All of the astrological signs that tell of winter are here. Doesn't matter if the highs some days are in the 70's. We've cycled through days of warmth and nights of cold. We've had enough below freezing weather to denude all but the most tenacious deciduous plants. The sun slides along the southern horizon, always visible through the side window as I drive. The winter muse whispers in a quiet voice, to sleep. Seems that parts of my brain want to shut down, or perform at a reduced capacity.

The cycle of ups and downs of a semester are over, and the end of a semester, especially fall semester, combined with the tendency to be affected with SAD, deplete my psychological energy. It's time to sit back, reflect, and see if I can regain so sense of equilibrium.

The moon is just before first quarter, and is slowing brighting as the blue of the sky fades into dusk. As seen from my vantage point in the sunroom.

I may be quiet for a while. Nothing serious, though.

There are far too many green things for it to feel much like winter. This morning there was a thick coat of ice on every surface. The caged bird feeders were a beautiful grid of white,sparkling ice and yet...underneath all the ice on the ground were the primroses in bloom,the nepeta just as green as it was in October,the leucanthemum as big as my hand and many of the rose bushes with buds,encased in ice. Walking out there when the sun was rising was like being in two worlds and the same time..almost ethereal.

Suzy, I was thinking about this today as we seem to be settling into what passes for winter down here, namely lot of steel gray days where it's rainy or misty & while not cold in a northern sense of the word, it's cold in what I think of as an English sense of the word - wet & damp.

I announced at the post office this afternoon, that they could put a fork in me, because I was DONE with Christmas. Now I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of enjoying some quiet time - reading, sleeping a little later than usual & maybe even finding the bottom of my desk!

We don't have much down time from gardening down here, but I do enjoy the time from now until the end of January when outdoor activities slow down to a crawl & we take time to savor the quiet joys of the season.

"everyone acts like they need to hitch their chihuahuas up to a sled and start building igloos"

The image of that is sooo funny.

The Red Breasted Nut Hatch is here one year and then
the next we don't see them. I love all the Nut Hatches.
I'm going to put up a bird feeder at the house in town
to see if I can get any takers. I'd settle for anything
down there right now besides Grackles.

Love your winter thread, Suzy.

I had big plans to go shopping and lunching with a friend today but we chickened out when it had snowed and freezing rain was falling on top of it. So instead it's an indoor day with a favorite movie (You've Got Mail), tea, a cat on my lap and Buck, the old, sweet, blind bird dog asleep on the heat register in the kitchen. Poor old fellow has such a thin coat that cold weather has always been a misery for him.

I have done most of my Christmas shopping via computer this year and am mildly worried that the main gifts for the grandboys have not arrived -- a pirate ship for the 4 year old and a rocket ship for the 3 year old. Jan, that's the one you found out about as soon as I did, down in Kentucky while we were waiting for others to arrive.

Does anyone have an idea what to get a 94 year old man who lives in a nursing home? He's not really with us most of the time, but certainly cannot be ignored when Christmas gifts are passed out. He cannot eat anything not ground up, half of the time the clothing he has on is not his and he does not read. My FIL.

Oh Nora, it can be so hard when you want to give something to an elderly person in that situation. I guess the pleasure of your company would be the best gift, to remind him people out there think of him with love. My mother was 91 last Christmas and I made for her a quilt. When I spent the nights with her at her house, she watched me working on it and commented how "beautiful" it was. She didn't know I was making it for her, and I had no choice but to take it with me, as I lived last year in two homes, mine in the day working at my business, and hers the other half of the day, to keep her company through the nights.

In truth, it was very humble, made of scraps, but bursting with bright reds and greens, and golds..........and put together with lots of love. The very last night she spent in her house, it was finished and on her bed and lay beside her in the hospice house so she could look at it, or cover herself with it. What I am saying is it can be something as simple as an object they can look upon and know it was chosen just for them.

Suzy, that was so lovely to read...what a wise person you are. Nora, I wondered if your FIL liked animals and if the nursing home allowed it, perhaps your pet cat visiting with you would be comforting. I've even known of one case in which a soft stuffed animal was cherished by someone with Alzheimers. Would an assortment of those prepared Jello puddings in serving sizes be a good idea? Years ago Gerbers made delicious pureed fruits and I think there was a vanilla pudding...no idea what's available today...LOL but they would have less sugar and additives I would think.
josh

Well we dodged the bullet yesterday, right now I am looking out my kitchen window at a blizzard ... let it snow, let it snow, let it snow :)

Lap quilts are a nice gift for a senior, and easy to make. I gave one to my MIL and she loved it :)

The view from my 3rd floor apartment window ...

{{gwi:203012}}

It's the perfect day to snuggle in here in the Ohio Valley, isn't it? I ventured out this a.m. dodging the changes in precip until I hit a window when it was just dry blowing snow. The winds are the worst part of it in this area, causing snow to blow over roads in the country. All of the rural roads in my township have deep, ugly gashes along the berms where the county refuses to let the drainage ditches alone, and one needs to be very careful about riding berms, since they're so soggy and give way easily.

I just got back from visiting my daughter out in the boonier booney's and she had cakes in the oven and fresh bread baked. The binocs were handy on her kitchen table and birds were thronging to the feeders. I took her a bag of Black Walnut (our own) and English walnut fudge, I stayed to have a really wonderful cup of real English tea and left with fresh, warm clementine cake, and a bag of tea tea she shared from her stash. That's a good trade, no?

I'm about to throw on a batch of bread to rise and light a scented candle and nestle in for the rest of the day after I go tend the hens. My SIL is out flying in this mess, and my husband off across the hills to sing in a concert. My southern friends and acquaintances ask how we can "live like this" in winter, but I'll tell you.........there is nothing so warm and fuzzy as your cozy home when you come in out of it, light a fire maybe and settle in to baking or reading. Dark wintry days as seen from the inside looking out.....LOL.......they can be quite enjoyable.

No, I 'd say we had a winter storm, 12 inches and 30MPH wind, the lake effect is starting now! This is my back door, there's a porch under there, the thing on the R is what's left of my shadehouse.

{{gwi:203013}}

oh suzy, your mom passed away? I'm SO sorry, I missed that!

What an awesome lady, and how great that you had all those years together. You two made me want to take better care of myself , to be around through the next generation even if i'm movin reeeal slow. Let the phone ring , kids, i'll get there eventually. (Sniffle, sniffle)

Old Man Winter made a grand entrance last night. Today's high has struggled to climb to 36 F. The wind out of the north is like ice and the wind chill is in the low 20's. Four days ago the high was in the 70's. Methinks that was summer's very last hoorah.

A lot of left over turkey followed us home yesterday. When I awoke and realized that the day would be our first real winters day, I fired up the crock pot, placed assorted turkey bits and giblets into said pot, diced up some celery, carrots and a bit of rosemary, added some corn and let the whole kit and caboodle simmer for a hour or so. Made a perfect lunch to complement the day, which happens to be one week before the Solstice. More still simmers in the pot, and will be sampled now until bedtime. Watched Ratatouille for the first time yesterday with the nieces. I awas inspired to cook again.

Tonight's low is in the mid 20's, but that's ok, I have three warm dogs as needed...

Nephew is from Atlanta and has a place on Lake Lanier. Said the lake is the lowest it's ever been and was down 20+ feet from normal pool. When he got out of the car yesterday one could see the amazement on his face when he realized my brother's yard was not dessicated, but actually had moisture evidenced. We here in the Northwest corner of Alabama have had enough rain to remove us from the exceptional category. We are making up our deficit.

Went down to the state park marina but nobody was out. The wind chill off the lake was formidable.

TNT has the Lord of the Rings trilogy on day. It beats football hands down.

Elia

Really cold here today too, but I'm not complaining considering the weather in the Midwest & now up into the Northeast.

It was a great day to curl up with the NY Times & a cup of cocoa with a fire going in the fireplace.

I was thinking of Marda today so thought I'd check in to see if, by some miracle, the capability to add music to a thread had returned. I miss her "Those No Longer With Us" thread. It always made me cry, but it was a cleansing cry. It was just what I needed to be able to move through the holidays without the ones who made all the difference.

I'm just about done with my shopping, only have to find something for DB. I sat and pondered what to give a persnickity carnivor and started searching for some great piece of meat. Maybe buffalo burgers or a moose roast? I came across an elk carcass on sale at Amazon and wondered what the heck an elk carcass was. Still don't know much more than it's 225 lbs of meat, but I was hysterical laughing at the buyers reviews! I laughed until I cried, and am still laughing.

Have been working 14-16 hour days for the past 2 weeks and I'm tuckered out both mentally and physically. Haven't had a chance to bake a thing yet, and there is a box to be mailed home to PA and another one to South America where a friend was recently stationed. I've threatened to withold sending the box if he doesn't stop sending me pictures of the beautiful Andes Mountains and, just to break my heart, pictures of him at the beach. Christmas is a big deal in South America and life is winding down to a complete halt for him, which isn't good for someone so far away from home. I think of all my soldiers in Iraq, how many holidays they've spent over there now, and wonder if there will ever come a time when we'll have a Christmas with no war.

Last Monday our high was 81, tomorrow's high isn't suppose to get out of the 40's. As is normal after being exposed to thousands of soldiers and physically exhausting myself, I feel a cold coming on. There is too much yet to do, I can't afford to get sick. If I don't get a tree up soon, DS is liable to move to the house down the street that has not one, not two, but THREE Christmas trees displayed in the windows across the front of their house. Show off's. They're beautiful, I'm jealous of their free time, but it's not going to happen in this magic kingdom.

I made a pot of barley soup yesterday using pork neck bones. My Grandmother taught me how to make this soup, she always used pigs feet and called it "Trotter Stew". As much as I loved it, it had a lot of fat that had to be taken off. The neck bones had some, but not much, and the soup was just the ticket on a cold, blustery day. One of the Officers from the PA National Guard brought me a cheese cake as a thank you on Friday and it's sitting in the ice box calling to me. Always seems the things that are bad for me have the loudest voice in the ice box. The carrots and celery can't seem to get above a whisper.

Tomorrow is Monday and is suppose to be my last day of work for the year. I've once again went over my carry over cap on vacation time and, darn the luck, am being forced to use it or lose it. The boss is frantic since my last remaining employee left for a job in Korea and he has no one to monitor my operation. Sucks to be him. Merry Christmas. Tuesday I'm going to dig out the microwave booties Jan gave me a few years ago, sit back, relax, and let visions of sugar plums dance in my head. Wednesday is the first day of winter vacation for the kids, so DS and I will find a tree and spend the day decorating. It's going to be a simple Christmas, filled with simple pleasures...my child and me.

Now it's off to find that special piece of meat for the carnivor. If I procrastinate long enough, I might stumble upon a reindeer carcass!

It's cold and raining, wind is icy - well, I can only speak for what I'm used to: Northern California, where it had been in the twenties for the past ten days or so, thirties now and rain. We need the rain.
I am still trying to get Christmas gifts together, know what I want to get on the Internet, sat down yesterday to finish that task and the phones were down, so no dial-up connection.
Getting the Sunday Paper I picked up the ideal gift for Jillarry: a 3D jigsaw puzzle of the Capitol! It has 700+ pieces, should keep them busy for a while. A man behind me at the check-out looked at it and made a remark about it being a challenge, and I told him I like to give presents the recipient deserves, "You are a Sadist" he joked.
Today Joann and I are off to Willits, finishing up some odds and ends. It's going to be a tough ride on the busy, winding road, I am glad she's a good driver.
We'll have lunch at Anna's Asian Kitchen, very good food at a reasonable cost.
I am still not really in "the spirit", but it will come.

Nora, I can tell you from my years in retail that a 94 yr. old man would like some Starlight mints. Those are the round mints with a red and white swirl design. Every eldery person that walked in the store asked where the Starlight mints were located.

We finally received 2 inches of rain...not enough but helped some with the severe drought here. And it's finally turned cold...well, down in the thirties which is cold to us. Very welcome as it brings a little more holiday feeling with it. Most importantly I feel better and more energetic in cold weather...more enthused to cook and even do some rearranging and redecorating.

No holiday decorating yet except for cutout white paper stars on front windows which are full of potted plants. I've asked my 4 year old GD to decorate a little potted evergreen tree for us with papermache and wooden beads I've strung on short lengths for her. Wreath of Eucalyptus cut from potted tree (otherwise it gets too tall/topheavy) and that's it here.

I found that I ordered more for ourselves than for others when ordering online...LOL Books especially and was pleased to find that used books from Powell's Books look pristine...I could have wrapped for gifts. Nice to do business wih such folks.

Got most of my Xmas groceries in yesterday, and DH to dentist, plus sent off some things to Goodwill which I'd collected. My housekeeper was glad to haul off 4 cartons of just Watergate-related books...they'd been sitting in cartons since we moved several years ago...no room on bookshelves and I knew I'd probably never revisit that era by rereading...but somehow it was hard to get rid of the stash. That whole year plus the hearings DH was working out of town and I became obsessed...LOL Can't believe it was so long ago or that I still had all that stuff hanging around.

For some reason I always get the urge to clean out this time of year. Probably dates back to my Mom insisting that we box up things before Xmas for charity. I continued the tradition with my son, urging him to select outgrown toys to go the local animal shelter each year for the resale shop. Feels good to be sending stuff off...hope I cankeep momentum going to tackle linen closets and clothing again. I always swear I'm going to abide by the rule of 1 new thng in, 1 old one out...LOL josh

I finished wrapping the Christmas presents last night & now they're underneath the tree waiting to be opened on Christmas Eve.

Afterwards I popped in the DVD of "A Christmas Story" as a treat to myself & the DVD ate it (!!)& wouldn't give it back. DH said he could "fix" this & he did. We gave the DVD player still holding on to the DVD a decent burial last night. Thankfully, the stores, in their desperation for customers this year, are selling DVD players for about $30.00, so replacement won't be a major thing. Going out to the shops at this point, however, is.

I was going to get out extra early this morning but it is so foggy I can barely see the house across the street. This all can wait until this afternoon, or maybe even tomorrow.

After all the blowing snow Sunday, we ended up with a mere 4 inches. All of it has melted, this morning when I woke up it was 40 degrees ... supposed to be near 50 Saturday. That is good as we are having a Toys for Tots at the farmers market and my DD is doing a candy making demonstration for the kiddies ... with goodie bags to take with them.

Peace