Christmas Eve, A Different and Thankful One

 One morning I got a glimpse of special beauty. It was a frosty, blue skied, sun shining brightly morning. The old dried summer grass rimming the frozen pond was sparkling with bits of ice, looking like a field of diamonds shimmering in the sun. A little breeze added to the shimmering effect.  I took a photo but a bad one that did not do the scene justice. But it made me think how nature provides such beauty when left to her own devices, no matter the season. 

I found this tiny evergreen growing among the cedars. He will have to fight for his right to stay there but we know how strong trees are especially if they have the opportunity to run their roots deep. 

And on that same walk through an unfamiliar trail I found out why I occasionally find large pine cones close to the house like the ones Robbie and I collected. A huge pine tree reaching to the sky in amongst those cedars was loaded with large pine cones. Hard to see but all the blacker blobs are pine cones.

I succumbed to the yarny goodness lure and began crocheting an afghan for a Christmas gift. It's for Robbie so I chose blues and a few browns for contrast. 

 

Here it is now and it's all ready to give away.  He likes to get cozy in the one I made for his mom, the Sweet Pea version, so I thought he should have his own.  All treble crochet with Stylecraft Dk yarn; I order it from the Wool Warehouse in the UK. They provide excellent and fast service.

I also sewed this. ???

 I had never heard of Among Us, the newly popular online game. I was told Robbie will like getting it. They are astronauts apparently and it needed a little back pack which I made like a pouch and attached separately.

No pattern available, of course, so I had to wing it by looking at a little plush toy on Amazon. It reminds me of Minions or Teletubbies.  Fingers crossed it will pass muster with the 7 year old.

Cookies from daughter. I look forward to one each night as an after dinner treat. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost...

The Santa Claus parade was cancelled so our neighbours went ahead with making a little float for their grandkids and driving them around the neighbourhood. We appeared at the end of our driveway to cheer them on. That's grandad there dressed as the Grinch coming toward us to hand out candy canes and that's grandma waving. 

What wonderful grandparents!

While at the end of our driveways, our next closest neighbours, who we've just waved to up till now, trotted over to meet us. They had their house built the same time as our wooden one was being built so knew lots about it. For instance, they told us why a second well was dug down by the pond. Apparently the brothers who built the house loved animals and enjoyed how the pond was used by them. When it dried up the first summer, they decided to dig a well down there to keep the pond flooded. Which I am using for the same purpose these late years and so pleased to know I'm carrying on what they would have liked.  Up till now we thought it was to flood the pond for wintertime skating. The former owners had a skating shack and electric lights rigged up for their teenage son and his friends who used it quite a bit. 

Ontario is back to a complete lockdown as of Boxing Day. Though low where I live, the numbers keep rising and I think there is renewed concern because of the mutated version appearing in England and Europe.  

  I have a lot of things that need doing, one of which is a delicious one-cook a turkey. I'm really looking forward to having Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. However, the weather is not very Christmasy looking with rain pouring down. A heavy rainfall warning is in effect.  

The three of us here will enjoy the day very much nonetheless. We are thankful to have avoided illness so far and know enough to count our blessings, naming them one by one.  We hope your Christmas will be equally peaceful and wonderful!