Some Holiday Photos

We had a little get together the Sunday before Christmas - just coffee, tea, eggnog, wine and lots of cookies and snack food.  I was determined to take pictures during the party.  But, as usual, I got so busy eating, talking, flitting around like a butterfly, that I totally forgot to use my camera.  These pics were taken before guests arrived.

We spent a very quiet Christmas Eve.  After a long hike with the dog we drove to Litchfield and stopped for lunch @the Corner.  We had a very pleasant and leisurely lunch and Dottie joined us for coffee and dessert.  She took our picture.  We went home and watched Netflix for the rest of the evening.

It makes me happy to know that after nearly 25 years, Leon and and still enjoy each other's company and can share these simple times together. 

 

We went to my brother and sister-in-law's for Christmas dinner and Leon snapped a photo of me and my sister and brother.  I realized that we have no photos of the three of us together so this was a rare occasion - the three of us happened to be sitting on the same sofa.

Me and My Sibs - MaryAnn and Mike

We had a wicked snowfall the other day - six inches of water-logged snow which we ended up shoveling mostly by hand because the snowblower we have is crap.  Has been ever since we purchased it 5 years ago.  Snow melts and gets into the belt drive which then slips and sometimes overheats to the point that it smokes.  The machine also never cleaned the snow well, usually spitting it out haphazardly and not even getting down to the asphalt.

Leon, after having it "repaired" several times at outrageous  expense, decided to matters into his own hands.  He went out and bought new belts and we went on YouTube to find a repair video - which of course we found.  Leon is handy like that anyway, and in a pinch, I can tackle a mechanical repair if needed.

Leon Being Butch

This Is The Worst Machine We've Ever Owned

So we took the snowblower apart and replaced the belts.  Leon put weatherstripping tape around the belt housing to help keep snow-melt from getting the belts wet.

Me, Trying To Be Butch

Got it all back together and tested it out on yesterday's six-inch snowfall.  Leon was happy.  Said it has never worked better - even when new or after the many trips to the dealer for repairs and adjustments.

Sorry, no photos of snow-blowing...been there, done that.

Last night we were invited for dinner at Dottie's.  Dottie is a friend we met about a year and a half ago at the doggie park.  Her dog, Katja and our Benni are in love.  Dottie is vegetarian and she wanted to cook us a meal to demonstrate how good it can be.

Dottie has a very nice open concept home which she designed and furnished with her very unique style.  She loves stone and granite and contemporary furnishings. She even made her own acrylic dining room table.

Dottie, Cooking in Her Unique Kitchen 

Here is dinner - or part of it.  We also had a nice salad, and tofu and baked apples for desert.  Everything was delicious.   Note the beautiful stone/granite/marble counter top on the right.

Tempeh and Vegetables over Angel Hair Pasta

We had a real nice evening, eating, chatting and being molested by Katja who couldn't understand why Benni didn't come with us.