12.1

I woke up on Thanksgiving morning and saw this in the ravine:

I immediately thought, “Oh, there’s my venison backstrap.” Oh, were it so…

By the time we opened the venison chops that we found in the freezer at a local specialty market, to find that one package was definitely “off,” and so immediately dooming the second by association (of a 1-year-plus-old sell by date), the grocery stores were all closed. Rusty was at the studio, and our only hope was that a nearby Kwik Trip was open. There was a pretty good chance of that and, thankfully, they’re quite a bit more than your run-of-the-mill gas station convenience store… but what would they have??

We ended up with sirloin steaks. Honestly, not too bad, and everything else went smoothly. We had roasted acorn squash, wild rice pilaf with mushrooms & dried cranberries, and a fresh salad of alfalfa sprouts & dried cranberries with toasted pine nuts. I was in charge of dessert, and made Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake With Salted Maple Cream from NYT Cooking. It’s a gift article (Happy Holidays!), and I’m sharing because Rusty, the usual maker & extreme lover of pumpkin (or any other) pie around here, declared it to be The Best Dessert Ever! With a review like that, man, I’ve just gotta shout it from the rooftop! It was suggested that the cake would improve with time, so I baked it on Wednesday evening & whipped up the maple cream just before serving.

On Friday, I bought a new car. I’m picking it up after work today. Maybe I’ll have a nice pic for you tomorrow!

Saturday brought our first significant snowfall. We’ve been hemming & hawing about buying a snowblower for a while now, and I bit the bullet. (Obviously, some spending happened this Holiday weekend, but all very practical, mostly planned-for purchases.) Rusty & Kate put it together on Sunday morning (when it was really needed), and Kate did the deed!

I’d had a call on Wednesday from the quilt shop that my turn for the long-arm was here! Naturally, I’d put off adding the border — though I had cut all the strips. So I was busy getting that done between everything else (so much sorting, organizing & rearranging) and, because I’m math challenged when it comes to figuring what I need for strips/binding, I was short & had to cut another strip! Anyway, while it was still light/before the roads got too bad, I dropped it off on Saturday. We’d already discussed the backing fabric when I was there earlier, so this time we chose thread color, stitch design & scale, and batting — so fun!! I have no idea how long it’s going to take, but I’m so excited to get it back!! I ended up with a LOT more binding than needed the first time I made it, so we’ll see how it goes this time.

Ali & the kids came over on Sunday for a late lunch, hanging out, and decorating! I’d sorted through toys & games, and we made some decisions about that… as I’m slowly de-childproofing my house, now that they’re getting older.

Ginny & Davy were most into the tree decorating, while Junah was very busy building a new K’nex project, and Malina had a project of her own (with buttons & glue) happening in the kitchen… then she shifted to arranging the tableau above. From left to right: a little candle holder fireplace w/sleeping mouse that Ali gave me for Christmas one year (from a “gift shop” at school) (my childhood nickname was “Mouse”); one of two vintage angel candles; bottle brush trees w/fabric stars; a ceramic reindeer music box (broken antler) made by my grandparents; one of three silver angel ornaments (the other two are atop the bottle brush trees on the right), these angels are tiny versions of our tree-topper; Jesus, Mary & Joseph, also made by my grandparents (amusingly, Mary & Jesus were found packed away in a completely separate box than Joseph); a glittery, springy wire tree decoration; my one-and-only Christmas village building – the White Horse Bakery; the other angel candle, bottle brush trees; a glittery gold star tree-topper; a LEGO snowman; and a set of three elf decorations. Chances are, this will be added to & rearranged a few times before Christmas.

We had a nice lunch & a great time hanging out. I sent them on their way with bags of goodies & two advent calendars — a “Monster Trucks” version for the boys to share/do together, and a “LEGO Friends” version for the girls. They seemed very excited. We’ll see if only one door gets opened each day…

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!