Ho Ho Ho

I am not introducing the Jolly Green Giant OR 3 ladies of questionable careers but ‘tis the season. On Nov 9th, our family celebrated our Christmas before we head south for the winter. Dawn hosted this year so the rest of us drove east to Napanee for a feast, gifts and family. We all – total 15 for dinner - converged on Dawn mid afternoon. She had a tree set up along with Christmas decorations in the living and dining room. The turkey was smelling wonderful.

 

 

There were 8 grandchildren there from ages 3 to 16 and all the ‘noise’ came from the adults! It was like ‘ole home’ week with talking, laughing and more talking. Soon the bird informed us it was ready to be carved. At times, we were all in the kitchen preparing our own ‘pot luck’ items for this feast. We were all seated around a table and all sorts of scrumptious vegetables and delicacies came by. As you can probably guess, we ate too much! What a meal.

 

Snooping under the tree is a right of passage that really informs us that it is Christmas! Naturally, the little kids – and maybe a few of the bigger kids – already knew which gifts was theirs. First we hung our ornaments and said our tree speeches.  The older grandkids are doing a better job than their parents.  It is great to hear what they all have to say about what happened good or bad this past year.  Alex then assumed the role of Santa and handed out the gifts in a relaxed and controlled way that we all had an opportunity to see what each of us received. It was a wonderful family time for us. All too soon, it was time to turn our attention to the road ahead for the 3 hour drive back to home.  The trip home was less relaxed due to the heavy rains.  Driving slowly got us home safe and sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Nov 12th, we drove down to our new house to have another tour of the property and to record some measurements so we can set Barb loose on some designs. We didn’t pick the best day as it was cold and a dusting of snow. Our little house is only 700 square feet but the garage is almost 600 square feet! Wow, look at the stuff we can store! On our first visit, we had heard meow sounds coming from under the house and when we checked, there was a foundation vent that was punched out and would allow any critter access so we knew we would have to contend with that. Barb designed a modified ‘pet door’ that we could make and install that would allow the critter out but not back in. As soon as we take ownership, we’ll install it and then place some food on the outside to coax the critters out.

While we’re planning our exit from this cold climate, Barb continues with some of her quilting projects – Lord of the Rings squares and some Christmas mugmats. We finally bit the bullet and bought ourselves a new duvet for the cool nights coming up on the road.  Well, one can not have a duvet without a cover so Barb pulled out her quilting stash and solved that in a matter of days.  She says the cover is ugly but will due in a rush.  She plans on making better ones for next year.  So, now we’re waiting for the house deal to close on Nov 22nd and then plan to hit the road on Nov 25th. Until then, we hope all is good where you are….