Christmas 2013

Did you have a nice Christmas?
We traveled to OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandson's #1 and #2 for Christmas.
The tree on Christmas Eve.


Grandson's #1 and #2 on Christmas morning before tearing into all the gifts under the tree.

Later that evening in the garage making use of the crossbows that each boy got as a gift from Mom and Dad.  Both boys did really well as did their Dad but their Mom, OnlyDaughter, who used a bow years ago in high school was the best.

 

The gift that made me cry!
OnlyDaughter was in touch with an artist whose work she discovered on Etsy beginning in February 2013.  This gift was saved for last and truly did make me cry.  The oil painting is of all the Labrador Retrievers that have been a part of our family over the years.  The first one on the left was Duke who came into the family when OnlyDaughter was a baby, next to him is Duchess, our lovely old-fashioned lady,  Mollie is next and she was part of the dynamic duo along with her sister Cami who is painted below our chocolate lab, Nissa.  Nissa came before Cami and Mollie and when these sisters passed, Buckley entered the picture as an older adoptee.  The painting captures all of them to perfection and having the woods behind shows the setting they all lived in with us.  I can almost see the start to the path down to the Puddle Pond between Nissa, the chocolate lab and Buckley, our last dog (to date).

The painting will be hung in the living room for all to see this touching gift as they enter the house.
Thanks to OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandson's #1 and #2 for asking us to share and be a part of the holiday with them.  The time went by too quickly and we miss them all between visits.

Yuck!  Today is cold and rainy meaning no walk.  Here's hoping everyone had a happy holiday.
We'll be turning the calendar into 2014 in a few days.

Edit:  It was brought to my attention by a coworker and then confirmed by Mr P that Grandsons #1 and #2 received compound bow, not crossbows for Christmas.  Oops, my bad.

The Unpredictability of Nature!

It's going on 6AM and as I sit here typing this post, all I can hear is the wind howling outside.  Temperatures are unseasonably warm and are to reach into the 60's today and 50's yet tomorrow before dropping back to more normal for this time of the year.
The snow that you see in the following pictures is all gone having fallen victim to the warmer than usual temps that descended the last few days and the rain that is also coming down.
All I can say is that it's strange going out without a coat at this time of the year.
My walking buddies and I are not walking this morning because of the rain but the wind would also be a  concern.

 

I'm all but back to normal after my mishap, not so for Mr P who continues to struggle with his recouperation.  Time will be his healer but patience is not a virtue that he possesses much of unless it means sitting and watching a hockey game on TV.
It's been a busy month with preparations for Christmas taking precedence.  Today some final cookie baking will be done and the gathering and wrapping of gifts for the family.
The fabric below has become two large dog bone sized placemats for my granddogs, Kirby and Betty.  Yesterday's nice weather (no rain but warm) gave me the perfect opportunity to continue work on something else for them.  I'll share photos after the holiday since I don't want OnlyDaughter to show them the blog and spoil their surprise.

There is a family in our area that begins decorating their home with thousands of lights and other lit Christmas decorations beginning at Thanksgiving each year.  The family picks a charity and any donations that are collected from those who stop to walk through the display are given to the selected charity.
Most of the pictures that were taken ended up just too dark to share but this one shows some of the lit displays that are all over their property and how some of the house is decorated.  Can't imagine what their electric bill is for this time of the year!

I hope everyone everywhere has a joyous and safe holiday.

Conspicously Absent

Where did the month of November go?  Well, I'll tell you.  On the second of November, a mishap occurred at our house which I've just begun to completely recover from.  I was unable to drive for a week and the accident meant that I had to figure out how to do things single-handledly (for real) for a while.
About a week and a half after my injury, Mr P had major surgery and is still recovering.  He is unable to drive and is limited in what he is able to do as part of his recouperation.  Fortunately, I have noticed improvement in my condition with each new day.
On Thanksgiving, my physical discomfort was all but gone giving me have much to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving dinner was spent a my sister, J's, with her family and my Mom.  It was a relaxing time with lots of tradtional, delicious food.

Here is the 1st of the month picture of The Puddle Pond taken earlier this morning.  It's cold outside (32 degrees F, 0 degrees C) and there is a layer of ice on the pond.



You can see the layer of ice more clearly in the photo below.  It won't support a person stepping onto the ice but it made me cold just looking at it.

I have wanted to share this picture of a marble spider that took up residence on the underside of the front porch roof earlier this fall.  The spider spun this cocoon and its coloration is fascinating.  Sadly, once temperatures really began to drop, the spider was gone.   Here's hoping another one comes to live at The Puddle Pond porch next year.

I'm hoping to be able get back into a more regular routine of posting now that I'm feeling more like myself.
Stay warm wherever you are and I hope you are having a good weekend.