A friend of mine posted this picture and information.

The 25-foot-tall Christmas tree made of tumbleweeds, a tradition that has been taking place in Chandler since 1957. City workers spent months collecting nearly 1,000 tumbleweeds to adorn a wire frame shaped like a tree. From there, the tumbleweeds were sprayed with 25 gallons of white paint and 20 gallons of flame retardant, then dusted with 65 pounds of glitter. They say Chandler's Tumbleweed Tree was the brainchild of Earle Barnum.

 For those of you who are not from Arizona this is what a tumbleweed looks like

Merry Christmas

 

Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona

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Did you know?

                                                                   Mistletoe

Did you know that Mistletoe is a parasite – it steals water and nutrients from trees.

The custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. The earliest recorded date mentioning kissing under the mistletoe is in 1784 in a musical. There was kissing under the mistletoe in the illustrations in the first book version of “A Christmas Carol” published in 1843, and this might have helped to popularize kissing under the mistletoe.

The name mistletoe comes from two Anglo Saxon words “Mistel” (which means dung) and “tan” (which means) twig or stick! So you could translate Mistletoe as ‘poo on a stick’!!!! No exactly romantic is it.

A little bit of Christmas at my house

 

He is a favorite....

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Recipe for two

                        Ham and Spinach Two-Cheese pasta

Ingredients

2/3 cup penne pasta

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 cup shopped onions

1 tbl. flour

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup shredded Italian-blend cheese

2 tbl. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 5 0z. pkg. baby spinach

2 ounces cubed cookded ham

Preheat oven to 400 . In a medium saucepan cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

In a med. size pan heat oil over med. heat. Add onions, cook about 5 min or until tender. Stir in flour, dry mustard and pepper and cook and stir for 1 min. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk and cook till thickened. Stir in the shredded  cheese and 1 tbs. of the Parmesan cheese until melted. Gently stir in the pasta, spinach and ham.

Divide the mixture between two ungreased 10 oz. ramekins. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese and bake uncovered about 10 min. or until tops are browned.

Served with chilled pears 

Our first Lady 3

 Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson

This was such a odd story as Martha's mother died just 3 days after her birth and was raised by two stepmothers one of which was a mixed black slave whom her father married.

She herself married at 18 years old but her husband died just 1 year and 10 months after their wedding. She gave birth to one son and inherited the Forest Plantation.

At 23 years old she met and married Thomas Jefferson who was at the time a lawyer and a member of the House of Burgesses for Albemarle County at the forest plantation but moved to what would come to be known as Monticello.

The following is from this web site http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3

Martha Jefferson's health began to rapidly deteriorate, the result likely of having given birth to seven children in less than fourteen years. The British invasion of Virginia under Lord Cornwallis in 1781 forced her to flee Monticello for their more isolated Bedford County home " Poplar Forest , and it weakened her 16-month old daughter Lucy, who died weeks later. Jefferson shortly thereafter resigned his position as governor and promised his wife that he would refuse any more political posts. Thus Jefferson turned down an important diplomatic mission to Europe. Her final pregnancy proved more burdensome than her marital separations; she died four months after childbirth. 

Martha Jefferson, however, was also to leave an unwitting legacy to her husband on two accounts. With the death of her father in 1772, Martha Jefferson inherited substantial property, including approximately 11,000 acres of land ( retaining 5,000 ) and slaves, including her half-siblings. By law, his wife's property became his own upon marriage, and so Jefferson came into ownership of his slave half sisters-in-law Thenia, Critta and Sally and brothers-in-law Robert and James Hemings. 

Since they were one-quarter African-American and three-quarters white and also related by blood to Martha Jefferson, the five Wayles-Hemings children occupied a unique role within the Jefferson family. None were called " slaves, " but always referred to as " servants. " They worked in the most personal and private servantile roles at Monticello. In 1790, Robert Hemings bought his freedom and joined his wife and daughter in Richmond, where they worked for a doctor. James Hemings was particularly close to Jefferson, working as his personal aide or " body servant, " traveling with him to Philadelphia during the Second Continental Congress and later to Europe. While in Paris, James Hemings studied the culinary French arts; upon returning to Virginia, he trained his younger brother Peter to oversee the detailed French cooking that Jefferson now insisted on serving. Jefferson gave James Hemings his freedom. Critta Hemings helped to raise her half-nieces Patsy and Polly. Thenia Hemings was the only one of Martha Jefferson's half-siblings who was sold as a slave - to family friend and future President James Monroe.

Thomas Jefferson never married again and while President the wife of his highest-ranking Cabinet member, Dolley Madison served as the public hostess.

There were no known pictures of Martha Jefferson and only a painted portrait done 183 years after her death based on descriptions of her.

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Tidbits

 I buy freezer bags and have figured how to save them and re-use them. Just put what you are freezing in a cheaper container and then put it all in the bag.

Then remove it from the bag and thaw and re-use the bag for another item.

Rooster cup

 Recently I saw this picture 

of this rooster coffee cup on my fellowblogger  and told her I too have a rooster coffee cup and I would post a picture of it for her so here it is.....

It happens to be my favorite:)

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Our first lady 2 (Please note I had originally posted that Lucy Ware Webb Hayes was the 2nd first lady but she was our 20th!!)

 ABIGAIL SMITH ADAMS

When just 15 years old Abigail met John Adams and although her father approved of the match, her mother was appalled that her daughter would marry a country lawyer whose manner still reeked of the farm, but eventually she gave in. The couple married on October 25, 1764, in the Smiths' home in Weymouth. Smith, Abigail's father, presided over the marriage of John Adams and his daughter. After the reception, the couple mounted a single horse and rode off to their new home, the small cottage and farm John had inherited from his father in Braintree, Massachusetts.^[3] Later they moved to Boston, where his law practice expanded. The couple welcomed their first child nine months into their marriage.

In 12 years, she gave birth to six children:

• Abigail ("Nabby"; 1765–1813)
• John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) 
• Grace Susanna ("Susanna", nicknamed "Suky")^[10] (1768–1770)
• Charles (1770–1800)
• Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832)
• Elizabeth (stillborn in 1777)^[11]

Yes she was the mother of John Quincy Adams our 6th president.

John Adams was inaugurated as the second President of the United States on March 4, 1797, in Philadelphia. Abigail was not present at her husband's inauguration as she was tending to his dying mother.^] When John was elected President of the United States, Abigail continued a formal pattern of entertaining. She held a large dinner each week, made frequent public appearances, and provided for entertainment for the city of Philadelphia each Fourth of July.

She took an active role in politics and policy, unlike the quiet presence of Martha Washington. She was so politically active, her political opponents came to refer to her as "Mrs. President". As John's confidant, Abigail was often well informed on issues facing her husband's administration, at times including details of current events not yet known to the public in letters to her sister Mary and her son John Quincy. Some people used Abigail to contact the president. At times Abigail planted favorable stories about her husband in the press. Abigail remained a staunch supporter of her husband's political career, supporting his policies, such as passing the Alien and Sedition Acts.

With the relocation of the capital to Washington, D.C., in 1800, she became the first First Lady to reside at the White House, or President's House as it was then known. Adams moved into the White House in November 1800, living there for only the last four months of her husband's term.

Although she followed her son's political career earnestly she did not live to see him become the 6th President. She died in her home on October 28, 1818, of typhoid fever. She is buried beside her husband and near their son John Quincy in a crypt located in the United First Parish Church (also known as the "Church of the Presidents") in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was 73 years old, exactly two weeks shy of her 74th birthday. Her last words were, "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."

A strange finding

 

These beautiful stained glass windows were found behind a brink wall when the people went to do some work on their house. They saved them and displayed them where all could see. What a find! Reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Voted

 Hubby and I voted by absentee. Here is a web site where you can check to see if your mail in has been counted.

https://recorder.maricopa.gov/.../earlyvotingballotstatus...

I checked ours and the signatures have been verified and counted😀

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Our First Lady #2

 Lucy first met Rutherford B. Hayes at Ohio Wesleyan University. At the time, Lucy was fourteen years old and Rutherford was twenty-three a 15 year age difference. Rutherford's mother was hopeful that the two would find a connection, but at this point Rutherford considered Lucy "not quite old enough to fall in love with."

Rutherford and Lucy Hayes on their wedding day: December 30, 1852.

In 1850, Rutherford's older sister Fanny Platt encouraged him to visit with Lucy again. That summer Lucy was 19, and she and Rutherford were members of the same wedding party. Rutherford was so taken with Lucy that he gave her the prize (a gold ring) that he had found in the wedding cake.

In 1851, Rutherford wrote in his diary, "I guess I am a great deal in love with L(ucy). ... Her low sweet voice ... her soft rich eyes." Rutherford also praised her intelligence and character, "She sees at a glance what others study upon, but will not, perhaps study what she is unable to see at a flash. She is a genuine woman, right from instinct and impulse rather than judgment and reflection."

After the couple became engaged, Lucy returned the wedding cake ring to Rutherford. He wore that ring for the rest of his life.

It was a small wedding that took place in Lucy's mothers home with only a small group of people and there was nothing said about the dress she was wearing but some interesting tidbits is that Lucy was the first Presidential wife that was called "the first Lady" Lucy Hayes was the first wife of a President to be widely referred to as the First Lady by the press, when Mary Clement Ammes referred to the "First Lady" in a newspaper column about the inauguration. Advances in printing technology meant that a wide audience saw sketches of the new First Lady from the 1877 inauguration.

At this time it was not the custom for a president's wife to have a staff of social assistants and, unlike some previous First Ladies, Lucy had no adult daughters to help shoulder the workload. Lucy depended on nieces, cousins, and daughters of friends to help with social events, and these young ladies also helped enliven the Hayes White house. Also unusual for the time, she had a college degree and bore 8 Children. 

 Her portrait  

The most significant change made to the White House during Hayes' term were the installation of bathrooms with running water and the addition of a crude wall telephone. Lucy was the first First Lady to use a typewriter, a telephone, and a phonograph while in office, and was also the first to enjoy a permanent system of running water in the White House.

Lucy preferred to enlarge the greenhouse conservatories rather than to undertake extensive redecoration of the White House. The billiard-room, which connected the house with the conservatories, was converted into an attractive greenhouse and the billiard table consigned to the basement. Shuttered windows in the State Dining Room could be opened for dinner guests to look into the conservatories. Some Americans considered the billiard table as either a gambling device or a rich man's toy, and the Hayes were glad to get it out of sight.

Lucy preceded her husband in death in 1889 at 57 years.

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Tiger Stipes

 Did you know that a tiger has stripes under its fur and on it's skin?

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Our first Ladies 1

 I have started a little study on our first ladies and will share them with you as I go:) Please note that I am copying and pasting so that is why all the different fonts:)

                        Martha Parke (Custis) Washington 1756-1773

Wedding picture

Mrs. Washington's descendants recorded that she wore a gown of yellow silk damask with a petticoat of cream silk highlighted with interwoven silver threads. The sample they have in the museum looks nothing like this gown. Note: the two young children in the picture are hers from a previous marriage. 

Martha Washington was born Martha Dandridge on June 2, 1731, in New Kent County, Virginia, on the Chestnut Grove plantation. She was raised and educated with an emphasis on skills seen as integral to running a household, though also taught reading, writing and mathematics.

Marriage and Estate

At 18 years old, Martha wed Daniel Parke Custis, a rich plantation owner, in 1749. The couple would have four children, though only two, Jack and Patsy, lived past childhood. Custis himself died in the summer of 1757, and Martha inherited his 15,000-acre estate. 

Meeting George Washington

She later met Colonel George Washington at a Williamsburg, Virginia cotillion, and the two wed in 1759. Martha and her two children moved to Washington's Mount Vernon, Virginia plantation, where the family became known for their social events and upscale lifestyle, though they suffered financial setbacks as well.

By 1775, Washington had become the leader of U.S. forces in the Revolutionary War, and Martha later took up residence with him at his encampments for extended periods of time.

She experienced tremendous loss with the deaths of her two surviving children: Patsy died from epilepsy during her teens and Jack succumbed to "camp fever" while enlisted as a soldier. She also dealt with the complication of slaves from those of her father's to those of her husbands which George inherited when he married her. In his July 1790 will, written a year after he became President of the United States in April 1789 and nine years before his death in December 1799, George Washington left directions for the emancipation, after Martha Washington's death, of all the slaves that he owned.  Of the 318 slaves at Mount Vernon in 1799, fewer than half, 123 individuals, belonged to George Washington. His will stipulated that his slaves were not to be freed until Martha's death because of his desire to preserve the families of those who had intermarried with Martha's dower slaves. In accordance with state law, Washington stipulated in his will that elderly slaves or those who were too sick to work were to be supported throughout their lives by his estate. Children without parents, or those whose families were too poor or indifferent to see to their education, were to be bound out to masters and mistresses who would teach them reading, writing, and a useful trade, until they were ultimately freed at the age of 25.

Two and a half years after the death of her husband, Martha died on May 22, 1802 at the age of 70.

Following her death, Martha was interred in George Washington's tomb vault at Mount Vernon. In 1831, the surviving executors of Washington's estate removed the bodies of George and Martha Washington and those of other members of the family from the old vault to a similar structure within the present enclosure at Mount Vernon.

Tidbits

 I love scented candles but have never been comfortable lighting one and leaving the room so I have started using plug in's like these...

I have several of these in different rooms. You add your oil to the little paper fill.

And this is a plug in you buy and replace.

And my favorite thing is to use potpourri and add essential oil. Here is one in the entry way with a spicy oil

 and one in the master bath with  Eucalyptus oil 

and my very favorite is this one in the half  bath with a woodsy smell

and just across the hall way is this one with pine oil

and last but not least is this cutie lamp plug in my kitchen that you add wax melts to.

Hope it gave you some ideas to freshen up things at your house😉

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Tidbits

Here is a helpful chart for reducing recipes...

Easy and delicious

                                       Tenderloin steak and creamy rice pilaf

2 beef tenderloin steaks

Garlic powder

3 tbl. Kraft Italian dressing or sun dried tomato vinaigrette dressing

3/4 cup (one) chopped zucchini

1 small carrot, shredded

1 cup instant white rice, uncooked

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp. grey poupon Dijon mustard

1 tbs butter

Pound steak so they are even in thickness and sprinkle with garlic powder

Cook steaks in the 3 tbs. dressing in skillet on medium high heat 10 to 13 min. or until medium  doneness, turning after 5 min.

Meanwhile, cook vegetable in butter in large saucepan until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients., Bring to a boil; cover. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 min. 

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Had a little micro burst in our back yard a few nights ago during a rainstorm....

Done in

Our hot summers have finally took all the life out of our palms..

I planted two of these palms only because the neighbor behind me had some and thought it would be a nice flow but I have hated these things as they are never pretty and always have dead frowns and grow so tall that all you see is the trunk. Well, this was the last straw and we had them both removed! No more babying the palms for me. 

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Arizona 4

This is the Arizona State Capitol building and the amount of copper required to make the copper dome is equal to 4.8 million pennies. The building is made largely from materials indigenous to Arizona, including Malapai, granite, and the copper dome. The design is optimized for the desert climate of Arizona, with thick masonry walls that insulate the interior, skylights, and round bullseye clerestory windows to let heat out out the legislative chambers. The building is topped with a weather vane similar to the winged victory of Samothrace visible through a skylight from within the rotunda.

It was built in 1900 on 2 acres. It is now the Arizona State capitol museum and has many amazing displays but most notable is the enormous silver and copper punch bowl service from USS Arizona, as well as a bronze sculpture that was ensconced outside the Admiral's stateroom and used as a centerpiece at state dinners wherever USS Arizona was docked. Both of these historical artifacts survived the sinking of Arizona because they had been removed from the ship for cleaning prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The punch bowl service is the only one of its kind and is composed of etched copper panels depicting desert scenes set into a silver bowl ornamented with mermaids, dolphins, waves and other nautical themes.

The monument in the front of the building is of Lt. Frank Luke Jr., a pilot in World War 1

I have lived in Phoenix for 52 years now and have never visited this place, maybe I ought to get going:)

A promise

Hebrews 13:5 Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you

Thankful

 I have been struggling for some time now not feeling well and not knowing why. Loss of appetite, becoming over heated, swseating and shaky inside. Well to make a long story short, I found out my blood pressure was through the roof and the Dr. gave me some medicine. One pill and my whole world turned around!! I am thankful for Dr.s and medicine.😊😊😊

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Mexico City

General Facts about Mexico City

• Mexico City is built on a lake called Texcoco.
• The city is constantly sinking and has sunk more than nine meters in some areas over the last 100 years.

• Population Facts about Mexico City

• More than 20 million people live in Mexico City.
• The population of Mexico City has grown by more than 20 million people in just over 110 years, from 500,000 in 1900 to 21.2 million people in 2012.
• Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world.
• Over 600,000 U.S. Americans live in Mexico City; the largest concentration of Americans living outside of the USA.

• Transportation Facts about Mexico City

• Mexico City’s Metro is the largest in Latin America and the cheapest in the world at only 3 pesos per journey ($0.23 USD/ Euro 0.18)!
• More than 4-5 million people use the metro everyday.
• The city is so big and the traffic so bad that the super rich have taken to using helicopters to get from one place to another. You can often see them landing on the tops of buildings.
• Taxi’s in Mexico City are as distinct as those found in New York, painted red and gold.
• Green ‘hippie’ vans are used as local buses throughout the city.
• Avenida de los Insurgentes is one of the longest avenues in the world.
• Mexico City International Airport is Latin America’s largest and busiest airport.

• Cultural Facts about Mexico City

• Mexico City has the most museums in the world, with more than 160, almost all of which are free on Sundays!
• The city also has over 100 art galleries, and 30 concert halls.
• Mexico City has the fourth highest number of theatres in the world after New York, London and Toronto.
• The Museo Soumaya, was donated to the city by the worlds richest man; Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim.
• The 10,000-seat National Auditorium in Mexico City was named the Best Venue in the World.
• Mexico City is also home to the largest amusement park in Latin America, Six Flags Mexico. It also has La Feria Chapultepec Mágico amusement park in the city center, it’s rollercoasters visible from various points around the city.
• The city’s famous Zócalo (large square in the city center) turns into one of the worlds biggest ice skating rinks every winter.
• Mexico City has the most IMAX theatres in the world.
• Mexico City has two of the S.Pellegrino ‘World’s 50 Best Restaurants in the World’ list compiled by British magazine ‘Restaurant’.
• Mexico City has been the only city in Latin America to host the Olympic Games, with the Summer Olympics in 1968. (Brazil will take this title away from Mexico as it hosts the 2016 Olympic Games).
• Mexico City is home to the oldest university in the Americas; the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The University is the largest university in all of North, Central and South America. The majority of Mexico’s former presidents have attended this university.
• UNAM is also the highest ranked Spanish-speaking University in the world.
• Mexico City is the capital of the media industry in Latin America.
• There are over 60 radio stations in Mexico City, as well as a huge amount of local transmissions.
•  Just in case you were thinking about visiting. 

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