On Saturday morning I was up at 2:45AM and had to get the stoves going. I turned the Christmas tree on and left it on all day. By then, I was awake, so I got my post up and another hivegarden post too and cleaned up the kitchen. As soon as it was light enough, I had to go outside and sweep and sand because this happened in the night:
I fed the birds while I was at it as it was to snow off and on all day.
I had something cool happen while hunting for photos for the hivegarden post. For years I thought we had never gotten a photo of my husband’s ’69 Camaro before he sold it in 1975. I found a photo of it before he had painted it turquoise!! At some point I must have known of the photo, as I put the photo albums together, but memory loss…
While I was at the computer I saw the hawk fly through the backyard. I was able to get some photos with the old camera because it sat on this branch for about 20 minutes.
I rested a while after being outside and my brother got up and went to the store for stuff he needed to make the parsnip chowder. He plowed when he got home as we had 3+” of snow from during the night.
I got the table set while he was gone and set up a little for him to cook. I turned on my “moldies” music while I was over there. Then I got a shower and got ready for the day.
I was tormenting my sister by not opening my presents, or opening the ones that she wasn’t excited about. I made her wait until my other 2 brothers arrived from Connecticut, bringing popovers and éclairs.
I called her in New Mexico when I finally opened my presents. The first one was 2 more Rita Mae Brown books, bringing the total from her to 10. And the last one was DVDs for 800 Words, a New Zealand series I like.
I had tried to find these early last fall and they were either unavailable or too expensive. But she found them much later at very reasonable prices, she said, so she got them all. I am delighted to have originals of this series as I watch it a couple times a year.
My youngest brother had continued making the chowder and while it cooked he got cleaned up and we finally sat down at 12:45PM.
I had heated up the popovers and wrapped them in a towel to keep them warm.
They had even bought candles and put 7 on the one éclair. The photo is my middle brother, me, and my oldest brother. My youngest took these photos.
After we ate we sat and told stories of when we were younger, some from when they still lived in Massachusetts and some from after they moved to Connecticut. I got the Camaro photo out and of course we laughed about the infamous 20th birthday party…
We talked for a couple hours and when they started thinking about leaving, I realized we’d gotten a good 3” more of snow and I had to sweep before anyone walked on it.
It’s really hard to sweep once it’s packed down and then it turns to ice. So I went out and swept the steps and walks again. While I was doing that, my youngest brother plowed again because he was going to Connecticut with them and I didn’t want the snow, which was snowball snow, to freeze in the night in the driveway.
So once the driveway was plowed, they headed out and I got the stoves going and lay down to watch 800 Words. I think I stayed awake through the first episode, but slept through most of the 2nd.
I had some supper, tended stoves and pulled shades and watched the remaining episodes on Disc 1. I was in bed by 8:15PM.
I had gotten through the big 7-0 that had been weighing on my mind. I’ve not been sure why this particular birthday has preyed on me so, but it has all year.
On Sunday I have the mess in the kitchen to clean up, decorations to put away, and my #1 intern is coming to inventory seeds with me. At some point I will have to sweep at least once as there’s up to 5” more coming throughout the day on Sunday.
