on New Year’s morning I was walking on the treadmill and happened to turn on the front camera to see if any birds were at the feeder…
there was a man standing there, so I ran upstairs to see what was going on…
it was a young friend with a gift in his hand… he said he was looking for coal… I had him step back, and put out a gift bag I had put coal and a scone into… anticipating that my middle grandson was coming over…
then he stepped over the threshold and put down the gift and gift bag and stepped back outside…
my daughter had sent a number of items to her friends and they had packaged them up and delivered them to my door…
for years we have done first-footing… this was by far the fanciest package, lol…
there was tea, charcoal shampoo, chocolate covered fruit, a Christmas cracker, little bottles of alcohol, sourdough chocolate, a delicious fresh banana chocolate chip muffin, an adorable tin with a cute gingerbread person in it and a fresh orange… and of course the chunk of coal;-)…
my son-in-law and grandson came over today to shovel…
of course, he helps, lol… the oldest grandson tends to drop off the shoveler and run a few errands for me…
an excellent job, as ice and packed snow were scraped off and everything looks tidy;-)… he also spotted a piece of siding that had come loose so he went and found the ladder and then got it hooked in… it may need a bit more work in the spring…
I went outside with a mask on to visit with them for a few moments… as they were leaving he covered his face with his hat and came and gave me a big hug…
yesterday I had delicious snacks and dinner thanks to the kids in Ottawa…
early in the afternoon I started with some Prosecco popcorn, followed by sardines, olives, crackers and a bit of zucchini basil soup I prepared…
my supper consisted of beef bresaola, canned lobster, truffle potato chips and red peppers… it was a play on our usual New Year’s Eve dinner of steak and lobster…
then for dessert there were some delicious star shaped shortbread with a piece of chocolate in my holiday cracker…
of course, I couldn’t get the cracker to snap, as per usual…
throughout the day we chatted off and on and I focused on their time zone so that I could get to bed, lol…
ended the night with some sparkling wine and their voices…
this morning the living room looked lovely and I enjoyed the serenity as I sat in the quiet and enjoyed the lights…
the Ottawa kids and I Skyped and we opened our presents together… following our usual pattern, in this unusual time, we opened the gifts one at a time… it was great fun… they liked all their gifts, which made me happy…
one of my gifts from them was all the fixings for my New Year’s Eve dinner… usually on New Year’s Eve we have steak and lobster, although for the last number of years that meal has happened on New Year’s day… there was beef carpaccio, lobster, truffle chips, olives, red peppers, cookies, a lovely glass of wine (with gold in it) and a festive cracker…
there were also gifts from a number of friends, filled with goodies… I am blessed…
a bit later the Winnipeg kids FaceTimed as they opened the gifts I had sent over… I didn’t do so good with their gifts as two of them had received the same gift from their parents, lol…
yesterday I peeled potatoes and turnip, made stuffing, and produced Thai Shrimp soup so that there wouldn’t be too much to do today… I had decided that, even though I would be here alone, I wanted a proper Christmas dinner… it was delicious;-)…
tonight, as I sit in the living room listening to Christmas music and enjoying the lights, flowers, and tree, I am remembering many Christmas Eve’s that have taken place in this house over the last forty-seven years…
once the girls arrived, our parents came here to celebrate the season…
when the kids were on their own and some had their own children, they came here for years… there were family members sleeping everywhere… had to be careful where you walked to be sure not to tread on anyone…
only in the last few years have we gone to the kids’ place which made it easier for everyone…
today my two older grandsons came by… one got dropped off so he could shovel, while the other went out for a few last minute items I needed… the main one being food for the fish;-)…
while he was out and about, the younger was shovelling… there was a lot of snow and it was heavy… put out some hot chocolate to warm him up…
the shopper returned and the elves loaded up the car with presents and goodies for their house…
a bit sad to see Indi with snow on her… she doesn’t have a garage for protection these days…
good news is that all the gifts have been sent on their way;-)…
on Tuesday my shopper/courier arrived after stopping at the liquor store to pick up some beverages;-)… little bottles of wine, not sure why, lol… and a bottle of my favourite sherry, which I haven’t had for years…
he took away a parcel for Canada Post and a couple of treats for him…
a bit later I received a delivery of groceries from Diversity Foods which included eggs for their house…
last evening my son-in-law stopped by on his way home from work and brought me some sidewalk salt… he took home the eggs…
still waiting on four deliveries from online purchases and thinking we might start a new tradition of after–Christmas presents…
a parcel arrived from the kids in Ottawa… once I received text permission to open it, I discovered 3 boxes, a package that said it needed to go into the fridge, and a small chocolate bar, lol…
I had fun wrapping them and put purple ribbons on them before adding them to the growing pile under the tree… they are the first gifts for me…
it was funny to wrap my own parcels, but was a reminder of the few times I might have purchased my own gift, wrapped and put it under the tree… although usually those items would go to my beloved and he would wrap them up, lol…
fun memories… nice that now I can mostly look back on them without tears…
