A Holiday Tradition Continues

~Cissy~

Christmas at our house this year was a quiet one.  Good friends had us over for Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day was spent at home.  Carl and I were the recipients of kind and thoughtful family members and friends who sent gifts for us to enjoy, and (of course) there were a few packages for the dogs too.

One gift we received was anonymous, and while I can't be totally positive, I'm quite sure that the giver was at a luncheon that I attended a couple of weeks ago. Over lunch that day, the conversation turned to favorite holiday traditions, memories and food.  I shared one about Christmas stollen.  (For those of you who may not know, a stollen is a traditional German Christmas yeast bread with nuts and dried fruits. The dough is wrapped around a log of marzipan before baking and the finished loaf is generously dusted with confectioner sugar.)

~Shadow and Sheba~

For many, many years, my Mother used to send me a Christmas stollen.  I have to admit, that I didn't always like them, but my Mom enjoyed them so much, and so eventually, I did too. Getting a stollen in my Christmas box from home each year and enjoying a slice with a cup of tea became something I looked forward too. Even when my Mom was unable to shop for herself, she still made sure that I received one (or two) at the holidays.  After my Mom passed away, I found myself that first Christmas missing having a stollen and so I bought one, and have gotten one each year to carry on that tradition.  But this year, as I told everyone over lunch, the Scrooge inside me was balking at the price of $20 for a small loaf, and so I had decided to forgo the tradition; I still had the memory after all and actually having a Christmas stollen wasn't really that important. However I have to admit, that after lunch that day, each time I saw them at the grocery store, I hesitated when I walked past, because deep inside, I really did want one.  But I was determined to stand strong in my boycott of such a high price for a small Christmas stollen -- I simply was not going to spend that much on one.    

~Charlie~

Fast forward to early Christmas morning.  The day began with the dogs and I taking a walk as the sun started to rise. When we returned to the house, the sun was just above the horizon, and its brilliant rays were shining brightly and warming the air.  That was when I noticed something hanging on our gate, in a plain brown bag.  Inside there was no card, just a Christmas stollen.  There are no words to express my humble gratitude for a perfect gift on Christmas morning.  I could only make a toast with my cup of hot tea to my Mom, and to whoever left the stollen, allowing my tradition to continue.

~A slice of Christmas stollen~

A Christmas Break

~Sketch of Todd by the talented Ann at Sketching William the Lurcher~

Just a quick blog post this evening to tell you what you may already know, that I am going to be (trying to) take a bit of a break from blogging over the Christmas holiday.  I'll be honest, I doubt that it's going to be a complete break, because my goal is to catch up on your news, while still trying to spend less time online.

I want to thank-you all for your friendship this year, for reading my blog and taking a moment to leave your thoughts on my posts, it means more than you know.

I hope you enjoy time with family and friends, and you are able to break away from the daily grind for a bit to be refreshed and reminded of who and what you hold dearest.  I wish you all the Merriest Christmas!

See you soon! 

**The sketch of Todd was done by the very talented 

Ann, at Sketching William the Lurcher. 

who does a sketch of her endearing Lurcher, William every day--

It's a great blog to visit, especially if you need cheering up! 
You can get there from here

More Snow Than Time

A snowy start to our weekend that had more holiday errands than time to get them done. Todd was determined to spend as much time outside in the snow as possible.  I've noticed him shivering when outside in the cold, and so I put a coat on him that used to belong to Josh when he was a puppy.  It's a little big, but did the trick.  Todd didn't seem to mind it at all.

However he wasn't really happy about this though....

Our end of the day was dinner out at our favorite restaurant with our two of our most favorite friends. Our meal began with an artichoke and crab appetizer that was served warm with a baguette.  My dinner was pumpkin ravioli in a sherried onion sauce, with toasted walnuts, dried cranberries and sweet potato strings--Rich and delicious!!  It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening with our friends!  

Christmas is going to be here before I know it, and I'm just getting started on the Christmas cards.

~Annie~

Time is really getting away from me.  Am I the only one who thinks that Christmas never came this quickly as a kid?  

~Shadow~

Another Snow Day!

The snow and ice from Sunday had almost melted, when snow came again today.  Carl was already on his way to work when the announcement came that the agency he works for was closed for the day. The call that my office was doing the same thing came by 6 o'clock this morning.

I've mentioned before how when I was growing up on an army post, school was never canceled because of snow, so I enjoy those “snow days” from work now. Carl on the other hand, grew up in Wisconsin and he got a few of those snow-days off from school.  Today for some reason he was reminded of how exciting it was for him to have those snow days and what great fun it was to “sled” and build snowmen.  Of course I did those same things.  However not all of us had sleds, so we made do with a friends, or pieces of cardboard and various items that we borrowed from summer like a zip sled (meant to be used in the water) and inner tubes.

The other thing that I always enjoy about snow-days is the food.  As a kid, when we would finally come in for lunch, it was always Campbell’s (canned) soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Today after the dogs and I had been outside for awhile it was a creamy tomato soup and crisp grilled cheese. To me it's the quintessential winter lunch and takes me right back to childhood.

It was another good day at home.  

~Shadow~