I love the holiday season so naturally, the idea of celebrating more than just once a year makes me happy. Christmas in July means different things to different people but I have to admit I was more than a little surprised to discover just how old the concept truly was 


There was an opera in 1892, apparently based on Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. Then in 1933, in North Carolina a girls summer camp decided to celebrate Christmas with a  tree and gifts.

Christmas in July is a comedy, released in 1940. In the story, a man is fooled into believing he has won $25,000 in an advertising slogan contest. He buys presents for family, friends, and neighbors, and proposes marriage to his girlfriend.


Though a lot of charity organizations use Christmas in July to boost donations and build campaigns to help those in need, major retailers use it to their advantage too. American advertisers began using Christmas in July themes in print for summertime sales as early as 1950. And get this ... it all started in part because retailers tend to sell Christmas goods around July to make room for next year's inventory.

The thing is that regardless of how it started or any motivations, Christmas is fun! I love the holidays and getting to celebrate twice a year works for me. 

We just finished America’s favorite week of the summer: Shark Week.  The documentaries, the insane footage…Sharknado. What’s not to love? But this year, it feels like we’re dealing with Shark Summer! There seems to have been a big increase in reported bites this season, and people are starting to second-guess their beachside vacations.  So why is this year different than others? It would appear that the Atlantic got warm earlier than normal, and that’s been drawing the sharks closer to shore for feeding. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/recent-shark-attacks-north-carolina-florida-east-coast-warm-water-beach-threat/48953405

Humans love the beach…it’s calming, relaxing, and fun.   And for those of us who live in Northern climes, we dealt with what felt like the longest, coldest, snowiest winter ever.  So we’re flocking to the coast in huge numbers, trying to soak up as much sun as we can.  This might also be a factor in the number of attacks. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150625-north-carolina-shark-attacks/

We seem to love being scared by the biggest predators of the seas (Jaws, anyone?) But they are a vitally important part of the ocean’s ecosystem…which is really what Shark Week is all about.  They’re trying to educate people about the necessity of one of the oldest, most sophisticated hunters on the planet.  http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/the-value-of-sharks/sharks-role-in-the-ocean/

My green beans took 1st prize. I was shocked because I grew them from seeds in a pot on my deck (I can't plant them in the ground because there are too many animals here in the lush forest where I live that would love to eat them).

My strawberry cream cheese cake took second place in the Food-Home Produced Products Baked Goods Class- Cakes category.

My white chocolate cherry cookies took third prize in the Food-Home Produced Products Baked Goods Class- Cookies category.