December's Music Selection

Every December, one should take as many opportunities as possible to enjoy the pinnacle of holiday music:*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efUoP8_t7Xs

* (Of course, Advent and Christmas hymns are a different matter.)

Thanksgiving at the Coast

Joshua and I headed over to the coast on Wednesday after work to spend Thanksgiving with Grandad.

Thanksgiving dinner Thursday afternoon, followed by pumpkin pie. We had an early dinner, then headed over to Shore Acres.

We got there in the late afternoon and enjoyed the views of the ocean. It was sunny, but chilly.

As the sun was going down, we went into the gardens to get a view of them while it was still light.

There aren't a lot of flowers this time of year, but it was still pretty and there was another spot to get a view of the ocean.

We had gone to Shore Acres to see the Christmas lights and as it got dark they looked great. It was fun to walk around and look at everything with lights everywhere.

This is a view of a lot of the garden from the upstairs window of the old caretaker's house. As you can see, they put up tons of lights; it is really impressive.

There were a few animated displays that lit up different sections at different times. My favorite was the frog jumping into the water.

By this time, it was really getting cold and even all bundled up we were getting chilly. Grandad headed for the truck to sit down and warm up while Joshua and I took one more look around at all the lights.

Joshua took some video of the animated lights.
(If the video doesn't appear, try in Incognito/Private browsing mode.)

It was so fun and festive to see all the lights; they really do a great job.

We got back to Grandad's and had our first cup of Tea of Good Tidings for the seasons.

I'd been looking forward to this all day.

Then we had a little snack and piece of pie.

Friday we decided to throw a couple crab traps off the pier and see if we could catch anything. It was another chilly day and a little windy at the pier, but not too bad and it was sunny and beautiful.

Grandad and Joshua baited the traps and then sent them over the edge. While they were in the ocean, we chatted on the pier and enjoyed the sunshine and scenery.

After about 45 minutes, we pulled them up. There was one crab in the first trap, but Grandad measured it and it was just barely too small to keep. We got a number of small crabs in the second trap, and one that was big enough to be a keeper!

We stopped by the cleaning station to clean the crab, then went back to cook up it up and feast on crab for lunch. It was delicious.

We had an early dinner with Grandad, then headed back home to be ready for work Saturday morning. It was another wonderful visit to the coast.

Meeting Pepper

Joshua and I finally got a chance to head north last Saturday and meet the newest member of the Starbuck clan, Pepper. She is a sweet little cutie and we were so glad to meet her and spend time with the rest of the family. We arrived in time for lunch, which Ben had barbecued, yum. Then we spent the afternoon visiting, playing a game, and reading books. We enjoyed dinner together, then Ben had to head out for a prior commitment. Joshua and I visited a little longer and had a photo shoot with Rachel and the girls.

Joshua and Jory reading together. 

 Joshua and I with Rachel and the girls, Jory, Amelia, and Pepper.

One more picture with Rachel and Pepper as we were saying goodbye. It's always a blessing to spend time with such good friends.

Through the Seasons

 We discovered as we were moving into our new house that the living room has an echo. It got a lot better after we put furniture and things in the room, but it still echoed a little. So, I decided to make a wall hanging which should take care of the rest of the problem. I dug through my box of fabric and cut a bunch of different squares, then sewed them all together. Here is the finished wall hanging:

I call it "Through the Seasons." It was a fun project and I am pleased with how it turned out.