The last days

Or the first days..depends on how you count them.  I am still recovering from this ugly virus..although I think I just about have it whipped.  We had a wonderful Christmas, celebrated with friends and are looking forward to a great new year.  The weather cooperated and we had a white Christmas with lots of sun. 
We live in a development 10 miles between two small towns and are allowed to have a couple of horses, but no other livestock except for 4-H animals.  We discovered today that one of our neighbors down the road had to put down an older horse and had it buried on their property.  Since we are at the beginning of the property on the south entrance, all vehicles coming and going pass by and that is few and far between.  We saw the vet truck and a backhoe come in yesterday and now know why....so sad to lose a pet.  We are never prepared.  Our old border collie mix is twelve this month and we purchased a new ball for her.  Not realizing it had a squeaker in it, we have been needing ear plugs, but we got those for Christmas as a gag gift so we are set.  She is too old to have the energy to catch the ball which she always loved to do, so we "bowl" it to her on the floor.  Cataracts and arthritis plague her and we do have her on meds and keep her weight down, but we know her best days are behind her.

Our kids are not near, but heard from both of them during the holidays and are thankful that they have good health, families and employment with so many not so fortunate.  It is always a good time to reflect on the past, but with the dawn of a new year we wish it to be a happy one for all!

More days of Christmas

 I have been trying to get well, but it has been too long now and I am just having to weather the darned virus!!  Thank goodness I don't have to go anywhere or be anywhere.  We had friends in for snacks and soup on Friday eve and they were all trying also to recover from this ugly viral monster so we felt that we would call it a recovery party....I just haven't recovered yet!!  Coalette decided to claim the red velvet bottle cover in which I had wrapped a present.  Must be the fur has her excited!!
After this attempt to get it out from under the tree, she finally this evening went back for it and drug it upstairs to the room where she eats. (I share my sewing room with her, but she owns the room.)  The bottle isn't exactly light and it isn't booze, but she managed to get it upstairs.  I finally took the bottle out and gave her the bloody sack.  She has such personality!!

The shakers below belonged to a beloved aunt who has been gone for many years.  I was given them by her daughter and the tag says "INARCO".  I love them and they always come out at Christmas.

 I baked cookies and got them iced eventually.  The dipped ginger cookies and the sugar cookies are our favorites.  Since I have been under the weather, I have been watching all of the old Christmas movies.  I have some favorites from the mid part of the century, Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas are two of my old favorites and the Home Alone 1 & 2 are the later ones.  I haven't seen the first one play yet, but never tire of any of them. 

With 2 days left, we will spend Christmas eve and Christmas with dear friends here as family is so far away and weather is frightful here this time of the year for travel.  The fruitcake recipient called me today to thank me and we sampled ours.  Yummy!

the 8th, 7th and 6th day of Christmas

Santa under the tree in his sleigh and me recovering with symptoms of a cold so this is all one post. Ugh!!!  The tree before icicles and the tree skirt made from Christmas themed hankies.  I am trying to finish the cookies but can't find the white chocolate I bought last week.  Getting old is not for wimps!  I can't remember if I even got home with it and if I did where did it get put!!!  I also searched for a box of tissues that I do remember getting home with and was beginning to think I had a naughty elf lurking around the corner but alas the box turned up in a most unlikely place.  I am certain that the white chocolate will also appear but not in time to finish my project.  We got a sprinkling of snow last evening and it is so very pretty outside...Christmas is definitely in the air.

For the gals in my summer craft retreat....we will be drilling holes in a glass bottle, jar, block etc. in which to put lights, so look for a string of 20-25 lights (50 if it is a larger glass item) now and perhaps a dark wine bottle, will do the winter banner, the moose stepping stone, and the wine glass tea light.  You can do as many of these projects, but we will do only one stepping stone each I think because of the drying time.

 

on the 9th day of Christmas

On the 9th day of Christmas since we had to move furniture to accommodate the tree, the antique sled above got a new place in the house.  I had it standing up with shelves on the rungs, but it now serves as another place to put more Christmas decorations.  This sled was purchased many years ago at an antique shop in Colo and it is in perfect condition.  Cookies got frosted and fudge is made along with peanut brittle.  We also added more lights outside and no we are not the Griswalds! 

On the 10th day of Christmas

Every cat that has been a member of my home has slept under my trees.  These three little woodland trees sport small antique ornaments as well as rustic and western themed ornaments and sits this year in my dining room area. Coalette has been pretty good about not playing with the shiny balls and has not shone and interest in consuming the icicles on the big tree.  In the past we have had to "pull" shiny icicles from the depths of the innards of felines who thought it was fancy "grass".  None were harmed in those efforts by the way. 

On the 10th day of Christmas, I drove into Rawlins to lunch and celebrate and exchange gifts with my dear friend of over 40 years.  We have done this every year, except the few years she was in another state and I was in another town.  What is sad, is that now we have a difficult time trying to buy that special gift for that special friend- The friend, who sat with you with sick kids, who helped push you out of snow drifts, the friend who insisted you could do anything, the friend who shared good times and bad. Now we really don't need anything, don't want anything, have everything, and don't want to dust anything new.  My friend bought me a spoon rest 2 years ago last summer which matched my cookie jar and replaced the one I broke. She insisted I take it home, put it up and wrap it to open Christmas.  I did and promptly broke it. This past summer we were at a market and I was directed to a double spoon rest...one for two spoons.  I will admit that it is gaudy and doesn't go with much else in my kitchen, but it appealed to me and although she didn't care for it at all, she bought it for me and I brought it home yesterday and hopefully I won't break it!  It is "special" now!

We also had a wonderful lunch and reminisced about our "early" days, one of which we attempted to make divinity for Christmas.  I had an aunt who made delicious divinity and when I was in school, she even showed my how to make it.  Years ago we tried that.....what a failure that was and to this day I don't make divinity.  I make yummy sugar cookies, old fashioned fudge, spritz and numerous other sweets, but not divinity.  But I have a great memory with my friend and divinity. 

"Hold a true friend with both your hands" ~ Nigerian Proverb

On the 11th day of Christmas

On this day, we actually drove with friends to the big city of Cheyenne to do some shopping and see their son who is attending college there.  It was a beautiful crisp day and as we drove the two plus hours across the mountain, with the sun streaming through the evergreen trees and glistening on the snow, Christmas seemed ever so close.  The snowmobilers were headed out for a day of fun and although we didn't see much of natures creatures, there was one moose watching the activity.  Leaving at 7:00 a.m., it was nearly 9:00 p.m. when we arrived home.  As always, we have a list and enter the big box store with one or two items and leave with a cartload.  Like kids in a candy store, we grabbed for all kinds of things we hadn't intended to purchase, but couldn't resist.  It was such a good day and so great to be in the company of good friends. 

The sugar cookies are baked, soon to be iced and sprinkled, the peanut brittle will be cooked and cooled and the biscochitos (a Mexican cookie made with lard and anise and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon) is on the list along with a few others...rum balls---a recipe from my sister, and white chocolate dipped ginger cookies. 

So above is my staircase to the loft, strung with garland and stockings and hung with a Christmas quilt.  There are now many more cards on the stairs and when we arrived home last evening, there was a deer on our front porch and a large buck near the driveway and another small herd in the back yard munching on grass.  NO sign of Santa!!

Twelve Days of Christmas

So the first two pictures show the large herd of antelope gathering to paw through the snow in order to scrounge for whatever they can find to eat.  They do eat sagebrush, and there is lots of that, but as we began to notice the antelope file from over a hill, we stopped counting at about 250, but they kept coming and coming.  In all of the years we have lived in Carbon County, we have never witnessed such a large herd.  We estimated over 500 in total.  This is a view we saw from our dining room window and because they were across the highway, the picture may be a little blurry.

On the first day of Christmas.....my Christmas tree all decked out in icicles and antlers.  The antlers just happened to be there where the tree needed to be.  The icicles...well, this is for my daughter.  I grew up with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree that dad purchased shortly before Christmas and it had some pretty spare decorations, mostly homemade, and a few lights.  But we NEVER had icicles which were on every tree if you could afford them.  Back then they were actually foil, but now they are a type of plastic I think.  Anyway I always thought trees with these silver shiny icicles were so pretty and I had them on my trees forever until my daughter voiced her opinion.  She did not like them.  So, they have been absent from my tree for a good many years and on an artificial tree, they are not practical.  But we have a real tree which will be recycled and VOILA!--I have icicles.  This is part of my "Old Fashioned Christmas" as the fruitcakes are still getting soaked with brandy and the sugar cookie dough is in the fridge. We put lights on the gutters on the house front and on the tree out front yesterday and actually had to get in the car to drive around to see how it looked after dark.

"Fruitcakes are like in-laws.  They show up at the holidays.  You have no idea who sent them, how old they are, or how long they'll be hanging around your kitchen."  ~ Josh Sens, freelance writer in Oakland, CA

Brrrr.......

 We have been hunkering down because...like most of the nation....we are freezing here at -20 below.
Living in Wy, we have experienced this kind of cold before, but my bones are not as receptive as they used to be to it.  I did not even take a picture of the 5 or 6 inches of fluffy white that covers everything.  The door gets open long enough to let the furkids out and when they hurry to do their business and limp back on 3 legs, I long for those warm summer days when they could sun themselves on the cool lawn.  Luckily, if you are a cat, that is not an issue.  Read the morning paper on line like Coalette and then take a short nap.

We trekked to the forest a few miles from here and with friends trudged through a foot or more of snow to get our tree.  It was a beautiful sunny day before the storm.  Since then, I have been getting lights and ornaments on it.  The tree is the tallest we have had and I had to get the Mr. to bring in a ladder to put the topper on, but it is so great to be able to get a fresh tree again.  The ones at the local store actually have been painted green..the trunks are even green! The snap above was taken at sunset, looking east and was a spectacular site a few days ago, as was the west.  But this glow on the mountain was gorgeous!  We are getting the house decorated (the lights outside will have to wait for warmer weather..or not) and I will begin to bake cookies soon.  It will be an old fashioned Christmas, but it will be a quiet one here on the range. We are blessed to have good friends and neighbors to share with the holiday spirits.