And Then There Were Four

Seventeen Christmases ago, my sweet Bruce gave me a Christmas present, a digital camera, that would change my life. It is not very often that a gift can change a life, yet if I think about it, maybe it is not all that unusual after all? Has it happened to you? Since December 25, 2006 I have taken photographs every single day. Yup. Well there was that time I had pneumonia and skipped a week or two. Probably some other ailments kept me from "practicing" , but setting that sort of thing aside, a camera is always with me. Lots of people are in that boat these days, what with mobile phones, however when I began in earnest it was very unusual indeed.

Gosh it has been fun. 

I began this blog about six weeks after that Christmas and for all these years I have kept at it. I am behind though. 

I'm puzzling about where to start but maybe Christmas Eve will do.

Indeed that would be me in a familiar stance with a bag hanging off my shoulder and a camera in my hand. It was a glorious Christmas Eve candlelight service with beautiful music and a packed house. The youth group was raising funds by selling memorial luminaries. Bruce did one for Christian!

Should you be wondering, according to his parents, he is not only a good baby but the cutest one ever born. I just made that up, but doesn't every parent feel that way?? Well, I will say that my babies were not exactly angels but they were pretty darn cute, even if I do say so myself. :)

Although we were not there in person, we most certainly did not lack for companionship from those beautiful boys and now their loved ones, because beginning at 7:30 in the morning we visited with them either by phone or Facetime. Tom and Matt were joined by his parents, Ray and Jane, and when I saw this image on my computer screen, naturally I had to pull out my camera!

See, I was not exaggerating when I said my camera is by my side at all times! In the last post, I believe I mentioned gifts from a downtown shop were in our future thanks to Matt ordering from the only shop he could find with a website. It won't surprise you to see that all ornaments speak to our interests.

Here is where the title comes into play....Matthew and Tom gave us our fourth bird feeder as a Christmas gift and this one is unlike all of the others. Check out this link to Bird Buddy to see what it is all about. This is a terrible picture, taken through the parlor window with the screen on, but it gives you an idea what I am talking about.  It's the blue one with the camera!!There is a learning curve that we are still figuring out.

We have discussed taking down the unused trellises but then again, maybe we will put them to use this spring?  Birds, my friends, have been visiting all four of the feeders like mad to ward off the cold of which there has been plenty. The worst is yet to come. I have finally cooled off!

When we were not visiting with our sons, I was in the kitchen preparing the meal for our guests Mark and Mary Beth.

The menu was thus:

Appetizers: olives, cheese ball, and salami roll ups  (personally I don't need apps because I can only eat so much, but as they are expected, I fix them).

Dinner: Prime Rib, scalloped potatoes, spinach salad with apples/ pecans/feta, roasted asparagus and good old fashioned crescent rolls from the tube.

Dessert: The infamous sugar cookies clipped from the Orange County Register when we lived in California circa 1977. They are just so good, why mess with success?

Somehow we sat at that table for hours on end and so it was, a very excellent Christmas day. 

The ornaments from Matthew were not the only ones we received this year, Laura gave us this one.

Perhaps you recognize the building?

Our sweet friend Brittany dropped off some Christmas goodies which are pictured here along with some fantastic tea from Jonathan and Alissa. A match made in heaven.

As to the hot sauce, Nancy wisely addressed that package to Bruce. Mini, yet mighty? No thanks!

While we are on the subject of gifts, Ruth's birthday present arrived the other day and not a day too soon. The following day the wind blew like mad allowing us to experience a concert on the front porch.

Actually we could hear them indoors because of the ferocious wind. "Amazing Grace" is the name of the chimes and amazing they are indeed. 

Bruce bought me a little table for Christmas and spruced it up a bit and at the same time he fixed the front porch table that I bought before we even bought the house. That he took all apart,

using a rubber mallet.

Our house would not have nearly what it does in short order without the trusty Antique Marketplace on Peachtree Street. Reasonable too, as the little gold table was only $25.

Finally I tackled straightening out the pantry. For how long it will stay this tidy is anyone's guess, however if you guess about a month, I suspect you will be spot on.

I fully intended to write this post on Tuesday, however, fun got in the way of that. As many of you know, most of the time I just write whatever pops into my head  but on that day it occurred to me that it would be my last post while I was 70 years old.

So much for that....let 71 begin!

Michelle and David sent flowers.

Gosh it is nice having the cabinet! I mentioned fun and indeed it was a nice day, unlike last year when Mr. Bruce had a difficult case of Covid for the first time. I count myself as a very fortunate Mom because  our boys like to talk to me. Or so it seems because they called again on my birthday to wish me well. 

About ten in the morning our friends Keith and Patty came by for a brief visit!!  If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you already know that Bruce and Keith were quite the team in Orlando. Although they were visiting Blue Ridge with extended family, they made time for a visit.

Plus they brought birthday flowers which I have displayed in our office. If you are paying close attention you have deduced that flowers are gracing all of the rooms!

It was a real joy seeing them and to say that Patty liked the house is a bit of an understatement. I fully agree with her enthusiasm.

For the next bit I am just going to relate it as it happened. Because we had no firm plans after enjoying lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, about 3:30 in the afternoon we drove two blocks. No judgement friends....it was cold! 

We had arranged to meet Ken and Linda at Fairy Cross and so we did. While that sounds really early, we expected it be crowded, so in our quest to secure a table, 3:30 it was. Turns out it was not nearly as busy at that time as we expected. We had a glass of wine and chit-chatted. Is that how you spell it? So I cannot remember who exactly came next, but as the hours passed more and more folks we knew arrived. In the end we stayed until like 9:00, visiting with friends. Robert and Lisa, Julie and David, a new couple we welcomed into the circle and others I cannot remember. And yes I did drink some wine but not really as much as you might imagine given the time frame! Bill and Fallon's Christmas gift card came in very handy indeed. 

While we were there a front moved in bringing more cold weather. I popped outside when I saw this happening.

Looks pretty ominous doesn't it? Which reminds me, I've forgotten exactly what day it was last week but, wow, there was quite the overnight storm, with booming thunder and lightening that woke us up. Enough rain fell that river levels rose almost to the banks. It seems as if it was the biggest rainstorm since we have been here. 

If you recall all summer long there was nothing but a Carolina blue sky, but the drought has broken and the sky frequently puts on a show.

I am standing in the empty lot adjacent to our home.

Crazy birthday gift from Peggy alert.

Foot atop opened birthday gift which did feature Bruce's stellar wrapping skills.

Looking at this photo, I realize it also features his upholstering and painting skills as well. Speaking of that, here's the cute little table in place.

Way too windy and cold to play pickleball on New Year's day so instead we took down the tree and all of our decorations. It was such a special Christmas season we hated to see it end, but it is always nice beginning the new year with a clean slate. Although the high temperature was in the middle 40's yesterday, it felt far colder than that with the wind gusting up to 25mph. Aside from the tree which went in the basement, all of the other boxes are nicely stored in one of the closets upstairs which is really, really nice. For all of our years at the condo, storage has been an an off-site storage unit. College football games filled out the remainder of the day.

When we got in the car this morning to go on a badly needed grocery shopping trip, the story on the radio was about doing things to make yourself happy, like watching a bird through the window. And to be curious. Duh....you did not need the radio to tell you those things because you have been on a steady diet of Camera Crazy where you have learned all about those ideas. 

Let's keep it up friends throughout 2025 whether it be in your own yard or out and about. I'm pretty sure this Song Sparrow is giving me a look of curiosity. 

What do you think?

your friend,

Gail