Christmas photos

These are not in any particular order but are images from the last two days.

We had a wonderful holiday. The weather held out long enough for us to get to my parents briefly yesterday. One sister was there (from Maryland). My other sister, from Colorado didn't make it due to the storm. They opted to stay home where it was safe. My brother is in Argentina. We had a smaller Christmas than usual, partly because of economic conditions, partly because we just don't need as much stuff.

The boys each got Mythbuster's science experiment kits. K9 was experimenting with his today.

Baking soda and citric acid in water, blowing up a balloon.

It's fun.

He's a bit more apprehensive as the balloon gets bigger!

We had 2.5 inches of rain Thursday into Friday morning. The creeks were running high- but it was beautiful. It still didn't manage to wash away all of our snow.

Our tiny pond is a bit bigger than usual.

V was surprised by his big gift

And later at my parents, Dad came through with a companion gift-

Chain oil!

We did get about 4 inches of snow overnight, enough for V to really use the snowblower. My parents were pleased that we got something that we can really use with their gift.

It's one powerful machine!

My gift from V

I also got two silicone baking mats, Ethel gloves (OK, I'll confess, I got those for myself for a stocking stuffer when J15 and I discovered them on the discount rack for $5 a pair!) and a new wooden spoon. I also ended up with a video game for the XBox. In all the years that we have had it, I have played exactly one time- but I still got a game for Christmas (Assassin's Creed)- I think really because V wanted it for himself.

The boys got their science experiments, some clothes, books and a couple of video games. K got his pocketknife. J15 got earrings, an art supply organizer/box, books and a game. Even the pets got gifts, Tick got a new chew toy and the cats got a scratching post that we attached to a corner of the kitchen island where they seem to think they want to sharpen their claws.

More seed catalogs arrived today. I'm now up to 7. Fun for dreaming of the spring and making plans... I really want to do some serious permaculture on this land. We were joking around at inviting an old friend from Virginia to come visit us and give us tips. She has her own landscape design business.

We're also working on designing our new deck which we hope to build wrapping around the addition. We're in luck that my Dad has some lumber that he's willing to give us. Dad is a scrounger (I come by it naturally) and a number of years ago, when a tornado came through and took out the airplane hanger at the neighbors (he has a crop dusting service and landing strip) my Dad salvaged a bunch of lumber. He has a stack of treated 6x6 beams, the longest of which is 26 feet. That's waaay longer than we will need or will be able to transport- but we now have support posts for our deck at no cost other than transportation from my parents.

Now that the holidays are past and we are into the depths of winter, we can do some serious planning for spring/summer projects and next years goals.