HOLIDAY CHEER
Welcome to Willow’s weekly coffee and tea garden. My name is Paul and I’m happy to be here once again inside Willow’s home where it is nice and toasty, tending to your needs for a cuppa, and sweets. We’ve moved inside to beat the winter cold in the garden.Willow has fluffed the cushions and stared a blaze in the fireplace to make a cozy place to sit. I’d be pleased to bring a pot of whatever beverage you prefer – we have a wide range of teas and coffees to satisfy our world-wide readership. We can relax with a cuppa and calorie free electronic sweets while we discuss the affairs of the week both personal and/or worldwide. How has your week been?
In the spirit of the season, I found the following video over at LifeBuzz it is Titled, He Asked 13 Homeless People What They Wanted For Christmas. Their Answers Made Me Feel Shallow. Gifts for the Homeless
This little video follows a gentleman as he asks many homeless people what they would like for Christmas and then provides it for them. It really speaks to the joy of giving and the meaning of Christmas. The looks on the faces of those to whom nothing has ever been given, is priceless. It did my heart good to watch.
Let me pour you a cuppa of your favourite beverage and have a sweet while you enjoy it as well. So the temperatures have been dropping over the last week or so and it has snowed twice and the snow has stayed down. All this gets me to thinking about skating at the canal and eating those delicious Beaver Tails. Speaking of sweets, here’s some that I bet you haven’t seen before, Beaver Tails:
Beaver Tails with various Chocolate Fillings
These delicious hot pastries are fried dough covered with powdered sugar and filled with the topping of your choice – jam, chocolate, fruit, etc. (For scale – each Beaver Tail pictured above is about twice as long as your hand and about 1 1⁄2 times as wide).They are sold through out the winter at kiosks in and around Ottawa. Primarily Beaver Tails are sold on the Rideau Canal Skating rink. This is actually the largest maintained skating rink in the world, comprising over 4.5 miles (7 kms) of canal skating in the city of Ottawa from Downtown to Dow’s Lake. The canal is open for skating usually by January and stays open until early March. The length of the season depends on the temperature and can run anywhere from 45 days to 90 days. It is free and has changing/warm up rooms, food kiosks, washrooms, etc – all on the ice. You can see the little cluster of buildings with services under the bridge in the picture. There are a number of these clusters all along the Canal.
The night time skating is amazing and a real feast for the eyes.
That’s about all we have room for this week, so it’s time to settle in front of the fireplace with another cuppa. Sweets anyone? – we can even have the kitchen make you some Beaver Tails if you wish. Willow and I are honored that you dropped by today to visit. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and the conversation and please feel free to look around at Willow’s other posts while you’re here. Have a great week. We look forward to seeing you here for tea again next week.
IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE: I would ask you if you would like another cuppa, or another cake . ! If we were having Coffee Original idea from http://parttimemonster.wordpress.com/
willowdot21 
Thanks so much Willow for post – I apologize for getting it in to you late this week – and was surprised to see you had edited and formatted it and published on time. You’re an amazing editor Willow.
No Paul you sent a wonderful Post it was simple to format.
If we were having coffee, I’d never leave. Huge hugs and much love. Tears were streaming down my cheeks watching the video.
Paul is on his way to see you.
It’s fun to meet folks, thanks my friend. Huge hugs
Hi BMT! Thanks so much for dropping by and commenting. Yes, that video is a real heart breaker, isn’t it? Imagine, wanting nothing more from life than a sandwich and being totally speechless when you got not one but two sandwiches. For me it is such a juxtaposition to middle class materialism that it is jarring.
Hugs back to you BMT and I hope your Christmas is beautiful. .. .
I cried during almost the entire video, kindness has that impact, happy tears. I wish you and your loved ones the Merriest of Christmas’s also. Huge smiles and hugs.
Too many virtual sweets this week, Paul. I’m in virtual shock. 🙂 The homeless folk and benefactor, thanks for that early holiday gift. And the canal skaters have some energy. Nice scene, that. Have a great week, my friend. Hi Willow! I hope you are feeling a bit better today.
😉
Hey Mark, welcome. It is wonderful to see you here again for a cuppa and one of many e-sweets. If you’re ever up in Ottawa in January or Febuary, you’d enjoy a skate on the canal. It’s not super polished ice like a rink, so you can walk on it too and many do. There are resting areas and beautiful .scenery along the canal.
Yes, that video really grabbed my attention – it sets the stage for the real meaning of Christmas doesn’t it?
Thanks again for dropping by and taking the time to comment Mark. Have another e-sweet – we have oodles! Ha!
🙂
Well, what an interesting coincidence or two. Today, a few of my nearest and dearest and I splurged on a Christmas outing of an afternoon of high tea. It was really lovely, and maybe more so because it was our first one, and a new adventure. It is exactly the kind of thing I tend to want for any gift – a wonderful new memory.
My sons all time favorite beaver tail is the chocolate banana combo.
I do love to watch those sort of videos too, they do my heart good. Soul food.
So, it seems, Paul and Willow, that today’s cuppa was an experience of enjoyable familiarity.
Wishing you a very warm and wonderful Christmas, and your best new year ever,
-Hugs, Robyn
Hi Robyn so glad to hear that you enjoyed your afternoon tea. As you say always wonderful to make good memories. Paul is on his way over with coffee and cakes or will you be wanting tea instead? 😉 xxx
Hey Robyn! So, you’re a Beaver tail fan too are you – awesome. I’m a fan of the strawberry jam Beaver Tail – although a lot people share your passion for the chocolate banana.
It was great that you and some friends went out for high tea. Believe it or not, I’ve never had the honor (of an “official” high tea). It sounds like a lot of fun.
Would you like a cuppa or a sweet? Whatever you please, we stock it – even something a little harder if you prefer.
I too enjoyed that video clip. I figured i’d bring it along to let eveyrone here share it as well.
You and yours have a great holiday Robyn and an even better New Year.
Hi there Paul thanks for the invitation once again. As usual mine’s a cappuccino.
I have news of a wonderful evening spent in the company of our daughter and her brother David. We were celebrating his 50th birthday. He did a 2hour30min drive to be with us. It was great to see him looking fit and well. We hadn’t seen him since last December! He is a busy guy gigging most weekends with a couple of bands.(He is lead guitar)
So there was much reminiscing and laughter over a lovely meal.
I looked at thesite you mentioned…such an inspiring video.contrary to all that the media would have us believe…the true meaning of Christmas is very much alive.
I managed to get my Christmas shopping done this week with the aid of my lovely daughter. I have injured my right knee and walking is a challenge but with her help I managed to get round the shopping Mall and she carried all my packages.
Skating on the Canal would be quite out of the question for me at the moment but I’m sure many people really enjoy it. I just need to luxuriate on one of your comfy sofas and maybe try one of those beaver tail cookies.
There seems to be so much to do and time rushes by……..it’s good to relax with you for a while
Looking forward to joining you again next week
Hi Tess Paul is on his way with your capuncino as we speak, here lets get your leg up on this puffee and here is a special hug. xccc
Hi Tess! Your capuccino is ready and waiting. It is wonderful to hear that you had an evening with your daughter and son on his 50th birthday. I’m glad that you got out and got your Christmas shopping done with your daughter.
They have these push sleighs available at the canal that are on runners. You could rest easy in one while we took turns pushing and chatting.
Please do try the beaver tails. Pick your filling and we”ll have one hot and ready in a minute. I can assure you they are tasty.
That video was very touching wasn’t it?. It is good to see that the true meaning of Christmas is still out there.
I hope that your knee heals up well Tess. As Willow said – put your leg up and rest with another caouccino and a beaver tail. have a great week!
here here Tess Paul is talking good sense
Lovely to see you, Paul, but after I watched the video, I’ve forgotten what we’d been talking about. Thank you for sharing this. OMG. This is what Christmas is about.
Yes lovely video
Hi LCTC! Have a cuppa and relax on the comfy sofa or the armchair by the fireside. That video is pretty special isn’t it? I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Enjoyed, but not in the true sense. It broke my heart but I thank you for sharing it.
🙂
Hi, Paul. You’re lucky you have snow. My daughters are highly irritable because it hasn’t arrived yet. I told them to be patient. There’ll be too much soon enough, although probably not in time for Christmas morning.
Beaver Tails are new to me. [I mis-typed that Beaver “Tales.” That’d be new as well.] Do you eat them with your hands or on a plate with utensils? I’m always a day late with these posts. I’ll try to get it together!
🙂
Hey Mark! great to see you here visiting. The Beaver Tails are typically served hot in a paper holder much like a take-out hot dog holder – only bigger. They are folded in a U-shape so the filling faces inwards.
We’ve had a few small snow falls in the last month but this is the first that i thnk will stay for the winter. It’s not too bad yet. When I trucked, I hated it when it snowed in NYC. there’s no place for them to put any snow – they plow it from one overpass down onto another and so on. I think they pray they the cars will pound the snow into nothingness before the next storm.
thanks again for dropping by Mark. have a great week.
Sir Paul, and Milady Willow….
Thank you, for a lovely interlude, just when I needed one. The video is quite inspiring, enough so, I am making my only resolution to increase the number of times in this coming year when I commit random acts of kindness and beauty, along the same lines as the Christmas gift giver…
Also, if there’s no objection, I want to use the video on my own blog; I’ll link to this post, and give attribution, naturally, to both of y’all…. You can see it if you stop by tomorrow, New Year’s Day, at my site: http://gigoid.me. It will be in section one, right after the intro section…
….also, thanks for the reminder of how it’s supposed to be at this time of year, as well as the lovely tea & pastries, which I couldn’t possibly eat, other than here in a virtual setting…. It would send me into a sugar coma, I think, and I’m trying to LOSE these extra 45 lbs… Looked like that would take about 3 of those things… luscious, but deadly…. unless you live in the snow country, I guess, where the calories are helpful…
Any who, I’m rambling, as usual…. Y’all take care, & have a Happy New Year…. Watch out for the amateur imbibers tonight…
gigoid, the dubious
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Dear Sir how delightful of you to grace us with your presence! Paul, I am sure will be along presently with a cuppa for you he will be delighted that you are using the video he put up on this post. I look forward to reading your New Year blog. Be well be happy be blessed and pray for me. Xxxx
Dear Sir Gigoid, the Dubious: We thank you greatly for your attendance at our Sunday English Tea. Ha! Have a cuppa of your choice – we have all the options you could desire. And, yes, the e-sweets are calorie free. Feel free to use the Christmas gift video – it is wonderful isn’t it? While you’re here take a look around at Willow’s posts -she is a gifted writer.
I wish you a very Happy New Year and may your 2015 bring health and happiness and prosperity to you and yours.
Please feel free to drop by to visit again, it’s been an honor to have you here.
Thanks, Paul
Depending on the final product and how it will be utilized, various disciplines of painting aggressively use these techniques as a means to portray emotion, skill and depth.
If that isn’t a needed point, how much space would you feel comfortable living with.
One can have two story atriums, majestic entries, etc.
Thanks for dropping by Matt. I’ll have to research your questions. Off the top of my head though, I suspect that the quessionaire falls laprodpically ahead of the median on the Bell Curve that describes such investigations. Have a great day!