Hi, everyone!
So far this season, we’ve had days with a little bit of snow, then it warms up and all the snow melts! The first night Uncle Bill’s lights lit on the apple trees, there was no snow at all! This week we’re not supposed to get above freezing for four or five days, so maybe we’ll get some snow that stays. But next week is supposed to be snow-melting weather again! Who knows if we’ll have a white Christmas!
There wasn’t any snow when we went to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree, either! I was happy we were going to get one that was already cut, because it was warm enough to be muddy! The tree farm lady recognized me from past years and gave me a big hug! This year, somebody was making balloon animals in the shed. I helped Grandpa pick out a tree that was the right variety and height.
I always like to watch our tree go through the baler. Once the branches are held in by the twine, it’s easy to get the tree into our car without breaking any twigs off!
We celebrated getting our Christmas tree by making a batch of cinnamon ice cream! I watched the ice cream maker to know when the ice cream was churned and ready to go in the freezer! Once that was done, Grandma cleared that same counter space to decorate the wreath for the front door. Most years, somebody at church is selling wreaths as a fund raiser. This year, with no in-person church, that didn’t happen! Lucky for us the tree farm was selling undecorated wreaths, too! Grandma uses the same decorations for the wreath every year!
That night, we got another coating of snow that lasted about a day. I think Uncle Bill’s lights are especially pretty in the snow!
The recipe for ice cream calls for most of a carton of heavy cream, but there’s always some left over. That gives Grandma an excuse to make another coffee cheesecake, because the chocolate ganache topping takes a half cup of heavy cream. Grandma counts on me to do the marbling of the batter, and I helped put the topping on, too! We used to put chocolate covered espresso beans all around the top, but now we alternate with chocolate dusted almonds. That way, James and Thomas can have pieces with no coffee bean caffeine!
We had another snowy day, then more melting. When we had a 50 degree F. day, Grandpa put up the snow gauge on the back deck. Then we went out to the bay and put up the deer fencing around the rhododendron. Grandpa said it was nice to be able to do that without wearing gloves! Now all the flower buds on the rhododendron are protected, except for three that are sticking out through the top of the cage!
I’ve been keeping up with my reverse Advent calendar. Every day I look at the list and put the requested item in my Advent box. Last Sunday, Grandma said it was time to put up the Christmas tree! I helped get out all the boxes of decorations. The tree had been stored in a pail of water in the garage. Grandpa spread out a tarp to lay it down and attach the clamp part of the tree stand.
Once the tree is inside, I always help get the baling twine off. It’s fun to see the branches open out again! Grandma helped Grandpa get all the lights on the tree on Sunday afternoon, but she didn’t get done putting the ornaments on the tree. This year’s tree is a little smaller than some we’ve had, so figuring out where to put what ornament is taking some time!
Yesterday, Grandma put more ornaments on the tree, but we also took time to make the gingerbread house parts! Aunt Kara had a mold with markings for each part of a gingerbread house, so that’s what we used this year. I made sure the pieces were completely cool before we packed them up for James and Thomas! After that, we did more tree decorating. I made sure my favorite moose ornament was on the tree!
Today, Grandma and I finished decorating the tree. The sanctuary at church wasn’t decorated for Christmas because of the pandemic, so we put the special remembering birds on our tree, instead! We won’t be doing any in-person holiday entertaining this year because of the pandemic, but I’m happy to have all the decorations for us to enjoy!
Love,
Lion-san
Agreed, Lion-San, the decorations help. We have our tree and mantle decorated and a few lights out front for the Christ child and Santa. Though we did not respond to your last posting, we were very impressed with the engineering in the boat house.
I know you will enjoy the holiday. We will miss seeing you. (Unless you are in the driveway on the 23rd. )🎄❤️🙂
LaVache and Grandma
It was fun having lights and all. Your tree looks pretty with all the lights and special ornaments. I’m glad we got to see it in person. We enjoy sitting in the living room looking at the lights with our Christmas music playing in the back ground.