Last night’s sunset. After two days of heavy, heavy rain, we woke up on Christmas morning to green grass and no snow. The rain drove the snow away. I called it a “Reverse White Christmas” on Instagram. The temperature reached the high 50s on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but then, as winds came in yesterday afternoon, it plummeted. It’s now in the 20s.
I’m fine with it.
Christmas was lovely, quiet and joyous, just the way we wanted it. Other than spending some time at Rick and Doug’s for the past few years, our Christmases are usually just the two of us – our families are far flung – so it wasn’t really different than the usual. I made french toast in the morning since we are no longer having our usual coffee cake – it has way too much sugar. Then we opened presents. We had opted for a modest Christmas – only three presents each and nothing big. (We have yet to see two of our packages that are mysteriously missing.) I got something for the dollhouse and a book. Don got the new Paul McCartney album on vinyl and a planner. Since we had sent each other links for exactly what we wanted, nothing was a surprise. Surprises are harder the older you get, right? We don’t need all that much and we certainly don’t need something we’ll not use. I was pretty clear about my birthday presents as well, though Don did surprise me with that work table!
Don made an apple pie in the afternoon. Dinner (both of us were involved – yes, I cooked a lot yesterday!) was the best ever. We eat a Holiday Roast by Gardein and, frankly, it’s better than any turkey I ever ate in my non-vegetarian days. Along with that, Don roasted some vegetables, I made cloud biscuits, and finally – finally! – I made mashed potatoes that were exactly how I wanted them! They came out exactly right. Huzzah!
We danced. We sang. We laughed a lot. A perfect Christmas. Mere sent a couple of packages for us – one from her and one from Little Z. We had a lovely FaceTime call with them later in the day.
Couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Today is sunny and very, very cold.
We’re going to lay low today, though I just sent Don to the post office to get some stamps. Don is going to work on some music and I suspect I’ll work on the English dollhouse and read.
I hope you had a lovely day yesterday, filled with peace and love. We’re heading to the end of the year, a year I will gladly kick to the curb, though I always qualify that by saying there has been much that is good in this year, as well.
Happy Saturday.
Stay safe.
I’m happy you had a lovely Christmas. Mine was amazing. Time spent with the Grands, Sara and Blake, my Mom and Sara’s Dad. Lots of love and contentment that we could spend time together during this crazy year. I’m spending the day at home with my jammies on today. Hugs!
I trust you all got together safely, Linda – were you outdoors? You could do that down in Georgia, I guess! Too cold here!
So happy you had time with your loved ones.
Stay safe!
what a fabulous COZY Christmas!
it just sounds perfect to me. and the picture of the pink sky… O MY! beautiful.
thank you for your blog Claudia. it’s a little ray of sunshine. XOXO
I hope you had a cozy Christmas, Tammy! Much love to you.
Stay safe!
XO
I’m glad your Christmas was peaceful and lovely. Mine was as well. We also decided to not go crazy with gifts. I was very surprised with one of mine though. My husband and my 2 adult children worked together to create a miniature (1/12th) scale bar fully decorated for Christmas! They somehow managed to do this without me even knowing about it even though we were all stuck at home. It’s probably the best present I have ever gotten. Not an expensive one but it has parts in it from my family and was especially made for me. Those are the best presents!
What a wonderful gift! Priceless!
Stay safe, Jane.
Glad you had a Happy Christmas and found such joy in the day! On Christmas Eve we had the kids & the sweet granddaughter here which was fantastic. After weeks of quarantine for all of us, it was worth it to get to be with all of them. The wee one was pretty overwhelmed at times with the presents, and just seeing 3 more people than she normally has in her daily life!! So we took our time and let her dictate how the day went. Because we knew how special the day was, I think we all appreciated it so much more. Yesterday was quiet, but that was wonderful in its own way, too.
Hope everyone is enjoying a day or two of peace and happiness on this long holiday weekend. Take care!
So glad you got to see some family, Chris.
Stay safe!
Happy Boxing Day/Kwanzaa. Glad you had a contented Xmas day. Daughters and I said we’re limiting gifts too but somehow the fireplace hearth filled up. But each gift was met with excitement as the boxes were opened and uncovered something we had wished for or something totally surprising. We had a good day binging Dr. Who. And found out all the front-liners in my family received their first vaccine dose. Hurray!
Hurrah for vaccines!
Stay safe, Wendy.
Glad it is over as we are isolating…Was difficult especially with others choosing to ignore warnings…oh well…love love this photo…it is gorgeous. Vaccine soon we hope and moving…take care…prayers…
Soon, Brenda!
Stay safe.
sounds like a lovely day in spite of missing loved ones, missing (in a different way) presents and some weird weather.
hope today’s been easy and nice, too.
what do you think made the difference on the mashed potatoes?
we had apple pie, too.
despite seeing decorations all over and knowing what day it was, despite having some traditions kept and presents exchanged … yesterday did not feel like Christmas to me. not one bit. it felt like a saturday and a sad one at that. and now today feels like sunday, like i have to work tomorrow. weird how days can have a feeling to them anyway, let alone feelings that are the opposite of what our minds and senses tell us. or maybe that’s just me. anyway, i am thankful tomorrow is sunday. i am going to rest.
hope you are all having a nice night.
stay safe and well and warm!
kathy in iowa
I tried a new recipe for the potatoes and it really worked. I also wasn’t trying to make them at Rick’s for a bunch of people – less pressure – and that helped, too. It’s a keeper recipe.
Rest up, Kathy.
Stay safe.
Sounds like you had a lovely, quiet Christmas. We did, too. Just the two of us, though we surprised my mom by running to her house (a 50 min drive) and dropping off her gifts. We didn’t have a fancy dinner – I had made my usual annual breakfast casserole and we indulged in an almond Kringle. Like you, we’re doing as little – no sugar as possible, so this Kringle was a one-time holiday buy. I’m not vegetarian, but I don’t like turkey. I’d try the Gardein roast, but there’s ingredients in there I don’t/can’t eat – soy and yeast extract.
I’ve already taken down the holiday decorations last night and this morning except for the lights – I’ll leave those up all winter.
Hope you have a cozy day!
I know you like your decorations down as soon as possible. We’re the exact opposite. They’ll be up until at least Dec 31st, maybe longer, depends on if the tree is drying out too much. It’s a fluid situation!
Stay safe. Glad you got to see your mom!
Your Christmas sounds like perfection. Ours, too, and happy we had Zoom (and that it didn’t crash with what I can only imagine was record use!) We enjoyed French toast for breakfast and later a lovely dinner, with gifts in between, carols, and mellow, quiet time. I loved it. (To be honest, after watching the Zoom with the toddlers dashing through every now and then, over-hyped on too much sugar and too much excitement, I was glad we had our lovely day!)
Enjoy the rest of your holiday!
I love my nieces and nephews but I’m not sure I have the long-term energy (or patience) for that! Been there, done that!
Stay safe, Jeanie.