221224 Christmas eve

 Dec. 24

Storm blew in Friday. Ontario and Quebec friends are on the same page. It is sweeping across from the west, it seems. The wind, which had let up a little during Saturday has now picked up again

There is a big hawk that lives around here. We saw her Thursday, sitting in a tree for a long time, and stood and waited, but she just sat. (That is her in the picture below.) I have heard the cooper's cacking almost every day, and I am sure it is her that we are seeing. Today I saw her fly overhead, white underparts and white under the wing, with a dark leading edge. I cannot identify her further, it has been dull and grey and I have not my binoculars around my neck. When do I ever have them with me? They live on a ledge by the patio, at Blind Dog Hill, in the Estrie.

So, I think it must be her, a giant cooper's matriarch, she may have lived around here for years. If anyone knows better what this might be, do speak up. She is so big. But the female cooper's may reach 20 or 21" which is as large as any of the local hawks. 

A rather interesting sentence came out of my mouth today. "No!", I said to Rocky, " Don't eat that!" It was pizza put out for the squirrels. "You might get some awful disease from these city animals!" Well. My prejudice is showing. But there are so many more creatures here! And Rocky has a tummy upset. Have the children been feeding him something? Is it all the different treats I have been getting? You see, he seems to live on treats and not eat his dinner so I thought to get him healthier treats than "Milk Bone". But something has upset him. I am massaging his abdomen and taking him out often. 

It is so cold!

We have had cookie making and train-track setting up. I have made my marzipan fruit and Elf has been on video-chat getting tips on her gingerbread. Rain has been dealing bravely with a power outage in the Estrie. I wish we were there with her for this storm. Except for that, it is a very good Christmas Eve day. I hope that I am still up for a Christmas movie. There are many from which to choose. But for Christmas Eve it should be Scrooge, with Alastair Sim. So, that it is what it shall be, if the children are in bed before I am!

Marzipan fruit. And I tried miniature Nanaimo Bars of marzipan and chocolate. They came out very nicely. 

I felt that I would like to read some Austen, a whole world in which I can immerse myself and escape for a while the whirlwind that is a household of children at Christmas time. I think I have settled on Emma, because it has a pivotal scene which takes place on a snowy Christmas day. It is also the first Austen I read. My mother introduced us when I was twenty, a year younger than Emma is. She said that I might find her irritating because I am her age, but that I would like her better when I was older. She said that she wished she could read it again for the first time. And now, I wish I could do the same. But the writing is so engaging that one can suspend one's remembrance and be as surprised as Emma at her sudden self-understanding! 

Indre and I have been preparing the dollhouse for Christmas. It received a dusting and clearing out and we started fresh. She has assembled a large family of children and a feast on the table. More pictures will, I am sure, be forthcoming.This little girl doll is bravely seated sidesaddle on the rocking horse.

Here is our Christmas tree! I put my ornaments on it after all. Tamar had enough to think about I think, that she wanted one less task to do. I enjoyed seeing ornaments of forty years' collecting, after two years without a tree. 

When the wind blows so bitterly, I think of those without a home, and I hope that they have found a warm shelter tonight. Keep safe.

Mumma Yaga

Here is the gingerbread recipe, the very pages from the book, with my notes and gingerbread stains. This is where I started.