Haggis Hunt

I love my Pandora. Now if I could just find time to create my own station with the Christmas songs I love and without the songs I detest.

Haggis Hunt Haggis Hunt is in full tilt. I started hunting Sunday morning. I have a few sightings and am very excited. This is my third year at this. I have not won a prize yet but that is not what I love about it. The beautiful scenes of Scotland and the street view of London. There are 9 locations in Scotland including Loch Ness, 

Eilean Donan Castle,

 Inverness, 

and Loch Lomond. 

There is one hunting area on Oxford Street in Westminster, London.

 I have a favorite Friend who lives in London and I am hoping to catch a glimpse of him walking past while doing a wee bit of shopping. Waving to you Tavish!  It was snowing last night. That is another brilliant joy for me. It does not snow here and I miss it terribly each winter. I watched it powder the streets and crosses and land. You should join me in the hunt.

The Gala was Saturday night. The event we, my team and I, have been working on for a year. The evening went very well. We were prepared and it all went off smoothly. Meet Team Gala. Kim, Me (in the back row with the top hat), Alyse and Regina.

 We had a red and black theme and the attendees participated in such a beautiful way. They were gorgeous, the men and the women. I looked very hard to find a red dress and all I came up with was black. But I was happy with my choice.

We used hyacinth for the centerpieces. They were gorgeous and looked like huge lacy snowballs on the table. They were in squared vases filled with crystal clear pearls and little L.E.D. tea lights. They glowed from within. Regina took the New York snow flurried skyline that represented our theme and wrapped it around the base of each one. They looked like starlight New York Christmas night. Exactly the feel we wanted for the Gala. Our dancer was adorable and the mime convincing. Dinner was delicious and I just wish I had had the time to sit and fully enjoy it.

I would like to say that things can now get back to normal but it is Christmas Holiday season and things will not be normal. There is magic to be had and adventures to embark on and surprises and joy and sparkle.

Lady Tamara www.HighlandTitles.com,has to plan what to serve the Artz Council at our meeting this week. It is a four hour planning meeting. We shall be at it for a while so I wish to plan some light fare and then maybe a soup or Shepherd’s Pie and end with a dessert to break it up into 3 parts. If you would like to be in on the ground floor organizing of the Artz Council please be here, my home at 4p.m. on the 6^th.

Lady Tamara will also be scheduling a wrap up party for Team Gala.

This should keep me busy for an hour today. The rest of the day will be adventure! Enjoy yours!

Black Friday Cheer

The Christmas season is here! To focus on work is over. I have not ever been able to accomplish that during this season. I just want to enjoy all the hustle and bustle and lights and decorations and sounds and tastes and smells that only happen during this season. I have pretty much completed my Christmas shopping for everyone but my daughter’s fiancé, my brother and his wife. I had it done over a week ago; so when my daughter said she wanted to go out on Black Friday at midnight I was all for the adventure just to watch and be amazed at “crazy”. I was not disappointed.  People were camping out at Best Buy Wednesday night.

 I mean camping. There was a tent and people in lawn chairs around a BBQ grill. Lines around Kohls wrapping around to the back of the building, Macy’s had lines from each of its doors.

Home Depot had long lines forming outside.  People had lists and ads in hand and were ready with plans, strategies, telephones charged and a commander. I was entertained. It was amusing and challenging and “crazy”. People were in lines to the cash wraps that wrapped around the inside of the store from the front to the back with one or two things in hand, others had basket loads. Mostly it was exhausted women, some families that had the air of a family adventure, teenaged girls doing personal shopping, men with “deer in the headlight” looks and a list – totally out of their element but determined not to disappoint the wife.  Some were serious about the shopping a few were like me just out to have a fun adventure, a few were in high good spirits, a few were over focused and rude. We left home at 11:30 and after what I thought was a few hours my feet were tired and my gimpy ankle was screaming at me. Shaggy checked the time and informed me it was 7:05 am. Well no wonder my feet were cranky we had been out walking around for over 7 hours. We headed home for a nap. Up again at 11:00 am we sent my personal shopper a text message and he was at work so we climbed back into the car and headed off again.

 He hooked Shaggy up with Janet at Clinique and led me off to hunt for red lipstick.

 We were both looking mighty fly when we left with our treasures and gifts and surprises.  We stopped over at Godiva and recharged with a truffle for the drive back home.

  Really enjoyed my Thanksgiving Holiday! Let’s do it again!

Lady Tamara www.HighlandTitles.com needs to focus on some work today. Gala is Saturday night and there are several loose ends to tie up, daughters to deliver to work, daughters who are packing to move and need my help, my work to do, my non-profits to tend to, my own business to promote, my Cassie who needs me. Adventures to participate in, I am exhausted just thinking about it all. I need a star like the Magi followed, camels and horses to load all my cares on and just follow where it leads.  Lady Tamara www.HighlandTitles.com  is packing up all the demands on me into a beautiful box and giving it to GOD He will know what to do with it all. 

It is HIS anyway. I shall follow and be amazed!

Do you need a box for your cares?

Mantle Scarf

Every day I write in a gratitude journal.

 I started with 5 things. I would jot down in a small journal 5 things I was grateful for. At first it was the obvious, a bed, a home, food and such but then I started to look beyond those confines. After a year my list grew larger and I discovered more little things I had overlooked being lost in my personal tragedy. That was 1998 and my list now can be as small as 7 or as long as 12 depending on what I write about. The worse my situation was the harder it was to find even 7 things to be grateful for. But when you are sitting on the ground in despair you notice the intricate pattern of the Persian rug that decorates your room and all of a sudden you are thankful you bought that rug, you are thankful for the hands that wove that rug, the creation of the loom that was used, the person who procured the rug for auction, the boat that brought it here, the hands that created the boat and before you know it you have filled up 12 lines and your heart is open to receive more.

I mention this because several friends on a social media site are doing a November gratitude journey and every day they write about what they are grateful for. Wonderful! Will this create a habit they will continue for the rest of their days?  I enjoy what they all write. They are all positive things but in the devastation can they still be grateful? I wrote in my journal negatives like not having money; not being able to buy new clothing has inspired me to be creative and wildly free with what I wear. Why just the other day I mixed 2 different pinks with a vibrant orange sweater and pulled it all together with a scarf that incorporated all the colors. It was wild! I am grateful I have the imagination and courage to experiment and wear my creations in public.

Just this morning I was looking at my fireplace and the mantle scarf that adorns it.

 It is creamy white in color and made of Irish linen. The three edges are finished in hand tatted trim. My grandfathers’ mother made it as a young girl for her trousseau. That means she made it around 1884. What was she thinking as she tatted the edging? Was she dreaming about the man she would marry? The home she would live in? The children she would have? Did she think about me? Did she think about the mantle scarf being given to some future granddaughter? This morning I am grateful for every stitch, every thread, every moment she spent crafting this beautiful scarf. For her, for her husband, for her mother who taught her how to create this type of lace. It feels like it was all done for me. That opens my heart and a flood of warmth engulfs me. Over a hundred years ago a simple gesture of love has brought me enormous pleasure. Who beyond me will it bless?

Lady Tamara www.LairdOfLochaber.com  wishes you a blessed and joy filled Thanksgiving.

Surprised to be awake

My granddaughter spent the weekend with me. 

She is 3. She wakes up in the morning and creeps silently into my room and peers up over the end of my bed. If she cannot see me she stealthily creeps around to the side where she can. As soon as she has made eye contact she joyfully shouts I am awake! Part announcement, part surprise, and part mystery as if she thought maybe she would not be awake in the morning. As if the prayer….

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I shall die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.

…had her believing she may not awake.

Ever wonder where this little bedtime prayer came from?

This version by Joseph Addison…

When I lay me down to Sleep,

I recommend myself to his care;

when I awake, I give myself up to his Direction.

…appeared in 1711 on March 8 in The Spectator.

 The other version was printed in The New England Primer at a later date.

Do I awake with this sort of mystified joy? Did you?

Lady Tamara www.LochaberHighlandEstates.com awoke today and is having an adventure!! Whooooot!!!!

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday was double point coffee day where I purchase coffee.  So all I have to do is purchase 4 more bags of coffee on double point day and I receive a free bag. Exciting stuff! I also needed tea so we looked all over the store for some pumpkin pie spiced chai tea. Apparently pumpkins have gone back out of season (more on that later). However there standing tall in the Christmas area is Comfort and Joy tea. 

Hmmm… Ok I will try it. Black tea, spices and a touch of fruit, Interesting.  There was not a price sticker on the canister of tea, but, it was tea how much can it be?  With coffee and tea in hand we make our way to the cash wrap. Devin our cashier gets all excited over the tea I have purchased. “You must really LOVE tea!” Oh I do I exclaim and then he asks me if I enjoy that flavor. “I have never tried it.” Let me know he says as my purchase totals a wee bit over $19. It was at that moment I realize what he meant about loving tea. I was about to pay $11.99 for it. A moment of Bloody Hell!!! Hit me quickly followed by I am worth it and I deserve to have nice things.  I did not blink I just smiled and handed him a reward coupon for $10 off.  The coupon failed to read, it was not expired I had not made a copy or printed out 2. He called for a manger. As I was about to say don’t worry about it and hand him my card she shows up. Before I can say anything he starts babbling that the coupon is failing to read, is not expired and I drink Republic of Tea brand teas and am a faithful customer. Surprisingly he is in a panic.  She takes the coupon attempts to run it past the scanner and ends up with the same results. She keys it in manually and smiling, apologizes for the hassle. Devin is smiling and sporting a “There everything is set to rights again” expression. I thank them pick up my bag and leave.

 The last time I was treated like a Diva was over 25 years ago over a box of Godiva Chocolates in Dayton Ohio. My last name was Van Slyke an unusual name but one that was fairly well known at the time due to the baseball brilliance of Andy Van Slyke.  

It was Christmas and I always bought a ballotin of chocolates for Phyllis.

  I could not get to a Nordstrom to purchase the said treats because there was not one near me so I phoned one in Cincinnati. I asked for the Godiva department and a woman came on the phone I ordered the size and then asked if she could ship it directly from the store to Phyllis in Texas. She said certainly. Encouraged by this I asked if it could be gift wrapped. “Well, it already is in Gold paper with swag of greenery and white berries.” I understand but I want it gift wrapped over that. “No ma’am we do not do that.” Ok I think, it was worth a try. Phyllis will be surprised to get them anyway I doubt she will care about gift wrap. She asks for my card number and then my name and address, Mrs. Van Slyke I say and give an address. There is a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “Hello?” I am sorry ma’am what is your last name again? Van Slyke and I spell it. Just a moment she says, I will be right back.  She gets back on the phone moments later and tells me that the ballotin will be gift wrapped and carefully packed in dry ice so as not to melt and shipped immediately.  Ok, thank you I am thrilled and still unsuspecting. We conclude our transaction and as I am about to hang up she timidly says to me “Ma’am, Your husband Andy is my all-time favorite ball player. Thank you.” And she rings off. Uhm…. Andy Van Slyke is not my husband I think and now feel guilty about the whole exchange. I did not lead her astray she just assumed and it was not until it was over that I understood what had happened. She thought I was his wife and must have told a manager and they treated me differently when she got back on the phone. Now I was very curious to see what Phyllis actually would get. She got her ballotin exquisitely wrapped in thick red paper and swathed in a white tulle ribbon with holly and red berries packed in dry ice so it would not melt in the hot Texas December. Phyllis was impressed.  I had become very aware of the differences between them and me. It was huge! I wanted to be one of them.

Now I am Lady Tamara www.highlandtitles.comand I feel like one of them all the time! Especially buying Republic of Tea!  Hope I receive a ballotin of Godiva this year.  Don’t you want one too?

Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem

Here is something I found interesting. 47% of people on facebook were un-friended or un-friended someone over political opinions, comments, and votes. Hmmm…..

Dear Panera are you owned by Starbucks? Do you change the menu and then not change the menu we your customers see?  Does New York style cheesecake cream cheese go out of season like the bloody coconuts do? Shaggy and I come dancing into your store in our pajamas, sorry Cat it had to be done, to have a delicious pumpkin pie bagel and there on the menu it says New York Cheesecake as an option for cream cheese. Not only that but it also says it across a banner on the bagel bin. “Try our pumpkin pie bagel with New York style cream cheese!” YES!!!! NO!!! Says Kelly the man at the register; No what? No pumpkin bagel? I can see them. “ NO we have the bagel”  he looks at me like I am the idiot, “No New York Cream cheese”, and then he grins at me smugly. “We have not changed the signs yet.” Really? Is that true? Did New York recall their cheese cake ? Can you manage the honey Walnut or is that out of season as well? He now has the grace to look a wee bit embarrassed. Yes Ma’am we have that. Well make it so bagel boy!  It was probably the better choice anyway.

Speaking of facebook have you seen the post by the children whose father would not let them get a cat? After some serious negotiations the father told the children if they put a plea on his facebook page begging for a cat and it got a 1000 likes he would buy them a cat.  The son put the plea on his father’s page asking people to like the post nd explained why. Apparently within hours it had well over a thousand likes and is now at over 100,000 likes. Well done little family. Hopefully it was a Shelter kitty.

I discovered I have a grand Aunt who was a member of the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem. What is this I wonder?  Here is what I found out…  

The mission of the Order is to uphold the simple religion of Christ and further his Gospel of "Peace and Good Will upon the Earth."  To do noble deeds and by acts of kindness and works of cheer make the world better and brighter to him or her who in the hour of sorrow and affliction sees nothing but darkness.

Purpose of the Material Objective Fund

The Material Objective fund is an established Benevolent fund to help assist in the paying of medical bills for those who cannot afford them by any other means.

The White Shrine is a not-for-profit body organized under a charter of incorporation dated October 23, 1894.  It is not connected to the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine (AAOMS).

Lady Tamara www.LairdOfLochaber.com was fascinated by this Aunt who was also a member of Knights Templar Auxiliary, Order of the Eastern Star, Ladies Oriental Shrine, Order of the Amaranth, an active member of her church and a school teacher. When did she sleep?

Speaking of sleep it is cold and grey outside I could go back to sleep. How about you?

Pierce His Navel

I have become a little old Lady with poor handwriting. I had a note on my schedule for yesterday that I looked at and could not decipher. I got 1 and gala but that was all. My gala meetings are almost always on a Thursday at 11:30 so I thought I had written the wrong date and scratched the notation off. I am off out of town on a long planned adventure when I receive a call from one of my committee members telling me she is running late. For what I ask, the meeting she replies. What meeting? The one scheduled for 1:00 today. uh-oh it is already 1:05 and I am about 45 minutes out. I will not be making it. I cannot even begin to describe how I felt, but it was all bad. Words like idiot, irresponsible, stroke victim, Alzheimer, buffoon, bumble headed, silly ninny, all ran through my mind. Still today I cannot recall why we had it scheduled for such an odd time.

But wait…. There is more. I had borrowed a book from the library where my mother lives. I recall putting it in my purse. But it was not there when I went to retrieve it. I found it in my camera bag two days later. I set it on my bed and continued with the work I was doing. I remember walking into my room to return my camera to the bag and seeing the book. On the cover of the book lying on my bed is a black cat, lying on my bed is my black cat. I have two black cats on my bed I thought and smiled. Late that same night I go to pick up the book which had been lying on the afghan on my bed and it is gone. Not there and not anywhere. I have not been able to find the book for two days.

On top of that; I get a phone call yesterday from my MF so he can tell me he is in Newport and of course as he suspected I went off about not flying me into Newport and he laughed. So I ask about Christmas and as I expected he is backing out. I am very disappointed because this is not the first time he has set me up for a Christmas trip and then failed to produce, gone alone, took some teenager instead, changed his plans to go somewhere with other friends. I expected it, sadly, but still I am disappointed.  Ok! Lady Tamara www.HighlandTitles.com will thank GOD and carry on! HE has a better plan for me. Maybe this year I will get to see the Nutcracker! I  missed it last year.

Then last night, just as I needed a little surprise and humor my daughter tells me her gay best friend went and pierced his navel and his Mom paid for it. WHAT?? I have never heard of a guy piercing his navel. I can imagine exotic male belly dancers doing this but…. Ok after a google I found discussions on the subject in gay and bi-sexual chat rooms. Hmmmm but I also found straight men who admitted to it.

Sort of put a little feather in the cap of my day. Now I will look at all men and wonder…..”Does he have a navel piercing?”

Have you ever seen this?