Christmas was pretty much non-exsistent this year.  A rather large contingent of the family was laid low between 12/23 and 12/25 with either food poisioning or the stomach flu.  It wasn't pretty - especially those of us (me) with food poisioning.  That will teach me to check expiration dates and not play fast and loose with more then a week-old ham.
The celebration was rescheduled for the following Saturday, but something about it just wasn't the same - it didn't feel right.  It is NOT anyone's fault, it is just circumstances plus maybe as an adult it shouldn't matter to me any longer, but it does!  This year of being out of work and all the troubles that have attached themselves to me/us really had me set up for needing a really good holiday - one that would be a bit of a balm to the soul, you know?  But that is NOT what Santa brought.
Anyway it is over now, the decorations have been taken down and the focus is on the future and making money to pay the rent and the important bills.   Here is hoping your holiday was peaceful and bright!
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Last summer, I bought myself one of those Ancestry kits, collected my spit (which is a lot harder then you would think) and sent it off to Ancestry. A couple of weeks later - I got the resulds and was very disappointed. Only 16% Irish. WHAT? I have Irish on BOTH sides of my family so how can this be? No mention of anything Scandinavian and yet we have family from Scandinavian countries on both sides!

​It was rather irkesome. So after complaining about it and annoying my family to the inth degree for several month, I saw that 23 & Me was having a sale on their kits and bought on one of those.

​Again with the collecting of the spit (which really is a lot harder then it looks) and because I sent it in just before Christmas, it took quite some time for results, but I am super happy with what I received! 41% British/Irish - which overs Irish, English and Scots - now we are talking!  Found the Scandinavian. Found some other interesting tidbits I never new! It is rather cool actually - better then the pie chart!

So if you are facinated with Geneology and are looking for more then making connections with people who paid to sign up on a site, go for the 23 & Me.  Yes, it costs extra for the health reports - but just the 5 basic reports are really interesting and worth all that spitting!

I would love to tell you that I am the worst blogger ever because I have been so busy doing such fabulous things that I just didn't have time to blog about it.  Truth is, I haven't been all that busy (except work has been busy) I just haven't been inspired or haven't been able to get the words out.  There are many reasons for not being able to get the words out, but that's for another post - this post is more for catch up.  

First - I have to tell you the deck gardening this year has been fabulous!  Between Gav and I, we had scores of plants including 3 different kinds of hops, a gorgeous rosebush, purple poppies, amazing sweet peas (that he started from seed!), geraniums and a host of other plants including a Cavandish Banana, a cardamom plant and an abyssinian.  Just gorgeous!

I did a lot with solar decorative lighting, too, which looked really cute.  We also had hugh plastic urns we put under the deck with plants in them (to keep the day care kids from climbing under our deck) and they looking kinda cool, too. 

Last year before Gav's accident, we were going to put up a green house at the farm.  This year after getting all the supplies, we decided not to go forward with that project (anyone want to buy a greenhouse?) and have come up with ways to bring in the tropical plants to winter indoors that won't take up too much room. 

​As you can see - we did have the deck pond again this year - I had to get a new pond kit since the container I used last year froze and got a hole in it. This beauty came from amazon and included the fountain pump that lights up at night! We also got goldfish for it and they thrived nicely (until one jumped out and died). Because it does get very cold here, we have an acquarium in our kitchen and have brough in Manny & Moe for the winter. I had several different kinds of plants in the pond and they all did fantastic and the two water lilies each had 1 bloom!

In other news, work has been very busy, but no travel anywhere, not even to corporate headquarters (except in May). Gav and I are kinda getting sick of all the 24/7 one-on-one time - honestly, there is no mystry left in our relationship! But that is one of the downsides to two people both working from or being at home all the time.  We had gone through this before in 2001 - it is only easier this time because 1) we are older and more tolerant and 2) are apartment is 3 times the size of the old one. 

We have had some fun company - visits from the Feb/March birthday gang, and we attended our first same sex wedding this year that was just beautiful! We've played lots of Cards Against Humanity. I did go to a pig roast in Mount Union with a friend and after having some darn fine pork, won $100!  I used the winnings to take Gav and my folks out for a steak dinner! Nothing exciting but sometimes, nothing exciting is better, you know?

I love Christmas - I love the music and decorations and mostly playing Santa. Laugh if you want, but I'm still a beliver in the magic of Christmas.  Last year, we moved just before the holidays, so we had a more stripped down version but there was still a tree, lights and some decorations.  This year, we were just really run down from a tough year so while we had trees and lights, we were pretty sparse on decor.

We actually had 3 trees - a real table top tree I purchased at the grocery store and kept in the bedroom.  It was decorated with red lights and ornaments inspired by Frida Kahlo. Made ornaments I made, but many I purchased of artisans at many Etsy shops.

​The second tree was a tall, slim faux tree that I dubbed 'Under the Sea'. It was decorated with Mermaids & Mermen, star fish, sand dollars, messages in little glass bottles (I made those) and white balls I thought looked like bubbles.  At the bottom I placed shells and plastic gold coins (think pirate booty).  The tree came strung with white lights, but I added 2 strings of blue and I placed it in the balcony hall on the second floor.  It was my first faux tree and I think it came out ok!

​The final tree was our 'official' tree - grown and cut in Schuylkill County, it had long soft needles and smells amazing (because yes, all the trees are still up)!  We covered it with white lights, crochetted snowflakes, and tons of glass icicles. There are some other glass ornaments on the tree and 2 birds (high up so Luna doesn't get any bright ideas).  This year, I purchased some hand made tin silver icicles from another Etsy shop and they look terrific! 

Althought we had a more subtle version of Christmas this year, we still kept the important traditions which include sponsoring a wreath at Arlington National Cemetary, decorating family graves at 4 separate cemetaries, baking home bread (both sweet & savory) for family, cookie baking at the farm, and the sending of holiday cards (for both work and personal!)!  It is my tradition to watch a lot of holiday movies and specials but again - didn't see the bulk of them except for the classics:  A Year Without A Santa Claus, Scrooge, A Diva's Christmas Carol, and of course, the Dr. Who Christmas special!

I was speaking with my partner last night about how when I was a kid, my parents used to make the holiday last longer then just one day through the traditions of the Godmother Lunch (where all are Godmothers & kids came to lunch) and dinners with various other relatives (I learned to love pate at my Aunt Ginny's!). The Christmas music played through New Year's Day and the tree stayed up for what seemed like forever! As we got older, friends created the tradition of Three Kings Day party which extended it all a little bit more. I think I will have to spend this year creating a few more traditions to help extend our Christmas celebrations a wee bit longer, too.  Why should kids have all the fun? 

That reminds me - TODAY is Three Kings Day!  I'll have to go light some of my Three Kings incense and bake a Three Kings cake!

Life has been busy of late.  I'd like to say it is fun busy or sexy busy or something that implies that I've had a fantastic adventure (read: vacation) or something - but that isn't the case. 

Back in the beginning of September, my partner took a spill in our kitchen and dislocated his ankle and gave himself a lovely compound fracture to boot! (no pun intended). There was a pool of blood, an ambulance, some fireman, a short hospital stay, multiple trips back and forth to Reading, PA and 2 surgeries involved in that situation. Luckily, our first floor has a sofa bed, a full bath and an easily accessible deck (I loathe you tobacco!) because he is non-weight bearing and is likely to be for some time to come. 

I do have a long distance shot of the injury, but even long distance, it's pretty gross.  

He is doing much better but he is bored - because even when you love the Philadelphia Eagles as much as he does, there is only so much Philly Sports Talk and NFL network one can watch!  (but never fear - "Gold Rush" starts on Oct 14th!). 

But that isn't all of it....

The day before the big fall, we had taken our cat, Boogieman to vet as he just hadn't been himself for awhile.  The Vet recommended we bring him in for IV fluids - which I did, so both my 'boys' were in the hospital at the same time.  They both came home the same day, too, but Boogieman came home on hospice.

At first he was eating and drinking and doing well, but then it all just stopped. I knew it wouldn't be long - but for the man with the leg - well, he tried really hard to help out the little guy, but in the early morning of October 2nd, he was gone. 

Now - my folks aren't really pet people (although we had a menagerie of critters growing up) but both of them are NOT cat fans.  But bless their hearts, they helped me find a lovely spot in one of the special gardens and helped dig a hole for a burial. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Yes I know it's a cat - but that cat was with me for 16 years!  It becomes something different when an animal has been in your life for that long.

A night or two before his passing, he was laying in our bed and I was petting his paw - I knew he was in pain, but I wanted him to know he was loved - and when I went to move my hand away, he grabbed onto my finger with his paw. A moment of joy in the sadness because he let me know he was being comforted.

So, here we are waiting for life to go back to normal, such as it ever is. Halloween is around the corner and I hope for the first time since 1994, I will actually have trick or treaters come to my door!  Then there are birthdays, election day, and the start of the holiday season.  My goal is for my patient to be weight bearing in time for me to have my living room back and a Christmas tree!  Keep your fingers crossed everyone!

I love crowd funding - let's face it, it is easier to get 500 people to give you $1 each then it is to get one person to give you $500 - and if you want a way spread out the cash over a period of time, Patreon is for you!

I have friends who are artists, writers, musicians....creators.  Just about every one of these folks has a day job of some kind and as an artist myself, I can attest that it is very hard to finish a full day's work and then create.  Some of these friends have turned to Patreon - a place where people can pledge anything from a one-time donation, a monthly donation, or even on a 'by creation' basis.  Its pretty cool.  

Of course there are 'premiums' provided to those who donate, but there is also an option to give without getting anything back - I like that because while I love to support my friends, I feel weird about them having to give me something in return every time (unless its baked goods). The point of giving is to help but how much am I helping if they have to spend some of that money in order to give me something back?

Anyway - if you have a few extra dollars some time and you want to share the wealth, have a look at Patreon (there is a link on my giving back page).  There is a lot of interesting folks and projects out there - enjoy!

I love mornings like this - everything is silent except my fingers on the keyboard. The cats are asleep; Michael is asleep; the day care center is closed today so everything is silent save the sounds of the traffic all the way out on Route 61.

I can actually hear myself think on days like this - I could never really do that in Delaware County.

It is a good Friday!

 Just down the road from Windy Knolls, is the Eden Farm Equine Sanctuary.   

Horses have been in the periphery of my life - our Amish friends have plenty of horses & mules, we had ponies one summer as kids, etc. but I was never aware of how long a horse lives!  What a surprise to learn that horses can live to over 30 years old!

What I did know was something my grandfather used to say to my mom "horses always have their heads down" - meaning they are always eating which translates into expensive.

But what my parents always taught us was if you can't afford to own a pet (or a work animal) - and owning includes food, shelter and medical care - then you shouldn't own a pet (or work animal). 

Our TVs are filled with commercials by the ASPCA and yes, it is a worthy group, but we never hear or better yet - see the stories of abused horses.  I can't decide which is more disgusting - starving & withholding medical treatment to these animals, or SELLING THEM OFF TO BE EATEN. And no - I'm not kidding about that last part.

​Eden has lots of stories on their website about their residents - how they came to live at Eden and the stories will hurt your heart - even if you aren't a horse lover.  I drove past Eden a few days ago and the pasture was filled with horses - their coats were shiny and they were happily munching on the new grass pushing up in the field. It was a beautiful site. 

Eden is always in need of donations - please have a look at their website and help these lovely animals - or any of the other creatures who they have rescued - if you can!