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;-)…
on Wednesday I ordered sushi for my dinner from Sei Sushi... it was so nice, although I missed my grandson who is my usual sushi partner, lol…
yesterday, I spent time in the morning making mashed potatoes so that when I warmed them up at supper they were better for me… I even made gravy to go with the chicken… it was delicious… although a more colourful vegetable would have looked prettier…
today I had a charcuterie board from Modern Plate Catering for my lunch… it was fun to set all the bits out on a tray and make it pretty…
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;-)…
my morning schedule is to put on the kettle for my tea, choose my Advent treat for the day, feed the fish, and prepare my breakfast…
when I get to the calendar, which is on top of the fish tank, the fish are running back and forth to make sure I know they are there… and starving...
I can practically hear them, lol… later in the day, they will rush over as I enter their space to see if they can convince me that they haven’t been fed…
a friend dropped off an item she had picked up for me and we had a short chat… she by her car, and I on the steps with my mask on…
time online on the laptop searching and ordering various things… maybe even some Christmas presents…
had a lovely conversation with my Winnipeg son-in-law who then FaceTimed me and maybe got the timer working, lol… fingers crossed…
and it worked… I had read the directions and tried it a few times before talking with him… he is the timer-whisperer, lol…
also spoke with my Ottawa son-in-law who helped me out with a different issue…
I was on a call and the bell rang… my neighbour brought me a cute little tin filled with fresh baking;-)… woo hoo… and I gave her some books which were needing a new home;-)…
I am now answering the door with a mask on all the time, not that the doorbell rings very often, lol…
final event was a delivery from Save-On-Foods with needed groceries… early in the pandemic, it was taking 2 weeks to get groceries once ordered… then it was down to the next day, but now that we are going back into a more serious lockdown, it is taking 4 or 5 days… so blessed to have this option… now I just need to plan a little further ahead…
pleased with the dinner that was delivered last Friday from Modern Plate Catering… she is doing a Friday Family Dinner… I had used this business a number of times when I was working and found them efficient and willing to adjust for food issues… and the food was always top notch…
the directions were clear on how to heat everything and the packaging made it easy to know what went with what…
the meal was for two people so I knew I would get two suppers out of it…
added a couple of salads and while the oven was warming up I had the spinach one… it was delicious…
next I had one of the pieces of focaccia with some olive oil and balsamic from the pantry… yum, although now I was getting a little full, lol…
finally, I had the braised beef ribs, smashed potatoes, and roasted carrots and mushrooms… it was also yummy and filling…
I didn’t have room for dessert until the morning…
it had caramelized bananas in it, and cream… clearly breakfast food, lol…
I spent the entire day working on a closet that I’ve been ignoring for years…
packed up a number of things; some games and toys going to someone I know who has people in mind; a picture for my grandson, and items to be given away…
I’ve also found a few things which I am going to put online… one is the massage table we covered with glass… I don’t need it and it is silly to keep it underneath a counter, lol…
I’ve done laundry, moved items to different areas, reorganized clothes and thrown items into the garbage… and found a few items that have been lost;-)…
I ordered sushi from one of my favourite places – Tokyo Sushi – which I didn’t know was available through SkipTheDishes… got enough for lunch and supper… it was the only break I took all day… I ordered the sushi pizza which is delicious… haven’t found any place else that makes it this good…
tomorrow I will finish… the closet and the sushi;-)…
had fun going through my various bird books and apps because I saw a very interesting bird on the deck yesterday… it was a touch bigger than a sparrow but with stripes on its front with a black dot on its chest… couldn’t find it in any of the books…
there was a house finch there too and I haven’t seen any of them for quite a while…
at one point I saw three chickadees at a feeder in the front yard at the same time… rare to see more than one…
was going from the front to the back throughout the day checking on the guests…
didn’t get any pictures except this one when I headed to the front yard to fill the feeders…
brought the pail of seeds into the kitchen to make filling the feeders easier…
herbiggirlpants 