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| Pat with his friend Paul and Deb, Christmas 2023 |
Good morning folks!
Here we are at another Christmas Eve. Is it me or does each year seem to go by faster as we grow older?
The photo above is Pat and his friends Paul and Deb. Every year at Christmastime Paul and Deb invite Pat to help them pick out a Christmas tree and have a Christmas dinner with them. This is a nice annual tradition they have. Paul is one of Pat's fellow band members. They're very good friends. I visited Paul and Deb with Pat several years ago. They have a lovely home in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. And they are lovely people. Pat doesn't take photos like I do. I had to urge him to take a selfie picture of the three of them with Deb's Christmas tree behind them. Pat put his iPhone on a time and viola! Here is the result, a memory for the ages.
Today would have been my Mom's 100th birthday. My Mother didn't quite make it to 87 years old. She was the youngest of five children. Her Mother died when my Mom wasn't yet two years old. I was lucky, I had my Mom for seventy years. I've been lucky in many ways, I have had Bill for fifty-nine years now.
What's planned for today? Just a quiet Christmas Eve. This morning I was working outside a bit, cutting back a holly tree that is trying to grow through out back deck. Having a house, it's always a challenge to keep plants from swallowing up the house.
While I was out back I saw my widower neighbor Bob on his back deck with his dog and his son-in-law. Just about his whole extended family is visiting him for Christmas. They invited me over later to have snacks with them. I don't think I'll go but I appreciate the invitation. I'm not into those big socializations, especially families. This is their holiday celebration. They don't need an old guy who lives next door intruding on their family celebration.
Yesterday I made grasshopper pie for the first time in almost twenty-five years. It's still a production number (probably why I haven't made it in so long) but oh so delicious! It's one of those light, subtle pies you keep in the freezer. The only thing missing was the green food coloring but the taste was still heavenly.
My hope is for you all to have a wonderful Christmas however you plan on spending it.
8 comments:
The years certainly do fly faster every year. Have a wonderful Christmas, Ron, with all the best for you and Bill. That grasshopper pie sounds great!
It's been awhile since I've had proper time to be on line and read blogs.
I want to wish you/yours a Happy Holiday!
I am glad you are my friend and in my life.
Happy Holidays, Ron. Wishing you and Bill the best in the coming year. Yes, those years do fly by. As the saying goes....the days are long, and the years are short. The pie sounds glorious!
Paranormal John
Now that is a picture I have been waiting to see, Pat in his element. It is a great picture. It is so nice he spends time with the couple. We all need friends as they do come in handy sometimes. I miss my holly trees both those at my former home and my timber farm in Kentucky. The hollies that are in the landscape of my former home required alot of care. I always tried to put off the pruning until around Christmas season so I could decorate with the prunings. You pay a fortune for sprigs of holly from a florist. The hollies on the timber farm are massive 2-400 or more years old. The height is staggering. We would sell one every once in awhile to a lumber yard. It takes an enormous helicopter to fly the tree up and out of the mountain ravines. The lumberjacks walk into the forest and hike up and over and repel down into ravine. They maintain radio contact with the helicopter. The arborist climbs the holly and places a cable at a predetermined height up the trunk. Then when everyone is in position the sawyer uses an enormous chain saw to cut the tree off as near to the ground as possible. Tension is maintained by the expert helicopter pilot and when tree is free of the stump it is flown off to an area where it is processed and placed on a rail car or a logging trailer for transport to the new owners. They pay many hundreds of thousands of dollars for these trees. They make veneer out of them and certain choice pieces are used for furniture restoration , repars or new furniture construction. It was and still is very big business and our forests has never ever been clear cut. We were lucky that the British never raided our land for timbers for war ship building. The forest is mountianous and difficult to access. I sold a very rare old yew tree that had an unusually long straight trunk that was good to make inlays for very expensive furniture and to repair historic antique furniture. BIG business. Well Christmas Day 2023 is almost over. My day was quiet and very uneventful. It started with a beautiful sunrise which turned quickly to rain and it has been peeing down the rest of the day. The sound of the rain made me sleepy so I have napped on and off for the afternoon. Now its time for my Christmas dinner of t-bone steak, baked sweet potato, brussel sprouts and cranberry sauce and a bottle of red wine. I will eat it all in front of the tv on a tray table and will be happy as a hog in mud wallow. Be safe, be careful and be happy. See you all soon right back here with Ron. Peace. So sayeth Woody in Ohio
Jon,
That grasshopper pie was great! I will definitely be making it again. I hope your Christmas was peaceful. Good that you were home again.
Ron
Ur-spo,
I hope you had a pleasant and peaceful Christmas. I too am glad you are my friend for life.
Ron
Paranormal John,
You are so right, the days are long and the years short. When I was young I couldn't wait until I got older. Now the days are going by too fast. By the way, the grasshopper pie turned out great!
Ron
Woody,
You have again provided me with more new information that I didn't know about. I am a sponge for information. I can' never get enough. I love my holly trees. I hate to trim them but they must be trimmed for them to look their best. I love the look of the red berries and so do the birds who have taken up residence in our back yard. I didn't know holly tree wood was used in such a way. I have a LOT of holly trees. I think twenty three.
Your Christmas dinner sound great. I haven't eaten steak in over forty years but I do eat round steak (I guess that is steak isn't it, I mean T-bone steak). I'm having Swiss steak tonight with mashed potatoes and broccoli and a Royal Farms biscuit. Then later I will top it off with that delicious grasshopper pie I made. I will be making that pie again for sure!
Aways good to hear from you Woody and all the information you provide.
Ron
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