O, Christmas Tree, Part 2

Viggo Johansen 1891

How did the Christmas tree make it to America?

We all love our Christmas trees. These days Christmas trees, ornaments, and decorations are a million dollar market, but decorated Christmas trees have their origins in Europe and can trace their roots to the 1500's.

Did you know?
The Douglas Fir and Scotch Pine are the two top best selling Christmas trees?

The earliest evidence of trees getting decorated for Christmas comes out of Latvia and Livonia between 1441-1510. Guild Halls would be decorated with sweets to be enjoyed by the apprentices and children.

In the early 1700's, spots of Germany had embraced decorating Christmas trees. European royalty began to accept the custom and when a picture of Queen Victoria with her family was taken for the "Illustrated London Daily," in 1846 Christmas trees were made popular with the general public.

The Christmas tree had a tough start in America.

The pilgrims settled in New England and brought their stoic traditions with them. The Puritans banned Christmas, wanting to get rid of the "pagan mockery" of the observance. Only a church service was allowed. Decorating a tree and singing carols were "heathen" traditions. The stern attitude continued until the early 1800's when the German and Irish immigration trends began to undermine the Puritan legacy.

As early as 1777, Christmas trees started to "peep" out in America. Hessian soldiers as POWs would put them up. Easton, PA, Lancaster, PA, and Wooster, OH were some of the early cities to embrace the custom. August Imgard in Wooster started putting candy canes on the trees in 1947, and we're still putting them on trees today.

Did you know?
Tinsel was created in Germany in 1610. It was made out of silver up until the mid-20th Century.

Early decoration included nuts, apples, paper baskets with almonds, along with popcorn and cranberries stringed together. Quilted snowflakes were also popular. Candles were also placed on Christmas trees symbolic of the stars at night when Jesus was born. (Imagine the fires! Thank goodness for electric lights.)

Did you know?
Since 1923 the US National Christmas tree has been lit on the south lawn of the White House.

Nowadays Christmas tree are a popular way to celebrate the holiday season.

Norway annually gifts a tree to Washington DC as a symbol of friendship between Norway and the US and in gratitude for the United States help during World War II.

Question: Do you have a real tree or an artificial one? Do you theme your tree? When do you put it up? A couple of days before 25 DEC or right after Thanksgiving?

Author Bio: Stephanie Burkhart is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. Prior to that, she spent 11 years in the US Army, 7 overseas in Germany. She prefers to put a star on the top of her tree. Her 99 cent Christmas story, "Christmas in Bayeux" will take you to Bayeux, France to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas in Bayeux: 99 cent contemporary romance.

Blurb: Aiden travels to Bayeux, France to meet an old friend, Noel. Can she help heal his wounded heart?

Opening Line: A light dusting of snow covered the Renault's window.

4, 5 Star Amazon Reviews:
This was just a wonderful and heart warming read. - Markee Anderson

BUY LINK: http://amzn.com/B005BTLSI8

Welcome Guest Author - Karen Michelle Nutt

Holidays at the Nutt House

By Karen Michelle Nutt

A Glimpse of Christmas Past…

My eldest, Kendra was almost three when the Disney’s Little Mermaid premiered. She loved everything to do with Ariel. For Christmas, Santa brought her all the collector characters. (They were the hard plastic statues.) She was so excited and named off each of the characters as she pulled them out of her stocking. In a cute little voice that only a three year old could have, she said: This is Ariel. And this is Sebastian. Ooh and this is Flounder.” She pulled out King Triton next and we ask her who he was. “He’s…he’s…he’s my father.” We couldn’t help but chuckle. Not only did she love Ariel, she thought she was Ariel. lol

Now she’s twenty-five with a degree in massage therapy and working at a salon. She is also writing a novel. She joined in on NaNo this year. What is her story about? Yep, you guessed it: Mermaids.

Katrina is the middle child who loves the movies---anything from the classics to the blockbusters of today. She couldn’t get enough of Lord of the Rings and of course the dashing Legolas was her favorite. I’d find binders with his name scrawled all over it. She’d tack pictures from magazines of him on her walls. Then there was Twilight and she had to have a stocking with Edward Cullen. (She still has it, too.) lol Though her original stocking hangs from the fireplace now.

She’s currently is creating videos and also joined NaNo this year. Her love of fantasy and the paranormal has helped her to create a fascinating story surrounding the Irish werewolf legend.

Vincent is my baby. Though he’s eighteen now and built like a football player. As a child he was the reason safety latches and plug coves were invented. If this kid could put a new toy into the light socket, he would.

When he was too quiet, I knew he was up to no good. I’d ask him, “What are you doing?” and he would respond with, “Something.” And you could bet it was something I wasn’t going to like. One Christmas Santa brought a playhouse for Katrina and Vincent. It was a big plastic one that Santa assembled in the house. One day Vincent was in there by himself, but was awfully quiet. I had to investigate. I opened the window and peek in. “What are you doing?” I asked. He immediately hid something behind his back. “Hand it over,” I told him. And he slowly reveals the item. I almost fell over. It was a kitchen knife. This wasn’t just any knife. It was a large knife that might as well have been a sword. I’m freaking out, but managed to relieve him of the knife without panicking him. I asked him what he thought he was going to do with the knife. He said, “I wanted to cut open a package.”

We had a little talk why he should not use a knife. Locks were immediately placed on the kitchen drawers. I have to say, he was too short to even see into this drawer. He must have just felt around until his little hand clasped the handle.

Today, Vincent is attending the Arts Institute for video design where the only swords he handles are part of the game he’s created. He also works part time with an electrician—so his fascination with light sockets hasn’t quite worn off.

Christmas Present…

The weather is usually comfortable in Southern California and we can enjoy the outdoors. Sometime during the Holiday we like to visit the happiest place on earth: Disneyland! The decorations, the music and the smiling faces always puts everyone in the holiday mood for fun.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of the Nutt House during the holidays. Since it is a time for giving, I’d like to offer one person a chance to win a PDF copy of one of my books. Winner’s choice!

What do you have to do? I’d love to hear about one of your Christmas Shenanigans, cute story or what you like to do around the holidays. Please remember to leave your email so I may contact you if you should win.

Stephanie,

Thank you so much for having me on your lovely blog.

To Everyone: Merry Christmas!! Happy Holidays! And let’s hope the New Year brings us joy!!

About the Author: Whether your reading fancy is paranormal, historical or time travel, all her stories capture the rich array of emotions that accompany the most fabulous human phenomena—falling in love.

Visit the author at: http://www.kmnbooks.com

Stop by her blog for Monday interviews, chats and contests at:

http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com

The 12 Days of Christmas

Who doesn't enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas? It's one of our favorite carols of the seasons. Have you ever wondered about its orgins? I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits with you.

The song was first published in England in 1780, but there's strong textual evidence that suggest it is much older and had French roots.

In fact 3 French versions of the song are known. if you take "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" literally, the only type of partridge that perches in pear trees with any frequency is the red-legged partridge - found in France. This partidge was not successfuly introducted into England until 1770.

The song was brought to the US in 1910 by Emily Brown, who was a teacher in Milwaukee, VI. She heard the song in England and needed a song for her Christmas pagent.

Modern folklore implies the song was used as a "catechism song" for the Catholics in England between 1558-1829 when Catholicism was frowned upon.

The 1984 cost of the 12 days of Christmas? $12,623.10.

There are minor variants of the song:
** Calling Birds for colly birds
**Golden rings for Gold Rings.

Currently, English composer Frederic Austin arranged the standard version. The copyright was registered in 1909 and is still active by its owners.

On a more religious note, the 12 days of Christmas usually start on Christmas and last until the Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th of January in most Christian religions. However, I've noticed in our "rush" to enjoy Christmas, a lot of groups - for example, my work, celebrate the 12 days before Christmas. Do you celebrate the 12 days before? What do you do?

Share your thoughts on the 12 Days of Christmas. GIVEAWAY. Leave a post with a comment about the 12 days or Your Family Christmas traditions and I'll pick a person to receive a decorative cloth christmas tree made by my friend, Lori Powell.

My latest release is "The Faberge Secret." It's a contemporary romantic suspense Christmas story, about 40K. BLURB: When Elise Goodwin buys a rare Faberge Egg, can Dimitri keep her safe from his rival, Gustav Kelch who will do anything to take the egg from her.


REVIEWS:
5 STARS, Celia Yeary, Author
You will thoroughly enjoy this fast-paced tale of danger, a mystery, and a satisfying conclusion.Elise and Dimitri make sparks fly!

Sue Perkins, Author
The Faberge Secret exceeded my expectations. Definitely worth reading more than once. What more can I say? It is such a good book.

BOOK TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf5ujOoDRXs

BLURB:
Elise Goodwin finds herself faced with danger when she learns the Faberge egg she's bought belongs to a Russian mogul, Dimitri Romanov, but is Dimitri playing a game with Elise's heart to get his heirloom back?

Elise Goodwin runs a heritage museum in Brattleboro, Vermont. She travels to Boston to buy some items for her museum at Sotheby's auction. What she acquires is a delicious surprise that would excite any curator – a Faberge egg.

Enter Russian businessman Dimitri Romanov. He goes to the auction with the intent of buying the egg only to discover that Elise is in possession of it. His dilemma? He's attracted to the petite brunette with doe-like eyes and a trusting disposition.

Complicating matters is Dimitri's rival, Gustav Kelch, who wants the precious jeweled object for his own collection. Can Dimitri protect Elise from Kelch?

ENJOY THIS EXCERPT:

She bit her lower lip. If she didn't take a chance now, would her life be filled with what- ifs and regrets? Yes, John had hurt her, but she was still alive. Dare she believe in romance again?

Dimitri paused next to her room, beside the door.

"If you have the time..." she began, knowing it was now or never. "And if you don't have to go back to Russia right away, I'd be honored to have you share Christmas with my family."

"I'd be happy to." His gaze was as soft as a caress. He reached out and tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. Then slowly, he curved his hand around the nape of her neck and moved closer so there was no space between them.

Their lips skirted each other's, teasing, tempting... until Dimitri's mouth finally captured hers in a drugging kiss.

His lips were firm and persuasive. He smelled of soap and sandalwood. Something intense flared within her, and she fisted her hands around the lapels of his coat. Her body betrayed her desire. His erection pressed against her thigh.

All of a sudden, an all-crushing fear consumed her. He was hard for her. It was too soon, too fast. She broke the kiss and pushed him away.

"Elise--" Dimitri began.
"Umph!"


Elise's heart jumped. She swung around and looked at the door.


It stood ajar.


"Lucy!" Elise forgot all about Dimitri's kiss and rushed inside with him right behind her.

Concern spiked within her the second she saw Lucy.


Her friend's hands and feet were tied to a chair, and a gag was in her mouth. The room had been trashed. Their suitcases had been turned over; their clothes and books tossed haphazardly about.

Fear knotted inside Elise. She rushed to the chair and took off Lucy's gag. Dimitri untied the knots at Lucy's feet, concern for her friend evident in his eyes. Elise was thrilled that Dimitri had helped her with no hesitation or reservations.

"What happened?" Elise asked. "Who did this?"

"They were looking for the egg," Lucy said. She glanced at Dimitri, but instead of her earlier resistance to him, gratefulness filled her gaze.

Dimitri froze and glanced up, his stare drilling into Elise. "Egg? A Faberge egg?"

Elise loosened one of the ropes around Lucy's hand and looked at Dimitri, perplexed. "What do you know about Faberge eggs?"

He muttered something in Russian, finished untying the knot around Lucy's other ankle, and stood, straightening his shoulders.
"That's what I lost. What I've been looking for -- my Faberge egg."

BUY LINKS:
AMAZON KINDLE:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Faberge-Secret-ebook/dp/B006LTE2ZS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324310728&sr=8-1

B&N NOOK:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-faberge-secret-stephanie-burkhart/1105070465?
ean=2940013874596&itm=1&usri=the+faberge+secret

ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thefabergesecret-657577-149.html

PUBLISHER'S LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-236/The-Faberge-Secret-Stephanie/Detail.bok

Holiday Post - The 12 Days of Christmas

The 12 days of Christmas is one of our favorite carols of the seasons, but have you ever wondered about it's origins? Here's some interesting tidbits:

The song was first published in England in 1780, but there's strong textual evidence that suggests the song is much older and has French roots.

In fact, 3 French versions of the song are known. If you take "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" literally, the only type of partridge that perches in pear trees with any frequency is the red-legged partridge – found in France. This partridge was not successfully introduced into England until 1770.

The song was brought to the U.S. in 1910 by Emily Brown, who was a teacher in Milwaukee, WI. She heard the song in England and needed a song for her Christmas pageant.

On a more religious note, the 12 days of Christmas usually start on Christmas and last until the Feast of Epiphany on the 6th of January in most Christian religions.

My son, Andrew and our Christmas Tree 2010

Modern folklore implies the song was used a "catechism song" for Catholics in England between 1558-1829 when Catholicism was frowned upon. Here's how it was used:

A Partridge in a Pear tree: Jesus
2 turtle does: Old & New Testament
3 French Hens – the theological virtues: faith, hope & love.
4 calling (colly) birds – four gospels
5 gold rings – The Torah, the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament
6 geese a-laying – six days of creation
7 swam a-swimming – 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 maids a-milking – The 8 Beatitudes
9 ladies dancing – 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 lords a-leaping – 10 Commandants
11 pipers piping – 11 faithful Apostles
12 drummers drumming – 12 points of the Apostles' Creed

In 1984, the total of all goods and services was given values - $12,623.10. In 2010, the total value was $23,439.00. And the services are considered hired, not purchased.

There are minor variants on the song. For example: calling birds for colly birds (blackbird)

Golden for gold rings.

Currently, English composer Frederic Austin arranged the standard version. The copyright was registered in 1909 and is still active by it's owners, Novello & Co. Limited.

May you all have a happy and fulfilling 12 days of Christmas.

Smiles
Steph

Info for this blog post was taken from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)

Preparing for Christmas

Andrew decorating the tree

I all, with Christmas around the corner, I thought I'd through out my thoughts on the holiday and what I do to prepare.

Growing up, I never had an advent candle. Or an advent calendar.

I always wanted one, too. I'm a person who likes symbolism. I get it. I enjoy it. And I'm hoping to pass a little of that love onto my boys. Ever since Andrew was born, I began using an advent candle. I have a green wreath, 3 purples, and 1 pink candle. I tell Andrew each candle has a "meaning." Hope, Love, Joy, and Faith. We burn our candles whenever we eat. So far we've done Hope and Faith.

This year, I've put verses of the Christmas story out of Luke in the Advent Calendar along with a little treat. Andrew enjoys reading the verses. Joe, who is 4, just wants to make sure he gets his share of the treat.

Every week that Andrew goes to Religious Ed, he brings a canned good out of our pantry for the food drive at the church. It's a very rewarding feeling to give so unselfishly.

Joe, who is 4, goes to Little Church. It's a preschool for children while Mass is going on. I help to teach the 3's Little Church. This last week he learned about St. Nick and how St. Nick would leave money and items in the stockings or shoes near the fireplace. St. Nick was called Sinterklass in the Netherlands. Out of Sinterklass grew Santa Claus.

Joseph decorating the tree.
This season, as we prepare for Christmas, let's not forget the reason for the reason.

Luke 2, 1-7

In those days a decree went out from aesar Augustus that the whoel world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galiee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house of and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrohed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clohtes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.



Does anyone have a Christmas book they want to share? One they like to read to their children?

Smiles
Steph

News from the Publishing World - Misc Christmas Thoughts

JOE DECORATING THE TREE

First, I want to apologize for not being around much. Truth be told, real has me busy this holiday season. I just finished my Christmas card list, but now I have to wrap gifts and keep the chocolate in the advent calender flowing. Haha. Which kind of takes me to my theme today - Christmas traditions.

When I was a wee thing, I remember my Dad would buy lobster and we'd all go over my Granny's house for a Christmas Eve lobster dinner. Being a wee one, I didn't appreciate the lobster at the time.

When we got older, we used to go to my grandmother's house (on my mother's side) for Christmas Eve. Since I lived in NH, snow would litter the ground. It would be COOL. The wind chill would put it about 20 degrees. We'd have to warm up the car before going out to it.

We'd make pedogies (homemade) and have a non meat dinner before opening gifts. I loved the comdarie of making homemade pedogies. The whole family would gather around and one would roll out the dough, one would use a cookie cutter to make the circles and one would stuff the dough. It was my job to boil the pedogies and then fry them up in a pan with butter & onions. Homemade pedogies taste fab, but looking back, that butter & onion couldn't have been good for the ticker! Haha! I would go to Midnight Mass with my aunt Mary and on Christmas we'd have a big turkey dinner and visit the aunts and uncles.

Nowadays, my Christmas traditions are a little different since I live in California. There's no 20 degree temperatures in California. I'm kind of sad that my boys won't know a snowy Christmas, but I try to make it as Christmasy as I can. I light an advent candle for meals and I have an advent calender filled with choc and lollipops. I put out a navity and each day Andrew and I add a piece. We have an ornament dinner every year and exchange personalized ornaments with family members. Opening gifts are usually reserved for Christmas morning. That's what they did for my husband's family when he was a wee one.

ANDREW DECORATING THE TREE



Both my boys are excited for Christmas this year. Joe is 3 and is just starting to "get it." He goes to the advent calender every day which is cute.

Christmas traditions are important because, for me, it makes the family unique. While lobster isn't on the menu anymore, I made a clam chowder and Brent will cook up a rib roast for the ornament dinner. I made sugar cookies with Andrew and he loves it. Joe should be old enough to get it this year. We'll see.

I hope you're having a good holiday season and enjoying your own Christmas traditions.

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NANOWRIMO

Did I tell you the reason why I neglected the blog? Part was because of National Novel Writing Month. I was tying my fingers off trying to get to 50K words. And I did! I'm a winner at 50,291. Mind you, my novel is probably just a little over 1/2 done but I've got a good start with it. I have to admit, I entered Novemeber prepared. I had character bios, maps, outlines and I was ready to write. I don't think without that prep work, I would have made my goal.

A


The other reason is the real life business of the holiday season. I work from 6 pm to 2 am and I usually have to get up at 630 am. I am exhausted all of the time. It sucks. I have to do my house work, and the Christmas extras. Not that I mind, but I find there's just not enough time in the day.

My NaNoWriMo project was "The Count's Lair" a book that will be published by Desert Breeze publishing. I'm very excited about the story. My hero is a werewolf who falls in love with a talented pianist in Hungary 1901. I love the time period. While werewolves don't have the appeal that vampires do, I enjoy them because I explore the more pyschological aspects of it.

******

New from the Publishing World.

I try to keep up with this one which isn't easy. I usually get my news from Publisher's Weekly as I find they are the most up to date:

A new program debuts on Sirius XM Book Radio this week: “Penguin Classics on Air,” a half-hour series devoted to the discussion and exploration of some of Penguin Classics’ 1,500-plus titles. Penguin employees will write and produce the series, and the show will air twice a week—Mondays from 3:00 to 3:30 P.M. and Thursdays from 11:30 P.M. to midnight—on Sirius 117 and XM 163.

It sounds interesting. This week is about Jane Austen. Having just seen Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightly and watching Becoming Jane, consider me a Jane Austen fan. Surprisingly, I didn't read her in High school, so I'm just now getting introduced to Jane.

I'm a firm believer in entering writing contests. It's where I cut teeth and I've entered the Writer's Digest Contests since 2006. Here's a contest being offered through Publisher's Weekly and Amazon:

Also today, Penguin Group (USA) and Amazon announced the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition. For the first time, the competition will award two grand prizes: one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel. The 2010 competition will also be open to novels that have been previously self-published. The competition runs from January 25, 2010 and until February 7 at www.amazon.com/abna.

Here's something a little interesting: A Candianan Private school is switching to EBook readers!

The Blyth Academy, a private school in Toronto, is replacing its traditional textbooks with the Sony Reader Digital Book which will be loaded with electronic versions of students' textbooks. “There may be one or two [books] that we still find are better in the printed version, or that maybe haven’t been fully converted into electronic texts, but we’re hoping by the end of the year, that we’ll have all of our texts completely in electronic format,” said Blyth director of development Brandon Kerstens. He added that some of Blyth’s approximately 170 students in Toronto have opted to continue using hard copies of the books.

The school is maintaining its library of printed books, and students will still read fiction in printed versions. “We’re not doing away with printed text altogether because novels are so beloved, and people love to have their novels in a printed version,” said Kerstens.


Enjoy your Wednesday!
Smiles,
Steph