December Already

I can't believe how fast the time flies.  The days are just plain too short!

Tonight I went with my sister to her daughter's Madrigal Dinner Concert.  It is such a pleasure to watch our young people growing up.  Here is a Christmas treat video for you that I took at the concert.  It isn't very long -- only two carols are sung.  My niece, Melissa, starts out the second carol, O Holy Night.  With times being what they are, it's wonderful to hear music that lifts one's spirit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaf8oBttRao

Lara's check up for her broken leg went very well.  I wish I could show you the x-rays.  Her leg is mending beautifully, and the doctor says she does not need to wear the splint any more.  She will go for another x-ray the end of this month, and hopefully that will be it.  The doctor seemed very pleased, and he thinks that Lara will be able to bend her leg at the knee as before.  So, another couple of weeks and I'll breathe easier.  We even got the ok to go back to bowling with Special Olympics.  All of the young people were glad to see Lara again. I like to see her socialize with other young people.

I am finishing up the canning.  I took the fruit out of the freezer and canned blueberries and blackberries and cherries for baking.  I also made some blueberry and blackberry juice; some blackberry jam; and I found one bag of apricots that I made a batch of jam with, too.  That leaves the rhubarb, some strawberries, and one bag of raspberries that I plan to made pie filling with.  I haven't tried canning pie filling before so that will be interesting.  I may take some of the blackberry juice and try making some blackberry cordial; that sounds like a good drink for a cold night.

It has been around 15F here for the last few days, and it has been snowing lightly.  The chickens don't like going outside of the coop.  Every morning when I bring them fresh water, I open the door and they are there waiting for me and talking to me with their soft voices.  They look very nice with their new feathers.  I turn over their bedding and check their food.  They watch everything I do.  They like the warm water I bring them.  I still get between 1 and 3 eggs a day.  It's barely enough for us to eat so right now I have no spare eggs to sell.  This is usually the poorest time of year for chickens to lay.  I don't push my birds to lay because I'd rather they spent their winter energy on growing their new feathers and keeping warm.  They will start laying better soon enough.  Everyone needs a vacation, right?  I love my chickipoos.

I took Eddy to see the new Harry Potter movie at the theater in Park Falls.  There were quite a few people there.  It was an ok movie; I hope the second part is better.  I am looking forward to seeing the new Tron movie and the remake of True Grit.  Those look really good. 

With the weather being what it is, it's nice to stay inside and fix a crock pot of soup and have a cup of tea.

Especially when I'm working on next year's garden plan and browsing all the seed catalogues that are coming in the mail. 

Here are the empty seed packets from last year:

As soon as I get the garden layout worked out, I'll post it for  you.  Until then --

Stay safe and warm!