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;-)…
I spent the day with my youngest grandson and we had lots of fun… we also talked a fair bit about Grandpa…
he was just three when my beloved died so it is quite amazing what he remembers, although I do try to talk about him often…
hard to figure out how to commemorate what would have been our forty-ninth wedding anniversary…
one of the things we did was find the memory stones that my eldest daughter had put into one of the walkways at Assiniboine Park…
he was even happy to do some selfies which doesn’t always happen…
we saw the butterflies, stingrays, snow leopards, and had a wagon ride… it was hot out… we remembered visits to the zoo with Grandpa and the fun we had…
my eldest grandson arrived after work and we barbecued steak and lobster for our supper…
I ran out this morning to find some lobster tails and picked up a tiny orchid and some flowers… thought it would be lovely to start the new year with flowers… my beloved would have brought some home for me…
once home I prepared the twice stuffed potatoes…
then I relaxed and watched tv… I’ve been on a Bones marathon for days now, lol…
when the kids got here we finished getting organized… the younger boys helped set the table… the oldest grandson got Brussels sprouts ready and then cooked them… my daughter made sure the butter warmers were ready and my son-in-law barbecued the steak and lobster… had a FaceTime visit with the Ottawa kids and then dinner…
our traditional New Year’s Eve (or New Year’s Day) dinner was a treat… besides the steak and lobster, there were mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, salad, escargot sauce, twice-stuffed potatoes, and garlic butter…
yummy… we ended with lemon meringue pie…
everything was cleaned up and the kids headed home…
will be interesting to hear if they last until midnight, lol… not sure that I will…
the final day of my week with the boys while the rest of the family visit the East Coast…
tidied bedrooms, watched videos, went to a movie, read and mowed the grass…
relaxed for the remainder of the day…
we talked about the best things during our time together… biggest hit was our steak and lobster dinner… best camp happening was touching the snake… best thing for the older one was sleeping in and our visit to The Forks… not a bad list, lol…
suitcases, pillows, groceries, backpack and shoes all ready to go… then there were the happy faces as they got picked up, lol…
spent a bit of time on New Year’s Eve prepping for our traditional New Year’s Day dinner…
while the kids were out, I began setting the table, and finished it early on New Year’s Day… decided on a silver and purple theme and had some fun finding decorations and napkins that would go well together…
there were just enough leftover Christmas crackers for everyone to get one and we read jokes, but did not put on any paper hats, lol… we can just squeeze around the table when there are eight of us and I have to push it up to the window so that everyone can get in… the table can expand further, the problem is that the dining room can’t…
while the steak and lobster tails finished thawing I prepped the potatoes for baking, cut up the Brussels sprouts, sliced the mushrooms and prepared the sauce for the escargot stuffed mushrooms…
once the kids arrived the sons-in-law looked after barbecuing the steaks and lobster… finished up a Caesar salad and the melted butter pots…
everyone had a taste of champagne or sparkling cider and we enjoyed a delicious dinner… we aren’t going to talk about the slightly overcooked Brussels sprouts, sigh…
we were all worn out so we ended the evening with a short visit and the Winnipeg kids headed home…
a bit of reading and visiting and we all headed to bed…
as I was waiting for my ride, went out and took a few pictures of the greenery and actually cut off the hangers from two of them… been meaning to do that for ages and used the new clippers I picked up yesterday…
we had a wonderful lunch at Cafe Dario… I had the Caribbean lobster tail grilled and smothered with compound butter… yum… others had the beef, duck and chicken… all were delicious…
it was busy and fairly loud but by the time we were finished eating it had emptied out and we traded gifts before heading to our various activities…
here’s the collection that I brought home…
sure am blessed with my friends and treats and special moments…
herbiggirlpants 