I have had a loose marble running the ramps through my brain, reminding me that I have not blogged in quite some time. Actually, it’s not as long as I thought becaise I see I did when I canned tomatoes! So here are some of the things I have been thinking.
Winter is real and winter is hard. There are few things we like better than getting cozy by the woodstove. In fact, when it first got chilly and we started the stove, it warmed up…. so we put on a YouTube video of a fireplace And I watched it! Often the weather is not as harsh as it looks, but I have been doing more walking up and down my house. We do our best to keep the gloomies away, knowing that its a lost cause when we get to February. We have had a lot of rainy days recently, and then we’ll have a beautifully brilliant one!
Often on a Friday when I am out running errands, I pop in at our Amish friends, who used to be our neighbors. If it’s lunch time I pull up a chair. Sometimes I just get in a quick ‘hi”. Recently, I said on a pullUpachair day, “Can I just do this every week?” And we agreed. I thought early this week that her birthday is in early December and I am going to get ahead of the game and make her soup and cookies. When I called him today to say what I was doing he said “Do you know it’s her birthday today.?” We ate and then I said, It’s such a pretty day, what would you like to do.? So we went to schoolteacher daughter’s school for a visit. She teaches about 20-25 students, 1st-4th grades, in a one room school, of course. It was a hive of activity and they wrapped up our visit by singing to us, including ‘happy birthday’ I have been to Christmas programs, but I think this is the first time I have been to a regular school day. They made a binder with a few notes about each child, their names, their parents” names, their grandparents’ names ,what they like
to do after school. At the bottom was space for a message for the guest. Most of them said, Thank you for coming” or “Come again”. I had a little chuckle at one the said “Good-bye” (perfectly logical) and one went all out and said, “I love you!” My friends grandchild, no less!
We had a great Thanks giving. We started Wednesday night with fish and chips. Nick and Sonny came over. Nick’s birthday is around Thanksgiving. The next day we were at Mary’s for dinner. We share in the cooking. I hustled some grandkids out the door for a little walk in the park. We listened to the father-in-law tell stories, had dessert and homemade ice-cream and came home. Joel took Friday off and we went to Winterthur Gardens and got a membership. We love that place. Sometimes the drive stretches us a bit, but we get there and think Ah yes, this is worth it. We stopped at a sub shop and ordered sandwiches and a bag of chips. It came to $30. Which surprised us a little. I waited and Joel went to the other side of the building to Starbucks. When we got the sandwiches we got Two big ones instead of one halved ,maybe we said ‘cut in two’ and the ‘two’ was heard. Lunch And supper. And it was good. And I spilled my Frappuccino in the car! The lid didn’t come off, but it cracked and I had to try to do emergency cleanup with oversized sub on my lap! Argh. I survived and the car got a nice little cleanup when we got home. The next day we got up and drove to our friends in Philly for brunch and it was the quintessential brunch! It was so good you couldn’t hope for anything else, even though absolutely every breakfast food wasn’t on the table, it just tasted like it was. I think it was the best brunch I’ve ever had. We got caught up with each other and took the scenic route home, through Valley Forge. We walked into our house and knew something was amiss. A squirrel had invaded! We saw pistachio nuts and shells scattered, the cookie bag opened and emptied! Joel found it on a window sill in a bedroom. He chased it amd it managed to get in the basement. Joel set a trap and we settled with our suppers in front of the tv. When I went to take the tray down the stairs, It came through its secret passageway to the stairs. I yelled, it ran and the circus began. We opened the front door and it ran right up the stairs, leaping over my shoulder. It went onto the front room that had a curtain rod all the way across for safety. I opened the window. Joel urged it to let go of the curtain with the broom. We still hear it from time to time. We keep finding little stashes; two pistachios between the sofa pillows, two on the piano, a cookie in Joel’s recliner and one under a stuffed chair cushion in the living room. I don’t know where all the cookies went but I daresay it might have a belly full, a Thanksgiving feast, if you will!
And on Sunday we rested. And ate leftovers. Because, you know, Monday… we probably ate more leftovers then, too.
QuidNunc/QuidTunc? 