Cleaning houses...

 It was a perfectly beautiful day today. The temperature was in the low 40's and the sun was bright. I was able to do my chores wearing a fleece shirt, no jacket or hat required. What a treat!  We are expecting more winter-like weather in the next few days, so I took advantage of the gift today was and cleaned ALL the animal  houses. They don't usually get done all at once. Some get messy faster than others. The donkey dorm requires the most frequent cleaning, spot cleaning every day and a full strip down every few days, followed by the goat cozy, about once every week or two, depending on the weather. If they spend lots of time outside, the cozy stays pretty tidy. The big chicken coop needs to be cleaned about once a month. The small coop for the Silky chickens can go 6 weeks or so, because there only 5 little birds in there, and they don't make much mess. The duck hut stays fairly clean, because they are only in there at night. When I do a "big clean" in there I rake out all the shavings, and put an entire bale of fresh in. Since it's not a very large area, this makes for bedding about 8 inches deep. I can rake the top layer every few weeks, removing all the wet and soiled bits, and just add a little fresh in the space where they sleep. It only needs a major overhaul every 5 weeks or so.

 But because today was so fine, I started with the messiest spot (donkeys!) and then worked my way to the least dirty, which today was the big chicken coop. I almost didn't clean the big coop, it wasn't really terribly soiled,but I know from experience that it can go from "not bad," to "YUCK!" in a very short period of time.

 I let the goats and donkeys into the back yard while I cleaned their space. I gave them a flake of hay there, and they were excited to explore the yard they don't get to very often. It's MUCH easier for me to clean their shed when they are not investigating every forkful of bedding I move. I filled up their salt and mineral feeders while I was at it. When I opened the gate from the back yard to the pasture they all hustled to see what I had done.They partook of the salt and minerals happily, then the goats promptly tucked in for a rest on the clean bedding, letting the sun stream down on them.

 The Silky coop was next. 3 of these birds are quite elderly. I am not sure exactly how old they are, they were given to me 6 or more years ago, and they were not young then. They've stopped having much desire to leave the coop, even on nice days, and one is losing weight and acting odd. I made a point to pick her up and check her over today. Her beak was overgrown, which can make it difficult to eat, so I hustled her into the grooming room and gave it a trim.

 She wasn't impressed by the process, but hopefully the end result will be beneficial. A few snips with a sharp nail trimmer does the trick. I dished her up some soft food treats to try to entice her to eat more, and tucked her back into her freshened up space.

While I was tidying this coop, I found some eggs in the nest box. I had not checked for a while, because the Silky's don't lay often, and rarely in winter. Their eggs are small, anyway, but there was this wee tiny one. Isn't is cute? 

Next on the list was the duck house. It's a bit of a challenge to clean, because I have to bend deeply over to get in there and clean all the far back area. I have a dandy little child sized rake that is perfect to move the old shavings towards the door where I can scoop them out and haul them off. The ducks are always perplexed to see me there, and hustle away, making loud commentary. They keep themselves scarce until I am done, then waddle back to investigate my handiwork. I am pretty sure they find it lacking.

Last was the big coop. The birds here are not quite 4 months old, still babies, really, but getting big. Last week they still made the "peep, peep" sound little chicks make. This week they have switched to a more adult "cluck, cluck." I only ordered one rooster, but got two. They are developing lovely plume tails, and full combs and wattles. I had named one "Randy Roo," but need to come up with a name for the second one. I am thinking "Randy, II,"

 because I can't really tell them apart. All the chickens are the same breed, White Rocks, and look remarkably alike. There is one very tiny pullet, which I have named "Dove." With this group, if you are not a rooster or tiny, you are all dubbed, "Henrietta." I am particularly fond of this flock. I have been wondering why. Today it occurred to me that part of their appeal is that they make lots of prolonged, intense, eye contact. I find that charming.

While I was shoveling, one bird launched off the roost and landed on my shoulder. She stayed a few minutes before relocating to a more stationary spot. Bravo supervised my cleaning.

After I swept out the last of the soiled shavings, a bale of clean, fresh ones went down. It makes the coop smell so nice.

Although this new laying flock is all white, their feather patterns are lovely if you take time to look.

I sat on the picnic table for a few moments after finishing up all the tidying, admiring the day and the critters.

And some of them admired me back.

It makes me feel very good to know that with weather coming, the animals will have dry, fresh bedding to snuggle into.I love days like this.

Flexing tradition...

We changed things up a little this year. Our tradition has been that after a breakfast of waffles, bacon and tasty mimosa's, we all sit and open our gifts to each other. Now that Rachel is married, she and her husband head to see his family in Bar Harbor right after that, so it made for a rushed morning for all of us and a longer drive for them. So this year they came over for supper last night, and for the first time ever we exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve.

All afternoon I puttered about, with holiday lights glowing, candles flickering and the fire in the wood stove snapping and popping cheerily.

 I played seasonal music and felt terribly happy. While I was fiddling around, I made an Irish Cream bundt cake for dessert. As soon as it came out of the oven, three loaves of home made bread went in. I can't quite describe how good the house smelled with cake and bread all perfuming that air at the same time, but trust me, it was amazing. The bread was done a bit after dusk, and Chris and I delivered warm loaves to two different neighbor friends.Then Rachel and Evans arrived, with a flurry of last minute gift wrapping and a lot of happy chatter.

Normally we do a roast for Christmas Eve supper, but we ended up moving that whole meal up a few days and cooked that last weekend. With the plan being just the 4 of us for our holiday meal, we decided to make something totally different. We decided on seafood, and Chris made a batch of his delicious Coquille St. Jacques. Instead of serving them in individual ramekins, he put them in tender little puff pastry shells. Rachel made sauteed kale with mushrooms.Everything was delicious.After we ate we settled in the living room, and took turns opening an array of thoughtful gifts. It was all very cozy and pleasant.

The dogs shared one stocking, filled to overflowing with stuffed toys, tennis balls, and treats. It was Opals first time to do such a thing, and though I tried to take pictures, she was just a happy, fawn- colored blur in all of them. 

Until she lost a favorite toy under the chair, and paused one second to retrieve it. 

Evans received a new ukulele, and picked it right up to experiment with. 

He also got a bottle of Japanese whisky. He and Chris tried a glass, dancing broke out for a funny moment. It was a lovely evening.

This morning I woke up and took care of all the animals. Each got a special treat, apples and carrots for the donkeys and goats, frozen peas for the ducks, some fruit and leftover pastry for the chickens. I came inside to a still and silent house, and felt a little sad. It was Christmas morning and no one was coming over. No waffles were on the menu, the gifts had all been opened. The day spread out before me, a blank slate, and I didn't quite know what to do with it.

I added wood to the fire until it was merry, and made a cup of hot chocolate. The house was quiet. Bravo brought me one of his new toys to toss, and I did. I wallowed a little. Then I got up and tidied  from the previous nights festivities. I put sausage patties in my favorite cast iron skillet to cook. I put music on. I thought back to how Christmas had changed in my life... from childhood when 5 loud kids and many adults all crowded around my parents living room, opening gifts in a frenzy of sound. How the house would be filled with relatives and my mother would prepare a feast. I time traveled to our first married Christmas, quiet and strange, far from home, but the beginning of our own traditions. Then I could see baby Rachel, all pink clad with a head full of golden curls, under our tree that first noel in Memphis. The memories kept marching by as I scooped flour into a bowl to make biscuits, and got a pot of coffee going. I thought of all the happy Christmas mornings right here in this house, and I smiled. I made sausage gravy, and heard my sweet husband begin to move around upstairs. I knew he was smelling his favorite breakfast cooking and feeling glad.

We ate together, slowly, relishing the peace and quiet of our home. The dogs were restless, though, so once breakfast was done we loaded them up and drove them to a near by beach.

They ran and frolicked, smelled new smells, raced at the line where the waves lapped the sand. We took the long way back, and stopped again on a dirt road that arcs up over a nearby ridge. We let them out to explore a bit more, then came home.

Chris hung out a special treat for the goats and donkeys, a hard, compressed ball made up of seeds, grain and molasses. It's designed to entertain them as they lick and nibble it. Usually they last for weeks, and give all the critters a nice diversion from the long, boring, winter days. Spirit discovered it first. Jezebel was suspicious.

Before long they had all had a lick or two.

Now I am snuggled up on the sofa, with a tired dog sleeping on either side of me. I have a special supper planned, for just the two of us, and I am content. Our traditions are not set in stone, they bend and flex as time passes and our family changes. And that is good and right and joyous. My life is richly blessed, and I am grateful for every bit of it, on Christmas and every day.

Christmas cheer...

A friend recently wrote a long post on Facebook about how several years ago she completely stopped giving any Christmas gifts, or doing any decorating for the holiday. This all makes her happy and is working well for her. I read her story with interest, and can completely understand her point of view. I can even look into my future and conceive of a time when decorating for the holiday might not bring me joy. But for now it does.

  I found this vintage angel at a holiday flea market a year or two ago. She stood out in her old-fashioned glory among a whole lot of brand new, sparkly, items. I liked her immediately, and checked for a price tag. She didn't have one. I thought to myself, "I would pay as much as $20 for this decoration." I asked the lady what the price was. She thought a moment and said, hesitantly, "Three dollars." I never pulled money out of my pocket faster.

 Deb surprised me with these cute reindeer and sleigh, and they are destined to become treasured annual decor. She also found this...

 A sweet little Christmas village, second hand but in perfect shape. They were in the original Styrofoam packing, with someones careful handwriting indicating where each piece fits for storage. A treasure!

It's always a treat for me to unpack my beloved nativity scene and angels made for me by my first friend when we moved to Memphis. I doubt she knew then what joy this gift would bring me, every, single, year. The little wooden stable to the left was something from my childhood. I don't know its origins, but I remember it always graced the mantel in the living room. To the right of that is an angel music box. We had one identical to it when I was a child, and I adored it. A few years ago, while visiting a different state for a grooming show, my friend Cheryl and I ducked out to attend a little antique sale we had spied. I grabbed that childhood memory and brought her right home. When wound, she spins and plays a rather tinny rendition of Silent Night.

Rachel crafted these figures when she was in high school. She used to always scoff when I got them out and gave them a place of honor, but this year she grudgingly admitted that they are not so bad.

I treated myself to some new chairs for the dining room. They are metal, and inexpensive, but sturdy and quite attractive, I think. The mismatched, wobbly chairs I had around the table for the past few years have vexed me. These make me smile. If I find a set of wooden chairs that I adore and can afford, these babies are stack-able, and can be easily stored and trotted out for parties. The snowmen that are on the table are some that I had collected, and a bunch a friend had gathered then gave to me when she moved to a smaller home.

Even the animals are brought in on the action when it comes to festooning the farm. Jezebel was not at all enthused about wearing a hat, until she saw the other animals all donned it with no problem. She ended up posing better than anyone.

Sarah isn't really naughty, but joined in for the whimsy of  it all.

The packages are (almost) all wrapped and tucked beneath the tree. We have chosen to scale back a bit on gift giving this year. It's a bit of a pang for me to not have a huge mound of presents under the tree. It's a change from times past, and fine, but an adjustment. 

Pulling out the decorations from their red and green tubs is rather like greeting old, familiar friends. They hang out in my house for a few cheery weeks, and I'm glad to have them.

And just like that...

And just like that, Thanksgiving was over. All the planning, cleaning, shopping, cooking and enjoying was finished when the last car pulled out of the driveway on Friday. The house, quiet and empty, seemed to slump a little. "Cheer up!" I told it."Christmas is coming!"

Here is a rehash of the event. The busiest day is the Wednesday before. I am up early, making sure the kitchen is ready for a full day of creating. Rachel arrives and we kick it into gear. Sweet potatoes are baked, pie crusts rolled out and filled, casserole dishes full of seasonal favorites are assembled. I always think, "we'll be done in record time this year", but in reality we cook from dawn until well after the sun has set. And I love every minute of it. In truth, it's one of the happiest days of the year for me.

 Music plays, mimosas are sipped, and if I get a chance, I kiss the cook!

 Deb and John arrived late afternoon. We had a simple supper of corn chowder and corn bread, and then they made the squash and mashed potatoes. Once those final dishes were assembled, we wrapped each pan carefully and stowed them in the refrigerator. Once that appliance was full to bursting, we checked the thermometer. It was plenty cold outside, so Deb's car made for a back up cooling unit!

Thanksgiving dawned with snow. Just a lovely dusting, not enough to make travel difficult.

All we had left to do was cook the turkeys (Chris smokes one, I roast one), arrange desserts and appetizers, and set the tables. This latter bit involves a good amount of furniture re-arranging, but it all works out quite nicely. I love trotting out my pretty china and Grammy's silver.

Little glass turkeys held cranberry sauce. Low candles glowed.

I made a little sign on my chalkboard that said, "Save room for Dessert." Niece Elyse changed it so it was spelled the way our favorite 4 year old pronounces the word.

Once the turkeys were cooked, and guests were arriving, we put all the casseroles in the oven, (arranging them like puzzle pieces!) and make a huge vat of gravy. One guest goes on and on about how much gravy we make. We want everyone to have a gracious plenty, and we really want some for left overs!

Chris set up a huge trough with ice and cold beverages in the pantry, (one party guest calls this spot the "Wonder Closet.")  Red wine and mixed drinks were also available.

John usually carves the delicious smoked turkey. This year Evans tackled the roast bird. He did the most amazing job! 

Then it was time to feast. We had 18 at the table this year.

Later, David played music for us.

And we sat around groaning until we had room for just ONE more slice of pie.

There was talking and laughing. Guests kindly pitched in to help clean up and stow the food we had not polished off. I did a lot of sitting. And smiling. Oh how I love Thanksgiving. 

Marital harmony...

I'd like to post some of the lovely pictures from Thanksgiving, but my computer isn't wanting to load them from the camera, so, >sigh< I'll just move along to a new topic. It involves Christmas trees.

When we were newlyweds, we made quite a big deal out of picking out our tree each year. I love holidays, and especially decorating for Christmas.  We would find a place to cut our own fir down, and traipse up and down the rows until we found just the perfect one. Those first years our apartment was tiny, so we chose small trees to fit. That was good, because we only had a handful of ornaments. We would string popcorn and cranberries to fill in the gaps. One memorable time Drummer, our naughty cocker spaniel, ate all the popcorn off the lower branches, leaving sodden thread and macerated berries behind.

Once we moved to a real house, we were able to get a little bigger tree. Chris prefers a tree with "wow" appeal.He also prefers multi-colored lights to decorate the tree with.I am happy with a smaller tree, one I can reach the top of without climbing on a ladder, and to me white lights are the only way to trim a tree. We came up with a compromise. One year he would choose the tree, and we'd use colored lights. The next year, I'd pick, and little twinkly white lights would be chosen. When Rachel came along, she got to choose the tree and lights every third year.  Somehow, in the last 10 years or so, it ended up being just Rachel and me choosing and decorating the tree.

Yesterday Chris and I went out and bought this years fir. We found one just the right size, with a nice shape. There was a tree on the lot festooned with little multi-colored lights. "Oh," Chris said wistfully, "look at how pretty that is." I was suddenly ashamed. I'd been having my way with the decorating for far too long.

Today I headed to the hardware store to buy lights with some pigment to them. I was a little sad to think I'd have to look at a tree that didn't have my preferred scheme, but I was excited to surprise my sweetie. And then I found something amazing. Christmas lights that could be changed from white to multi with the flick of a switch. Now here was a marital aide a girl could get enthused about!

I brought them home and was happily tucking them into the branches when I got a text message from my friend who owns the hardware store. She said, "I was reading Romans 12:10 this morning and smiled and thought, 'Well, the Conner's certainly won that round.'" I quickly looked it up, "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves." I flipped the switch from white lights to multi-colored and smiled.  Christmas lights and marital harmony, sometimes they look the same.

Party ready...

I get ideas in my head about little things I want to accomplish. Having a deadline such as an upcoming holiday is a bonus, because it encourages me to get things done and not just sit on my plans.Sometimes I get a little help...Chris happily tromped through some brush to get me winter berries and greens.

These found their way into the window box on the chicken coop, and here...

Today was rainy and cold, taking away my incentive to clean the chicken and duck houses. Instead I did a few things to get ready for Thanksgiving. I made up a batch of dough to make pie crusts. It will wait in the coldest part of the refrigerator until I bake on Wednesday.  I made my famous rum cake, because it actually improves if it sits a few days.

Bright cranberries were cooked with some orange zest, sugar and water, to make a tasty sauce to accompany the turkey.

I polished the bright work on the wood stove, and cleaned soot off the glass. I should do this more often, but it's not a fun task. It is a pleasure to see the flames more clearly when the glass is freshly cleaned, and the light reflects nicely off the brass. I really should make this a monthly event. Flirt doesn't care either way, she just likes to be warm.

Evans stopped in and sat a while, sharpening the knives I will use to prepare the upcoming feast. That was a special kindness.

I put a final coat of appliance paint on the top of our peeling freezer. It doesn't look great, but it does look better. I have a few other small chores to accomplish in the next three days, but mostly I am ready for the house to be filled with the happy chatter that accompanies a good party.

The little solar lights on the Donkey dorm look cheery, as does the illuminated arbor. I love the window candles glowing during these long, dark, nights.

Even the Silkies get in on the action, with a wee light in the window of their coop, shining out bravely over the pine in the window box. 

Let the winter holidays begin. We are ready.