Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I dearly love my family but oh, it is so nice to have my space back, to be back to my familiar routines, to see life get back to normal! Another six inches of fresh snow last night, followed by rain and a marked absence of snow plows or sanding trucks this morning, left the road in front of my house impassable for my daughter's rental car even though the roads down in the valley and the freeway home were bare though soggy.

With more snow in the forecast for the next several days for this region, we decided it was now or never. My daughter arranged for a flat-deck tow truck to load up her vehicle and take it to the bottom of the hill, where she could get onto the highway and head home. Becky, my granddog, hopped up into the cab of the big truck like she'd been doing it all her life! Their trip home was uneventful and life on the farm resumes its leisurely, orderly pace.

In the place of three feet of snow, there is now two feet ten inches of slush. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that the rain will continue, the slush will not freeze, and I will be able to get the piggies out of the barn for some fresh air and exercise within a couple of days. I didn't even take any pictures of the snow at its worst, but here are a few taken about half way through the biggest dump.

Pig yard and pasture

Early Christmas Eve morning

Oliver in snow

Martin in snow

Granddog Becky having fun

And some other Christmas pictures:

Wall to wall dogs

Allie checking out the tree

Princess Belle in Christmas collar

Oliver and Belle in Christmas duds

Like any doting grandma, I had to take tons of pictures of my granddog Becky. Santa brought her a duck for Christmas, and she loved it. She carried it around, lay down beside it, possessively put her paw over it, mouthed it:

As I took down the tree today, and carefully wrapped each treasure in tissue for another year, I smiled thinking of how each ornament on my tree represented a part of my life, a love in my life. Here are just a few of those most precious to me:

My daughter made these when she was 2 - 3 years old:









My friend of more than fifty years made this for me in 1994:





My mom made this a number of years ago. It bears a little sign that says "Squeeze my cheeks and I'll give you a kiss". Squeeze the cheeks, and there is a Hershey's kiss inside. My ex's little niece, Vanessa, thought it was magic as she never saw us put the kisses inside, yet there was always one there when she squeezed the cheeks! I had such fun with Vanessa - she was the very best part of a bad relationship. I suspect she'll always remember me as the auntie who taught her to fish!



And my daughter made this for me when she was living on her own and going to university - it is a replica of my favourite teddy bear, and the back is signed with my daughter's name and the year.

Memories of Christmases past and present, images forever etched in my mind, document the passing years. For all the hoopla and rich foods and travel and stress, it is still one of the very best times of the year.