12 Days of Christmas-Day 12

Day 12--Drummers Drumming 

Well we've reached the twelfth day of Christmas which is also referred to as the twelfth night which is the night before the Epiphany,  over-wise  recognized as the day the three wise men arrived to present gifts to the baby Jesus.  Of course during many of the celebrations drummers were part of the many performers hired to entertain guests and many times the drums where used to announce the next course in the holiday feasts.    

 My last share for this Christmas is around the traditions that we incorporate around the holiday. I hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy some of these this year and maybe keep them in mind for next year.  

Decorating for Christmas 


         

Giving Gifts 

The Christmas Tree 

The Nativity 

Santa Clause 

Reading Christmas Stories 

Christmas Stockings

Dinner

Mistletoe 

Christmas Baking 

                                                         Christmas shows and movies 

                                                       

   

12 Days of Christmas-Day 11

Day 11--Pipers Piping 

During the holidays it was quite common for musicians, dancers, and performers to be hired to entertain guests at the festivals and celebrations.   Bagpipes were commonly heard among the merriment.   Since the Stewarts held the throne after Elizabeth of course they brought in their Scottish influence but what many do not realize is that bagpipes were also commonly found  in France. 

When thinking about sharing something for day eleven I had a bit of trouble.  I was thinking I could to the obvious - share something Scottish but that's just to predictable.   So how about this, since there is a lot air used while playing the bagpipes I share something that requires blowing.  All right get your mind out of the gutter,  geeze  it's Christmas for heaven's sake. *SMH and Winking*  Just look below and enjoy!

                                 

                                                         Creating Glass Ornaments

Threads1

Playschool  

Stars 

                                 









            

 Primary 

Threads 3 

Partridge 

 

Blue Wave

                            Jewel

 

Prism 

Silver Swirl 

Hand Blown 

                                             

12 Days of Christmas-Day 10

Day 10--Ten Lords A'Leaping  

It's pretty well accepted the "Lords a'leaping"  the song refers to is speaking of Morris Dancers.   Morris Dancing can be traced back to the mid 15th century and the dancers were often hired to entertain. Although it was a folk dance style it was often found in demand among  the nobility and royalty.  In fact it's said that  Henry VIII and Elizabeth I  were particularly fond of this entertainment and had Morris Dancers at court quite often.   

Today Morris Dancing is still popular around the world and Morris Dancing teams can be found from Australia to the United States and even an unlikely place as Hong Kong.  Goes to show us how some things help  to cross  cultural boundaries.  Dance is definitely one of these elements which is why I'm sharing ten history making moments in dance.   

  Morris Dancers

                   Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers 

Fred Astaire 

                             Cyd Charisse 

                                                                  Gene Kelly 

             Hines, Briggs, Slyde, Brown, and Sims 

                                                                             Mikhail Baryshnikov

                              Rudolf Nureyev

 

                                                                               Michael Jackson 

                                           Gregory Hines 

                                                         Bill "Bojangles" Robinson"

12 Days of Christmas -Day 9

Day 9--Nine Ladies Dancing 

Shall we dance?

This particular day is pretty straight forward.   Ladies dancing were quite common at the parties and holidays.   Often the noblewomen would dance to entertain the gentlemen and I'm sure we've all scene these complicated yet beautiful performances in one movie or another.  Here is an example of one of the types of dance you might see during this time.  

It's so beautiful and elegant.  And yes, it is 

romantic too.  No wonder the giver in our song would send this gift.  But here's something I wonder.  Do you think they worried about their shoes the way we do today.  I bet they did I mean when doing all those fancy steps their feet would be in the spotlight and they would need to have the perfect little slipper or shoe to flatter their dress right?   So things haven't changed that much have they.   So guess what I'm going to share...  You got it fabulous shoes, nine pair to be exact.  Boots count as shoes right?  

Your Highness 

Ravishing in Red 

Say it with style and flash 

A bit wicked 

Out of this world 

You are a jewel

Everything that glitter IS gold! 

Classic and stylish 

Strappy and sexy 

12 Days of Christmas-Day 8

Day 8--Eight Maids a Milking 

Milk maids were ladies who were professional cow milkers and often helped make the other products such as cheese and butter.   It's interesting because the comment about the smoothness of a milkmaid's skin was based on some truth.  They were exposed to cowpox and so when small pox rampaged through the area they were not effected and their skin remained smooth and unmarked..  Hence the comment.    

Since we are talking about dairy and milk products I thought I would share some great recipes with ice cream as the main ingredient  Just click on the link under the picture for the recipe.   Enjoy ! 

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie 

 

Creamy Frozen Orange Squares 

Peppermint Ice Cream Cake 

Fudge Mint Torte 

Eggnog Ice Cream Dessert 

Pin`a Colada Frozen Dessert 

Creamy Orange Ice Cream Pie 

French Silk Ice Cream Roll 

12 Days of Christmas-Day 7

Day 7--Seven Swans A'Swimming 

Seven swans a'swimming are proving to be pretty elusive in regards to some deeper "meaning"  other than the religious one.  So let's do some brainstorming about what the giver could possibly mean by giving his/her true love seven swans a'swimming.   Well first of all we all know seven is a lucky number and considered  the number of God and then we come to the swans themselves.   Most of us think of grace and beauty when we think of a swan.  There is something very beautiful about these white birds that seem timeless.   So I could see why someone might give their love something with a swan with the idea of it being representative of timeless beauty and grace. Who knows maybe the "swimming"   part meant they were giving their true love a piece of real estate with a lake which just happened to have seven swans living on it.   Hey that would be a great gift wouldn't it!

Since we are talking about timeless beauty and elegance I have several ideas of topics I could share on this topic but I think I will go with my first idea --Seven women I consider represent timeless beauty and grace.  (left to right-Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Barbara Streisand Jackie  Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, Benazir Bhutto) 

12 Days of Christmas--Day 6

Day 6-Six Geese A'Laying 

A Golden Egg?

What could be that romantic about giving someone six geese much less six geese "A' Laying".  There is hardly anything online about this particular verse of the song but I was thinking maybe they mentioned  the geese laying eggs to represent fertility and birth.   So maybe the person giving the geese was wishing their true love a life of  being blessed and fertile.  That might be grasping a bit I'm not sure,  but I thought it sounded good! Anyway... I've decided to concentrate not on the "bird"  part of the story but on the egg.   Below are a variety of eggs  that may not be what the author had in mind,  but I'll take one of these over an old goose egg anytime!   

Faberge` Peacock Egg 

Faberge` Winter Egg 

Fabrege` Standart Egg 

Fabrege` Royal  Danish  Egg 

Fabrege` Revolving Egg 

Fabrege` Emperial Peter the Great Easter Egg