I’m really missing the cold and snow we normally have in December each year. This season we’ve had almost no snow and a tremendous amount of rain. The last three years we’ve had flooding in December and little to no snowpack. That’s becoming more the norm now for our area.
I’m not saying that the lights above aren’t great without snow, but the lighting effect is much better with snow. The photo below is from several years ago. See what a difference the snow makes!
We’ve attended a couple of get togethers for the holidays, but really we are just taking it easy and trying not to stress ourselves out. All of you probably remember how much I decorate for the holidays. It’s a production to say the least. This year we decorated outside, but didn’t do anything inside, a much needed reprieve, and considering the very busy year we are about to have, justified. If you want to visit some of our holiday decor memories you can see them here and here.
I was able to get my holiday cards out on time this year. We are starting to receive some back, which is quite funny given how behind our postal delivery is right now. They are down several people in our USPS office, so to say they are overwhelmed is a severe understatement. My favorite thing about getting the cards is that many of our friends create art for their cards or personalize them in some way. Others write a yearly update which keeps you in the know in case you haven’t seen much of each other.
Quin & Bram are tolerating the cool weather well. They just cuddle all the time, spending 70% of their lives under blankets right now. Above, Quin is napping and Bram is worshiping the fire god that is the downstairs pellet stove.
Stan has been on a baking kick for the last half of the year. He just made a scrumptious batch of snickerdoodles! The only thing he says he needs to do next time to make them better is to let the dough chill a little longer before rolling them. He also just made another batch of multi-grain and seed bread for me. It’s delicious! He’s been working on improving the rise and making the loaf have more moisture after baking. He thinks he has the right amount of soaking time for the seeds and that effects both of those things. I imagine that in retirement this is one of the things he will do often. I already think he makes the best multi grain pizza dough. It’s a modified version of Naydia Hussain’s recipe. I don’t even like restaurant pizza anymore. He’s spoiled me!
I’m focused mainly on museum work right now. Mostly scanning, identifying, researching, and trying to get as many things as a can into the online Museum of Farmington NH History as a can. I’m about to create a post about that, so I won’t go on about it right now.
As the holiday season winds down I hope you are all feeling as safe and inspired and loved. May your all have a wonderful new year in 2024!
