We’ve had very nice snow on the ground for three weeks…AND it has stayed below freezing. I snowshoe around the woods 2 or 3 times a day. Auggie and Bear come along – Bear ventures off to see who else has walked through the woods. Auggie stays mostly with me on my snowshoe path.

And sometimes we just enjoy Beardog point: Bear, Auggie, me and the chairs.

It is the perfect amount and the perfect temperature for enjoying the snow.

I spent a good part of the holiday weeks away from the computer. I had plans to do this ‘n that and work a bit, but mostly I enjoyed the snow, my new snowshoes, some new recipes and a lot of just resting.

It was wonderful.

Auggie did a lot of resting also. I guess my reading lamp was too bright :) …

And he enjoyed the snowshoe paths. Bear is stage right putting his nose into every single deer track.

Time-out for a chore and an RV maintenance note. I let Wild Thing go too long between starts in the cold and had to jump her. She’s all charged up now – we’ll go for a run sometime when it warms up a bit. It has not been super-cold (below zero), but it has been below 20 the last week and supposed to stay that way. Perfect temp for keeping the snow nice!

I saw Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Tarte Soleil and made my own miniature version with my whole wheat brioche.

And yesterday, for Sunday: the last day before back to work … miniature apple cinnamon rolls.

On with 2016 – Happy New Year to all!

On Christmas Eve Day, Auggie kept an eye out for Santa and the reindeer…

Despite his vigilance, there was no sighting.

Meanwhile, I made a Meyer Lemon Danish for my Christmas breakfast.

We had a wonderful snowfall on Monday night. Tuesday, I overdid the snow clearing and snow shoeing and paid for it! I spent a good part of Christmas Eve Day recuperating.

Neighbors Mel and Jesse invited me to stay at their home if I needed extra care – so thoughtful, but I stayed at my own home snugged up with Bear and Auggie watching a PBS mystery series. Neighbors Mike and Nancy checked on me and brought a beautiful Christmas bouquet AND as it had snowed another 6 inches, Mike said he would clear my drive with the backhoe. I have great neighbors!

Christmas morning, I felt 100% and enjoyed my Danish with the gift bouquet on the table.

After a lazy morning, we all headed out – me on snowshoes, although I took it VERY easy :) !!

My best attempt at a Christmas family photo was pretty much a fail all around … neither Bear nor Auggie wanted to participate and I didn’t get my smile on in time for the timed photo. Maybe next year!

But, we enjoyed the snow and being outside.

The chairs might be a little grumpy.

I reminded them that it is not as bad as last year!

Our Christmas.

Photo Credit: Judy Cockrell

A star, a star, dancing in the night…
… He will bring us Goodness and Light!

A Blessed and Merry Christmas to all from Bear, Auggie and Me!

Do you hear what I hear?

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
Do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know
In your palace wall, mighty king,
Do you know what I know
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

Do you Hear What I Hear credit/copyright: Songwriters: BERNARD, FELIX / SMITH, RICHARD B.
© Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION
For non-commercial use only.

The week is nearly over.

This, that and the other: I was not quite 100%, the Windows 10 update updated, some other electronic stuff and here we are almost Friday.

I’m feeling better, the Win 10 update went fine, but there are always minor adjustments to be made after – this was the big update vs patches.

The week continued gray and cold and gloomy until this morning…

A bit of sun!