And.....it's back to normal....?????

 Maybe not. lol

  So....the big holiday is finally over. Still New Year's to come, but we don't really celebrate that in a big way...just the two of us, home together.  We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner, with my son, nephew and a friend. I had some gifts for everyone, nothing big, but thoughtful...we ate like kings, naturally. I bought a big local ham that is the finest ham I have ever eaten in my life. I only buy it for special occasions, as it's a bit pricey (and -face it- ham isn't the healthiest thing in the world anyway...), but it was wonderful. And we've already had 4 meals out of it and there's a third of it in the freezer, whole. So, all in all...if you have to splurge on something, it might as well be that.  :)   After our big meal--baked ham with pineapple and cloves, like my granny used to make it, sweet potatoes (the final batch from 2011) with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and pecans, mashed potatoes with country gravy, and a big pot of home grown green beans with bacon and onions and garlic.  Oh, and home made rolls. It was crazy good. Oh..and a custard pie. Which, if I do say so myself, was magnificent.

  My nephew stayed here until this morning early, when he hitched a ride with my son on his way to work and went home. (He lives about an hour south of us).  So, now the house is all quiet and the pups are looking for everyone and finding only me. lol
I love that boy. He is my middle brothers middle son. He is smart and compassionate and loving and funny. And if he wasn't almost 30 years old, I'd adopt him.  lol


  Our Christmas morning was good.  The Irishman got me a couple of books I wanted . JK Rowling's first book for adults after the Harry Potter series was finished, The Casual Vacancy.  The Hunger Games Trilogy. A beautiful scarf, a set of Egyptian cotton bath towels.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel dvd. And Sandor Katz book-Wild Fermentation. Actually, he didn't realize he had gotten me the last 2 until we opened gifts. lol  I always try to help him out like that.  (That's just the kind of wife I am). 

 I made a big Christmas morning breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham and home made biscuits and gravy. And a fresh pot of coffee. The guys ate like there was no tomorrow.  It was a late breakfast, becasue I had no plans to do a lot of cooking on Christmas Day. I had made a spinach dip the night before our big supper, and we didn't even open it. So for Christmas night, I had crackers and chips and dip and sliced cheeses and ham and summer sausage and pickled bits of everything--onions, okra, green beans...and we simply noshed the night away. We feasted on pumpkin bread and chex mix and nuts and candies. It was heavenly.

 And now, after eating like this for 3 days, I am queasy. lol  Not too bad--I did manage to control myself. Mostly.  Last night I made a scalloped potato dish with ham and onions in it and it was SO good. I don't make scalloped potatoes hardly ever, and I don't know why. We ate it with leftover green beans and finished off the last bit of sweet potatoes as well. And topped it off with pie. Well, the boys did, anyway. I was too full.


 My son may have found a place to move to...he'll know in the next few days I guess. It's perfect, on 18 acres and a beautiful little house . Of course I am hating it/loving it for him. I know he can't stay here with his old mum forever...but it's sure been nice having him here.  And I will hate to see him go. It's about 40 minutes from here. Far enough away that we'll probably go back to me not seeing him very often.  I guess this is what happens...but his time here has sure been a nice respite from that for this old mom.


  Alright. I am going to ease back into my routine, maybe vacuum a little. Don't really have any plans to do anything today, but you never know what the day might bring. I haven't been out of the house for 4 days. We didn't get a lick of all the snow that fell across the midwest, and there doesn't seem to be any in the immediate forecast. My brother in the southern part of the state, on the other hand got about a foot and a half.  Perfectly okay with me, except I know we need the water. And it's bone chilling cold.  I was out to do the chickens this morning, and I'm betting it's not a hair above 20.  But at least the wind stopped blowing. It was atrocious there for a couple of days, 50 mph and better.

  Hope everyone had a good Christmas, however you celebrate it.  Hope you all reenter the normal atmosphere with as little difficulty as possible.  lol



Namaste.