Christmas Fun!

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It’s getting closer and closer…and busy elves might need a break.  In the mood for some Christmas Games??

Guess the Christmas Songs!

Find the hidden pictures!

Spot the 15 differences!

Find 10 differences!

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Published by pat frederick

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140 thoughts on “Christmas Fun!”

  1. Morning All!
    hubby slept a good 5 hours last night laying DOWN on his left side…progress! he’s been nodding on and off since then and breathing a little hard…but not like before.
    tonight he wants to try sleeping in bed again…we’ll see.
    it’s 32* currently. snow stopped after about an hour…not sure how much stuck.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning, Pat! It’s a start…did the wine help? I’ve got 40 degrees and pouring down rain. Wheezer was waiting – I dawdled until 6:30 before getting out of my chair this morning! I could hear the rain and that just makes me want to roll over and go back to sleep! He was decidedly damp but purring and happy for some petting time on my lap. This time he didn’t leave right away but is ensconced on his chair, cleaning himself and drying off. I’m snug as a bug and not going anywhere!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!
        he didn’t drink any! we were both tired last evening so he just grilled some hotdogs for supper and he said wine and hot dogs don’t mix…??? lol maybe tonight. I make or large meal on Christmas Eve for lunch today–so we’re having turkey and all the trimmings around noon. so we’ll have a turkey sandwich or leftovers for supper–maybe wine will go with that.
        but he was so encouraged that he could sleep on his left side, he wants to try the bed tonight. we’ll see how that goes.
        did you try drying him off with an old towel? you said you couldn’t do the ear mite thing till you could wrap him in a towel…maybe go slowly and try just drying him off?

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Oh, he wasn’t that wet, just damp on the surface. Wherever his hidey-hole is, it’s apparently somewhat dry. Why must men be so danged stubborn???

          Liked by 1 person

          1. lack of sleep has made him unnaturally cranky so i am not pushing too hard for things at this point. I think the 5 hours of sleep straight thru is an accomplishment at this point. i will try to keep him awake more today and see if that helps him sleep a little longer tonight.
            his breathing is still a little harder than normal, but he’s not gasping any more…so that’s much better too

            Liked by 2 people

  8. nyc mayor padding his staff with 293 “special assistants” answering only to him many with 6 figure salaries
    FTA
    Some top senior aides and other political operatives hired by Adams as special assistants include:

    Ex-state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), left Albany and was appointed in January at a $201,000 salary — nearly double what she previously made as a senator. She works directly with Adams’ chief advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin.
    Stefan Ringel, a longtime Adams top aide and campaign advisor arrived at City Hall with the mayor in January 2022 and 10 months later got a $10,000 raise, upping his salary to $154,442.
    Winnie Greco, another Adams ally who earns $100,000 yearly as his Asian community affairs liaison. Greco allegedly promised an Adams campaign volunteer a City Hall job if he completed renovation work on her home — and asked another for a hefty donation in exchange for Gracie Mansion access, The City reported last month. The Department of Investigation is reviewing the matter.
    Rana Abbasova, who allegedly lied to investigators amid an ongoing federal corruption probe into Adams’ 2021 campaign fundraising. Abbasova, one of Adams’ key links to the Turkish community, earns $80,651 working out of the Office for International Affairs, but she was put on leave last month for “acting improperly.”

    “A lot of these people are being kept in orbit, so they don’t leave the Adams fold and are available for the campaign,” said Republican Curtis Sliwa, who lost the 2021 mayoral race to Adams.

    “It sends a horrible message – especially with the NYPD, Fire Department and other city agencies facing heavy cuts” to help cover New York’s migrant crisis, Sliwa added. “He’s got to show he’s cutting his own fat — all these special assistants, advisors that he created jobs for that never existed. It’s time to clean house.”

    Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) agreed, saying “For every special assistant, there’s at least two less cops on the street.”

    https://nypost.com/2023/12/23/metro/eric-adams-pads-nyc-payroll-with-293-special-assistants/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I have no doubt that same principle is applied in every state to varying degrees. It has simply become an every-day occurrence. That IS politics!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. oh you’re absolutely right there…but with the illegals and the budget crunch–and adams suggesting he cut police or fire department services? while having 293 special assistants? sounds like trouble brewing with his constituents

        Liked by 1 person

  10. we spent american funds on CONDOMS and family planning services for YEMEN????? and one of the aid distributors is called SAVE THE CHILDREN??????????????????????????
    article

    A family planning program in terrorist-laden Yemen funded by American taxpayers “consumed” more than 430,000 condoms over the course of several years, according to a U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) report.

    The program, titled “Strengthening Family Planning Services in Yemen,” provided more than 500,000 condoms during that time frame, of which 438,801 were “consumed,” according to the USAID report. The program, which ran from August 2018 through September 2022, was designed to “increase the provision and availability of family planning services among conflict-affected women and girls accessing hospitals and health centers in 220 health facilities” across war-torn Yemen, home to the previously U.S.- designated terrorist group the Houthis, and was administered by Save the Children.

    Yemen has been engulfed in a brutal civil war for nearly ten years, with the Iran-backed Houthi Islamists fighting against the country’s internationally-recognized and Saudi Arabia-backed government, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. While fighting has lessened in 2023, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks against U.S. forces and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, especially since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The Biden administration removed the Houthis from the federal government’s foreign terrorist organization list in February 2021, reversing the Trump administration’s designation of the group.

    The program was funded by “a combination of an initial two-year award, followed by two consecutive one-year extensions, to provide services to women of reproductive age, strengthen health systems, and build the capacity of the public health staff to sustain service provision,” according to the USAID report. The report does not disclose exactly how much money the program or the condoms cost the U.S. government.

    The program provided other forms of birth control to Yemenis, including IUDs, Depo Provera injections and “emergency pills,” according to the USAID report. Additionally, the program also paid for 34 mobile medical stands and curtains, 17 mobile examination lamps and 14 metal cupboards in the country’s Ta’izz province, according to the report.

    In addition to the Ta’izz province, the program covered contraceptives and similar family planning products and services in the Aden and Lahj regions, according to the report.

    Save the Children is an organization that administers health, education and emergency response services all over the world, especially in regions that are war-ravaged or very poor, according to its website.

    Neither USAID nor Save the Children responded immediately to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

    https://www.wnd.com/2023/12/u-s-taxpayers-paid-hundreds-thousands-condoms-sent-terrorist-hotbed/

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Matt Gaetz Blasts Airlines for Mass Transport of Illegals, Demands Details as Migrants Flood U.S. Airports.

    Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is calling on Ed Bastion, CEO of Delta Air Lines, to appear before Congress in order to answer questions regarding his company’s involvement with the transportation of illegal immigrants from the U.S. border into the interior of the country.

    “The United States Congress has an interest in understanding pursuant to which arrangements with federal agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) non-resident aliens are able to book and travel on Delta Air Lines flights,” Gaetz wrote.

    The Florida lawmaker expressed concerns over to what degree the illegal immigrants had been vetted and screened on both national security and public health grounds. Specifically, Gaetz is asking Bastion to provide to Congress the number of illegal immigrants the airline has “transported on behalf of the government or non-governmental organizations since January 20, 2021” as well as if Delta has received any benefits, funding, or credit from the federal government in exchange for providing transport for illegal immigrants.

    Additionally, he pressed Bastion as to details regarding the process for which NGOs purchase transportation for illegal immigrants using Delta flights and if the TSA has dictated to the company what sorts of identification are necessary for illegal immigrants to clear airport security.

    “I’m concerned the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may be allowing non-resident aliens to board flights, including those operated by Delta Air Lines, with an alternative form of identification that meets a weaker standard than that used to verify the identities of American citizens when they fly,” Gaetz wrote.

    U.S. airline passengers have reported seeing lines illegal immigrants at airports in the Southwestern United States, many of whom appear to be boarding flights – ostensibly paid for by the Biden regime – to other U.S. cities despite lacking identification documents.

    https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/12/23/matt-gaetz-blasts-airlines-for-mass-transport-of-illegals-demands-details-as-migrants-flood-u-s-airports/

    Like

  14. hmmmm…i hadn’t considered this. in pardoning marijuana possession or use, ultra maggot may be releasing criminals who plea bargained from multiple crimes down to the marijuana use and now they will be set free and their records expunged, when in fact, they’ve done more heinous crimes.
    FTA
    A criminal might commit a number of crimes in a night — say, robbery, drug possession, reckless (pot-affected?) driving, and maybe a couple of weapons charges — and the prosecution will agree to waive the rest of the charges if they settle on the one that’s easiest to prove and has an acceptable sentencing range.

    As a result, all those thousands of people who are “in jail for possession of marijuana” are really not in jail just for having pot at all. It only looks like it, because that’s the one listed. That doesn’t mean they didn’t do all those other things.

    They are usually in jail for multiple crimes, ranging from brawling to rape, from gang activity to weapons charges, from selling drugs to robbery. But some crimes are harder to prove than others, and if you can put the criminal behind bars for five years for a plea to the pocketful of dope, it’s a win for society. The criminal goes to jail, and our overworked law enforcement officers can move on to the next case.

    What happens when a president (or governor) disregards all this background information, waves a magic wand, and makes the one crime for which they were convicted go away? Now, all of a sudden, these criminals are back on the streets. Or if they’re already on the streets, because they did their time in the past, now the other conditions of their release are likely to be washed away, too. Maybe they were forbidden from being near children, or banned from handling cash at a bank, or their licenses to work in a medical or dental office were revoked. With a pardon, they can reapply to such positions and again work as bus drivers or dental hygienists or preschool teachers or nannies.

    There you have it. We had a system that worked; it locked up people who should be locked up, and it kept them out of certain jobs that would hold temptations for them, or held other risks, when they got out.

    And now the Biden-Harris regime, once again, is ripping up a system that worked.

    If the prosecutors had known, back when they negotiated the plea bargain, that some autocrat-in-chief would issue a blanket pardon on the drug charge one day, they might have made different choices. Maybe they would have just settled on the robbery charge or the brawling charge or the molestation charge. But they didn’t know then.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/12/pardons_for_pot_users_leave_dangers_in_their_wake.html

    Liked by 1 person

      1. another aspect is–possession and use is still a federal crime. people can still be arrested for it. then those who are not pardoned will what? sue? why didn’t they get pardoned too? (which he can’t pardon future arrestees)
        because congress has to get rid of that law and they haven’t–so ultra maggot is in uncharted waters here.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Oh, I agree – he is definitely overstepping but when does he not??? Well, not him, per se – the people running him. Nothing can happen on this front, as you say, until Congress gets in gear. First and foremost, remove MJ from the top tier list of drugs – leave it up to the States. Free it up for full-on research into the healing properties. If they want MJ to be illegal for casual use, then alcohol should be illegal as well. Just as much, if not more, damage caused!

          Liked by 1 person

  16. 12/19/23 • BIG PHARMA › NEWS
    “Use of Drugs to Restrain Kids in Mental Health Facilities Jumps 141%—Critics called for an outright ban on chemical restraints in mental health facilities after a study showed a steep rise in the number of children being subjected to them. They cited the lack of informed consent and a culture of medicalization that leads to labeling, misdiagnosis and over-prescribing of drugs that can cause suicidal and homicidal ideation.”
    By John-Michael Dumais

    EXCERPT: “More children are being subjected to drug restraints because more children are being admitted to mental health facilities, a new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) study found. Pharmacological restraints tend to be used with greater frequency on autistic children, low-income children and children of color.

    Although the average rate for the use of drug restraints among all children ages 5-17 years old with any diagnosis remained relatively steady during the 2016-2021 study period, the analysis found a 141% increase in the use of restraint drugs overall, alongside lengthening inpatient stays.

    This means more children are being hospitalized for mental health conditions and more are being subjected to drug restraints — antipsychotics used to sedate — and in ways that disproportionately disadvantage some youth.

    ————-
    Given the lack of safety data on psychotropic drugs, especially for children (for antipsychotics, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications, and antidepressants), and the alleged lack of scientific basis for mental health diagnoses, experts emphasized the need for informed consent and refusal rights as a means to combat the reflexive overmedication of distressed children.

    The analysis published in Pediatrics examined more than 90,000 mental health hospitalizations across 43 children’s hospitals. It defined pharmacological restraint narrowly as intravenous or intramuscular administration of five heavy-duty antipsychotics….”

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/psychiatric-drugs-chemical-restraints-children-mental-health/

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I think there are some for adults with sex-related charges. There used to be a separate building at the Norfolk Regional Center for sexual-related mental patients (I worked on the switchboard there in ’74 for a couple of months before I hightailed it to CO) but I’m not up on what’s happening there now.

        Liked by 1 person

  22. “Ron Paul Asks Santa Claus To End The Fed For The 47th Straight Year”
    POLITICS · Dec 23, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    LAKE JACKSON, TX — Former Congressman Ron Paul was spotted muttering nervously to himself today while standing in line to see Santa Claus at a nearby shopping mall, as he hoped this would finally be the year he would get what he wanted by asking for the 47th consecutive year for Santa to end the Fed.

    “This is the year, I just know it,” Dr. Paul was overheard whispering as he inched closer to the front of the line. “I’ve been asking for the same thing every Christmas for almost half a century now. Surely this year will be the year I finally get it. I’ve been so good all year long!”

    Witnesses reported seeing the former congressman cautiously approach Santa’s large, elaborate throne before settling onto the rotund man’s lap. “I wouldn’t say he looked scared,” said one bystander. “He looked like he had been there many times before. Confident, but cautious is how I would describe him.”

    “What would you like for Christmas, my good sir?” Santa was heard asking Paul.

    “I ask for nothing but the same thing I’ve asked for every year, Mr. Claus,” the former congressman responded. “I humbly ask that you grant me my Christmas wish to end the Fed. The Federal Reserve must be abolished because it is immoral, impractical, unconstitutional, poor economic policy, and a problem that has undermined our liberty since its inception.”

    “Yes, well,” Santa replied before clearing his throat. “Wouldn’t you rather have a nice, new bicycle?”

    At publishing time, Dr. Paul was seen leaving the store still in good spirits, knowing he’d either get the complete elimination of the Federal Reserve or at least a sweet new bike.”

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I tried the Egg Beaters – MUCH better option for me! WM used to have packs of 6 eggs but didn’t have any last time. If I buy a dozen, too many won’t get used before the expiry date and they go to waste. There for a while, I was eating an omelet every day, then lost my taste for them and had to throw out more than half of the 12 eggs. But I was craving one so I grabbed the EB’s. Perfect solution and it tasted no different – someone else might be able to taste the difference but I can’t and it doesn’t expire as quickly as eggs.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. they are a great substitute!
      I used to eat them when i was single, but hubby really likes real eggs and eats enough of them that hardly any spoil. when they’re getting close, I’ll make tuna/egg salad or deviled eggs.

      Liked by 1 person



    3. Happy Christmas! It is going to be a wonderful Christmas here in Virginia. I fully intend to take advantage of the good weather that has come our way today and get myself on a horse. For sure, this is Jill’s goal – now that the travel is done for the year, she has been riding almost daily. I haven’t been so diligent, mostly because I have been playing catch-up with the farm chores over the past week or two.

      Our friend Justine from South Africa, who spends Christmas with us is here at the farm for a few days. Jill, Justine and I have had a pleasant weekend so far: writing, reading and discussing each other’s work. Later, Jill has a nice dinner planned and as usual, there will be lots of discussions on politics, horses, the farm, UAPs (cause following the UFO news and science is Justine’s passion and she has an Epoch times interview coming out soon on the subject) and life.

      Tomorrow will be a modest Christmas day, as our big presents were already delivered and received. Jill got a top of the line horse arena drag and I got some new Kubota attachments – as my old ones were pretty much worn out. I spent most of Friday afternoon picking up the items from the Kubota store, un-crating and putting the attachments together. Then I re-graded our gravel farm “roads”, which had become full of pot holes.


      So, on this eve- “Cheers and good health” to everyone on this Substack subscriber list and a special thanks to the my friends who write so many amazing comments. Everyday, I look forward to our “discussions.”

      Liked by 1 person

  30. well THIS is interesting…

    T. Turtle
    December 24, 2023 9:45 am

    “GATEWAY PUNDIT EXCLUSIVE: Allegations of Procedural Missteps Surface Against Special Counsel John Luman Smith, aka Jack Smith”

    Excerpt:

    A concerned reader approached The Gateway Pundit recently, challenging the legitimacy of Smith’s procedural conduct upon his appointment by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland involving his role as Special Counsel.

    And there’s more – It should be noted that on June 8, 2023, Jack Smith issued a grand jury indictment against Trump on federal criminal chargesrelated to his handling of classified documents, and on August 1, 2023, Trump was indicted on additional federal felony counts relating to attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his conduct during the Capitol event.
    This took place prior to the completion of Mr. Smith’s oath.
    It appears that Smith completed signing the “Oath of Office” as mandated by 5 U.S. Code § 3332 only on September 14, 2023. This requirement states that the oath should be filed within 30 days of assuming office, but in this case, it was filed 298 days later due to a missing witness signature.

    Although the rectification occurred, the legal conundrum remains about whether actions taken prior to this date may be legally challenged.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/gateway-pundit-exclusive-allegations-procedural-missteps-surface-against/

    Black Knight
    December 24, 2023 10:05 am
    Reply to T. Turtle

    And now we know what Trump meant when referring to “Jack” Smith – “is that even his real name?”

    John Luman Smith – ‘legally admitted name!’

    Amongst other procedural errors.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. “A Pennsylvania animal shelter is full of holly jolly cheer this Christmas season after clearing out its kennels. Adams County SPCA in Gettysburg had a lot to celebrate after clearing out their kennels over two weeks, except for one stray that came in “a little bit ago,” the staff announced on Facebook.

    “Our community stepped up once again! This is the first time in 47 YEARS that the Adams County SPCA is empty let alone at Christmas time” the post said. “It is a true miracle!” “To say that we are beyond excited is an understatement!”

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Long but really interesting and detailed…

    “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day—The story behind the song”
    TECHNO FOG
    DEC 24, 2023

    (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

    EXCERPT: “It has been said that art brings consolation in sorrow and affirmation in joy. This is true not only for those who experience the art but for those who create the art. The creative process, especially literary works, can also have a type of therapeutic and redemptive effect for the writer, who must marshal and articulate those haunting “thoughts which have not yet found expression.” This is the story of one writer who persevered through person tragedies and despair and gifted us a moving work which still resonates to this day.

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the accomplished American author and translator and poet, married his second wife, Frances (Fanny) Appleton in 1843.1 They met in Switzerland through a chance occurrence in the summer of 1836 where both her family and Henry were in the beautiful village of Thun. (Fanny’s father and Henry shared connections to Harvard and Boston.) Henry (who was 29) would stay with, and travel with, the Appletons – and do his best to make a strong impression with Fanny, for whom he had taken an instantaneous liking. His efforts failed initially, as she would describe him as having a “false” and “flimsy” character. Yet he seemed to have at least somewhat charmed her through their travels and shared literary interests and walks through Swedish towns.

    This began Henry’s long courtship of Fanny. She wasn’t impressed by his celebrity or smitten his writing or flattered by his interest, and maintained she had no romantic feelings for him. Fanny, after all, was attractive and artistic and well-educated and well-traveled, and had grown accustomed to the courtship of established and prominent suitors – to the point of being bored by some. But Henry persisted, sometimes to his physical and mental detriment, and he eventually made true on his vow “to win her affection.”

    Fanny accepted Henry’s marriage proposal in the spring of 1843, and they were married in a candlelight ceremony about a month later. After accepting Henry’s proposal, Fanny wrote her aunt: “How it was gradually brought about you shall hear by and bye, or rather what is there to tell but the old tale that true love is very apt to win its reward.”

    Henry and Fanny would have a happy marriage, one which involved travel and improving a home and the delivery of six children. Fanny would also assist with the proofing of Henry’s translations and other works. But there was also tragedy. In 1848, their daughter Fanny died from illness. She was 17 months. After she passed, Henry would describe sitting “by her alone in the darkened library.” Fanny would say she had “a ‘terrible hunger of the heart’ to hold her namesake once again.”

    Their family suffered another tragedy in July of 1861. As she was clipping locks of her daughter’s hair, Fanny’s hooped summer dress caught fire. The cause of the fire is not known; the best guesses are that a gust of wind possibly knocked “a burning taper onto Fanny’s lap” or that an “errant drop of molten wax” somehow “ignited the hem or sleeve of her highly flammable dress.”2 Her dress was immediately engulfed in flames and she ran to Henry’s study. After unsuccessful attempts to subdue the flames (which resulted in injuries to his face and hands), Henry was able to finally “snuff out the fire with a small throw rug.”

    Fanny would die the next day. Henry was devastated, described as “desolate” and in an almost “raving condition” soon after her death. At her funeral service, the bells in Cambridge tolled in her honor while Henry “remained in seclusion, tending to his bodily wounds and battered psyche.” He lay in bed grieving, questioning why he couldn’t save his wife. His son would recall that Fanny’s death “was a terrible blow to him, from which he never recovered.” Not long after her death, Henry would write of being unable to lift his eyes toward the future and of how his heart was aching and bleeding for their children.

    Eighteen years later, Henry would still mourn for his wife, recalling her face and her memory and expressing his lingering anguish in The Cross of Snow:….”

    https://technofog.substack.com/p/i-heard-the-bells-on-christmas-day

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Laura Loomer
    @LauraLoomer
    BREAKING: @TMobile
    has quietly updated their TOS to include fines for content they don’t agree with.

    Beginning on January 1, 2024, they will be fining users who commit perceived violations on their bandwidth.

    Who knew in America that the phone providers would now be policing the content of your text messages to fine you.

    S.H.A.F.T. is an acronym that stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco. It outlines the categories of text messages specifically regulated due to moral and legal issues and is monitored and enforced by the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) and the mobile carriers.

    Who gets to determine what is and isn’t “hateful”?

    Will political text messages be censored now as well going into 2024?

    This is what @comcast
    did to me in 2019/2020 when I ran for Congress. I warned people that it would happen to others when nobody did anything to stop this when it happened to me as a congressional candidate!

    Nice TOS date change! Just in time for the GOP primary and 2024 presidential election!

    Nothing to see here!

    Liked by 1 person


  48. NF: When I was living on the Arabian breeding farm in Bluemont, VA, the driveway was similar to this, but with fences set back about 30 feet. One late spring blizzard had us parking our vehicles at the start of the driveway and getting a ride to the farm on a tractor! That was crazy! Then the stream we had to go over flooded and the small wooden bridge caved in. We rode the tractor for almost a week!

    No more mud boggin’ for this one!


    Liked by 1 person

    1. that’s what we do during icy winters—we park a vehicle at the bottom of the driveway and then we ride the tractor up and down to get there or back home. the tractor chains have long-ish spike/nails that dig into the ice and snow. he drives, I stand on the arm thingies on the back. we use the bucket to transport the groceries.

      Liked by 1 person

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