Merry Christmas Day!

Park Place RV Park

With so many well wishes out there and wonderful Christmas greetings, I guess I got distracted with writing my daily post on Sunday, Dec. 25th. It was an awesome day from beginning to end. ♥

From east 

to west, a beautiful
Christmas Day was afoot.

Inside, our little tree is surrounded by goodies

Gibbs and I went for a walk and because Bill wasn’t going flying this morning, I stayed home to be with the family. Gibbs was anxious to see what Santa brought him so we let him open his stocking first. 😊 

Gibbs just wanted to see what was in this stocking

I had no doubt that his new green giraffe, whom Bill named Dino, would be lucky to last the day before his stuffing was strewn all over the Suite.

Dino already has a couple of holes chewed in him
I'll be operating tomorrow

We emptied our stockings and opened our few gifts next to a few surprises. I was very anxious to get my new books and new earbuds unwrapped. I hadn’t seen them since they arrived by UPS when ‘Santa’ tucked them away for me. 

Yay! movies, books, socks,
an Ammo box for Bill's plane batteries

Starting at 8:30, we called each of our children and chatted with our buddies back home as well as Marilynne. The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur but for the late morning hours, it was one filled with clock watching.

A hummingbird feeder for me
I forgot mine at home and there is one ruby-throated hummer
we've seen searching here

I'm anxious to try these on my walks
listening to podcasts
No more ear phones with wires

Usually, we don’t pay much attention to the time, neither of us wear watches when we’re down here. Today, being responsible for 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, I wanted to make sure I started cooking the two batches in Madame IP on time but not too soon. We’d eaten cereal later so skipped lunch with the meal set for 3 pm. We’d peeled and cut the spuds together around 10 so at 1:30, I started.

I'll have to explain this
Gibbs received a Bully stick in his stocking
(dog owners should know what these are)
He tried every place imaginable to hide it
Before the day was over, he ended up eating it all 
but that didn't stop him searching all those place!

Down to the wire, one batch in Johnny’s crock pot (which I borrowed) was ready at 2:45 so Bill took it over to the clubhouse and plugged it in on a ‘warm’ setting. I nipped back home around 10 after 3 to bring the second  batch, in Madame IP, back over. There were lots of potatoes and everything else to fill us all up. It was a turnout of about 35 in attendance. 😊

Lots of  food, lots of choices

The pool table, topped with the table tennis board, was adorned from end to end with pots, plates and dishes. Rick and Randy had set up electrical power which was a great idea. There were mashed and scalloped potatoes, green been and sweet potato casseroles, fruit salads, broccoli salad, devilled eggs, stuffing, carrots, peas, brown beans, rolls, turkey, ham and of course, gravy. Wow! Oh, there was also lasagna for those who like pasta with their meal.

Left around the table
Susan, John's chair, my chair, Bill, Robert, Adele

Desserts were also plentiful with pies, squares, cheesecake, cookies and more fruit salad. Yum. Bill and I shared some of a bottle of red wine which was quite nice. We sat with Susan, John (hosts) and Adele and Robert at the ‘Round Table’ and enjoyed the meal and company. 

Now that's a plateful, yet surprisingly, I wasn't stuffed

And saved room for dessert

There were gifts dispersed in order of the table numbers and John won the plentiful basket from those who participated in a donation draw. It would have been a great basket to bring home!

Bill's gift bag had a white tee shirt, no picture

Mine had a Pioneer Woman
cereal bowl
Shirley will appreciate this one! ♥

John was very surprised to win the basket
Even a $30 certificate to lunch at the Yacht Club!

Back home, Bill and I set up for a picture next to our tree. I think it turned out pretty good considering the small space we have next to our tree. 😊 ♥ We watched movies together and at 10 crawled up to bed. Actually, I wasn’t over full and ended up making popcorn around 7:30, which we shared. It was a great celebration, feeling similar to our large family gatherings back home!

From our house to yours!
Merry Christmas!
Good day!

Thank you for stopping around and I can tell from your blogs and Facebook posts that you all had a wonderful Christmas as well. ♥

Merry White Christmas!

Paisley, On

So, we got it. The white Christmas. For those of you who prayed and wished and hoped for it, you must be pleased! We woke up on Friday, Dec. 25th at 6:30 and there was at least a couple of inches covering everything outside. The day totally got away from me so I’ll touch briefly (ha ha, briefly? Me?) on what we did today.

Our stockings were filled so it was fun opening them together
I so miss seeing my kids and grandkids do this
They were special times

Morning coffee and tea. We discussed with Wes and Susan the plan for dinner time, opened our gifts upstairs, exchanged gifts downstairs with them and started making our phone calls. They weren’t all video calls today but we managed to speak (or see) all of our children. It’s the next best thing to seeing them all in person but oh how we miss those hugs and good times together.

Quite a haul
My favourite item is the Metal bird and the sneaky way my
hubby got it for me - It has a spike at one end that sticks into a tree trunk
I love it!!

Around 1, I put the stuffed turkey breast in the oven and made up my brown sugar sauce for Christmas pudding. Then, I bundled up and went for a 40-minute walk for over 2 miles (4.5 km). I took my ski poles and walked down along the river through the campground. The snow was deep by now, a lot had fallen today already and when I returned, I’m sure I was trudging through close to 6”.

Soon, it will be time to say goodbye to our little corner of Christmas

This was what we woke up to

I cleaned half of Ptooties off just so tomorrow I can see how much more fell since 2 o’clock. Inside, after my tea, I worked at the rest of our meal. I made and cooked green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed the Christmas cake and reheated the sauce. Wes and Susan were bustling in their kitchen while Bill sliced the turkey breast in ours. By 4:45 everything was ready and served up in their fancy dining room.

These few pictures look like black and whites but they aren't

No splashes of colour here but somehow, it is still pretty

I enjoyed my Christmas walk
It was peaceful, very quiet, little traffic around and yet
not a soul to say Merry Christmas to

I debated finding a clear patch of snow to make
a snow angel but I wasn't dressed for it

We tried for a Christmas picture
The slippers (mine especially) spoil the shot

We sat down and that worked out better

It was a feast fit for any kings or queens! Delicious! I actually managed not to eat too much and Wes kept our glasses topped up with a combination of Concord grape wine blended with gingerale. What a tasty drink. Oh, and shooters of Bailey’s Irish Cream, 'to settle our tummies'. 😉 Nothing too heavy. Bill and I enjoyed listening to some of their life stories and before we knew it 3 hours had passed easily. We each loaded the dishwashers up and Bill washed the pots and pans we used in the sink.

A beautiful table set for 4

My plate
Roast beef, parsnips, carrots, turkey and homemade cranberry sauce
green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy

And Christmas pudding and sauce

some liquid refreshments

I was pleased with the casserole, good thing since there is a lot left

Upstairs, we had one more phone call to make so called Marilynne, Bill’s stepmom. She had been celebrating Christmas Day with her daughter earlier and just recently returned home. It was nice to hear that she loved the unique handmade scarf we’d picked up for her at the Grist Mill. 

Ptooties covered

Black Beauty looking dapper in a coat of white

There was a movie on in the other room so Bill went in to watch it at 8 pm and I worked on my blog, downloaded pictures and slipped into my new jammies. Santa brought them for me………..a couple of weeks ago but I kept them new until this morning. 😊

I brushed half of the snow off - as a test

There was a lot of snow fell in a short period of time and by 8:30
as I write this, it is still coming down heavy

This was a wonderful day. We didn’t have to drive anywhere. There was a bit of bustle to prepare our contribution to supper, a nice walk in this winter wonderland and shared some good food and times with our new friends. Merry Christmas, rather than a movie tonight, I think I'll do some reading! Did I tell you that I finished my crocheting? 

Last year's Christmas morning stocking opening
Sitting in our new chairs

Merry Christmas and good night!

Thank you for your visit!

And So This Is Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

December 25^th falls on a Tuesday this year. I know if Bill and I were still working at our former jobs with the school board, we would have been off on holiday yesterday, today and tomorrow. Chances are, we would have taken Thursday and Friday off as well to make it a nice long 11 days off. I woke up this morning thinking, ‘so this is Christmas day’. I smiled.

Christmas morning in the neighbourhood

It was 5:30, then 6:20 and as we lie there awake with our child sleeping between us, totally unaware of the special day, we heard our phones ping downstairs. A chirp for me and a musical chime for Bill. We figured someone forgot the time change but heck, it is Christmas and we are always anxious to see who is getting in touch with us. It was my sister-in-law, Liz wishing up a very Merry Christmas. She was first and if there were gold stars for that, she would get it. 😊

Clemson in his new coat

 We got up, dressed and I sat at my laptop to finish yesterday’s post. I was lazy last night, just needing to add pictures, and decided again to wait until morning. We had our coffee and tea and immediately got into making phone calls to the kids, siblings and parents. I missed Mom, I think the phone ringing confuses her so I may try later, going through the office instead. Before 12 noon, we’d reached everyone and heard the excitement in at least two little voices.

A nourishing breakfast early this morning

Olivia and Nathan were all chatter when we asked about Santa coming and it was wonderful to hear those voices. We debated on video chats but that is harder to get everyone together so voices through the phone lines were almost as special for us. Okay, the rest of our day could now begin with a full heart. We oohed and aahed over our own gifts “How ever did Santa Claus know?” even though they weren’t wrapped this morning.

Pretty little stones for a little jar

The calls took place instead of my walk this morning but I didn’t feel slighted in the least. I started cooking toasted omelette sandwiches for a change, it had been a while since we had them. While eating, our buddies tap tapped on our door with a Christmas wish and card. We invited them in for a coffee and we sat for a nice half hour or so before they moved on to deliver the rest of their cards. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, having such close friends so close to us this winter, this Christmas.

Bill and I each had our showers after doing up the dishes. I slipped our little elf’s coat on and took him for a nice walk over to the desert but even though I could have let him off the leash, I kept it on him. I let him go where he wanted and as fast or slow as he wanted. He had so much territory to sniff and explore that I felt it was his gift from me today. I found stones, some smooth ones for painting and other pretty little ones for my jar. There are so many here to choose from.

He enjoyed his walk with Mom out in the
open desert

Back home, we just relaxed until 12:30 when I paid some attention to what I was going to wear today up to dinner. At home, I would dress up. It’s what I love to do, on special occasions and sometimes on any occasion. What better time than Christmas to slip into something pretty and get a bit ‘dolled’ up? The weather today is quite warm again, at 20C/68F but the winds are playing havoc with our Richards sign and are registering around 25 mph at times. Hold on to your hat!

Bill had a wee cat nap and then got up and dressed as well for our early 2 pm dinner. Boy, we clean up real nice! Pat came over to show me her outfit and she looked terrific! Then when we picked them up in Black Beauty to drive up, out of the wind, I noticed her and Rob matched perfectly. Very sharp looking couple! We gathered at a table of 8 and added 2 chairs plus 2 place settings for our group of 10.

After the blessing was said, tables were randomly chosen by Joe to line up for food and we were the 3^rd table called. What a meal! Ham, turkey, dressing, mashed white potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, home made cranberries and rolls – OH MY! I skipped the roll but everything else went on my plate. Yes, a full meal and I cleaned up the whole thing! Gordon came around with a cart offering pumpkin or apple pie for dessert. Yes please, apple for us!

We took our own bottle of wine and shared a
couple of glasses together

We were all stuffed and very grateful. Bill walked up to the front to give thanks to the cooks and staff for preparing such a wonderful meal. He does that kind of thing very well and has the voice to reach the back of the room. A lot of what Joe said and part of the blessing was so soft, I didn’t catch it all at our table. My suggestion would be that they give announcements from the middle of the room…….or call on Bill. 😊

I really didn't need it but it was Christmas

I had taken my camera and tripod so set it up to take a picture of us at the table. Bill suggested a portrait photo of us in front of the tree and the rest followed suit. We couldn’t talk Jean and Skip into posing but we won’t hold that against them. I figure that it ‘is’ Christmas and how often do we get the chance to dress up and have a picture taken.

That's Bill up there thanking the staff for the wonderful dinner

What a great group of friends sharing dinner
Skip, Jean, Pat, Patsy, Bill, Rob, George, Suzie, Loree, Ron

Bill drove back and then because we’ve travelled thus far this winter and are still friends, ha ha, I wanted a foursome picture. The rest of the day was quiet, in the Suite, listening to carols, reading and snoozing.  I was hoping the wind died down some before dark so I could take a walk and/or bike ride. But that didn’t happen. We sat together and had a cup of tea and a couple of Nutter Butter cookies later on while watching the movie ‘Hidden Figures’. What a great show!

Bill and I

Rob and Pat

George and Suzie

Loree and Ron

At 9:30, that was it for me and I went to bed with Clemson. Slipping his Christmas coat off, he curled up beside me for warmth. This was a wonderful Christmas Day, chatting with our close family back home and hanging out with our good friends here in the park.

And a nice picture of the 5 of buddies and travel mates

Merry Christmas! I hope you had a fabulous day as well. Thank you for stopping by!