A White Christmas

A White Christmas this year! My memory may be faulty but I think most of the Christmases of my childhood were white. We built snow forts & had snowball fights across residential side streets when I was a kid. One year, with a dad's help, we all built an igloo in the neighbor's front yard. We weren't allowed to go into it until it was sprayed inside & out & allowed to freeze solid overnight. But we played in it all through the holidays .  .  .  My parents bought the house at the top of the hill & the school yard was at the bottom. When it got really cold & snowy, my dad would flood the road with water & the neighborhood would sled down the hill & into the back of the school football field at the bottom. Everyone was off from Christmas Eve till after Boxing Day anyway so the whole neighborhood sledded. No one spent the time shopping.

I have to say, the 'Shopping Mall' didn't yet exist when I was a kid .  .  .  we shopped at strip malls with Butcher shops, Bakeries, Drug Stores, even a Bulk Buy store, all next to the Buy Low or Safeway or SuperValu. London Drugs did NOT sell milk in those days. Milk was still delivered to the door in my suburb. I do miss all the little shops .  .  . 

Today I had two Turkey dinners, one for brunch & one for dinner. They both had lots of brown turkey meat, mashed potatoes with gravy, diced carrots & turnips & even a wedge of stuffing. The owner of my favorite cafe showed up at the door yesterday with them. He had a huge catering job for today & made a few extras for selected customers. I was very surprised & thankful. I don't have a big oven & raw turkey doesn't microwave very well so I don't get much of it. I think this was the best present of the year!!

Knitting - still finishing up my wash cloths. All my friends have theirs so I can spend time making mine. Hoping to start a top-down cardigan for myself from Deb Gemmel of the Cabin Fever gang. Dug into a couple of baskets full of zip lock bags of yarn to find a dozen skeins of Purple Mule Skinner wool from Custom Woolen Mills in Alberta. It's softer than my favorite B&G wool but similar in weight - about an Aran weight - so it will knit fast. Something warm for getting in & out of my house & car would be nice this time of year. My big cotton sweatshirts are cosy but wool is warmer.