Christmas 2014

Many years ago a Singles Group met at the Grace Congregational Church in Rutland, VT. We did things such as going through the Pittsford Haunted House and attending First Night events on New Year's Eve. Over a decade ago the group disbanded, but a few of us still get together for a holiday dinner out each December.

Here Mary is admiring a place mat Sue, in the background, quilted.

Part of the fun is a Yankee Swap. Each person brings a wrapped gift. We pick numbers to determine the order for picking a gift which the person opens and then decides if they want to keep it or exchange it with a previously opened gift. Since #1 has no previously opened gifts, at the end whoever has #1 gets to exchange with any gift. A popular gift often moves from person to person!

This Christmas tree had been super tall, but scraggly. By the time Griff and I had found the best shape, it was a short tree! This year the tree and village are under the living room window. These are the boxes I have saved from past years, laid out to be the foundation for the village.

Meanwhile, Ursula completed her project for Heritage Day at her school. During my visit to England and my first visit to France I had picked up cards that opened up to create old buildings. I used most of them in my classroom, but I still had 3, one of which was a double decker bus, but Ursula's puppy, Chase, ate that one...

 A local hardware store decided to stop selling Christmas village items and were selling the last of their miniature houses at a price I couldn't resist. I bought a boys' school and a mansion that could easily be a hotel so I also decided to retire my very plain looking Inn. I also picked up a few more people including one man walking his dog, a boy with a hoop and another pony. Griff says my village is my adult dollhouse. I think he's right...

Finishing the village was a birthday present to myself. The next morning Mary and I had breakfast (the least expensive meal to eat out) at the WhistleStop and exchanged our Christmas gifts.

Gregg, Sarah and Ursula arrived on Christmas Eve.

After dinner Ursula carefully laid out all the gifts. It made her feel better to see how big her pile was, but she still was angling to open a package or two.

I told Ursula how years ago I would send her dad his Christmas present at the very last minute because I knew that if he got it early, he wouldn't wait to open it. Instead, he usually got it late. She enjoyed that story enough to quit asking.

Gregg told Ursula how he and Griff would have to wait upstairs until both parents were up, dressed, and ready to go downstairs where the tree and presents were waiting.

I told Ursula that Gregg got a dinghy one Christmas. His dad and I had managed to get it into the house and into the living room. Gregg spent Christmas day sitting in that dinghy!

I asked Ursula if she knew where I had hidden the oars that went with the dinghy. It was a story she hadn't heard yet so I explained that I put them under his bed figuring he would never look there. They even stuck out a bit and for over a week he never noticed.

At long last Christmas arrived! (and as usual, my camera has the date wrong in the morning)

 Ursula spent hours playing her new electronic game while listening to music.

A lot less messy than past Christmases. There was even enough room on the floor for a new doggie bed that Chase realized was for him...

Griff is now called Uncle Ham Sandwich.

Griff first met Chase when Chase was a tiny puppy. Griff shared his ham sandwich with Chase and Chase has never forgotten. Whenever Griff is around, it's obvious that Chase adores him!  


The weather for Christmas was quite warm. Water started moving into the small silt pond and the waterfall into the bigger pond unfroze.

When I took this picture, I didn't notice that some of the cards had flipped over. I've taken a new picture, but until I have time to replace this one, you can see if the card you sent is here.


"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Winter on its Way

Since I had purchased slightly damaged butternut squash, I needed to cook them and make soup before they decided to rot. While cleaning up I kept piling the drying rack higher and higher. Balancing it all became a challenge and at the end I just had to take this picture. Sometimes it's the truly silly things that brighten a day.

The soup was good and I've saved some in the freezer!

Then I made split pea soup. It's an easy recipe. Carol Deux gave it to me and it always turns out well. I decided to share the clean-up which led to taking the picture below!

There's nothing quite like a determined pug.

One day I heard William barking in the field. There were the 4 deer who often pass by, but they weren't afraid of William. Guess they have figured out that he won't chase them through the woods; he just wants them to stay out of the yard. This time they stood around and stared at him until he gave up, hung his head, and quietly walked back up the hill to the house.

It's not really a two-headed deer...the eight legs give it away.

We had a snow storm the day before Thanksgiving so Gregg, Sarah, and Ursula traveled to Vermont on that Thursday morning. I had gotten up early to put the turkey in the oven. Then I went back to bed for a few minutes. The dogs were quiet and my few minutes stretched into a few hours. I woke up just as Gregg and family was pulling into the driveway!

Gregg had made a swing and walked the yard looking for the best tree to hang it from. Then Ursula headed outside to give it a try.

December has brought more snow, but it's the ice that keeps me at home. Here are my clear glass porch windows coated with freezing rain. I made the silly lampshade many decades ago...

Because of the icy roads, I was staying home, working in my nook, when these guys/gals showed up! I raced around the house to locate my camera. Wild turkeys don't stand still for pictures so after getting this shot of two stragglers, I raced for the kitchen window to catch some of the others...

Sometimes our wildlife can get too close. I've never hit a deer, but on my way home one snowy evening, a big beautiful deer hit me! Suddenly there was a deer looking in my window, then he disappeared, but a moment later he was sprinting past my car and off into the field. It was so fast I could have been dreaming, but there was proof it had really happened...

Then came a storm with heavy, sticky snow that coated tree branches and wires. Our neighborhood lost power for 3 days. Fortunately, we have a generator that we can run several hours at a time. I managed to cook pork spare ribs on the wood stove. It took longer, but they tasted wonderful. Outside it was like being in a fairy land. When Mother Nature puts on a show, she is absolutely magnificent!

Uncovering the mailbox is an important chore, but with those tree limbs leaning over it, I wasn't going to stay there any longer than necessary.

Before the storm my neighbor had delivered a Christmas tree cut from his land which once had been a tree farm. It was on our deck. I was worried that if we had freezing rain, the branches might get stuck to the deck. I thought I was being very wise to set it on the ground. After all, they were predicting that we would only get about 6 inches of snow.

We got more than a foot of snow and the wind drifted even more snow up to the deck. I shoveled the deck and wondered how I was going to retrieve the tree.

My Christmas tree stuck in 3 feet of snow...

I waited a few days for a thaw, but that didn't happen and another storm was expected. It was time to rescue the Christmas tree. I figured I might end up in that snow bank. There might be some very funny pictures, so I called Griff to record the adventure. He thought it would be a great laugh so he gladly accepted the job of photographer! And here are the results...

Push!

Ponder...

Pull (I'm standing at the very edge of the deck.)

Really pull!

Lifting the bottom onto the deck.

Now to set it upright!

Success! But this tree is going to need to shrink or it won't fit in the house.

And then I lost my balance. Griff was having too much fun to stop taking pictures and I was too busy laughing to be able to get myself back up right away!

 

I sort of felt like this next fellow...

Someone had fun with a snow pile!

Later that same day I headed for the place that will be repairing my car. I hope they do a better job on my car than they did on their snowman...it's definitely in need of repair...

What a back bend!

I like her hair...cleverly done. Looks like someone got hungry and ate her nose.