Yesterday it snowed all day long, but there was only an inch or less accumulation – just lovely snowflakes gently falling. And the light! It was amazing.
Including the sunset:
I amused myself by baking, which seems to be my activity of choice on snowy days.
Don has started to call me his Linzer Tart. He’s darned cute, that guy.
We’re on the cusp of a new year. I wrote about my reflections on 2017 earlier this week; you can read them here. It will be a low-key day here at the cottage. We never do very much on New Year’s Eve – in fact, I can guarantee we’ll be in bed by 10:30 or 11:00.
The giant sansevieria is blooming – if I lean in, I can smell the lovely scent of these blossoms.
Speaking of heavenly scent, I’m immersed in it as I write this.
Rest in Peace to Sue Grafton, author of the Kinsey Millhone series. I’ve read every one of them, starting with A is for Alibi back in the early eighties. I read Y is for Yesterday when I was last working in Hartford. She never got to Z. But, oh how much delight she gave us over the years with a truly strong female protagonist.
Dear readers, have a lovely New Year’s Eve, whatever your plans. Be safe.
With a high temp of -4 today, we will be staying in.
Yep. I’m going to go out and start my car and that’s about it!
I enjoyed the Millhone mysteries and somehow not having a Z is for Zero is fitting. I will miss Sue Grafton’s mysteries; she’s given me hours of reading pleasure. My daughters saw Coco while I was at a preChristmas Dinner with friends and insisted I see it. We are going today, having leftovers for dinner then playing our traditional Monopoly as far into the night as we can. Happy NYE to you and Don. Hope the 2018 events you know about bring you as much excitement and happiness as you anticipate, and that 2018 holds positive surprises for you.
Enjoy your Monopoly game with your daughters, Wendy!
We are having a low key day…quite fitting for the end of the year. Tidying up loose ends, so we can start the Year off with a clean slate. We will hopefully stay up til midnight…watching movies, and toast to the new year. It’s going to be a cold one -10, without the wind chill…good night to stay home. Wishing you and Don a Happy New Year, filled with much happiness! ;)
Very, very cold here, which makes me wonder what the turnout will be in Times Square!
Thank you for sharing your world/cottage with us. I’ve enjoyed watching your indoor garden blossom and the holiday decorations sparkle. Your blog has become one of my top five reads and look forward to each new posting.
Today is a mellow, inside kind of day; celebrating my birthday with Dungeoness crab with spinach/cheese raviolis, sour dough bread and champagne, followed by birthday cake. Than early to bed for me.
Happy New Year~
Happy Birthday, Deborah! Have a lovely, lovely day!
having always been a morning person I never was much into New Year’s Eve’s celebrations.
about as riotous as it was Bob and I would have a fire in the fireplace and watch one of the great classic movies we loved.
now I pretty much do the same. only even though I have a fireplace I’ve never had a fire in it.
burning down one’s own house is one thing. it would be awful enough.
but accidentally burning down this entire apartment complex where I live now is another!
have a wonderful new year dearest bean. you are a keeper for sure. so glad I found you! and now I can’t even remember how I did!
wonder if Don will be calling you LT. only he and you will know what it means! LOL
and he could always be SD … for salty dog. (current B’way hit pun intended!) :D xo
Love tha! LT and SD! Have a lovely New Year’s Eve, Tammy. Thanks for being here!
Brutal cold here, as well. We won’t be going anywhere, and I honestly don’t remember the last time I was able to stay awake until midnight. I am thinking about making a pot of chili. Just sounds warm and filling.
Those Linzer tarts are just beautiful, Claudia! Happy New Year to everyone…..
Chili sounds perfect for a cold day, Chris. It is very cold here as well. Don and I can’t figure out why anyone would want to hang out in Times Square this year!
I was so sorry to hear about Sue Grafton. I loved all her books. We are actually going out to “Dinner and a Movie” tonight at our church, but as we gather at 5:30, we will probably be home by 9. And that is very unusual for us; we usually stay in, and we haven’t watched the ball drop in probably 15 years! I am wishing you and Don a very Happy New Year!
Well, have fun, Dottie! We have a wind chill warning up – it may feel like 20 below!!! We’re not going anywhere!
Just found this and thought you might be interested.
https://www.needtoimpeach.com
I signed it about a month ago, Kathy! Thank you! We’ll leave the link here for others who may want to visit that site. xo
sounds lovely … staying home with a loved one, watching a movie and eating cookies. enjoy!
i’m doing some of that and hope to be asleep before midnight.
happy, healthy new year to you and don and to everyone who comes to your blog – as i do – for the beautiful photos and wise words you share, claudia (thank you )!
xo
kathy in iowa
You are most welcome. Happy New Year, Kathy!
you have shared so much with us over the years … your charming home and loves: don, pups, plants, stella, reading, travels and some insider details about the theater that i wouldn’t realize from my seat in the audience …
thank you for that and your kindness, smarts and generosity.
happy new year and best wishes and prayers for much good health and happiness.
kathy in iowa
Oh, thank you, Kathy. I wish the same for you. Have a lovely New Year’s Eve, my friend.
I hope you and Don have a wonderful, relaxing New Year’s Eve Claudia, like you, we never go out, too much hoopla. We are cuddling up with the William Powell, Myrna Loy TCM collection today + Chinese Take Out………..Bliss!!!
hugs
Sue
We may be watching those Thin Man movies as well! Happy New Year, Sue.
I tend about now to reminisce about other wild New Year’s Eves I’ve had in my youth but, for these days, like you, we’re all about the quiet and that’s A-OK. We’ll have fireworks (not us, but others!) for NY’s Eve, which are illegal here (but nobody seems to pay attention to the law when it comes to 4th of July & NY’s), and we know we’re in ‘for a night of it’ with our dog because she is really scared of the boom-boom-boom.
My best wishes to you and Don for the new year, Claudia; good health and happiness to you both, and to your lovely community here on the blog, sent from me with much appreciation and affection!
I’ve never really had a wild New Year’s Eve. It’s not my style. Quiet, cozy and no hoopla. That’s for me. Happy New Year to you and your husband. We used to have to do the same thing with Scout, who was very sensitive to fireworks and totally freaked out.
I had some doozies (pretty-big NY’s Eve parties; lots & lots of people) but it was always with friends (and friends of friends), safe & sound, at people’s houses, staying the night more often than not; avoiding getting on the road after all that revelry (BYOB – bring your own bag, as in sleeping bag). I was never into the thing of being in public and celebrating with large throngs of folks milling about, often unpredictable when inebriated. I have wondered, however, if it might be nice sometime to just have a night out with my husband at a fine restaurant, with music & dancing; more of a refined setting where I didn’t have to worry about getting slobbered upon by the wrong person at midnight.
I grinned when you spoke of who’d on earth want to be in Times Square when it’s so cold; well, the young ‘uns, Claudia. Undaunted by weather and not knowing any better and just wanting to have fun, fun, fun. The one thing I never did but I sorta wish I had was spend the night on the sidewalk in Pasadena, waking up to The Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. That’s definitely for a person’s younger years (I had a friend who did it, back in the day, with a pup tent and air mattress; she still talks about how cold they got because, yes, at January 1, even SoCalif can be cold at night). I guess the scent of the flower floats is apparently like nothing you’ll ever whiff again, with so many zillions of flowers in one place. And a lot of beautiful color that’s a whole lot diff when you’re up close & personal to it. For me, it would probably flare up my asthma! And I’ve been a bit jaded over the years as to how much money is invested in flowers that soon die; it seems like such a waste of cash, and also similar to intricate chalk drawings that wash away in rain, or sandcastles that get knocked down by waves; so much time and effort that doesn’t last. Nobody’s arm-twisted, though; people love to work on those floats! Mom and I thought about taking a bus down once – ugh, meant leaving about 3am and you have to really want it to do that, and then sit for hours & hours in the bleachers; long ride home with crowds & traffic. We opted to stay home in our jammies, have cinnamon rolls with a mug of hot drink in hand; watch from the warm living room; still a good view.
The best NY’s Eve I ever remember having was in 1977. Single. Broke up with a boyfriend. Had reconciled the whole thing. Feeling good about a new year and not bothered about being alone. I was cozy in front of the TV with my blankie, sipping something I can’t remember(!). And then my best friend pounded on the door, saying I couldn’t POSSIBLY be left alone on New Year’s Eve; that it was just too ‘depressing’. I said, “I feel fine. I’m happy, really I am!” I’d had invitations out, but had opted for staying put. I let her drag me to the party she’d interrupted herself from and, you know, it was fine, and I met a new guy there, but I was just as comfortable at home and I always have remembered that feeling of utter contentment, ushering out the old and welcoming the new, just me in my little apartment, the two of us JUST FINE and more than enough.
Yeah, the dog. It’s why we let ourselves sleep in til noon today, which is something we never do. We know we’re gonna be up all night tonite or at least til probably 2am-ish. She doesn’t froth at the mouth but she shakes from head to toe. And can’t seem to stop barking. I’d meant to talk to the vet about a sedative but it’s been such a distracting month, I forgot about a lot of things.
I hit some after-Christmas sales this afternoon (didn’t buy much; just little stuff, and wrapping paper/ribbon for next year) while Hubs did the grocery shopping and we got in by about 3:30pm, hunkered down now at nightfall, and that’s where we’ll happily stay. I’m very grateful I don’t have to be traveling in bad weather somewhere.
Meant to say, too; loved your description of the gently-falling snow. How I yearn to ever be able to see something like that! It must be such a hushed and lovely thing to watch.
Did you make any resolutions? I’ve learned to tone that down.
Never make resolutions. I just try to be a better person.
We will be staying home and watch the ball drop. We never went out on New Year’s Eve. Wishing you and Don nothing but happiness,good health and peace in the new year.
Marilyn
The same to you, dear Marilyn!
Happy New Year to you and Don, Claudia. I hope 2018 is a wonderful year for you both.
The same to you, Jan. I hope it is a better year for all of us!
Happy New Year, Claudia and Don! May it be a good one for us all, and hopefully, including the removal of Trump from office!
Amen to that, Lily. Happy New Year!
Love that you are baking -you tart you–lol
I missed the fact that Sue Grafton passed. She was a lovely author.
Happy New Year to you and Don. I am looking forward to a year of changes for us here-as we figure out where we are going when we ‘grow up’…house has sold and we will move SOMEWHERE in Spring.
Blessings to you- xo Diana
Wow! That’s a big change, Diana! I’m happy for you and I wish all the best as you make your decision! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Claudia.
I wish we had “smell-evision” so I could enjoy those beautiful blooms. They look like they would have a sweet sweet fragrance. I can’t help myself when it comes to roses and fragrant flowers. My front garden is my fragrant garden with old fashioned roses, freesias, lavender, lemon diosma etc. If it has a scent, it goes in the front garden.
Like you, the turn of the year for me has become a quiet affair and I really loved the serenity and personal space. All good to recharge for another year.
May 2018 be a good one for you and yours. :-)
All good. I agree. May you have a lovely New Year’s Eve and a great 2018, Jodiebodie.
And a lovely New Year’s Eve to you and Don, too!
Happy New Year, Cathy!
Such a terrible loss for the writing community…and the readers too…RIP Susan…I am a stay at home person too Claudia…to much fuss and noise out there for me!..and the cold…no thanks… I wish I could reach into the screen and snitch a handful of those delicious tarts!…you wouldn’t mind would you? lol…Wishing you and Don the best of New Year’s…and the same to all of your readers!!
The same to you, dear Nancy!
We’re staying in, too. Just wrote about it on my blog. Pizza, wine, pajamas, TV. Night-night! Brian is on his way home from work…and he just worked three 12-hour shifts. So, he’ll be exhausted. Not to mention, it’s frigidly cold outside. We’ll be all snug in our beds before midnight, that’s for sure. Tim is going to a friend’s party, but he’s young. So there you go. ;-)
Poor Brian! He must be so tired! Happy New Year!