Easy come, easy go & a quiet, white Christmas

Saturday, December 26

Merry after Christmas Day! I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely Christmas. We had a quiet but WHITE Christmas! It was beautiful…

Everyone I’ve talked with was absolutely thrilled about having a white Christmas. It’s been a while since our area has had one and after the year we’ve all been through a white Christmas was just extra special.

I spent a little time on the front porch all bundled up with camera in hand. I enjoyed watching the birds flit to and from the feeders and hanging out in the bushes while capturing the moments in digital form. Here are some of my favorites…

The cardinals are such a brilliant red standing out against a snowy backdrop.

With the snow covering the ground the birds were hitting the feeders hard, appreciative of the black oil sunflower seeds to munch on while food is scarce.

Before dawn we opened the presents that were tucked under the tree. On Christmas Eve we dug into our stockings. It was a quiet but lovely Christmas.

As with most everyone this Christmas was also different for us but it had nothing to do with COVID. We spent the day waiting for the guests to leave, then cleaning the cabin, then waiting for guests to arrive. That seems to be the norm these day – waiting. In fact, today we were supposed to go to a friends and have Christmas dinner this afternoon but we are waiting for guests. If they get here within a reasonable time (they’re already later than originally planned) we may still try to go. We had also planned on trying to go to town for a few cabin supplies and to get the yarn I need for the second baby blanket but that didn’t pan out. Just as we were loading the cleaning supplies in the buggy the phone technician arrived to fix our static-y phone. Fortunately it didn’t take him long to find the problem and replace it but the cabin was a mess and took quite a while to clean. It was 2:00 by the time we made it back to the house and too late to head to town.

Our guests arrived and after making sure they were settled in we headed over to our friends.

Sunday, December 27

Renting the cabin out in the winter has become quite a challenge not only for us but for a few of our guests as well.

We are in the planning stages of trying to make it simpler for us and for our guests. Let’s hope the plan comes to fruition sooner rather than later.

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We actually got a quote for the fence from the fence guy and it was in the ballpark of what we had anticipated. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks the chicken paddock expansion will commence.

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I finished knitting the bulky coverlet during my time off…

It’s super soft and just the right size for a stroller or maybe to cover up a sleeping baby.

I’ve started knitting a chevron dishcloth. I had to start it over three times. Eight rows into the first one I decided I didn’t like the multicolor yarn. I thought it was too busy and the chevrons would not be visible. I chose a solid brown and eight rows in I didn’t think it was looking right. I re-read the instructions for the even rows (or the wrong side) and all of a sudden a light bulb went off. I was doing those rows all wrong. I ripped everything out and started again. I finally made it past the eighth row and it’s turning out the way it’s supposed to. Third time’s the charm!

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If you’ve ever questioned the power of social media here’s a story for ya… in my last blog I mentioned the husky we took in and posted a picture of her. Three days later the owners came by and picked her up. Her name was Elsa and she had traveled over a couple mountains before she wound up in our neighborhood. Her humans had gone on vacation and I’m sure she was looking for them. We miss her and offered to puppy sit the next time they go somewhere. The only one who wasn’t sorry to see her go was LizzieBelle! Easy come, easy go.

Speaking of social media, I am back on Facebook. It was a hard decision but after learning that a dear friend has been in the hospital since the beginning of the month and I was just finding out twenty-some days later I no longer wanted to be ‘out of the loop’. However, I really don’t want to get sucked back into the mindless scrolling and since my mental status was much better while being away from Facebook my presence there will be limited. The good news is I will be posting the links to my blog posts once again on our Dream Valley Farmstead page and maybe a few other tidbits as well!