December 1: the first window

What window, you wonder? Let's begin by revisiting Decembers past --when I was a little girl in the 1950's. Then December 1st was an eagerly awaited date. It was the day we got to open the first window of our Advent Calendar.

We didn't call them "Advent Calendars". We called them "Little Christmas Towns".

They were made in Germany and our Mom sold them as a fund-raiser for an epilepsy charity.

The sides folded out so that the Little Christmas Town sat on a chest where my brother and I could contemplate it. There was so much fun in these little paper villages! We had to search out all the numbered windows - some were very well hidden - and guess what might be hidden behind them. There were stories to be made up about the people and activities going on. We argued about whose turn it was to open the next window (with only two of us you'd think it would be obvious, but still.. ) And each window brought us closer to that most magical of holidays, Christmas.

The treasures hidden behind the windows were little pictures: a toy, someone playing a violin, an angel, a candle. Oh, but what a thrill to pry open the little flap of cardboard and see what the new picture for the day might be!
Now there are hundreds of different Advent Calendar designs - besides the paper ones, you could have a Lego one with blocks behind the doors, or a wooden one with little wooden ornaments, or (a really good idea) a chocolate one with a tiny taste of chocolate every day.

The more I thought about what fun the advent calendar was, the more I wanted to recreate it and share it with you. SO...
This year you can count down to December 24th with me!
Yes, I plan to post some pleasant seasonal surprise every morning from now until Christmas Eve. This counts as Window Number 1. Check back tomorrow to find out what's in Window Number 2....

Backyard Horror

No picture will accompany this morning's observations - first of all because it's raining buckets and second because, yuck!

I was squishing my way down the hill to the farthest bird feeder this morning in dreary rain. I was keeping a sharp eye (as sharp as possible early in the morning with cold water dripping off my nose) out for the suet feeder that the raccoon made off with last week.

I didn't find the suet feeder. What I found was a backyard bunny. A leaping bunny. Frozen in the act of leaping. A bunny that had been in the lily garden and was leaving it. Not by the hole in the gate that's big enough for a dog to get through. By a tiny hole in the wire fence. A small hole big enough for the bunny's head. For the bunny's shoulders. For the bunny's belly. But not for the unfortunate bunny's hips.

There it hung, front feet on the ground, hind feet in the air, caught by its hips and unable to wiggle free. Stiff by the time I spy it, eyes glazing over and fur sodden in the rain.

Now what? Do I try to push or pull it out of the hole? Um, actually I don't really want to touch it. Let nature take its course? Why not?

Well, there's the dog to worry about. The dog I caught ripping apart a randomly dead cardinal last week. The dog who would be thrilled to find a bunny body in her yard and would take advantage of the opportunity to show us that a dog really should eat raw meat instead of special kidney diet dog food. That dog.

What am I doing about it?

Thinking: Maybe the rain will stop. Maybe something will come along and carry the carcass off.

Maybe I'll deal with it later.

Pumpkin and Pecan

Gathering in the kitchen on a feast day...

what are the Indy Duo contemplating?

Yum..a duo of pies. Seen here in their brief "before" state.

Before their baker, HoosierKitty, carves them up and adds a dollop of whipped cream.

Before they are eaten all up.

As is traditional.

There's a lot to be said for tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thinking of all of you and wishing you were all around my table!

Another November birthday

Charles may have wanted to hide from his 89th birthday (or the camera), but some things catch up with you no matter what you do.

Mimi made sure that the occasion was celebrated.

She invited everyone to stop by for a birthday visit during the day, and had goodies and cider waiting for us.

HoosierKitty brought the festive balloon as recommended by the wild Wyomians.










Charles' WW II Army uniform was on display with the birthday stuff since his birthday follows Veteran's Day - and it was a good way to start conversations about his service experiences.

What did Charles like best about his birthday?

Easy...he loved having Mimi there all day!

Cheers for little beavers

Monday morning's preschool storytime featured stories about beavers.

So of course we had to do "The Beaver Cheer".

You know? That old camping thing? Well, don't worry - apparently no one else had heard it either. So I taught it to them.

The three- and four-year olds had a little trouble getting their mouths in the right position ( you stick out your front teeth over your lower lip and make an "F" sound that sucks back on your lower lip. It's hard to describe) but they were enthusiastic about learning the cheer.

"I'm a beaver!" they chanted.

"You're a beaver!

"We are beavers all!" they curled up their little paws and sat up straight.

"And when we get together,

We give the beaver call!"

...(fuf! fuf! fuf! fuf!) they smacked their little lips.

The parents were falling out of their seats laughing.

It was a little hard to return to proper storytime decorum.

11:11 11/11

When the national moment of silence in remembrance came:

Granddad was working his latest puzzle.

Socks was keeping her favorite vet company.















I was wearing corduroy and making a Veteran's
Day post about my father.







And you?
What did you do at 11:11 11/11???

13 May 1945

Note for the calendar

November 10th:

"It's raining," says Granddad as we turn into the driveway on the way home from the dentist (he's having new dentures made, our dental visits are frequent).

Rain? Nope, rain's not so white nor so distinct. We'll call that snow.

Laugh away, you wild Wyomians with your winter snow pack already thick on the ground. We've had our five minutes of a flurry and we'll count it as the first snow of the year.

Surely this is the last cake

Yes, Granddad had a third birthday cake.

And the Indy Duo came down to share it with him. Go on, Granddad, blow out the candles.
Open your present.

And you got exactly what you wanted!
Good job, Indy Duo!

A Happy 92nd

Granddad's birthday began with a special breakfast. Roxanne, his Thursday morning caregiver, arrived with a platter of eggs and potatoes and sausage and biscuits. Granddad feasted!
He had birthday cake for lunch.


Socks waited for crumbs to fall, but Granddad was a little more careful with cake than with his usual lunch and so Socks had to make do with a dog food nugget.

In the afternoon, friends dropped by for a slice of cake.

Granddad had another slice himself.
The telephone rang all day - a brother, a son, a friend, Dr. Hausfrau, The Bloomingtonauts, The Indy Duo -- Granddad enjoyed every one of your calls!
In the evening, Mimi and HoosierKitty brought dinner - just the meal that Granddad orders when he gets out to the steakhouse.
We sang, we toasted...

and we all ate cake.






Two cakes - your choice: a filled cake with a fudge icing or a dark chocolate with ganache frosting.

Surprisingly, Granddad had some of each.
Some days you really do get all the cake you want.

Thanks to everyone who made his day so special!

Out of the woods

Mimi and I decided to take a short walk in the woods behind Meadowwood this afternoon. It was a lovely late Fall day and the poplar and oak leaves crunched underfoot. Perfect day for a little easy walk. This patch of woods goes from the nursing home down to the lake.

The paths seemed well marked. We were on the "red" arrow path, then turned on the "yellow" arrow path. We were following a ridge so the paths were mostly level and easy walking. I've hiked over here before. I didn't worry about getting lost.

Mimi collected acorns and mushrooms as we hiked along.
We chatted and watched our feet so we wouldn't trip on the roots across the path.
After a while I suggested we turn onto a "blue" path that seemed to go back in such a way that it would intersect our first path. We'll make a loop, I thought.
This was our first mistake.

We soon caught sight of the lake through the trees.
Where did the intersection with the "yellow" path go? It should have been between us and the lake. We admired the lake and hiked on.
Maybe we should turn back? We've been walking for a half hour.
But which direction to go?

We debate the position of the sun - west? southwest?

We strike out on the path we think we were on.

Recognize this tree?
Um, nope.

Guess this isn't the path we were on.

Maybe we should be going in the opposite direction?
We walk on.

Oh look, here's the lake again.
So we know we need to walk away from the lake, right?

How could we lose our direction so easily?
We have now been walking for an hour.
We come to another intersection.

We strike out on a "green" path.

What's Mimi looking at?

It's the lake, again.
All the trees look familiar.

All the paths look the same.
We debate at every intersection.
We start down paths and then turn around and go back up them.
We have been walking for almost two hours.
We are so turned around that neither of us knows which direction Meadowwood is.
How long can we keep walking?
How many miles has it been so far?

Rescue is at hand! We spot a spry fellow walker in a corduroy hat. He looks as if he knows where he's going. We shout and wave him down and explain our predicament. He kindly points us in the right direction.

It is exactly the direction I had just firmly stated was the wrong one.

10 minutes later we're back on a sidewalk.

Mimi refrains from comment.

It was a lovely day for a walk.