had a quiet day yesterday… spent time taking photos of ornaments on the tree and the orchids…
a friend dropped off the fixings for turkey dinner which I warmed up at supper time… it was a lovely treat and made for a relaxed and enjoyable meal… ended the day with hot lemonade in my new mug and gifted shortbread…
yesterday I took out the recycling and garbage… Friday is our usual pick-up day, but because of Christmas it was moved to Saturday this week…
I don’t put the bins out every week, but they were getting full and it was a beautiful day… bit of an issue getting over the mound behind the gate, but I managed okay, lol…
today, as I was listening to the trucks going down the lane I was thinking of all the people who don’t really get much, if any, time off while the rest of us are cozy and warm in our houses…
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;-)…
three different present deliveries to me today… and one last night…
only spoke with each person for a second… it was chilly out there, but such a joy to have a socially distanced word with each of them… and these days that is an exceptional treat…
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…
came across some photos of a visit with Santa at a Rona Christmas party eleven years ago… it was such fun to take our grandkids and we had a great time…
it was before the store opened and was in the back… there were decorations and lots of gifts for all the kids with treats for everyone… iPhone pictures have certainly improved since then…
reminded me of the CN parties we used to go to when the girls were little… our dear friend Margaret took us for a number of years… they were fancy and great fun too, and the girls always enjoyed them…
I also have a dim memory of kids’ Christmas parties with my dad, where I helped him with set up… I can particularly remember the full size popcorn machine and making popcorn for everyone during the party;-)…
I figured I didn’t need thirty plates available at my fingertips for feeding all my company so I moved a number of plates and bowls and added a few Christmas ones where I can reach them;-)…
interesting how long it took me to let go of that stack… also moved some of my favourite dishes off a counter to fit in with the rest..
