Merry Christmas to all. May the spirit of Christmas be with you on this day and on the days to come. May we all find love, compassion and goodwill towards each other in the days to come.
We have spent a quiet day at home. We opened our gifts to each other late morning. It’s funny as we each got the other two things alike. We will both stay warm as I got several sweaters and Jim got some more new flannel shirts. We got each other a desk lamp and an Ansel Adams framed print. It was a nice, quiet calm morning.
I made Jim a Sour Cream Lemon Cake and some peanut brittle after I had lunch. I’m pleased to say the peanut brittle turned out perfect. He will taste the cake after dinner tonight. The recipe is one that he makes for his sons most years for Christmas. I hope it turned out good.
We Zoomed with his two sons and their partners for almost two hours in the middle of the afternoon. We all got very nice gifts and had a nice time sharing the experience of opening them with each other. Certainly not the same as being together in person but it worked. It’s nice to see his two sons settled and happy with their partners.
I have a ham cooking in the oven for dinner tonight. Jim wants Tator Tots with it – I will have some carrots. It is hard to fix a fancy meal for just two people.
I was on the hotline twice yesterday. The first time I got fairly easy calls from people stressed over not being with their loved ones for Christmas. The late shift I got three suicidal people in a row. I was able to talk them down to a calmer place and am guessing they all lived to see Christmas morning. One never knows though what the rest of the story is. I will check to night to see if they need more counselors and if so will take a few more calls.
Tomorrow we are Zooming with my family late afternoon. Once that is done Christmas 2020 will be a wrap and I can take down the Christmas tree and put things back in order. Not sure I ever caught the Christmas spirit this year but that is OK. We will remember this year as the year that wasn’t what we are familiar with. Here’s to hoping next year will be back to being able to gather with our loved ones in person.
We don’t have anything on our calendar for next week although I do have to go to town to get flea and tic medication for my two dogs and two cats. If we need any groceries I will pick those up then too.
The blanket I am knitting is coming along. I have the first repeat done and am working on the second one. I think the pattern calls for seven repeats all together. I’ll see how the yarn holds out – maybe I can do eight if I have enough yarn. I haven’t started the hat and scarf I want to make yet so will have lots of knitting to do next week. I also want to get back to Project Clean Up This House. I took today and am taking tomorrow off from that project.
Bell and Ellie, my cats turned five today. Sophia will be four next week. Jim has a special treat for all four cats planned for tonight to celebrate their birthday and Christmas.
The chickens gave me 13 eggs today. I have four dozen extra eggs if anyone needs eggs. Most are still small but some are regular sized. I had two double yolk eggs for breakfast this morning.
It has been a lovely, quiet day on the prairie. It certainly has felt more calm than Christmas normally does when we gather with a crowd. Maybe I will decide not to go back to normal and keep it like this.
Grateful for the peace and calm on the prairie today, grateful I finally was able to make a good batch of peanut brittle, and grateful for my cats Bell and Ellie and wish them a happy birthday.