Wintertime, Christmas, and Year's End

Here it is Christmas Eve already! So what happened to all the "run up posts to Christmas" we were going to write? They went by the wayside, very nearly like the rest of our Christmas preparations this year!! For some reason, this month of December zoomed right out from under us!

Well, here are a few photos from past wintry days we've had, to bring that Christmas feeling to the fore. One photo is of Moon, another is of the three horses in the cold weather as they waited for me to bring them their hay; and another photo is of Sean sitting on his trampoline while I carted hay up to the horses. When it's icy, that is a job I do myself, or with Mick. It's too risky for Sean so he gets to hang out on his trampoline and enjoy the sunshine, if there is some, while I cart the hay.

And another photo I took this week was of the ice on Sean's window: it seemed to mirror the trees and landscape in the background.

I am still playing with uploading photos so I hope they all appear in this post!

Merry Christmas to all you readers! May the New Year bring every joy imaginable, and many more too!
Nancy

Sean, Sun and Snow

We've had November and early December snow this year. Even so, Sean has been insistent about going outdoors. This is a great turn of events. In earlier years, Sean was not one to go out in the cold or wind. In fact, in years past when we had to go to the store in snowy and windy weather, Sean would often refuse to get out of the car once he was in.

Out here where the wind is nearly a constant companion no matter the season, it says a lot about Sean that he is now more willing to experience weather. And it says a lot about his care-giver, Doc Davis, who takes Sean out to walk while they work on their sign language skills. And last but not least, it says a lot about Mick, who has been taking Sean on walks all summer and autumn.

On the day I took this photo, it wasn't windy. The snow storm had come and gone and the day was crisp and clear. I love winter days like this too!

Nancy

Advent - 2

Yesterday we had a goodly snowfall and it was a cold, wintry day.

I am not sure if I have made mention of it before but Nancy is one ferociously good baker. She makes the best cookies around. This time of year Nancy is always baking, she sells cookies, she takes cookies to the local stores for the staff in short she is a "lean, mean, baking machine"!

One of her great specialties is shortbread. She experimented for a long time with making them and, although I admit to being biased, I think she makes, by far, the best shortbread on the face if the earth. And I am not kidding.

She also makes cookies that contain a lot of spices - like Danish "Brunkager". Brunkager are thin, hard cookies with a spicy dough. If you have ever been in Northern Europe for this time of year you have probably noticed that gingery, spicy smell that just wafts around? Well that's what it smells like in our house.

This morning it was 10 degrees outside ( about -12 C for any Europeans..) at 5:30 am when I was taking the dogs out for their morning walk. It was a crisp, beautiful morning and the dogs were gratifyingly fast about their 'business' so I did not freeze my derriere off! When we came back into the house, I unleashed the hounds in the laundry room, took off my boots and opened the door into the rest of the house and I was hit by this heavenly odour of spicy baking. No, Nancy was not cooking - she was in bed. But the whole house smelled of Christmas cookies.

wow. It's no wonder i love this time of year.

Advent - 1

Advent.

I am not a religious person but the Christmas period, for us, is a very special time. My own view of Christmas is coloured, of course, by growing up in England. From reading “ A Christmas Carol’, going to the Pantomime, seeing friends and relatives, Christmas trees, decorations carols, snow, holly, ivy, Christmas Pud, Santa – just everything. Short days, long nights, overcast, I love everything about this time of year.

On Saturday Sean and I went out for a longish walk – it was snowing lightly, it was overcast and it was cold. Then Nancy joined us and all three of us walked around Horseshoe Drive in the cold and the snow. It *felt* like the run up to Christmas! Just the other week Sean got to walk with Holly – now he was walking in the snow. It was quiet, just the falling snow and us.

After we were done with the walk we watered the horses and fed them, it was just great.

Over this weekend Nancy and I were listing out all the things we need to get done to get ready for Christmas. Checking the number of guests, deciding who gets to bring prosciutto, who gets to bring raclette cheese, who is going to bring mozzarella, the roast beef, pickled onions oh, the list is endless.

Expect a lot of posts on the blog in the run up to Christmas…

Ho ho ho

Mick, Nancy, Sean, 3 horses 2 dogs and 2 cats

In the time before Christmas

In England one of the sure signs of the coming of Christmas is the arrival of Holly in the home.

This year we were incredibly lucky to get a visit from our very close friend from Tucson - Holly Carlson. Holly and her husband Carl are two wonderful people who are the greatest friends. Holly took some time to come up and visit a couple of weeks ago so the Wenlocks were able to indulge in some serious "Holly hogging".

As I have written before on this blog and indeed, elsewhere, Sean is very picky when it comes to liking people. But Holly just stole his heart. As you can see from this picture that Nancy took when the three of them walked around Horseshoe Drive, Sean really likes Holly.

No big surprise of course - this lady has the "gift". Holly is one of those people who Sean just trusts. Holly is a nurse and Nancy and I are sure that her patients would probably say the same sort of thing about her. There are very few people who just make the grade with Sean straight off. Holly did.

And Sean got a great back rub from Holly...




Holly's visit was just fantastic.