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The long wait and fearful moments are over.

Just in time for Christmas

Granny Day Camp

Helping my mother make her fudge for all of her grands and great grands. All 22 of them collectively.

That would be a lot of fudge.

Then combining our Christmas treasures to decorate our home.

The tree and poinsettias are mine, the angel and Nativity hers. 

My MIL helping me make Christmas cookies.

We find it best to keep her mind focused on short repetitive tasks.

She is glad to be useful and I am glad for the help.

Just sad that this moment is already lost to her memory.

But then...

sooc

...a reminder that the sunsets of our lives are beautiful no matter what. 

Sometimes a waaaayyyyy slow internet is a really good thing.

 Like last Saturday when we called the provider to get our line checked and they sent out Darren The Cable Guy pronto (not next Friday or two weeks from Tuesday, but right away!).

Darren the Cable Guy arrived in the midst of yours truly attempting to bone a 15 pound fresh ham on it's way to becoming prosciutto. He was in and out, inspecting wires, hooking up test equipment, talking GTO restorations with the husband, observing me wrestling with the beast and then told us that we really should come to his friend's family Two Day Pork Processing Event just down the road this winter.

An opportunity to learn and to meet some more members of our community.

Win.

I went on to rubbing down said ham with loads of garlic and cinnamon and cloves and other good stuff while Darren the Cable Guy untangled the maze of wire in the cellar and got us back up to speed. Before leaving, he noticed my vast array of mason jars and canning supplies and asked me about some of my colored jars. That lead somehow to talking about honey and hives. Of course it did.  It seems Darren the Cable Guy is also treasurer of the local bee keepers guild. I will be joining the group in February when they start up for the new year. 
More to learn with help and support.

Win, win. 

We got the would be prosciutto all salted down ready to go into the press that Fritz had fashioned up, when Darren the Cable Guy showed back up an hour later.

With a gift for me.

A jar of his own home grown honey.

 It is good sometimes to have a waaayyy slow internet connection.

Bloomery

Yesterday's adventure.

 Bloomery Plantation Distillery.

makers of the most wonderful cordials, macerated from their own fruits and roots, offering complimentary tastings.

Rustic, friendly and fun atmosphere with

interesting grounds to explore.

Pistachio nuts are served at the tasting and the shells are used to line paths

                                                                               

Root cellar 

If you are ever in the Harpers Ferry area, GO THERE.

I highly recomend the 

Lemoncello,

or the 

Black Walnut,

or the 

Cremma Lemma,

or the

Chocolate Raspberry,

or the

 Raspberry Lemon.....

Just go and find out for yourself. 

The virtual tour is almost as fun as the real thing, although won't taste as good.

The day started with this,

followed by this.

a breakfast from our backyard: spinach quiche with sweet potato crust and home grown sausage

and then got better...

Finished

The new shawl  came out so pretty.

That's what happens when one has beautiful yarn,

given to her by a beautiful friend. 

Happy Thanksgiving Week,

~Joan 

Happy Sunday

Brought to you by way of a November vine in Bucks County PA.

Few moments are better than this.

In lieu of the Official Thanksgiving Weekend, they all (save one...Kev's journey home from the far away desert has been delayed) were home this past weekend. The elders, the grands, the lovey lady friends, the newlyweds, the grown up babies of mine...

All the meals generous. in part. from the the abundant harvest off our land this season

gave much credibility
to the very word,
THANKSGIVING.

I am not sure what it is about the Crescent City that keeps luring me back.

It's been my favorite long weekend type getaway place for nearly thirty years.

Perhaps it's the music,

or the food,

  or the strolls though the neighborhoods,

beverage in hand.

Perhaps it the spirit and hospitality of the people who call it home.

or perhaps it's just the ability to simply put everything else aside and go.

I will return as always. Again and again.

Love

I don't have any photos from the first 6 weeks of my oldest's life. 

{my films were lost by the photo processing company}

But as clear as can be I can remember his every expression and movement.

I would stare at him sleeping, stare at him eating or simply stare at him staring at me, 

 both of us trying to figure out our new lives.
The feeling of honor, responsibility and amazement at the ability to create a new little human has never left me.

I vowed to teach him to be kind, to tie his shoes, to persevere, to think of others first, to have good manners, to color between the lines, to keep faith, to run fast, 

and to Love.

I must have at least succeeded on the Love part because 

this happened:

and with that, my family grew by one more.

...and we both continue to figure out our new lives with lots of love to share.

Bunks for the Playhouse

The Nashville Fence

The very old,

 new interpretations of the old,

and a few just for fun.