Four Days After Christmas

 

One of the best gifts I got happened a few days before Christmas, when a crocus I had been working with for the last four months bloomed inside. It made me very happy. Other leaves are up, and I hope there are more blooms to come.

Winter is showing itself throughout the country, whether with heavy rains, deep snow, or wild winds. Here, the front that's been wreaking havoc across the country has made it very windy with temperatures dropping 30°F in just a few hours. Some of the neighbor's trees have come down, but we're okay. I hope that all of our old trees have already come down, as we have lost four in the last few years. My sister in Maine had almost 2 feet of snow on Christmas Eve, which changed more than one holiday plan. I feel fortunate that we were not trying to travel during these challenging times. 

Or I should say, we weren't trying to travel far. We went to Ward's father's house on Christmas, which is only 1 1/2 hours away if traffic cooperates. And it did that day. There were 20 of us who gathered, and a good time was had by all, with ages ranging from 4 months to 92. It still amazes me that we are able to shove all of the furniture aside and piece together a table where we all sit together for dinner. 

We're slowly putting away the Christmas clutter, but don't plan to take down the decorations yet. I'm a "take it down on New Year's Day" kind of person, but Ward likes to leave things up until Three Kings Day on January 6. And that's okay because the lights on the tree and the mantle make a very nice atmosphere.

Wally and Theo got me an air fryer for Christmas. I'm looking forward to learning how to use it and doing all the amazing things my friends say it can do. They brought some tater tots over for its maiden test, and they were quite crispy. 

Also, Theo got me an American's Test Kitchen cookbook, and we've made one recipe from it — a Spanish lentil dish. There was a nice blend of spices, but we both thought it wasn't good enough to warrant all of the steps it took to make it. I'm still deciding what to cook next. We plan to take turns picking a recipe from it to try. 

Of course, when Wally was looking at it, he started on page 314 (for Pi). Next, he doubled and checked out the recipe on page 628. It reminded me of when he was at home, and I sometimes made him responsible for meals during his school breaks. He would take a cookbook, open it at random, and alternate between choosing the recipe on the right or one on the left. Whatever worked for him. 😀 I didn't interfere unless he asked for help. 

Back to the mundane. I need to get the sheets out of the dryer and remake the bed.

Until next time...

P.S. I haven't taken many pictures recently, except at family gatherings, and I can't show all of those faces. Let's see if my next post has more pictures.