I see SOMEBODY got a little tipsy.  Hahaha!!!  We weren't the only ones!!!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Look what Bill made!!!  His very own Merry Christmoose!!!  He is amazing!!!

 

I asked him to tell me about it.   Well, I'll let him tell you:

 

Wow!!!  I told you he's amazing.  Really, go up and see it!!!

 

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!

 

Remember that storm that knocked down the white oak trees on Beaconhill, the trees I used for my mushroom planting?  Well, this is what Mark and Karen did with the remaining tree stumps.  I think they did it to entertain themselves, but it made me laugh too.

 

Mark told me they wondered who would see it first, and guessed ME.  YEP!!!  Always looking for something to blog about.

 

GOOD JOB, CONDES!!!

 

You know George.  He's the guy with the tractor.  You know, the tractor that moved the haybale into position, the tractor that helped raise Mike's carport roof, and the tractor that clears the roads when it snows.  He loves that tractor.

 

Here he is on Christmas, and you can see that he's already been driving his truck, and getting ready to clear the roads.

 

His comment along with this picture was:  "Merry Christmas!!! Great to have NY gear!"   At first I didn't get it, I thought he meant New Years, but then I remembered that he and Priscilla came here from New York.  Of course he would have good winter clothes, and being George:  good winter WORK clothes.

 

And sure enough, he spent most of the morning clearing the roads and pulling folks out of the snow.  

 

 

THANKS GEORGE!!!

 

 

 

We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!!  You know, the song....

 

My friend in Texas asked me to call her and play my cello for her on Christmas.  So I got out my beautiful cello and practiced a few Christmas carols to play without having to look at the music.  They sounded pretty good, so I decided to call her.

 

I put on the Santa hat and set up the chair in front of the glass door, so she could see this gorgeous snowfall, and Jon took my picture.  Really, we were just killing time until it was 8 am in Texas so we could ring her phone.

 

Ya know how some people have two numbers in your address book?  Well, I called Donna's home number, and when a lady answered, I started playing the Christmas song.  Jon held the phone and sang along with me, and when we ended, the lady said "Well, Merry Christmas to you too."  It wasn't Donna's voice, so I asked if this was her number.  Nope.  It was her OLD number, and somebody else has it now.  She thanked us for our music, we all said Merry Christmas, and hung up.

 

Then we called Donna's mobile number and she answered.  We played and sang for her, and she sang along.  When we told her the story about the wrong number, she laughed and called me an angel.  (I don't know about that, but I do love to make people smile.)

 

We hoped to make one old lady's day by singing and playing the cello, and we got to make two old ladies smile.  Even though it was an accident, it was fun for us ALL!!!

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 

 

 

Just when I thought I had nothing to blog about:  we got snow!!!  On Christmas!!!

 

I guess taking a winter break wasn't such a good idea.  I'M BACK!!!!

 

Our neighbor Tom took this picture of us on Crabapple Lane as we were dragging the sled back up the hill.

 

It was so beautiful, and 26 degrees.  We stayed out long enough to sled down Stonebriar and Crabapple.  We took a few runs each, but you still have to drag the sled back up.  That gets old really fast.

 

So we got in a little sledding, then spent the rest of our day inside.  

 

WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!

 

I don't want to be a party pooper, but I'm out of ideas for a daily blog.  I have loved writing them every day, but the garden is about done, and I'm running out of interesting stuff to write about.  Although...I had planned this blog for December first, and keep finding something to say.  

 

When I run across something interesting, I will share; but maybe I'll just take a little break.  See you next year. 

 

LOVE YOU.  Gerry

 

Mark sent me this picture of the upcoming "Great Conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn.  It was taken a few days before the peak conjunction.  You can see Jupiter and Saturn in the lower right corner of the sky.  This is looking southwest, about 45 minutes after sunset.  See how close they are getting?

 

I'm showing you this today to remind you to go outside TONIGHT and look to the southwest.  I hope you'll be able to see the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.  I've also seen it called the return of the Star of Bethlehem.    

 

If you miss it tonight, you'll have to wait two decades for the next chance to see this beautiful sight.  That's 2040;  better do it tonight.

 

THANKS MARK!!!

 

This is one thing I like to do on wintery days, when we can't go outside.  This should be enough to hold me for the entire winter, maybe into 2025.

 

Of course, there is also cooking, quilting projects, paper crafting, folk art projects, blogs to write, books to read, our 2021 garden to plan, yoga, and walking the loop.  Never a dull moment around here.  But some days I like to just sit and work puzzles.  I can fill an entire morning with coffee and puzzling.

 

We count it as exercise.  Brain exercise.  Hey, it CAN'T hurt, right?

 

HAPPY DAYS!!!

 

 

 

Why do we decorate evergreen trees at Christmas?  Why do we give presents?  And how old are some of these traditions?  The Farmers Almanac offers some interesting answers to these questions.  

 

I have it bookmarked, and visit the site often, but I thought you might like to cruise on over to The Farmers Almanac and check out some interesting Winter Solstice Folklore.  There is a Christmas Quiz (that I failed,) stories about the birds of the 12 Days of Christmas, recipes, and legends and traditions associated with the Winter Solstice.  

 

Go to:  https://www.farmersalmanac.com/  No sense my retelling the stories that they tell so well.  I hope you find this interesting.

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!