Busy morning

 

I hit the gym with the early rats and shopped at Safeway on the way home. Then made pumpkin pies for dessert tomorrow, using gluten free frozen crusts from Trader Joes. Unfortunately, only available in the fall-- typical. Anyway, they're good, if that's something you need to care about. It's a real pain to make a GF crust from scratch.

Speaking of the gym, I'm Appled-up now with the latest. John bought me a new watch for Christmas, a nice surprise since I already had one, but not this fancy. 

I call it the "hypochondriac model" because it has a constant oxygen monitor and even a do-it-yourself EKG feature. It also checks for afib if you let it. I have not activated those heart features because an alert would probably scare me to death. And that would be counter-productive for a "health device." Haha.

To complete the Apple kit, I got some new Airpods using my credit card rewards. Oh my goodness, are they ever nice. Gyms are noisy, especially because they insist on playing that gosh awful music. When I switched on noise cancelling this morning, everything went quiet. There I was, in my own little private bubble. I felt irrationally rich. Silence is a luxurious thing. John says I'm a walking senior citizen advertisement for Apple. Not quite the look Tim Cook is seeking, but hey, our money is good as anyone else's.

We're getting the house ready now and looking forward to seeing the kids later this afternoon. They will stay until Sunday morning.

Where's the snow?

 

Amanda took this picture in front of our Twisp house this week. Just a dusting of snow on the ground, nothing compared to last December when everything was buried under several feet and there were periods of below zero temperatures. 

We're under an exceptionally strong El Nino pattern, the cause of this warm and dry weather in the northern part of the country. They're getting concerned about the lack of mountain snow pack, but things could still change in January and February.

On the bright side, makes for good driving weather across the state. The family is coning over and staying with us Friday and Saturday nights. We're all looking forward to a belated celebration.

Fruitcake Day

Dedicated to the much ridiculed cakes of questionable age, usually dry and overly sweet. I'm embarrassed to admit that years ago I'd bake a big batch around Thanksgiving, old Betty Crocker recipe, of course. Then I'd dose them with cheap brandy, wrap in foil and store them out in the shed in a can to "age." 

Oh, the lucky recipients of that holiday treat that never spoils. My brother kept some in the bottom of his backpack as emergency rations on wilderness treks, this before energy bars were invented.

Anyway, fruitcake, or Christmas cake as they call it in the UK, is more popular there. A thin slice of quality fruitcake, like the one in that photo above, is pretty good with a cup of tea. But no ones gives out fruitcake anymore.

Speaking of solid English fare, how about this tasty Cottage Pie we had last night, topped with leftover mashed potatoes from our Christmas dinner. The traditional way to use up a Sunday roast on Monday. But I used some fresh ground lamb, which was a real treat mixed with onions, peas, carrots and gravy. 

If you must stoop to buying gravy in a jar, get this one.

Not much else is new. I went out for some Christmas clearance bargain hunting-- cards, gift wrap, that sort of thing. This used to be fun early on Boxing Day, but the shelves at Target and Rite-Aid were bare. They were already making the transition to Valentine's Day, a mere 6 weeks away. I guess the space is too valuable to clutter up with 50% off sales. 

I hope you had a nice holiday. Ours was quiet and it rained all day, so we never left the house. We're still looking forward to seeing the kids later this week for a second celebration.

Boxing Days past

 

Nova's monorail and carousel ride in 2011

Big sister little sister 2013

Hanging with Grandpa in 2014

2015

Feeding the ducks with Dad 

Floyd Lamb Park 2016

2023

Merry Christmas

 

Be careful what you wish for...while not the same as being together this morning, we look forward extending the holiday festivities in the days ahead. The family is on-the-mend in Twisp, but not up quite yet for the long winter drive. We hope to see everyone later this week. 

Needless to say, a quiet and peaceful Christmas day ahead for us. A turkey dinner and a pretty pile of gifts under the tree to open this morning.  Rain in the forecast all day.  

We did get out for a short walk last night, checking out our neighbor's Christmas displays. Big old-fashioned Santas in upstairs windows seems to be the thing. A sweet sight in this cold and dark season.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

All cookied out

I say this every year: after all the anticipation and preparation, what a shame that Christmas is a single day event. Suddenly here, then over in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but the mess and extra pounds.

In wiser times, December 24th was just the start of 12 days of celebration, ending on January 6th, Epiphany Day. A wonderful way to eat up some of the darkest days of winter.

Well, with illness in the family at the moment, we'll celebrate when we can and it will be lovely as usual. My purpose in life is to keep the house stocked with food-- which means another giant Safeway run this morning.

The year draws to a close, and as you age, that underlying feeling of sadness and loss seems to go hand-in-hand with Christmas joy. No parties for us, but I saw some old friends this week which really brightened things up. 

And ukulele group was fun yesterday. We strummed our way through the whackiest of Christmas carols. That should hold us over until next December.

Cecil was there with his harmonica. He will be 100 years old in January, born the same year as our Dad. Talk about Christmas inspiration. And still driving himself around Seattle. Yikes! Living proof that music keeps you young. 

Have a good weekend, dear friends and family.