Little Kumquat Blog: Thoughts of a Twin

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

12/31/2014

Christmas morning enjoying my coffee!

It seems like I should get one more post in here during 2014! So, here are photos from Christmas and the last week. No snow in Ohio for Christmas, but it stayed warm enough that no one was cold --- which pretty much makes up for the lack of romantic precipitation. We had a church service and Christmas cookie get together on the 23rd. That was a fun time and a great way to jump into the Christmas celebrations. Buddy and Kay came over earlier in that day and stayed 'til late when it was time to leave. I spent Christmas Eve morning finishing my wrapping and we just stuck around doing nothing but getting ready for the next day.

Christmas Day dawned later and grey. Clouds were hanging down to the top of the trees, so we closed the curtains and refused to look outside all day. In our minds it could be a White Christmas, right?! The four of us took an easy morning (Elizabeth and I were sure glad that it was Oliver banging on Mom and Dad's doorknob at 8:00am and not us --- he never gets yelled at. Well, almost never.). We had coffee and a nice breakfast, put the presents under the tree and took a nice slow time opening them together. Actually we took all day to do it, since we stopped for lunch and just talked a lot!

Elizabeth and I were so thrilled, because we were actually able to surprise Mom this year! She had no idea what we were giving her. One of the presents that we got for her was a painting of Oliver. We have yet to have it matted in the frame, so I'll do a separate post on that later. Anyway, it's really fun!

On Saturday we had our annual dinner with the Keultjeses. It was one of the best times ever. We had soup and snacks for the meal and a "pudding" bar for dessert. I made vanilla, chocolate, mocha and banana pudding, and we had all kinds of toppings --- including absolutely divine whipped cream that Mom made fresh. Wow!

This slideshow shows pictures of our house all decorated for Christmas on the day that we had the party.

Well, I better go now. We're going to have our "Farewell to Lord of the Rings" Day tomorrow. For years, since Return of the King came out, we've watched the trilogy back-to-back on New Year's Day. Well, Elizabeth informs us that the tradition is about to end, as by this time next year we will be able to change for all three Hobbit films back-to-back. :) We saw the final Hobbit again on Monday. It only gets better with each viewing, but that could be another entry! More later. Happy New Year!

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The Hobbit 3 . . . What a Fantastic Finale!

12/20/2014

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This week marks a big event in the cinematic world--- the final film in Peter Jackson's six-film Middle Earth masterpiece, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies was released in theaters. We didn't make it yesterday, but the weather held out today, so we stuffed a lot of wood into the stove and headed out to the theater. For the people working on this film it has been sixteen years of effort on these six films. For those of us watching the films it has been thirteen years of waiting, watching and buying Tolkien-themed souvenirs. After all the fun and emotion the saga is complete.

Since The Desolation of Smaug last year, we've been waiting impatiently for the final chapter in Bilbo Baggins' adventure. There were a few misgivings, though, knowing that the story is over. I kind of expected something along the lines of Return of the King --- which was somewhat overdone and lengthy. Not to mention that it leaves you quite sad.

Peter Jackson had a lot to live up to with this. Not only did he need to finish up his Hobbit trilogy, but he was making the finale to a six-film saga that had to live up to expectations of lots of fans. Well, he certainly succeeded. Unlike the rather sad and depressed feeling that you got with RotK, the final Hobbit movie sends you off with a feeling of satisfaction and a desire to see all five of the other Tolkien films as soon as you get home (impractical, of course, but it would be fun!).

(Spoilers below, so if you have not actually watched this film . . .)

Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Luke Evans certainly gave their best in this one. We'll cover them first, as Bilbo, Thorin and Bard happen to be my favorites! There is not a bad scene. In fact, I think that Bard's confrontation of Smaug at the very beginning of the film has to be one of (if not the) best scenes out of all six films. As soon as the dragon was dead I began to wonder how the rest of the film would not just be anti-climactic. The young man playing Bard's son, Bain (don't know his name off hand), did an absolutely amazing job. As the two of them stand up on that tower with Smaug ready to breath fire all over them --- well, you don't get more emotionally involved than that. And when Bard tells his son to "look at me" . . . if you don't have goosebumps or break out in a sweat then this trilogy is probably not your cup of tea. :)

Thorin's character goes through quite a lot in this episode. He has to struggle with "dragon sickness" (aka: a severe greed and lust for his newly found treasure hoard), but our hero's struggle with himself, and his ultimate victory, is much more satisfying and moving than Aragorn's struggle with the desire for the ring. Thorin's final battle with himself as he paces about the now solid gold floor of the Gallery of the Kings was well done, and you are never so happy as when he appears in that beautiful silhouette to lead his company out into the battle. As a plus, Thorin and Kili's confrontation at that moment is great, too. Kili says what you've wanted a dwarf to say for most of the film, and Thorin's response is well done. Not to be forgotten once you leave the theater is Thorin's final battle with Azog (that most evil and detestable of orcs) --- with a high price for victory. Bilbo and Thorin did an amazing job with Thorin's death. Wow! My favorite LotR character happens to be Boromir, and Sean Bean did an amazing job with his similar departure from the film. Unfortunately for him, he had to play opposite Aragorn. Well, anything that was lacking in that was fixed between Freeman and Armitage. Your heart literally breaks.

Bilbo is ---- well, Bilbo. In other words, he is the most perfect Hobbit that you could imagine. I thought that Samwise was fabulous in LotR, and I was sure that no one would quite equal up to him. Well, Bilbo has to be the best of all. Every line is a jewel. Although, with Bilbo it has a lot more to do with expressions and body language. His whole body conveys thoughts, and his face says everything without the need for words. He did an amazing job in scene where Thorin gifts him with the Mithril shirt and speaks to him about the Arkenstone. One of my favorite scenes was the one between Bilbo and Gandalf --- after the battle is over --- where Bilbo says nothing and Gandalf just cleans his pipe, knowing that Bilbo needs a friend just then. It's very sweet, and you cannot beat Gandalf and Bilbo. Wow.

Tauriel and Legolas also shine in this one. Some of Legolas' dialogue is a bit disjointed (maybe they cut a few scenes), but he looks fabulous and he fights in his always perfect and very heroic fashion. Tauriel is everything that a Tolkien heroine should be. She's what Arwen was in the books and wasn't on screen (though Arwen was good in the films). Tauriel does not have a bad shot or scene. Her face is amazingly expressive, and Peter Jackson gave her ample opportunity to show off the talent. Her scenes with Kili are some of the best. When they are fighting Bolg together is quite moving.

All in all, this third Hobbit (in my opinion) is as good as the second one. Together they seem like Peter Jackson's masterpiece. Lord willing, we're hoping to see it again next week. There is so much to see that I had forgotten a lot of the film by the time we came home. Too much to think about and take in. Here's hoping that they don't take forever to bring the disc out for this one!

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The Final Hobbit Film and Prince George's Christmas Photos

12/15/2014

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I can't believe it. After thirteen years of watching and waiting, Peter Jackson's Middle Earth saga is just about to be completed. We're hoping the weather is good enough that we can make it to the theater on Wednesday. More on this subject in a few days, of course.

Another fun thing is the release of Prince George's Christmas photos. Talk about a cute little Prince. I can just see my scrapbook expanding already. In fact, I've already had to get a second one, as the first one is so full that there is not room for a single scrap!

We're just about finished with the Christmas decorating. I'll have to take some pictures to post. We've been really busy with all kinds of things . . . cats, of course. Have seen some fabulous "new" movies (all from the 1940s and 1950s) lately, so I'll have to post those, too. Lots of cookies to bake and presents to wrap. We had beautiful snow in November (see photo below), but December has been decidedly gray, muddy and temperate. Great for the stove and the heating bills, but not much for the "White Christmas" feeling. ;) We did get all of our Operation Christmas Child boxes packed and delivered --- forty of them this year! That was some real fun. More coming soon! Merry Christmas!

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Goodbye to Frodo and Avis

12/12/2014

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It has been a sad month here. We lost little Frodo on November 7th, and little Avis went to sleep yesterday. Frodo was just eight years old and Avis was eight-and-a-half. This leaves our house with just four kitties --- Oliver (still King of the House and knows it), Max and Iveta (last two of the first litter of kittens born in our dining room) and Samwise (last of the second litter born in the same room). All are having a little trouble getting used to these two lover babes being gone. They were everybody's friends and cuddle buddies.

Sleepy Frodo (left) and Avis (right). Not their most beautiful pose, but I'm shocked to have just the two together!

Frodo had a heart attack or something, so we took him to the vet and found that he had advanced cardiomyopathy. That is a condition where the heart actually dissolves and just fades away. Several of the kittens have passed from this condition, though they were all under a year old. Poor little Avis has been struggling with some kind of mouth or stomach cancer (the same that her sister, mother and a few others have died from). Both kittens were wonderful babies, and God certainly blessed us with every day that we had with both of them. They were wonderful.

Sadly, we started the year with eight cats and now have four. It is hard to get used to for us, as we did enjoy the house with lots of kitties. Samwise is having a little trouble adjusting without his brother, so he needs some extra attention. Getting ready for Christmas here and putting up some decorations. Got the trees up last weekend --- now all we need is some snow!

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SAMWISE: MY HONEY-POT

Colossians 2:8:
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

BEATRICE: MY HONEY-BEE

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Hobbit 3 . . . What a Fantastic Finale!

The Final Hobbit Film and Prince George's Christmas Photos

Goodbye to Frodo and Avis

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