Three Dogs, Two Grandsons , And Fourteen Neighbors And Family

Party!

8:00

8:06

As expected, it's another gray sky morning, punctuated by the whiteness of the lake and yard. It's 18º and the ice fishermen have been out since 6:30, in the dark, when I got up. At the moment, it's 7:37, and at least ten guys are spread out, mostly along Long Point although one is out in the middle, off of the reeds. The finches are out there, now that it's light, looking for sunflower seeds so I better fill up the feeder.

Mailboxes

Our Road

Saturday Morning

Yesterday, we got light snow on and off during the day, enough so that I shoveled twice and will need to again this morning because we got maybe five more inches overnight. It's a winter wonderland out there. We had no plans for the morning, so we were in no hurry to gather the trash for my weekly trip to the Transfer Station. Once the blog and breakfast were done, I went out and cleared off the snow from the car and cleared out the parking area. While I was doing that, Evie was putting together a chili for today's dinner and making the ingredients for an appetizer, Buffalo chicken egg rolls for last night's gathering.

I left for the Transfer Station at 11:30 and had to clear the snow off the car again. It was cold out there, in the low teens and the Transfer Station was not very busy. When I came home, Evie had the chili simmering on the stove and suggested making a quesadilla for lunch. So along with soup, I was happy to in be inside, enjoying lunch and watching my program. I then returned to my book, briefly napped, and took it easy, no shoveling. Around 4:45,  Evie put together the egg rolls and baked them, after having showered and gotten ready for the evening.

Excitement

With The Grandsons

We walked in snow over to our neighbors, Bud and Debi's house, and joined the rest of the gang for something called the Cousins' Christmas. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any cousins there, only neighbors, sons, and grandsons. The idea behind this yearly gathering is an exchange of gifts, usually, things you don't want or would donate, the sillier the better. Everyone brings a gift, gets a gift or if you don't like your gift, you can take someone else's gift, although no one knows yet what's in the gift. 

A Winner

Portrait Of Cat With Butterfly Hair Clips(sure to hang over a couch)

So once everyone has the gift they want, we go around the room and open the gifts, usually to laughter and oohs and aahs. The highlights may have been a ceramic cat that when plugged in, sends off an aroma. Also cool was a portrait of a cat with hair clips, or painted, ceramic angel napkin holders. Before the opening, we had lots of appetizers and drinks, priming the gang for the fun. After the excitement of the gift opening, we had pork sliders, so everyone left around 9:00, full and with a gift. By the way, it was mandatory to take your gift home. It was quite a night and we all look forward to next year because we can give last year's gift to someone else. 

Barb And Julie Excited With Their Gifts

A Happy Gang