Sunday, January 5, 2020

Mosaic Monday #61: Holiday Leftovers

Cheesecake made by the husband of my dear neighbor friend
The end of a year tends to bring out lists of all sorts – 15 Series Finales in 2019, Graded; Highest Paid CEOs in 2019; 15 Things that will Cost More in 2020; Notable Celebrity Deaths in 2019.
  
Make it the end of a decade and suddenly we are bombarded with additional inventories – Biggest Product Flops of the Decade; Things We Want to Leave in the 2010s; How our Phones became our Whole Lives in 10 Years.


Bloggers are not immune to this propensity – since New Year's Day I have seen all of the following in the blogosphere: A favorite photo for each month of 2019; The most popular posts from 2019; Favorite mosaics from 2019; a re-cap of key life events, complete with the posts that describe them.

But I find that I am not quite ready to let go of 2019, not yet.  You see, I have some unfinished business, some holiday leftovers, as it were.  So allow me to close this chapter, and then I will move on, with the rest of you!

#1 Son invested many an hour in band during his high school years, and with those fond memories in mind, we all looked forward to the Christmas Holiday Pops Concert performed by the Glacier Symphony.  Overall, it was an enjoyable mixture of popular tunes, classic orchestral works and new pieces. Unfortunately, we were seated near some young children who made enough noise to really detract from the concert, especially the quieter, introspective pieces.  And the kicking on the back of our seats didn’t help!  I am all for kids being exposed to the Symphony, but maybe they should be a little over two years old …



Upper right: Whitefish Lake
Our winter has been quite mild thus far, even alternating between snow and rain.  Fortunately, altitude on Big Mountain has permitted the ski season to continue, and two days of alpine frolic with #1 Daughter were joyful.  Also, we gave the kids a half-day snowmobile tour as a Christmas gift, and they thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some initial trepidation. 
A stop along the snowmobile trail

(Internet)
Movie nights were popular while our kids were here, and for the most part we have moved on from the Disney and Veggie Tales movies of their early years (although we did watch the live action version of Aladdin, as well as Paddington 2).  Other films included Late Night, Yesterday, and The Aeronauts.  I recommend all of them.  But by far and away the best movie was Klaus, a witty, charming movie that will warm your heart.  The plot is a clever depiction of how one selfless act can launch countless other selfless acts.  I know Christmas is over, but this is an uplifting story that I think is worthy at any time of year.  Just make sure you have a tissue box at hand!

In my last post, I mentioned Christmas crackers. I was intrigued to find that each of our crackers contained the history of Tom Smith, the inventor of this Christmas tradition, which seems to have spread from the UK to many other parts of the world.  

Joke from one of the crackers: What do you call an artist who sculpts with bicycle parts?  Cycle-Angelo

It just keeps getting better:  Why did the raisin go out with the prune?  Because he couldn’t find a date
Gifts from the crackers: Mouth freshener, Key Chain, Pen, Screwdriver

In that same post, I showed you one of my presents; now I can share the rest of my treasures.   
Left: Oriole Jelly Feeder (with Jelly)  
Upper right: Massage gift card, Gold earrings, Pill planner (am I THAT old?)
Lower right: Stroopwafels, Cedar and Balsam candle, Ferrero chocolates
Left: Moose scarf; slippers   Middle: Ballerina Giraffe - thanks, Mom!    Right:  Drawing pad/pencils
Early in December, the mail box yielded a catalog from Heifer International.  If you have never
heard of this, check it out!  You can give chickens, goats, water for life, heifers, and so on!
#1 Son purchased a flock of chickens in my name.  Inspiring!
During some holiday down time, I moved my trail cam a couple of times, but only captured more deer.  My favorite is the antler picture - imagine the size of the buck that goes with it!


As if to prepare a clean slate for the New Year, it began snowing on New Year’s Eve, not long after we had dropped #1 Daughter at the airport (de-icing almost caused her to miss her connection in Denver).  The snow continued to pile up, and I could not resist the opportunity for a walk in the white wonderland.  The only reason I returned home was the impending dark …
Can you see the snow flakes against the background of the house?




To add to the symbolism, New Year's Day brought blue skies and puffy clouds, and toward sunset, the clouds blushed pink.  A new beginning, a blank slate, the blush of youth, opening night, hitting the re-set button, a fresh start.  Yes, now I am ready for 2020.











Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us.
 

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Click here to enter

38 comments:

  1. Such lovely scenes at your place and the deer are so cute. I'm still giggling about Cycle-Angelo though.

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  2. You have some lovely photos! The snow scenes make me wish we'd have some snow here. . .mostly dreary and COLD here! The sunset is gorgeous. The joke is pretty funny, by the way! May very best ot you and yours! Have a grand week!

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  3. ...I love your snow images, our snow came after Halloween and around Christmas rain and mud started. Wishing your a wonderful 2020.

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  4. Happy New Year, Angie 🍀🍀🍀

    ...I agrees, looking forward in 2020. It's a new decade. Now begins a piece history with January, we will never forget.

    Heidrun xxx

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  5. I love your look back into 2019. I hadn't thought of it being the end of a decade, but I always notice those lists at the end of every year.

    I didn't know orioles liked grape jelly. We don't have orioles here and I'm not sure I'd recognize one if I saw it.

    We've been watching Netflix lately and I keep seeing the summary for Klaus. I guess I'll watch it next time. Have a great new year!

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  6. We didn't do much holiday cooking and no parties so we had a lack of leftovers. I remember old family Chrismases where we munched on goodies for weeks. - Margy

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  7. I enjoyed your post and the happenings of the Christmas season, but most of all I loved the snowy pictures. They truly are postcards worthy. Thank you for summer in Australia. All the best for 2020 to you and your family and thank you for the continuing link up.

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  8. Your winter wonderland looks glorious. You look so happy with your snow-filled landscape, you ol' snow bunny, you! A beautiful New Decade to you.

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  9. You had snow - that is wonderful! Your landscapes are beautiful post card views. We have not got snow, but this morning I noticed that during the night we got some - and I am happy about that. Wishing you a great 2020!

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  10. The snow there looks magical! We did not have a white Christmas--it was actually quite warm--but it snowed again in January which made me happy. It sounds like your Christmas was perfect and I hope 2020 will bring an abundance of joy, good health and many blessings!

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  11. Your winter garden looks amazing. Lovely presents, I like the flock of chickens idea.

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  12. Hello, a great post to end your 2019. Your presents are wonderful, the flock of chickens is my favorite. You do live in a winter wonderland, lovely views. Cute jokes. I will check out the movie Klaus! I wish you all the best in 2020, a Happy & healthy New Year. Thanks for hosting. Happy Monday, wishing you a great day and a happy new week!

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  13. OK, I plead guilty, Angie! My post is a potpourri of images from each month of last year.
    I enjoyed reading your recap of 2019, and I've put "Klaus" on my "to-watch" list. Thanks!

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  14. PS: And thank you for being such a gracious and gentle host in 2019!

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  15. Your home looks especially pretty with the snowflakes falling! How nice to have the gear to get outside in all weather. Look how long your hair is now! Beautiful! Happy new year!

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  16. Just beautiful. So peaceful but also cold looking. I don't do snow. I'm a coastal gal myself. But I do enjoy looking at the photos. I asked for a trail cam for Christmas but my family thought I was nuts. LOL love the moose ballerina, now that is unique but the flock of chickens gift. THAT, that is awesome! Happy New Year
    Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade

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  17. I didn't realize how similar our houses look though ours does have the rounded logs. I enjoyed reading this post very much...it is always interesting to see how folks spend Christmas, what they get as gifts, etc. Thanks for sharing. Though icy with the mild temps., it has been snowing lightly for hours now...definitely January in Canada!

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  18. It looks like you all had an excellent holiday. Good for you. thanks for taking us along with you.
    MB

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  19. Ich bin sehr begeistert von den Schnee-Collagen.
    Leider ist bei uns noch keine Flocke in Sicht.
    Hoffentlich bekommen wir auch so ein schönes Winterwetter.
    Noch ein gesundes, neues Jahr 2020
    Liebe Grüße
    aus Deutschland
    Jutta

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  20. Beautiful leftovers, Best Wishes for a bright and prosperous New Year

    much love...

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  21. Lovely reflections. I'm not quite looking back. Trying to look forward.
    My daughter made Christmas crackers for our dinner. It was fun!
    Lovely outdoor scenes, and you have a great haul!

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  22. Your snow looks so pretty! We have a chance of getting a little snow tomorrow.

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  23. An answer to your question: yeas the Koi stay all winter. They must go to the bottom and has some sort of topor or hibernation . I never see them in the winter and sometimes the pond will freeze over but not for long. We don't stay cold for long--usually. These guys are huge---maybe 12 to 16 inches long and really fat looking. Fun to have
    MB

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  24. These are some great show images! It's always fun to see it laying a coat across everything!
    Once more, I have missed your link-up! The time difference seems to be a problem for linkups that are not open very long :(


    Join me at My Corner of the World

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  25. The snow scenes are so pretty in your corner of the world. Here it's rain, rain and more rain. I'm not one to write end of year/decade posts although I do some thinking and journaling privately. Enjoy moving into 2020.

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  26. Such pretty snowy scenes! Still waiting for our snow although there is a lot further north.

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  27. Don't you find it interesting to see what each read picks up from your post. For me it was Grape Jelly. We've feed the orioles grape jelly for years now. They and other birds devour it. We have two very small glass cones on the feeding station need to be filed at least twice a day. We have 3-4 pairs of orioles that come to feed until mid July. We will have to see if we can find the feeder. We buy the jelly in large jars the cheapest we can find. I hope you Daughter wasn't greeted with more snow in Denver. That week was brutal will snow then wind--a blizzard.

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  28. I must admit to rather liking those snow scenes Angie. As long as I don't have to go out into your winter wonderland, I'm happy to just look and to understand how it must be wonderful for you.

    The story of Tom Smith, the man who invented the Christmas Cracker is very interesting and completely new to me. How nice that he had such an ordinary British name and displayed the entrepreneurial spirit for which Great Britain is famous.

    Have a great week Angie. Stay warm.

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  29. A beautiful winter wonderland. Glad to hear you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you a happy and healthy 2020.

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  30. Love seeing your beautiful Winter (and of course must admit that I’m happy to experience it only through your beautiful pictures and words). Though I sometimes do wonder if I’d have been fonder of the season had we lived where it was cold and *sunny* instead of chilly and gray. So glad you had fun with your kids ...wonderful holiday/winter celebrations..... Rather happy to read your mild complaint about the toddlers at your symphony. Makes me feel a bit less like an old curmudgeon when someone as sweet (and as young) as you feels the same as I do. Has no one heard of babysitters these days?

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  31. Wonderful snowy scenes, and well done on getting out and about enjoying the snow!

    It's been rather wet and soggy in my part of the UK but I have been out and about with hood up on coat, boots and brolly if necessary!

    Wishing you a great 2020.

    All the best Jan

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  32. I like the title of your post. Sounds and looks like you had wonderful celebrations and time together. Thoughtful gifts, too. Cool moose scarf. Oye about kicking the back of seats. I've had a few of those on airplane flights. Yikes!! So nice to get out in the winter wonderland for a good walk. We have snow predicted for tomorrow. Time will tell how much. Hope you have a good weekend.

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  33. your christmas sounds wonderful, really special!! your gifts too, very thoughtful and it seems they were all purchased with you in mind for sure!! you must have spent a lot more for your crackers than i did for mine. our gifts/toys were all plastic junk but we still had fun with them!!

    your snow looks amazing. we still have zero and it is suppose to be in the 60's this weekend...and we live in new jersey!!!

    we watched klaus too and i loved it!!! (i'm not so sure about my boys)!!!

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  34. wonderful array of photos from 2019 ~ delightful ~ ^_^

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  35. We never get snow around here and I quite enjoyed yours. Lovely photo. Wishing you all the best for the new year.
    Amalia
    xo

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  36. Those trailcam shots got a grin out of me. A welcome sight to see, they are.

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