Geez, I was so excited about everything I forgot to mention the chocolates, with which I am stuffing my face even as I write this! Yummy!
You were going to get generic chocolate Santa Clauses but then I saw the Geneva’s and changed my mind cause I know what I’d rather have LOL!
The cactus candy is from a prickly pear cactus. The local pests here love prickly pear pads despite the inch long spikes. Once they are attracted to the food source, they tip over trash cans and root up any bulb plants they smell.
Prickly pear cactus used to be used as a “fence”, nowadays folks put chain link fencing up to protect their cactus.
Oh my goodness! @Slow_Moving_Vehicle sent me such wonderful presents!
First I received the most gorgeous smelling locally made lotion. Like, it’s called “Exhilarating” and it really is!
The next gift was for Sonny, my dog. He received some delicious pot roast flavored dog treats, which I have on good authority are so yummy, he’s willing to break some rules to get to them.
I am also enjoying some really lovely Orange Holiday Spice tea. I’m sitting here trying to figure out how he knew it was my favorite flavor of tea…
The pièce de résistance is the most beautiful shot glass I’ve ever seen. It’s from a glassmith down the road from him, and it’s got shades of blue and some teal in it. It’s a nice weight and feels good in your hand. I cannot possibly do justice to it simply describing it.
Additionally, I very much enjoyed reading the accompanying handwritten letter telling me about all of my goodies and the local businesses where he got them.
@Slow_Moving_Vehicle Thank you so very much for my presents. I am absolutely delighted.
Note: We’ve got lots of prickly pear cactus around here, too. The flowers, called “tunas,” produce delicious, beautiful juice, which makes lovely wine and sorbet.
The Texas prickly pear cactus has broad leaves which are called pads and produce a very pretty yellow-to-red flower in the spring. In Fall, these flowers produce a red-to-purple fruit, which along with the pads, is edible but highly tricky to approach considering the tufts of spines they have to protect them. Did these spines stop a Texan from making a delicious wine from this fruit? No sir-ee. Although the spines can be long and large along the plant’s pads, those on the fruit are considerably shorter (however, still as painful.) When peeled, the fruit has an aroma which is similar to watermelon, and this, of course, can make a delicious tasting wine.
There are several outstanding recipes made with both the pads and the fruit, including salads, omelets, and even frozen slushies for those hot Texas summers.
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Happy St. Stephen’s Day, y’all! (I’ve had “Good King Wenceslas” running through my head for that past two weeks. Didn’t know all the lyrics, so I looked 'em up, and learned about “the feast of Stephen”.)
Had a busy and wonderful Christmas Day, visiting various family; so when we finally got home near midnight, I opened my last Christmas prezzie of the day: a package from @hocow .
The theme of the package was Philly Pride. First up was a wooden ornament celebrating “Delco” - Delaware County, which borders Philadelphia (and is the third-smallest, but fifth most populous country in the Commonwealth - I hit up Wikipedia, can ya tell?).
This was followed by a lovely dark-blue T-shirt, similarly emblazoned “Delco”, which will be perfect for nice-weather runs.
Next up was a package of Saucony running socks. @hocow is a fellow runner, thus understands the importance of a good pair of comfortable running socks. After a moment, I realized that this, too, had a Philadelphia connection; what’s the most famous running scene in movie history? The one that ends with Rocky raising his arms in triumph, atop the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, of course.
Finally, a magnet that read “Jawn”, which according to Wikipedia is “a context-dependent substitute noun” in “south-east Pennsylvania regional English”; in other words, Philly slang for “thingamabob” or “whatchamacallit”.
@hocow , thank you so much for the prezzies! I love love big American cities like New York and Chicago and Philadelphia, so I will happily rep Delco on my runs around Atlanta!
@Rhiannon8404 , I’m delighted you liked your gifts! I had a lot of fun putting them all together. Relieved, too, that the shotglass made it in one piece; I was worried about sending it all the way across the country, so I swaddled it in bubble wrap. Mrs SMV and I love that glassblower’s work, and own several pieces. Glad you like yours!
I’m glad you like everything! I forgot until later that you said you have cats, so please apologize and kiss them on the nose for me. Merry Christmas!
I haven’t received a gift yet, BUT I’ve been out of town since 12/23 and won’t return until 12/31, so maybe it’s waiting (or will be by then). Something to look forward to!
Your Santa shipped internationally and I understand there have been some delays. Not too many people get New Years Eve prezzies, you are one lucky person!
Perfect!
`Back when I was an aspiring domestic goddess, I learned that there are tools you can buy in stores out here to safely pick the fruit and I made jam. What a pain in the ass. I gave up the domestic goddess shit and became an earth goddess. Clover patches and recycling/reusing are so much easier.
Did the cookbook ever arrive? Not that I don’t have full confidence in our USPS… 
So… I’m guessing the parcel I sent has been eaten by the postal gnomes? 
I finally found the postal receipt and… there’s no tracking number on it. 
Oh NOOOO!!! Can you maybe take that to your post office and ask them to check up on it for you?
I haven’t received my package either but due to some other odd things that have been happening with shipping recently I haven’t lost all hope.
With no tracking number and international post, there’s nothing on there to trace, so they wouldn’t be able to do anything, unfortunately.
Maybe it’ll show up really late, having had a nice holiday travelling around the place, but…
Filbert, I don’t know where you live or where you were posting to but I discovered that a package I sent to a friend in Canada landed in a holding area for packages addressed to Canada. Seems the USPS pulled a fast one on us regulars and put an indefinite hold on such packages. No explanation why. Irritating AF.
I wasn’t in the exchange this year but if anyone doesn’t get a gift I will send something. In my family we have now foregone a regular gift exchange and I like sending presents.
That is so kind of you @Baker.
It took the USPS so long to deliver a calendar that Amazon was sending emails telling me to start the refund process when it arrived after taking a leisurely 3 week tour of the southwest.
The missing packages could indeed still arrive or be returned to the sender. Second Christmases are always a good thing!
I know what you mean about sending prezzies. I shopped for my giftee all year and enjoyed the process almost as much as I enjoyed the happy message saying I had done it right.
I’m probably going to start next years at the first of October so we have more time for folks to participate and ship cause I don’t think the USPS will suddenly improve in the mean time.
I mailed your package, IIRC, on the 18th. I just received a New Year’s card from my stepfather, that he said he mailed on the 20th, but was postmarked on the 22nd. So a package could be even more delayed. I don’t really know what the timing ought to be for getting stuff by Christmas. I’m looking for the receipt so I can check on it, though. Another package I mailed at the same time did arrive, FWIW.
Shipping has been very strange.
I ordered some embroidery thread for my mother which shipped promptly. Tracking said it was delivered and we waited another three days before I contacted the seller. As a friend had been able to give mom the thread she needed, I asked for a refund. The shipper started processing my refund. Mom’s thread arrived, the package clearly showed that it had been delivered to the wrong address first. I contacted the seller and asked them to stop the refund or tell me how to pay for it again. It was a real PITA for three bucks worth of thread!
That was a long winded way to say that I don’t blame you at all. The post office isn’t as reliable as it used to be.