A Beautiful Day...

Hickory Hill Farm Photograph and Andy and Shelly's Honey

My Birthday weekend this year was "much most excellent". 

It began with Shelly and Andy coming down on Saturday to help me to me move Aluminati off the hill so I could get it ready for transport. They also brought Birthday gifts for me - this beautiful framed picture of our farm (before the large barn was damaged and removed) and two bottles of honey from their hives. It's liquid gold to me!

I invited family to the farmhouse on Saturday evening for a delayed Thanksgiving dinner just so we could share the leftovers! It was a relaxed evening and we all had a nice time.

I got outdoors to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather yesterday morning by decorating the house and yard for the holidays. It will be festive when Handsome arrives for Christmas week. I hung lights from the eaves on the farmhouse, and have a small lighted display on the yard. I still have to hang lights on the barn and on the fence row. I'll do that this week. After they're all up, I'll try to get photos of the yard.

Handsome called in the morning to wish me Happy Birthday and talk about all the things we cover in our husband/wife long-distance calls. I'm so proud of everything he's doing while in Florida, and am so happy he's doing what he loves so much. My day begins when I hear from him.

Sis (Mom Grace's elder daughter, Deb) brought lunch out to the farm around 11:30 am, and we spent the afternoon visiting. She gave me the most wonderful gift of her time. Tag always loves seeing her, and he'll tell you about that tomorrow.

While she was visiting, my granddaughters called to wish their grandma Happy Birthday. It was so sweet to hear their voices. I'll see them this evening when I travel to their town to attend Granddaughter #1's school Christmas concert.

Guests At The Cookie Exchange Party

Sunday evening, I attended the cookie exchange party hosted by my niece. We snacked, my niece had a Birthday cake (and everyone sang to me!), we played a few trivia games and then voted on the cookie challenge.

Cookie Contest Entries

These were samples of all the cookies everyone brought. My niece called out the numbers, and the person who made the cookie explained what it was, how it was made and the ingredients. They all sounded fabulous, and we each got to take a half dozen of each cookie variety home.

Afterward, we were asked to vote on the cookie that best represented the holiday spirit. (In case anyone there reads this, I'm not going to tell you which cookie I picked, but it wasn't my own.) The winner was given a bottle of Christmas wine. (I can't wait to taste it! I think they voted for me because it was my Birthday.)

All these ladies are talented bakers, and there were some unique entries. Number 9, to the left of my dove cookie, was meant to look like a small cup of hot cocoa. It was a delicious cookie dough, filled with chocolate ganache, and topped with tiny marshmallows and sea salt. The "mug's" handle was a curved piece of pretzel. This is one of those cookies that you bite into, slowly close your eyes and make yummy noises! It's that good!

There were drop cookies, pressed cookies, chocolate-covered cookies and spritz cookies. What they have in common is that they're all delicious!

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Before we all parted company, my sisters and I stopped to take a group photograph of the three of us. We were  collective poster kids for the Christmas holiday. My sister, Jan was wearing a holiday sweater. I was wearing leggings (yes, I'm 63, and I'll wear 'em if I want to!) with corgis wearing Christmas stocking caps and riding sleds. My sister, Diana was dressed to look like Elf. She even wore elf-like shoes with jingle bells that tinkled every time she took a step. We couldn't help but giggle every time she moved about the house! She won the award for the Most Festive Attire (and believe me, she deserved it!).

My day ended as it began, with a telephone conversation with my husband and a cup of tea. I couldn't have asked for a better celebration of the beginning of my next year, except to have had Handsome physically here with me. Thanks to my local family and friends for helping me celebrate. Not only was it a beautiful day...it was a beautiful weekend. I continue to count my blessings.