, oh my! If you haven’t already be sure to prepare your garden. Cut down on watering by half until active growth resumes in the spring. Hold off on fertilizing as well. Did you know the first artificial Christmas tree was made in Germany?

December’s birth flowers are holly and paperwhite. The traditional birthstone is turquoise. A few folklore: ~Thunder in December presages fine weather,. ~ Frost on the shortest day is said to indicate a severe winter. ~ December cold, with snow, brings rye everywhere. 

November is adopt a senior pet month, a month dedicated to helping older pets find loving forever homes. Shelters and rescues across the country hope those looking to adopt a new furry friend will consider adding a senior pet to the family. Senior pets tend to spend the largest time in shelters before finding forever homes and that is if they ever do find a home. A few reasons to adopt a senior pet instead of a puppy are ~they are normally calmer and less energetic, ~it is easier to teach them new tricks, ~they are low key which make them great for families with young children.

 

 

The holiday feast dates back to 1621. Did you know that turkey wasn’t even served at the first Thanksgiving ~ and that the Pilgrims didn’t use forks because they weren’t invented yet? Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, not the eagle. Americans eat 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving. It didn’t become a national holiday until 1863. Thanksgiving is also the reason for TV dinners. In 1953 Swanson had so much extra turkey a salesman told them they should add sides and put them in a tray with aluminum foil. Thanksgiving has lots of fun facts.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your families!