Well, it looks like my holiday vacation will be a little longer than I anticipated.  I was due to go back to work today but have been running a low grade fever and have had a major sinus headache for the last few days.  After a visit to the doctor, I have a diagnosis of a sinus/throat/ear infection and a prescription for an antibiotic with instructions to rest and drink lots of fluids.  I thought I read somewhere (in a medical journal article) that sinus infections go away by themselves but the doctor said that's not the case.  "the pressure may go away but the bacteria stays and flares up".  Which is what happened to me.  I've been having sinus headaches since Thanksgiving but have taken some excedrin and ignored them.  They finally got to the point where my ear was hurting and I won't tell you what the doctor said about my throat.  Let's just say, it's an image I didn't want to carry around with me.  I called into work and was reminded of the three day rule and the paperwork that will have to be done.......there's a price for everything.  (oh, and the doctor said he was sorry I was sick but he was glad to see me.  He wanted to tell me he'd seen Avatar and wanted to know what I thought about it.  I promised to see it before I see him again for my regular visit in Feb. I love this guy!)

I have almost finished Under the Dome (Stephen King) and it's good.  It's such a spot on examination of group mentality and what a few not-so-good people can do to make life hell for everyone else. 

I finished the socks for Elanor on Christmas Eve.  She loved them and put them right on her feet so there's no photographic evidence.  Pk loved his socks and said he didn't realize they were for him although he watched me knit them.  I needed a simple satisfying pattern to work on that didn't tax my hurting brain so I pulled out my favorite sock pattern, Go with the Flow (from 25 Favorite Socks).  It's my go to pattern when I need something easy.  I used the Patonyle that Ceri sent me and let me say, I'm in love.  I looked for it online and it seems to be available only in Australia.  It is sooooo nice to work with.  It just feels good and the stitches look beautiful.  When the meds start working and my head hurts a little less, I'll work on Pk's sweater but for now, these are it.

I wanted you to see the difference one day of rain and temps in the 50's (11 C) make on 2 feet of snow. 

This is my front yard and street early on 12/19.  And this is what it looked like a week later,  Sunday (12/27) morning after 24 hours of rain.  It amazed us that all that snow could disappear so quickly.  We enjoyed it for the week it hung around.    It didn't take long to clean up the water that came in and Pk has been working in guyville the past two days.  It's cold out there, only 22 degrees (-5 C) but he's getting some things ready for his package that has to be mailed off this week.  Our forcast calls for more snow/rain on Thursday.  I hope it's not too bad because I'd like to go up and see Em and Jim over the weekend.  I shouldn't be contagious at that point. 

Pk and I have no plans for New Year's Eve.  When we were younger, we hosted parties but it's not one of my favorite holidays.  We'll probably find some movies and eat some snacks and just spend the evening together.

What could be better than an evening spent with your best guy?

I was in the school chorus for many years.  One of my very favorite songs was this one:

The Twelve Days After Christmas

(Frederick Silver)

(Not sung to the same tune as the other song!)

The first day after Christmas, my true love and I had a fight.
And so I chopped the pear tree down and burned it just for spite.
Then, with a single cartridge, I shot that blasted partridge,
That my true love, my true love gave to me.

The second day after Christmas, I pulled on the old rubber gloves
And very gently wrung the necks of both the turtle doves,
My true love, my true love, my true love gave to me.

The third day after Christmas, my mother caught the croup;
I had to use the three French hens to make some chicken soup.
The four calling birds were a big mistake,
For their language was obsence .
The five gold rings were completely fake
And they turned my fingers gree.

The sixth day after Christmas, the six laying geese wouldn't lay:
I gave the whole darn gaggle to the ASPCA.


On the seventh day what a mess I found:
All seven of the swimming swans had drowned,
My true love, my true love, my true love gave to me.

The eighth day after Christmas, before they could suspect,
I bundled up the . . .
Eight maids a-milking,
Nine pipers piping,
Ten ladies dancing,
'Leven lords a-leaping,
Twelve drummers drumming


(spoken) Well, actually I kept one of the drummers(girls)


Well, actually I kept one of the maids a-milking(boys)


And sent them back collect.
I wrote my true love, "We are through, love"
And I said in so many words,
"Furthermore your Christmas gifts were for the birds!"


I loved this song and it came to mind as I was sitting to write this post.  It's the first day after Christmas (the words, not the sentiment brought the song to mind!) and the tree is softly glowing and the house is quiet.

We had a lovely day yesterday.  I left the camera upstairs and promised Em it would be a "no picture" holiday since she hates it so much.  She was suitably grateful.  Em and Jim spent the night Christmas Eve after helping us to decorate our tree.  Much punch was consumed and sandwiches and keilbasa and cheese and cookies and eggnog and beer.  In between eating, the tree got dressed and the presents were put underneath and the stockings were filled.  Pk and I were in bed and asleep (!) by 11 pm.  That's how we know we're really old.

We got up early and Kate and Patrick came in around 7:30.  We had hot chocolate and babka and opened presents and exclamations of surprise and joy filled the room.  Em was pleased with her Easy Bake oven (something she has wanted FOREVER and since she mentioned it again at Thanksgiving, I gave in and got her one.  She's only 23 after all) and El was thrilled with her new mp3 player and Kate and Patrick are already planning what to cook in their new wok.

Pk got a bench grinder which he put together and can't wait for the rain to stop so he can go outside to "guyville" (otherwise known as the garage) and play.  There's an inch of rain on the floor out there today.  I got some much needed shirts and some roving and some really great books (a new Sookie Stackhouse and the new D. Gabaldon outlander book). 

We had omelets and then Jim and Em went home to cook dinner for Jim's parents and Pk, El and I had a quiet dinner here. 

All in all, pretty near a perfect day.  And then it rained last night and most of today.  All 2 feet of the snow is gone.  It's unbelievable how fast it melted with the warm day and the rain.  We've been running the pump in the crawlspace all day and the water still got into the rec room.  This usually doesn't happen unless we get inordinate amounts of rain.  But all than snow had to go somewhere.  And it chose the path of least resistance and ran right down into our house (and probably my neighbors, too).  Ah, well, at least there's no more ice on the roads......

Tomorrow we'll clean up the mess (it's not really that bad, we've set up the rec room so that if it floods, nothing gets ruined) and then spend the day playing with our Christmas toys.  I got some mohair roving and I look forward to spinning some of it.   And hopefully, guyville will be dry enough for Pk to get out there.   I started his sweater today and am making some cozies for woodworking tools.  He wants to send them to his swap partner as part of his Galoot-a-clause package.  I chose a chunky wool and I'll just make a tube and put a drawstring in it.  I'm not good at visualizing things like this so we'll see.  I'll take a photo when it's done.

I hope you all had some peace and joy and holiday cheer.

It's Christmas Eve and things are moving apace here.  I have about half a foot left on the sock (and can totally see myself finishing it).  Pk and I are running out to get our space heaters back from my  brother who borrowed them last week.  Our living room can be cold and I want to heat it tomorrow morning.

I have to make the annual torte (without which the holiday will not happen, I have this on good authority) and wait for Emily to come down.  Her housemates were not particularly enthusiastic about her holiday cookie endeavors so I invited her to make some with me.  We LOVE cookies and appreciate them muchly.

We'll make some gingerbread cookies and some spritz. 

I made the most delicious eggnog yesterday.  It's actually called 'coquino' and is a recipe from one of my bowling buddies years ago.  It has cream of coconut in it and it's sooooo good.  I also made the babkas so that's one less thing to do today. 

I plan to have a pleasant, easy going day. 

And in case I don't see you all,

Have a Happy Holiday!  May Santa bring you peace and joy.

With lots of love and affection,

Donna Lee

Good morning and Happy Christmas Adam!

What?  You don't have Christmas Adam?  You don't know what Christmas Adam is?  Well, if Adam supposedly came before Eve and tomorrow is Christmas Eve......

So, Happy Christmas Adam.

I am off for the next week.  I know the week will fly by but I'm determined to enjoy as much of it as I can.  It's a sunny day today which means it's blinding because of the snow.  The temps have been slightly above freezing so it's slowly melting.  We're due for some rain at the end of the week and since my house is at the bottom of a hill we're going to be inundated with rain and melting snow.  Good thing we have a sturdy pump.

Pk walked down and met me after work yesterday and we went to a place that is close to Heaven on Earth (at least to me), Lore's chocolates.  It's a small store in downtown Philadelphia where the chocolates are handmade.  We bought some chocolate covered cherries and some chocolate straws.  We restrained ourselves and only bought what we went in there for.  I know lots of folks don't like chocolate covered cherries because of the sweetness factor.  But, these are dark chocolate and the coating is not too sweet so it balances out the cherry inside.  We love them (probably more than is decent).


We got home and had some dinner and pretty much vegged all evening.  Today Pk is shopping and I am baking.  I have eggnog to make and the fixings for some wine punch.  As a wedding gift we received a beautiful punch bowl.  It's cranberry colored glass and looks like someone made a sphere and cut in half.  It's plain and smooth with a design blown into the glass.  We've used it a handful of times and I wanted to use it this year.  I'll make some wine punch (now that my children are grown this is a more practical idea than when they were little and it was only Pk and I) and serve it on Christmas Eve. 


So, things here are moving inexorably toward the holiday.  I don't feel overwhelmed, just excited.  Christmas seems to bring out the child in me, not that she is ever very far from the surface anyway!  I have half a sock to finish in the next two days.  I think I can do it but I pricked my finger while putting the name on my coworker's stocking and it hurts.  It slows me down somewhat and I am not a fast knitter on the best of days.  I remain hopeful.

On the way to work this morning, the train was stopped between stations and moving along at a foot at a time.  We'd stop and sit and then move a little and then stop some more.  We were wondering what was going on (and figured it was weather related) when the conductor came on and said, "Good morning folks.  We're in for an adventure here but I promise we'll get to Westmont (one of the next stops)  Just a little problem with the third rail ". (the train is electric)  Pk and I chuckled.  It's nice to hear someone with a sense of humor. This is the road behind my house.  Pretty, isn't it?    Like powdered sugar.

I don't know if I told you about the coworker who asked me to teach him to knit  the first week in Dec.  It was asked in passing and I said "sure" and kept walking.  When I had a chance, I stopped back and asked what he wanted to knit.  "A stocking for my daughter" (his little girl is 9 months old).  He wanted to make a stocking and put a poem in it or a note describing how it feels to be her father.  I thought this was very sweet but was pretty sure he could not knit one in less than three weeks.  I offered to come up with some craft he could do in the limited time available.  That weekend, I found a needle felted stocking kit and bought it.  Since Dec. 4th he has been in my office most mornings, learning a new craft (and me, too, since I'd never needle felted anything!) and talking about how excited he was to be doing this.  I promised him that if it wasn't done by the 21st that I would take it home and finish it so he would have it by Christmas.

This morning, I added some french knots (he just couldn't get the hang of them) and sewed it together.  He loved it but asked me to put his daughter's name on it.  I did that first thing after I got home tonight so it would be sure to be done.  And here it is.  His wife is skeptical and I can't wait till she sees it.  She bought a stocking because she didn't want something tacky and "glittery".    I think this is beautiful because every bit of it is filled with a father's love for his daughter.  He is so proud and so am I.  This may be my favorite holiday gift.  I got to help someone achieve something that he didn't think he could.  And how cool is that?

Pk and Elanor are out shopping.  I spent the evening wrapping the last of the gifts (phew).  Now all I have to do is some baking and I'm off the 23rd and 24th so I have plenty of time.  I have some knitting I'd like to get done and I'll be working on that, too.

And because I know you're dying to know what the cats have doing with all this snow, I'll show you.  Hobbes is closest to the front and Calvin is curled up against the laptop sucking up the heat.  They haven't moved much in the last few days.  Hobbes, who likes to sit out front and watch the world go by, is distraught.  The sidewalk is too cold for him to sit on and there isn't too far he can go.  He'd sink over his head.  He likes to sit in front of the door and have someone hold it open for him to sniff the outdoor air. Which we do not do because as my mother said very often, "we're not paying to heat the outdoors".    So, the next best thing is.....sleeping.    I'm trudging through the snow and slush to go to work and they're sleeping on the bed in a nest of blankets. Who rules this roost?

Yep.  They definitely do.

This is what the front of our house looked like at 9:30 am on Saturday.  We decided we'd go to the Farmer's Market early and get kielbasa for the holidays. 

Unfortunately, our car had other plans.  We had so much trouble getting any traction (I have 4 wheel drive and I think I need new tires) that we opted to pull right back into the driveway and stay there.  Better to be stuck at home than on a road somewhere!

So what did we do all day?  Besides watch the snow, I mean?  We baked cookies!   Peter Kevin wielded the pizelle iron and made a double batch of cookies.  Some he drizzled with chocolate.  They're delicious.  I have to apologize for the flash photos, it was snowing and rather gray.

I made a batch of rogaliki (butter horns) and I'm not happy with them.  They taste great but they spread way more than they should have.  This is probably because I used Plugra instead of our regular butter.  This was done with Pk's blessing (these are his favorite of all the cookies we make).  Plugra is butter with extra butter fat, the one the pastry chefs use.  We've been seeing it in the store and decided to try some.  While it made the cookies taste good, the added fat made them spread too much.

Next up were sugar cookies.  We had the usual range of mooses, cows, bells, trees, etc.  And snowflakes covered in 100's and 1000's.  Pk, El and I decorated them last night.  It's always an event when we do this. We start out all creative and artistic and then fizzle out at the end as we get tired of all the frosting.

Today, I'll make the dough for some spiral cookies El likes and she'll make spritz and if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll make a babka today and freeze it and then make another one later in the week.  One is never enough.

Pk is going to make omlettes for breakfast (he makes a mean omlette) and then start shoveling.  It'll probably take a while since we got 20 inches of snow.  It's beautiful but it'll be a pain to dig out.  And we have to go to work tomorrow.  I'm so glad it snowed over the weekend.  Tomorrow will be a mess and people will not be able to get in for their appts and I'll be hustling to reschedule them.  I only work Monday and Tuesday and then I'm off until next Tuesday so I'll have to do what I can.

Oh, here's our side gate.  This is taken out my bedroom window.  That's a 4 foot fence and gate.  The screen was frozen and when I tried to force it up to take a photo, it fell out into the snow below.  Pk says he'll get it later when he shovels.  It looks like this all over.  Because it was windy, there are large drifts  and some things have entirely disappeared.  I was enjoying thinking of Bells sitting in her shorts drinking an iced beverage!  We consumed large quantities of hot drinks yesterday and I'll probably make a pot of cocoa for breakfast.

It looks like we're housebound again today and I'm ok with that.   I like being forced to do things like bake and knit or spin.   Em and Pk were supposed to go shopping but I don't think that's going to happen.  I could be wrong.....they're intrepid.  And I see on the news that the stores are open today. 

Tonight: A chance of snow after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 24. Northeast wind between 5 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Saturday: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 30. Blustery, with a north wind between 18 and 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Saturday Night: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 22. Blustery, with a north wind between 18 and 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Sunday: A chance of snow before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. Northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

This is our weather forcast for the weekend.  There's a chance for a total of 18 inches of precipitation.  It's unusual for us to get such a storm so early in the winter (it's not technically winter yet, not until Monday).  I am sooooo glad we took today off and finished the holiday shopping.  Pk and I went out this morning and got some things and then we came home and picked up El and got our tree.  It smells good.  Like amy, we always have a real tree.  The township mulches them so they don't go totally to waste.  It's a different type this year, a Fraiser fir.  We usually get a Douglas fir but for some reason this year they were all too small.  And Pk likes a big tall tree.

Peter Kevin and I went to the grocery store.  It was our regular biweekly trip but we had to compete with all the 'storm shoppers'.  You know those people.  The ones who are afraid they'll be snowed in for possibly DAYS and won't have milk or eggs or bread and will DIE!  Only once in the last 20 years have we gotten enough snow that we had to stay in the house.  We got all the groceries we need for the next two weeks and for the holiday.  We're set.  I have enough ingredients to make all kinds of cookies.  I'm looking forward to it especially since it will be snowing all weekend. (Pk and Emily are supposed to go shopping on Sunday but I guess it'll depend on the weather.)

We put the food away and El and I went out to finish our shopping.  It was crowded but not unpleasantly so.  I wasn't in a hurry so I didn't mind all the people.  The funniest part was that the boot section was a mess and there were no boots left.  I noticed the shoe store had a full lot, too.  Probably people looking for boots.  One of the hardware stores had a sign up that said, "NO, we don't have any shovels.  Don't even ask" and I overheard one of the Target workers' walky talkies going off about how they had no shovels or snow melt.  I feel positively prescient.  I bought two bottles of environmentally friendly (non salt) snow melt this morning at the drug store.  And we have at least one snow shovel.  My brother has a snow blower if it's really that bad.

Snow is a pain in the ass, I'll admit.  But because it's not a frequent visitor around here, it's gives everything a holiday feel.  We're looking forward to it.  I hope you are having a good pre-holiday weekend and the weather where you are does not impede your plans!