Happy New Year! For some of us, it’s a reason to purchase a new calendar. For others, it’s a renewal, regeneration, rebirth- a time for a new start. For others, it’s not much of anything…
We tried to sing, but every time we reached the chorus, we got teary and couldn’t finish… So, we did the next best thing…
Our small token gift to you….
Well,
The wreath that Maggie made
Here it is, the 28th already. The rush of the Yule/Christmas holidays starts with Thanksgiving, and, we slide down the hill of celebration til now. We’ve almost reached the bottom of the hill, when January takes over, and we really appreciate the carol, ” In the Bleak Midwinter”, but, for now, we are still basking in the glow of the holiday.
Bill & Mollie, our gracious and good friends
We had, and are still enjoying the holiday. The only downside is that Maggie works most of the two weeks before Christmas, so, she’s pretty worn to a frazzle by Christmas day. Unfortunately, a cold managed to hold her in it’s grasp, but not too tightly to enjoy the day. We do celebrate in our low key way. Christmas eve, our friends Mollie and Bill are gracious enough to host a small get together at their lovely home. Set against a backdrop of thick woods, and quiet, we had dinner, and an evening of sharing with great friends. Good friends are the most special gift one can have.
Surrounded by Spirits...
We opened our 'poppers'
Christmas day, we rose a little later, than usual, had breakfast, and, with global warming giving us the gift of a warmer day, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Nice, for the Wisconsin/Illinois area. Opened presents, made a lovely dinner, napped, and, Maggie managed to get one last bike ride, short it may be, in for the day. She’s never rode on Christmas before. One more thing to scratch off the list…
The glow of the Season
Back to work, the next day, to receive all the people with returns, is not the best way to spend Boxing day, but, whatcha gonna do? Part of the job… She has worked this week, but we will hopefully have the rest of the week off. Ikea, Algonquin, and other adventures await… Part of the decompression/recharging of the week. We will ring in the new calendar, in a very low key way, and wake to the new year…
They were hung by the fire, with care...
Then, next week, the glow of the Season dims, with the boxing up of the decorations, ornaments, lights, trees, and sentiment of this holiday. Packed away but not forgotten. It is our 19th Christmas together, and, they are all boxed up, for remembering, whenever we desire to …
Winterberry
Trying the Android mobile WordPress app. Hope it works…
Sometimes, people with education, or degrees, do not have the social skills squirrels were born with. I’m not really sure why having the stamp of approval from a collegiate institution makes one authorized to be too self aware of themselves. “Get a self absorbed person to talk about themselves, and you have something”… If one decides to have ‘an art group’, and, ask someone who has a day job if they can come, don’t be so judgmental, if they have to work… It makes you look small and petty…
I’m sorry, I’m tired, and, do not like seeing good people made to feel small and not as worthy as other people…
Haven’t posted anything of note since the holidays. This is usually the doldrum time of year for us. Having survived the slippery slope from Halloween to New Years day, there is a bit of time to recover, and acclimate to the dreary part of winter. We veggitate, watch movies, sleep, and just seem to move a little more slowly than the rest of the year.
But that changes now. It’s February, and, for one thing, it’s going to be Valentines’ Day soon. Maggie’s work schedule will crank up to Warp 6 here in a few days. All the hubbub of men rushing in for flowers at the last minute, will take up a large portion of her week. That… is another story in itself… We have longer days starting now, so that helps the attitude. We have jams of various sorts, no, not fruit on toast, to look forward to. Starting to allow ourselves to think of adventures of summer.
We have hopes and wishes and desires, for the coming year. Don’t we all? We are hoping for a better year for all of us. We are wishing that things are less stressful, cuz we all have too much of it lately. We desire to have ‘better’ for all us… I think we’re all about ‘due’ for it…
So, here’s to longer days, brighter futures, and happier times…
While listening to the irishfireside podcast, I heard the author interviewed. What a great blog. Thought you may enjoy it!
I married an irish farmer…
Hi
So, last Saturday was the monthly bluegrass jam in Poplar Grove. Not a bad day, all in all. We’ve all played better, and worse. Just an even kinda day. As we got there, and found a table to have lunch at, and to put our stuff, I saw a couple behind us. They were in the process of ordering off the menu. So, always being the chatty type, I offered some choices to eat. We talked for a second, then each on to their day in The Grove. Us playing, them, hopefully, enjoying. We played an hour or so later, then had lunch, and listened to the music too. We left around 4, and the couple were still there. End of the day at the jam for us.
Flash to the grocery store the next morning… That would be Sunday… I am picking up some items as Maggie is off somewhere else, getting the things on her part of the list. A couple comes up to me, and asks if I was at the jam yesterday. Yup, it was the couple behind us, the day before. This time we had a chance to talk for a minute. Turns out, that they had never been to the jam before, and absolutely loved it. The woman was originally from the middle of Ireland, and, the jam totally reminded her of home. Going to the pubs for music and socializing is a big part of Irish life, and she told me that it really was such a touch of home that she had to tell me. Her brother lives in the USA now too, in the area, and she was going to tell him about it, so he can enjoy the live music. We talked for a couple minutes, about Ireland, live music, and some of this & that.
So… you never know how what you do affects people. You may think that something doesn’t have repercussions, good or bad, but it does. Hopefully, like this, it’s for the good. I’m glad she loved the music, and, that she will come back to the jam.
Hi
Maggie was going through recipes today and found some recipe cards from the farm we toured last year in Ireland. Rathbaun Farms, over two hundred years old, and still in operation by the family. It’s a tiny farm by our standards, but it was one of the most interesting, authentic sites on our visit.
We watched a sheep dog ‘rangle’ the sheep. Then, one of them got a shear haircut. After the tour of the farm, we were led into the dining room and served the best brown bread and scones we have ever had. We still think of it often. One of those things you will always remember.
Anyway, the 1st anniversary of our trip is coming up and we are thinking back fondly and longingly to Ireland. So, I wanted to share it… Check out the site, Rathbaun farm, cuz there are recipes of the scones, brownbread, Guinness Fruitcake there.
A little piece o’ Ireland…..
See ya…
Hello there,
if you know us, you know that our best friends have autistic twin boys, Ethan and Dylan. So, autism is a cause that is obviously close to our hearts. Well, it must be close to the Lindt Chocolate people too. They are donating a percentage of the price of a Lindt Gold bunny to Autism Speaks, a support/research group. Lindt is sponsoring the Walk for Autism too. Click the links to find out more….
So, if you have a few extra bucks, need chocolate, need candy for Easter, or, all of the previous, then, please, purchase a Gold bunny or two, or, three, or… It’s great chocolate, and, you’ll be helping in the battle against one of the most insidious diseases we are effected with…
Also, you can go to the Autism Society of America for more information from them too.
Thanks
Hi
boy, the title makes it sound more serious than it was. The knee surgery went fine. Got the torn stuff outta there, and now it’s time to stretch, heal, and get ready for NYC…
The hospital staff was great. They even pulled an April fools joke on me in prep. It was my right knee that needed the surgery, but, the woman that came in to prep my leg, i.e. shave and disinfect, pulled out the LEFT knee and started to work on that one. “Um, I’m having work done on my RIGHT knee”, I said. “April fools!”, she said… Ha….
It only took an hour for the surgery, then two hours in recovery, then an hour in the room to get dressed and wheeled down to the car… Home, and then food for the first time in 22 hours. That was nice. Maggie was a great nurse. She made sure that everything went well, for her and me… Thursday, we laid low, resting and recuperating from the adventure. I had this ice thing on my knee for three days. A bladder attached to a cooler filled w/ ice and water, with tubes that connected to the knee bladder, to ice my leg. Works great…
Today, we went on our first adventure out into the world. Starbucks, Target, Kohls, and the nature shop for birdseed. That was enough today for my knee. Home now and rest it for a while, then, who knows…? I may go back to work on Monday, depends on how good I feel, swelling wise… We’ll see. Have to get out and about….
Thanks for listening and I will update later in the week…
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