Christmas 2015

At Our New Home

Our dinner table, with only the spring glass dishes locatable so far.

We still have a lot of stuff to do

Including unpacking and putting stuff up,

but that did not stop us from our tradition.

Okay, maybe it did slow us down. 

(Plus, I had the flue, so I was short on courses.)

Salad plus strawberries with my special home-made dressing

 This year, the theme was strawberry and white wine.

Dean happy to get started. He was so hungry!

Tomato-Basil Soup with White Wine (Don't worry, the alcohol was cooked off)

Lobster Ravioli with Handmade Cream, Butter, and White Wine Sauce.

So you can see the inside. It really was delicious!

Red and White Pan Potato, Baked Sweet Potato, and Cornish Hen baked in butter, spices, strawberries, and white wine.

 Yes, the portions were small, smaller for me than the rest, too. However, with this many courses, I promise everyone was full by the end of the meal!

Sidney and My Brother enjoying the course. Honestly, it was my favorite!

Baked Green Beans and butter with Pan-cooked Beef Tips in Homemade Mushroom and White Wine Gravy

My Mom's and Dean's Favorite Course. (That's blueberry/grape sparkling juice, btw.)

My world-famous Chocolate Mousse. This year it is Chocolate-Strawberry with Handmade Strawberry Whipped Cream

View From Above

This year's fruit - Strawberries! With Handmade Strawberry Whipped Cream. Did I mention that Sidney mad the topping?

View from above!

Next to what us adults received as a pairing... Spumanti! (Yes, the wine glasses are somewhere besides available.)

Strawberry and Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream Ended the night.

Can you guess what Sidney's favorite course was?

A very full and satisfied Dean.

Gorgeous Sidney by the tree.

And, we thank you for your time! (and desert)

 Obviously, there was no pictures of me this year. Everyone ran and undressed this year as soon as they were finished eating. So, no pics of me. But, I assure you I was there. I did the cooking, too.

This was a sparsely attended year - Rob and his new wife are in Tacoma, Renee is in Chicago, and no visitors (except my brother, Dave). 

My mom was amenable to making it even smaller, but Dean and Sid would not allow it! Okay, I wouldn't either. We had a great time. I hope your Christmas was just as wonderful.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Oh, and a Happy New Year - 2016 as well!!!

Murfreesboro Heritage Center

Rutherford County Center For Historic Preservation

This photo from their website

Part of Middle Tennessee State University

 I took a trip downtown and I found the center on accident! I knew absolutely nothing about this place. I did not even know it existed. Unfortunately, the hours are from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm So, I cannot take my kids that are in school. But, it is definitely a place to go visit.

Here are some photos that I took there. 

Better Homes, Better Farms

 

Hermes God Of Real Estate, Home, And Merchants

Reblogging of Two Posts

God of Real Estate and Homes  and God of Merchants

 Both blogs to follow on this page!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Hermes God Of Homes And Real Estate?

Hermes and the Herm

Pinterest Board

You may notice Hermes and a Herm on the Countess Services Webpage. I thought I would share with you why those photographs are there. You can see how Hermes relates to franchises here.

The photograph above is of a Herm. Originally, the Ancient Greeks set them up at their property borders. The older versions have just his head on top of a tall rectangle with a penis and scrotum in the front. Obviously, phallic symbols represented fertility. Therefore, the god must have been placed in the corners to not only mark or separate an area, but to request that he inseminate the fields and animals to propagate a bountiful harvest and herd. We could go so far as to say that a property post is now a modern day Herm.

Hermes is also considered the god of animal husbandry and farms. In a story by Homer, Hermes told Apollo that when he (Hermes) would go and "graze down with wild-roving cattle the pastures on hill and horse-feeding plain: so shall the cows covered by the bulls calve abundantly both males and females . . .’ When Hermes had said this, he held out the lyre: and [Apollo] took it, and readily put his shining [cattle] whip in Hermes' hand, and ordained him keeper of herds."(1.)

He is also god of hospitality and homes. Ok, I would even go so far as to say he was patron to hospitality in a home. Hermes and Hestia (goddess of the hearth), both, were patron gods of banquets. Hermes had others, even mortals served dinner and wine before he received his. (When he did get his portion, however, the stories say that he dug right in!) Small shrines to Hermes were set up in the entryway of homes as reminders of sanctity and to guard against thievery. Here again, a Herm, albeit smaller than the ones outside, marked the border of someone's home. 

As "Bringer of Dreams" he talks to slumberers. This is most probably due to his most illustrious roll as "Messenger of the gods." After all, that's when the gods send their messages. Therefore, he was a god to those sleeping, and now he is god of the bedroom as well. (As a phallic god, he could be god of the bed, too - just saying.)

 Interestingly, Hermes is also god of a home's guard dogs. Apparently, he controls their barking, sleep, alerting ability, etc. I would say that maybe he would now be god of security systems since most people do not have the "guard dog" of old. And, since he is a protector of homes, this would definitely make sense. 

And so, I give you a Herm to mark and 

protect your home!

Sources:
1.) Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes 490 ff (trans. Evelyn-White), (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.)     http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/HermesGod.html (accessed December 9, 2015)

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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Hermes The God Of Merchants

Hermes / Mercury

Greek and Roman

Patron God of Merchants

(Among many other things)

Hermes and I seem to have a lot in common. 

• He loves merchants and so do I
• He is oratorically eloquent, and so am I
• He loves literature and poetry; ditto
• He is skilfully sharp and shrewd; again, ditto
• He prefers land travel, yep, me too. I also specialize in brokering real estate and RE services franchises
• He is the god of weights and measures; I am always measuring my weight. Oh, wait, I mean I weigh and measure before I leap
• He is a conductor and messenger from the gods; I conduct you to your best franchise and am the conduit between the franchisor and franchisee prospect
• He is the god of shepherds; I steer the best candidate to the best franchise, and vice-versa
• Hermes is god of athletics and I represent sports companies and franchises
• Hermes is considered the god of thieves, but the stories that show this are really more about ingenuity and merry trickery; For ten years I owned and ran a clown, magician, and children's entertainment company. I also enjoy watching clowns and magicians
• He is a god of fertility and good fortune; I have four kids who all have many friends and so my house is, and has always been full of laughter and kids of all ages. Furthermore, I help you prosper through guiding you to the best franchise candidate, or the best franchise or business opportunity

I almost named the company Hermes, but decided to keep the "Countess" name because so many people know me from my historic mansion, palace, castle, etc. blog and FaceBook page. Go here for The Sassy Countess Blog.

In any event, Hermes is going to always be on this blog and also the Countess Services webpage. Even when the divisions of CS split, Hermes will be there to remind you that you are in good hands with me, Taylor Speer-Sims and Countess Services.

Countess Franchise & Business Opportunities Brokerage Services

 New business cards coming soon. Until then, all information is correct. You can still reach me through taylorspeersims@yahoo.com or through the webmail at franchise@countessservices.com

Countess Franchise & Business Opportunities Brokerage Services 

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