I watched the Rose Parade which was something we’ve done with my parents for years…
dear friends stopped by to first-foot me… and brought the usual coal, orange, cookies, alcohol, with a beautiful card… and a gorgeous bouquet of orchids and allium… my bouquet from last week is just on its last legs so the timing was perfect…
orchids are one of my favourites and allium was one of my beloved’s…
after that, I made a delicious steak and lobster meal for my lunch… it is usually the meal for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day dinner…
I decided on lunch so the day would be easier… and to broil instead of barbecue as it was so cold out…
it turned out delicious and then I spent the day watching movies…
yesterday I made the decision to go into my own personal lockdown…
it was a very hard decision at this time of year, but I have been struggling with the worry of getting sick after all these months of taking such care…
so, my Monday/Tuesday group will meet by Skype tomorrow for our Christmas celebration… I’d ordered a charcuterie board and I will divide it up with some veggies… two of my friends will pick up gifts and then drop off the snack packages before our call…
lunch and goodies via Skype… just like we’ve done before, lol…
and I won’t be having my grandson over for lunch on Christmas Day, although possibly he will stop by for a short visit in the garage… or go to my daughter’s for Christmas dinner…
presents will be picked up, phone and video calls made…
I have all the things I need in the freezer (I think) to make a lovely chicken dinner on Saturday…
another solo Christmas, and although I will miss everyone, I feel I will be safe…
and at this point that seems the most important thing;-)…
cooked a very large turkey for our Thanksgiving supper… worked out well, as it meant there were lots of leftovers to have… the kids even brought containers to put them into, lol…
I roasted the turkey in my parents’ WearEver roaster which hasn’t been used for many years as we haven’t had a large bird…
it brought back many wonderful memories of meals with my family…
after dinner I started soup in the roaster because there were so many bones, lol…
finished it up with vegetables, barley, and more turkey… got the soup into containers and they are in the fridge ready for the kids to pick up… they enjoy homemade soup;-)…
since then I’ve had many meals from that dinner, including turkey and dumplings with my mom’s dumpling recipe;-)…
they brought me a bunch of mums for the garden… I had been collecting parcels for them over the last few weeks, so we traded, lol…
we ate in the garage as it was a bit cool out and rain threatened… I am still nervous about having people in the house for any length of time…
even put one of the plants on the table to provide some ambiance;-)… looks good with the tablecloth, but we won’t mention all the “stuff” that is everywhere…
we spent time remembering how grandpa knew where every single thing was located and planning the organizing and decluttering that has to happen…
I have spent the last month planning how I would mark this special event, so there were, and will be, a few surprises for others…
I’ve been hearing about birthday weeks, so to start that off, on Monday I ordered Chinese food… it was lovely as I haven’t had any for a long time and I had leftovers for the next two days, which was a wonderful treat…
a number of parcels and envelopes arrived in the mail, which had to be set aside until today… this morning there were sparklers and singing;-)…
had a lovely gift opening time with the kids and received some delightful presents… paintbrushes, paint, a cool pad to make art pictures with, and a gorgeous window bird feeder;-)… my daughter is encouraging me to find a hobby… maybe it will be bird watching and then painting pictures of them… not likely, lol…
looking forward to trying all of the goodies… will need to wait for warmer weather to attach the feeder to the front window…
made poached eggs on potato patties, with bacon and asparagus… and I had it on my confetti plate… ended breakfast with half of a delicious pistachio cupcake which a friend dropped off for me yesterday…. nice start to the day…
texts, posts and phone calls have made the day extra fun… watched a cooking competition marathon…
lunch was cold shrimp with cocktail sauce… as I peeled them I was remembering fun times on the lanai in Florida, many years ago, with a dear friend…
moved orchids and flowers to set up the den for my video call with my BS friends and we had a great time… there was singing, tea, snacks, toasts, and lots of laughter… what a wonderful group of women…
there were more phone calls as the snow began to fall again… decided to order beef bones instead of barbecuing, as it was cold and windy…
that worked very nicely, it was delicious, and there will be enough for tomorrow’s supper…
what a ride these seventy years have been… truly, I am blessed and look forward to a year focussed on gratitude and living in the moment;-)…
yesterday I got my appointment for my COVID vaccination… woohoo… was thrilled as the age limit has been going down very slowly… arranged for my grandson to drive me there and back when the day arrives…
so, for a treat, I ordered from my favourite Vietnamese restaurant – Pho Hoang… we used to go there after our aquasize class… in the before time…
the food always arrives quickly and is delicious…
I usually try to order enough for a couple of meals, so got my favourite shrimp summer rolls with the steak and brisket pho… ate the rolls with some of the pho broth…
I also ordered some rolled ice cream, although I only ate a third of it with my dinner… it was delicious;-)…
had a big bowl of pho today… and maybe finished the ice cream;-)…
there were two deliveries from the drugstore… they forgot something when they delivered last night and I called this morning to add something else and they sent it separately as the courier was already on the way…
a visit from a sweet friend… we stood outside and chatted for ages;-)…
boys playing hockey on the street… they broke a car window and were looking for the owner… I was very impressed with the fact they didn’t just run, lol…
and finally, my grandson dropping off groceries… he had dinner while we visited…
I knew he was coming, so yesterday I made his favourite red curry lentils… got 6 containers out of the recipe… I had one last night, he had one while he was here, and took home the remaining four…