For those who know me personally, you know that I am not really a huge fan of Christmas.
I am more of a Halloween kind of gal, and I have found that the Christmas season tends to wear me down. It's the rushing about... it's the tendency for some to overload on the commercialism of the season...it can be a bit much for some for me at times.
The last few weeks have been a bit rough... I haven't been sleeping well, worried about this and that... I've had some headaches, and have had issues with my Lupus-- most of which I can blame on the colder weather and such.
Some days are harder than others, but I try to think on positive things when times get to me.
Even though these are lean times... we have much to be grateful for, and I've been trying to concentrate on these things.
Our house is quite well built, and if we have a fire in the fireplace (which we have for the past 2 weeks)... it is quite toasty.
Due to the daughter chopping up lots of dead trees in the yard, we have lots of firewood (and more seasoning for next year).
Because we didn't get all the brush cleaned up in the yard... there is a mound of tree trimmings... which has provided shelter for bunnies and the like. These past few days I've even seen deer huddled near "the mound" in the wee hours of the morning.
Because we made friend with some local farmers, we had the opportunity to work on one of the farms briefly this summer. Because of that, we have frozen squash and home-made spaghetti sauce in the freezer.
Earlier this year, I had helped carry things for a friend who purchased items at an estate sale. Because I was friendly and helpful to the auction folks, I was invited to come back and look at the debris before it was hauled off to see if I wanted anything. Because I went back, I discovered a book that looked interesting. It was a doctoral thesis, with a handwritten letter in it addressed (but not mailed) to the writer of the thesis. I tracked down the writer, and mailed it to him. Today, we received a bounty of fresh fruit from the writer, who was deeply thankful for the book, and the letter.
The photo at the top of this post is of my Christmas Cactus.
This is it's 3rd year. I grew it from a tiny bit that had broken off my mother's... and I wasn't sure it would survive.
Right now, it has about 30 blooms on it. It is amazing.
And the photo below is of our yard, currently covered in a light blanket of snow.
Take care my friends, stay warm... and delight in the good things.
See you all tomorrow.
