Christmas Day 2020... Pandemic style

It's Christmas day here in Texas... and the Pandemic is still raising it's ugly head... keeping us from gathering with our families for the holidays (or anytime).   So far we have all been very careful and safe for the most part, wearing our masks, washing our hands, and staying away from gatherings.

BUT... both our daughter-in-laws are nurses and have been working non-stop, exhausted, and bringing home awful stories of what they deal with on a day to day basis. They warn us of how serious this Covid virus can be. We get stories of a young mother with Covid who may not make it, her newborn baby in intensive care... and she may never see him. One father and his daughter died the same day... with the wife in intensive care. Watching people die struggling for breath must be beyond awful. I am so proud of both my daughter-in-laws for their courage and spirit. But I worry about them too... as they are up front with this horrible virus.

This week one of them tested positive for the virus. Now son and grand daughter (8) will be tested ASAP and all will isolate for the next 2 weeks.  2020 seems like it won't leave us unscathed.

Christmas morning

One of grand daughter's gifts from us was the pink hoodie with attached doggie mask...  appropriate for this Christmas morning.

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There's not a lot else to say. It's been fairly quiet around here. We opened a few gifts, sat by the fire-place, talked or texted with the kids and grandkids, watched one of the new(?) Jurassic Park movies, and put a roast in the oven for later.  DH and I got a few cat puzzles and I got the cutest pair of cat pj's.  Here's a pic!

So, I'm going to leave you today with my hopes

that you are all having a good (if not merry) Christmas

 with those with whom you feel safe...

and

 I want you to know how much I appreciate 

all my blogger friends

Thank you for being there

I love reading your blogs and your comments!

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

   

New puppy...

 

Winston

(I'm writing this on Sunday... although I probably won't post it until Monday)

Had to show this cute face.  This is Winston, new puppy for our oldest son and his wife! He is a Golden Retriever/Standard poodle mix... a Golden Doodle??   Whatever... he is adorable. Nothing like a puppy or a kitten to make a person smile.

Well, my Christmas baking and mailing is all done. There is still a lot of goodies around... Christmas tea cakes, chocolate pecan bark, rum cakes, and whiskey balls! I didn't take any pics this year...  but since I basically make the same stuff each year, you probably have already seen it anyway. 

Just ordered a rump roast and all the fittings (potatoes, carrots, onions) to cook for Christmas day. We have turkey on Thanksgiving and a pork roast (with cabbage and black-eyed peas) for New Years... so a roast will have to suffice for Christmas. We could do a baked ham... but neither grandson or I are big on ham... and DH would have a hard time eating one by himself. 

We don't do a lot of gift giving anymore... used to do quite a lot when the kids were home... but now, we give gifts only to the grandkids and the grownups get Christmas goodies. DH and I pick out one thing that we would like and that's our Christmas. This year he picked out a book and I ordered one of those digital thermometers that take your temp from your forehead. Works for us!

A few minutes ago DH and I were out looking for the Christmas Star that is supposed to be the closest it's been in 800 years tomorrow night. You can see the 2 planets tonight... not as well as supposedly we'll be able to tomorrow evening. I think there will be many people looking up and wishing on that Christmas Star. Maybe it's an omen that things will be better in 2021.  We can only hope.

Now something that has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas... as I was sitting on the sofa folding clothes, I happen to look up and see the weird pottery projects that we had to do a few years ago...

The rooster and the puffin heads were the projects. We had to do animal heads...  so these weird items hang high up on my kitchen wall. I also did a smaller eagle head that is hung up in another room.

I'm not much for doing animal heads... especially don't care for real animal heads on walls (find it gross, but that's just my opinion - here in Texas you do see this a lot). However, this was an assigned project... (and it wasn't real).

OK... that's my post for today. Hope to get another in before or after Christmas. But if not, Merry Christmas 2020! 

And here's wishing all of you 

a better, healthier,

 happier 2021!

Hugs, (virtual of course)

Rian

Christmas music by the fire...

Hi Everyone! Today is Saturday, December 12th (2020 - but who doesn't know that?) Anyway, I'm supposed to be baking Christmas cookies to send out, but have hit a snag... our hot water heater took this day to die... yes, and on a Saturday to boot! 

I did manage to get one batch of my home-made nutty granola made before DH brought me the news. It's not that I can't bake... but I can't clean up without any hot water.  

And we shouldn't complain too much as we knew this day was coming. We have needed a new hot water heater for a while and have been putting it off. So... despite the inconvenience, it's not such a tragedy, we will simply have to postpone the baking and mailing for a few days (and no hot showers!). 

We did mail off 2 packages of goodies Thursday. So only about 4 more to go. And we received 2 Christmas packages from DH's brothers this week. One was a box full of  chocolate goodies... dark chocolate covered cashews, a mix of regular, dark, and white chocolate smores, hot chocolate mix, etc. (love these!) and the other was several bags of Angelo Brocato's Italian seed cookies. (love these too!). Despite it all... life is good.

As I've mentioned before, I don't watch the news much anymore... sometimes I put it on just to get the weather info... and once they start talking about politics, OFF IT GOES!

I do listen to the Covid statistics... and that hasn't been too encouraging (even with the vaccines coming out). The numbers of cases and deaths keep rising, but this can't be unexpected - not with Thanksgiving gatherings just over 2 weeks ago and Christmas shopping and parties starting.

I do believe that most people are being sensible and following the guidelines (sacrificing their get-together with family and friends this year for the greater good) but those who refuse to do so  make it  difficult... and it's obviously counter productive because as the numbers increase, the chance of things being closed and locked down go up.  

OK... enough of that.

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with her new puppy

Our youngest grandchild turned 8 recently. 8!!  I can't believe she is 8 already. Where do the years go? And due to Covid, we've hardly seen her this year at all...

At home

 in class

If all goes well, we've got a lot of 'catching up' to do in 2021...

Going to close this with one of my all time favorite Christmas songs song by Pentatonix, "Mary, did you know?"  (Skip ads) Since I couldn't bake this afternoon, I spent part of the afternoon lying on the sofa by the fireplace listening to this... and other Pentatonix songs. 

Wishing you a quiet safe healthy weekend at home... with pleasant memories of good times, good friends, and past Christmases that will come again when this crisis is over. These are the things that really matter...  that we keep each other safe so we can share these times again.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

3 weeks till Christmas 2020...

You have to admit that most of us will be glad to see the back of 2020.  Even now that it's only weeks away, there's still trepidation. What will the next few weeks hold? 

Life goes on - in its strange pandemic way. We have each found a new routine (and a new hairstyle - I now have a 5 inch white ponytail - DH may have one too if I stop cutting his hair) that in the past year has become our new normal. And even though for the most part (at least for many that I know) we haven't been hit personally with the virus, we now know many that have. This IMO was bound to happen as the number of  positive cases escalate. 

The only family members who have contacted Covid so far have been a step-grandson in Kentucky and a sister-in-law in Texas.  Others we have heard about are 3 friends in Colorado. Only the SIL (83) was hospitalized, but is now home and doing well.  

We remain sheltering at home, etc. and will continue to do so...  (with or without the vaccine). 

But going on to Christmas 2020.... 

I started my Christmas baking today:

rum cakes

 We've decorated the house here and there (not a lot):

front room

Santa visits Finky mouse on China cabinet

Santa sharing Thanksgiving Table

Santa visits cheeky chickens who can't be fired due to studio closure

Elf and Christmas Angel

2020 downsized tree  (with New Orleans Mardi Gras beads 
and apparently no Mardi Gras parades this year due to Covid)

 ...and sadly no cats lying by the fireplace 
first time in our 52 years of marriage

Anyway, that's enough sharing for today. Started this Friday and it's now Monday. I have finished 2 batches of whiskey balls and 2 batches of frosted Christmas tea cakes over the weekend. 

Oh, and I have to share this pic I saw of a black cat t-shirt...

Cute, huh?

Hugs (virtual),

Rian