MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a nice relaxing Christmas Day we had. Everyone slept in, then David and I made apple pancakes and sausage for breakfast which we enjoyed in the warm kitchen with the woodstove. Then we exchanged gifts - not many - we need very little and well you know about the economy...but I got a wonderful handcrafted sterling silver necklace made by my sister Mary of South Bay Jewelry - http://www.southbayjewelry.com/ David has been shopping with her each year since my brain explosion when I began wearing jewelry (that was just one of my personalities changes that resulted). I now have a lovely collection from South Bay and treasure each piece. Mary does lovely work and I'm trying to talk her into starting a blog of her own to showcase her talent and craft. Oh, I told Mary I got a new laptop for Christmas and I would post a photo. Here it is!!!!


After breakfast and gifts we talked on phone to family and then it was time to begin dinner prep. My 93 year old dad (pictured below) who is recovering nicely from his bout of pneumonia offered to peel the potatoes for our scalloped potatoes and he did not need to offer twice. He's always makes for a great "chore boy" when we cook, he likes to peel and prepare the veggies and often we would leave him the dishes to wash. He'd say "leave those dishes, I'll do them, you did all the cooking." OK... David and I did the dishes today but he was a great help with that paring knife.



My husband helped with "chore boy" duties too, he cut my big old rutabaga with the wood splitter he was testing out today. It did a nice job and I did not miss messing with the big old butcher knife trying to cut tough thing. He also mashed the cooked rutabaga together with the carrots and they were quite yummy. We baked a half ham too and I wished my daughter and her family could have been here to share it all. They have been fighting colds and had to stay away from Papa, (he can't risk a cold right now) so we are planning a New Year's celebration with them. BEP & Jenna wished us an enthusiastic Merry Christmas on the phone this morning. They always harmonize the holidays for us.

I hope you had a lovely day too. It was nice staying home for Christmas. We have often traveled and though it's nice seeing family it is tiring and sometimes slippery on the roads.
God bless and goodnight!