Abundant Joy

The wrapping paper and ribbons are tucked away for another year, but the joy that came with the unwrapping remains!  Let me highlight just a few of the presents I received on Christmas morning!  (I am joining LeeAnna for I Like Thursday.  I bet others have their own joys to share!)

LeeAnna's prompt this week is "facing a turning of the calendar page, and a new year stretching out in front of us, is there anything you would like to try or to learn this coming year?"   Faithful readers of this blog will know that I have been working on drawing skills; isn't it wonderful that #1 Daughter and The Fiance support my endeavors with tools such as this book?

 

Christmas has delivered a precious gift in the form of time with family.  #1 Son made it safely from Idaho Falls, and we are relishing these days together.  He loves documentaries, and we have watched "Icarus", about doping in sports, and "Pepsi, Where's My Jet?", the story of a teenage boy who decided to take on Pepsi after its ambitious cola-wars ad campaign.  Playing games.  Making cookies.  And good old-fashioned conversations around the dinner table.

Food in our house is always delicious, and Christmas brings some extra-special culinary delights - smoked turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and fruitcake that has been brushed with brandy for a couple of weeks.  Yum!

 

In retirement, I am with Spousal Unit for most of the day, but those days tend to be filled with a flurry of various activities.  In the week between Christmas and New Year's, life is slower and we can truly enjoy each other's company.  I call it "re-connecting".   This week, we hopped aboard the Montana Trolley for a tour of the Christmas lights around town.  Overall, the displays were underwhelming, but watching the excitement of the littles on the trolley was heartwarming.

Of course, to me Christmas signifies the Ultimate Gift, Jesus' birth and through it, our salvation.  

Wishing you a very Happy New Year, and many blessings in 2023!

Mosaic Monday #113: Holding on to the Holidays

Is your Christmas tree still up (if you celebrate Christmas)?  Ours is standing proud, and probably will until the end of the month.  It just went too fast, folks.  Anybody else feel the same?  I have given up listening to Christmas music, but I can't quite put away the tree or all the decorations ...

So can you tolerate a smidge more of December?  Just for me, your blogging buddy?

So where to begin?  Or how to continue?  Let's see, I think I have figured out that food is a crowd-pleaser (this is for you, Debbie).  Team cooking (Head Chef, #1 Son and I) in early December included Nasi Goreng and Jamaican Jerk Chicken with ginger rice and plantains.  #1 Son favors Asian dishes, hence the Nasi Goreng.   Well, he likes jerk seasoning too, so maybe he was driving the menu choices!  My request was for the plantains, a type of banana that has a crispy, caramelized texture when fried.  A ubiquitous Caribbean dish, it was a must-have to accompany the jerk chicken.  

Ok, maybe that's not really about the holidays - would some ornaments be more appropriate?  I couldn't share these before now - they were SECRET gifts!  As I have written in the past (here), creating a personal ornament for family members each year is a relatively new tradition.  I enjoy the whole process - choosing a design, buying the materials and stitching the ornament!

As long as we are focused on presents, below are some photos of my treasured Christmas gifts from the family.

Thanks to Spousal Unit, #1 Daughter, The Boyfriend and #1 Son for their generosity and thoughtfulness!

The holidays can pack on the pounds, so I try to stay active.  Dear Neighbor Friend and I go cross-country skiing around her property - we have been blessed by Nature's finest decoration of hoarfrost and snow.

While these macro shots are jaw-dropping, so are the micro views of feathery frost along the creek and lake.

Right before Christmas, Spousal Unit and I resumed our seasonal positions as Ambassadors at Whitefish Mountain Resort - the exercise, fresh air and opportunity to meet new people is a welcome change.  The Mountain is taking COVID precautions very seriously - the livelihood of many people relies on a successful winter season.  One of the Mountain watering holes, the Bierstube, makes the pitch well.

I walk our back forty regularly, often building in a visit to the trail cam.  I have had quite a few trail cam malfunctions, and don't have much to show you from December.  But sometimes there comes a moment of serendipity.  I was collecting greenery for decorations, a few days before #1 Daughter and The Boyfriend arrived.  Looking closely under a tree for Oregon Grape Holly, I spied a spot of white close up to the trunk of a Douglas Fir.  Strange; the rest of the ground around the trunk was bare.  How did that clump of snow get there?  I moved forward and suddenly realized that white clump was nothing other than a snowshoe hare!  It allowed me to get quite close and take this video.  So adorable!  (I will ignore for the moment that it might enjoy my landscaping next spring ...)

Closer to home, I have a squirrel story.  (I think everyone with birdfeeders has at least one squirrel tale!)  Two Christmases ago, I received a window feeder.  Ever since, it has been attached to the outside of our dining room window, and we are thoroughly entertained by the ongoing traffic of chickadees and nuthatches.  Well, you guessed it, a squirrel has discovered it.  This photo was taken through the window at close range.  Did the fellow bat an eyelash?  Not in the least!

Well, I am reaching the end of my holiday anecdotes.  I have enjoyed re-living these memorable moments, and I hope something in my narrative put a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face.  January is marching on, and now I am ready to fall in step.

Mosaic Monday

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. Tuesday (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. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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.

Mosaic Monday

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. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #60: A Little Taste of Christmas

Felt board - a gift to #1 Daughter

Santa shot glasses - a gift to Spousal Unit

As quickly as it came, it went.  The wrapping paper, crumpled into snowball-sized shapes, waits to serve as fuel for our next fireplace inferno.  The spent poppers and shells of the Christmas crackers have been swept into the bin, save for the ribbons, which I keep for some as-yet-unimagined craft project.  The turkey has been picked over, the meaty bits in the Tupperware for sandwiches or the occasional late-night steal direct from the Fridge.  Yet the memories are as sweet as the brandied fruitcake that we enjoyed Christmas morning. 

I may only have a limited window to compose this post, but for all the right reasons - our kids are still here and I am maximizing my time with them.  So, I will give you a little taste of our Christmas through photos more so than the written word, but I think you will forgive me that, just this once?

No shortage of yummy snacks around the house!

Christmas Eve morning, we woke up to snow - a white Christmas after all!

Middle left: Maggie tired out from opening presents

Bottom left: Hand-made ornament for #1 Daughter

Middle: Listography book from #1 Daughter

The Christmas feast

Hand-made ornament for #1 Son

I pray that your Christmas brought you what you seek the most, be it peace, freedom, joy, good health, refuge, time with family, relief from sorrow, or a new pair of hop-a-long boots! 

Mosaic Monday

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. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter