Last Wednesday, I flew to Florida and Thursday and Friday morning, daughter and I finished packing the children’s books, games, indoor and outdoor toys and clothes, along with her clothes, some linens and other needs from their house. Thursday, she and her husband met with the Realtor that is listing their house for sale and signed the paperwork to get the house on the market early this week. On Friday noon, we picked up the trailer and began loading it, putting the children’s dressers, two bookcases, toy bin shelving and daughter’s desk. Once her husband got home from work, he helped us play Tetris with the boxes and items like bicycles, scooters, and outdoor toys that would not go into boxes. Everything stacked up, tied down and balanced.
6 X 12′ stacked front to back, top to bottom
Saturday morning, the dog and his paraphernalia, backpacks of car books and toys, small bags for travel clothing were added to the car along with the laptop, camera, and tablet to begin the 2 day trip north to our home in southwestern Virginia. The weather was beautiful, the traffic fairly light early in the day and though the trailer was 100 feet long, 25 feet wide and weighed 10 tons, or at least it felt that way attached to the back of the vehicle. And the fact that every time I looked in the rear view mirror, I startled at how close that “U-Haul truck” was to my rear bumper. The kids were great travelers, the dog quiet and calm most of the time. When we got to South Carolina and within 35 miles of our first night destination, we landed in an interstate parking lot, creeping along at 5 to 20 miles an hour. We ended up taking a couple hours longer than expected driving almost 12 hours the first day. Yesterday was a shorter day, fortunately, though we did drive in rain off and on, arriving home about 5:30 last night as the cold front hit here, dropping the temperature from the 50s to the low 20s. We are going to have a night of low single digits tomorrow night, quite a change from Florida weather.
We got the trailer unloaded last night and returned today. Boxes are getting unpacked and the family settling in. We are delighted to have them here and hope that our SIL sells the house and moves with them soon.
For the first time since we met, we were apart on New Year’s Eve. He proposed on New Year’s Eve 37 years ago. We had returned from a ski trip in Vermont, got off the bus and took me to the ER to have my shoulder x-rayed as I had injured it on the trip, in a newly acquired sling to support the separated joint we went out for an early drink then home to my house to celebrate the coming new year quietly. The proposal came just about as the year changed.
Yesterday, I was scheduled to catch a flight in the afternoon to arrive in Florida just after dinner, but before we left for the airport, I received a text notification that my flight was delayed by more than 2 hours. We dallied about, drove to Roanoke where the airport is located, purchased a t-shirt to replace one of the 2 that I had gotten him for Christmas that had to be returned, had dinner at his favorite restaurant and dropped me off at the airport. As soon as he drove off and I walked in, another text delay.
I finally arrived in Florida after 10 pm and was greeted by a bouncing 3 year old in a frilly glittery dress and cowboy boots, hugging my knees and any 8 year old holding a hand drawn welcome sign. Hugs all around and an hour drive back to their house, we arrived to watch the ball drop in Times Square, wish my home alone husband a happy New Year by phone and go to bed. Not a typical end of year.
But it is all for a good reason. Today daughter and I finish boxing what goes in the trailer, they meet with the Realtor who will likely list their home for sale and prepare to load up the trailer tomorrow for the drive to Virginia. This will be a new chapter in all of our lives, a very welcome one for us.
My usual routine is to take down and pack away all of the Christmas decorations on January 1. This year, I am flying to Florida on New Year’s Eve to help daughter load a trailer on the 2nd, and share the driving on the 3rd and 4th as we relocate her to Virginia, our house until they have sold their house in Florida, settled into new jobs here and feel ready to begin house hunting again, maybe in a year or so. Since we will be bringing the two children, 8 and 3 with all of their indoor and outdoor toys, dressers, clothes, a few furniture items that she wanted removed from the house before it went on the market, and their 85 lb Golden Retriever, I felt it might make settling in here a bit easier if we weren’t also taking down decorations and cleaning up tree needles, so even though I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday with a post Christmas cold, I began the process of wrapping and packing, laundering the holiday bath and table linens and boxing them.
Today, feeling less like I had been hit by a truck, I packed up the tree ornaments and lights and removed the tree from the house, vacuuming and putting the furniture back in place. After errands and lunch, I tackled the two huge plastic boxes of Santa figures and got them wrapped and packed. The boxes that have lived off season in one of the ground floor bedroom closets were toted down to the basement closet under the stairs as one or both grands will be living in that bedroom in a week. I have cleaned out both bedroom closets, except for a pressure canner that needs parts, up on the top shelf in a corner and Mountaingdad’s childhood guitar that we have stored and moved ever since we married, but I have never heard him play a guitar. I guess it too will move to the basement.
With the decorations down and having had the furnace serviced and a new filter installed on Christmas eve, the downstairs got a good dusting and vacuuming. Those efforts have spent my energy for the day so the upstairs and rest of the laundry will just have to wait until tomorrow.
By this time next week, all three of our children with their families will have spent a couple of nights with us in the past two weeks. What a great way to end a year.
Last night around midnight, I was sleeping and Mountaingdad was watching television and there was a light rapping on our door. Of course the house alarm, two big dogs went berserk. The rapping was Son#2, our youngest and his family surprising us with a weekend visit. We had seen them a couple of weeks ago at their home and thought they were coming in January to visit once daughter and her family had moved up from Florida. Since Son#1 and his family had left on Christmas Day, I had stripped and washed the bed linens, but not remade the beds yet, so a quick bed making was done, a bit of visiting then everyone drifted off to bedrooms.
Since our usual Saturday routine is to go to the town, have breakfast and then on to the Farmers’ Market for whatever offerings are available, we all went in together. Being a small town with a large state university, with the students all home for the holidays many of the local businesses take a week off and our first breakfast choice was closed. We did finally get some food, bought our week’s meat ration and a bit for the freezer and came home to more visiting. The children are ages 8 and 3. They both want us to play with them as they don’t see us often. We enjoy this time but wear out much faster than the kids.
After being intimidated by the big dog at first this morning, the 3 year old has decided that he makes a good pillow and is the gentle giant that he is.
The other pup, our German Shepherd has hidden upstairs most of the day, totally overwhelmed by the activity. She better get used to it as the Florida grands moving here next week are the same ages.
Their visit will be short, they will be leaving in the morning as Son#2 is an advanced life support paramedic and has one of his monthly volunteer shifts to serve tomorrow night, followed by a day of paid work on Monday, so he needs to get home and hopefully get a nap before his shift.
The pies were made, from our homegrown pumpkins, cranberries cooked with a bit of honey to sweeten them, cooked mustard made for the ham. Mountaingdad asks for it each year, a simple recipe really. Mustard
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c dry powdered mustard
2 beaten eggs
1/4 c vinegar ( I use raw cider vinegar)
1/4 c butter
Mix sugar and mustard in a small saucepan. Stir in beaten eggs and vinegar and mix well. Turn heat to low and add butter. Cook stirring until mustard thickens. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for a couple of weeks.
The roll dough mixed and stored in the refrigerator until this morning. Rolls to bake, turkey to roast, potatoes to mash. A late afternoon feast will be enjoyed.
Another tradition with our kids and carried on to grands is the reading by Mountaingdad of Clement C. Moore’s poem, “The Night Before Christmas,” which will be read over the phone or by Skype to the Florida family while we join in from the living room. Stockings will be hung and eager grandson put to bed.
Wishing my readers the most wonderful of holidays however you celebrate. Enjoy your family and friends.
Another gloomy but not as cold morning, no sunshine predicted for today. Sausage is cooked, biscuits await the oven, all waiting for other faces to show themselves before baking and making the gravy. The morning treat is fresh hot biscuits with sausage gravy.
Today will be baking day, pumpkins pies, dinner rolls, maybe one batch of cookies if I can get grandson on board with the idea of helping. We traditionally, all my life and my children’s lives, we have had Christmas dinner on the eve, so some prep will be done today.
Christmas morning we will have huevos rancheros, my hubby hails from Texas then after the morning gift exchange, the kids will leave for Virginia Beach to spend the rest of the day with the other Grandparents.
For now, the house is quite, stirrings about are beginning, a second pot of coffee will be needed soon and the biscuits must be baked, the gravy made.
Have a peaceful eve of the eve and enjoy your friends and family.
Today, the day after the winter solstice dawned late with gray skies, freezing drizzle and several weather related headaches among the 4 adults.
Homework help was provided by Mountaingmom, while Son#1 with the worst headache dozed on the couch trying to feel better for this afternoon. He, Mountaingdad, and Grandson#1 had planned an outing to see the newest Hobbit movie. DIL left early with a longtime friend of theirs for coffee and art time.
Fires were lit in both the fireplace and the wood stove and have been stoked throughout the day to ward off the dreary damp chill.
Once the guys left, I settled in with my book, a cup of tea and a quilt in front of a fire to read and enjoy a quiet afternoon.
I am glad that we are on the lengthening day cycle now, the dozen hens are providing only an egg or two each day, the dark short days are depressing. It is time for snow, steaming stews, fresh bread and longer days. It is too dreary today to even want to knit on the mittens. The big guy enjoying the fire at my feet.
The shopping is done, groceries stocked, gifts wrapped and under the tree. Tomorrow, Son #1 and family will arrive back in my car that they drove home at Thanksgiving and we will have time together, sitting by the fire, enjoying the Christmas lights.
Tomorrow is supposed to bring a wintery mix, much less than had previously been threatened, the front is passing farther south than predicted earlier this week. If the weather permits, we will venture to the Farmers’ Market to try to buy a beef or pork roast for one of the dinners while family is here. Perhaps we will get some other meat as well, with the family also eating from the freezer, we will use the stew beef and ground beef and it will be two weeks before we can return to the Farmers’ Market.
Tonight, I am tired and cold, having done some clean up, some laundry, split a few dozen pieces of firewood from sections that were too large to get to burn easily. Dinner has been prepared, eaten and cleaned up. With a cup of Cocoa and Chambord, I am sitting with my knitting and a book, soaking in the warmth of the fire, . . .
enjoying the tree, . . .
with the gifts awaiting an eager grandson, and glad that I did unwrap and display my Santa collection, though this is but a few of them.
Wishing you all a happy holiday with your loved ones.
We are but a week from Christmas and the house is just today finally decorated. When we had kids or a grand in the house, I was always anxious to get the decorations up, but this year the spirit has been lacking. After Thanksgiving, I did unwrap my collection of Tom Clark gnomes and Santa gnomes, put up the two foot artificial tree with the Hallmark mini ornaments that used to adorn my office when I worked and pulled out the quilted and cross stitched wall hangings that my very talented sister in law and step mom had made for us years ago. Then I stalled. There was no Christmas music in the house, we weren’t listening to it in the car. The CD player took a power surge sometime after Christmas last year and quit, I changed to an Iphone with only 4 g memory and it is full of my non Christmas music, we don’t have a radio in the house except one that gets weather stations and emergency info, so no way to play the Christmas CDs. Today we finally decided to go out to get a tree and run some other errand and while I was in a store, Mountaingdad found the radio station that plays all Christmas music this time of year and I began to feel some spirit. The same SIL and step mom over the years had also given us a collection of cross stitched and quilted ornaments. Before we moved to the mountains, we had a 5 foot artificial feather tree that I decorated in the den with all of those ornaments given to us and our kids. Two of the kids have taken their box of ornaments, the third one is stored here and for the past several years, I have tried different ways to display those beautiful hand crafted gifts. The first year, I draped the loft railing with cut pine swag and hung them from that. The next year, I bought a vine swag and hung them from it, then left the vine swag up year round, changing the bows securing it to the railing with seasonal bows. Last year after Christmas, it was taken down as it had gotten so dusty and covered with dog hair that it no longer was attractive. While visiting family last week, I mentioned to step mom that I was thinking of getting a huge wreath and putting them on it. She asked why I don’t just get an artificial one and secure the ornaments well enough that the whole thing can be taken down after Christmas and put in a big plastic bag to store it until next year. Today, I did just that. We bought a huge wreath, a spool of red, green and gold plaid ribbon to make a bow and once home, I secured the ornaments to the wreath and fashioned a large bow.
It was hung on the center post of the loft this afternoon. While we were out, we went to one of the local tree farms and selected an 8 1/2 foot tree and a new stand as our old one had the screw in pins that had become so bent they wouldn’t hold up the tree.
A walk on a chilly day to pick the right one.
Waiting for the tree to be cut and taken to the car.Home, in the stand and watered.
Each year since we met in 1977, we have bought an ornament for our tree. Sometimes they are Hallmark ornaments, but in recent years, they more likely represent a trip we have made or are hand crafted wood, pottery or metal. The years that one of our children were born, a baby’s first was also added and we have been given a dozen or so by parents or grown kids since then. The tree decorating was always a family affair and as it is just the two of us now, we joined together to get the tree decorated, joking about a few ornaments that one of us doesn’t like and where it will go on the tree. There are ancient strands of candy cane yarn roping that always results in a joking playful fuss. The lighted tree top star failed last year and we had returned from a cruise with Son #2 and family with a huge dried starfish. That became our new tree topper and was used again this year.
While preparing to get the decorations up today, I remembered that I could play the CDs on my laptop plugged in to my speaker that I bought to play music from the phone, so we had Christmas music! I even unpacked the rest of my Santa collection for the first time in several years. The house is decorated, awaiting Son#1 and family sometime next week to have Christmas dinner with us on the eve, a turkey and ham purchased today, and to be here for Christmas morning. The decorations will remain up for the grands from Florida to see when we arrive here on January 2nd or 3rd from helping them move. Daughter and I will pack them away after the first of the year. I finally have some spirit, but I still don’t know what Mountaingdad is getting for Christmas this year.
Sweater # 3, the largest of the three, finished last night.
Sweater #2, for his little sister.
Sweater #1, for one of their cousins.
Her brother prefers sweatshirts, so he gets a Steeler’s T-shirt and Sweatshirt. His other grandparents are Steeler’s fans so also is he. The eldest grand wears sweaters, but insisted that he didn’t need one this year. Perhaps that is for the best as making another even larger might have me knitting on Christmas eve. It wouldn’t be the first Christmas eve that I was frantically trying to finish a gift. I remember an afghan, a smocked nightgown, and a set of cross stitched placemats with matching napkins. There is a long tradition of me biting off more than I could chew while raising a family and working full time, but somehow it always got done. I don’t remember ever having to wrap a not quite finished gift with the promise to get it finished. But now I’m retired and seem to have even less time.
The doll quilts and pillows. These for the same two little girls mentioned above.
The Florida family’s gifts will be mailed off today for them to open on Christmas day, then pack for their move to Virginia. Generally, we leave here on Christmas day and drive to visit them for a week at Christmas. Next year, we will get to witness the Christmas morning excitement, hopefully with them and our Northern Virginia family who generally spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us before driving to visit her family on the coast.
The only other request is for mittens, but they weren’t asked for to be delivered by Christmas and will be made to match/coordinate with Sweater #2 for the granddaughter who will be moving here the week after Christmas. She is Florida born and raised and may find Virginia winter a bit chilly for a while. Her mittens will be my flight and drive back project, as she won’t need them until she gets here. I couldn’t get them done in time to mail today anyway.
Today she would need them. It is mountain snow flurrying with strong gusty winds that penetrate all my layers except when I am wrapped in a fleece and my barn coat. Today I needed my long johns under my jeans, but didn’t think it would be that cold.
For now, I will return to my sweater, the body is nearly done except for the bottom ribbing and knitting and adding the sleeves. That will be my project for the next few days and perhaps I will have it ready to wear by Christmas. It is after all a lovely shade of green.
There are two more hand knit gifts this year, but the recipients often read my blog, so they shall remain . . .?
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Cabin Crafted 