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| Solstice walk on our land |
Long Nights Time (Darkest Depths) has come to an end. Our time of resting and rebuilding, however, has not.
We're enjoying times of quiet reading - both aloud and individually...
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| Bob relaxing with a book and a sip |
working on puzzles ...
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| Found this challenge at the thrift shop |
and taking walks.
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| Taughannock Falls State Park |
Of course, we still have some jobs that need to be done.
Winter is a good time to do some mending,
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| Mending the binding on a wool blanket |
and Bob has been bringing in firewood to fill the bin in the cellar.
We've also been threshing out our dried beans.
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| Bob threshing beans |
Bob has been helping with this task this year. We had 11 bushel boxes of bean pods in the cellar. We have five more to do. Hopefully we'll be finished soon.
This weekend we had a planning session. I planned out the 2023 garden, inventoried my seed stock and decided which company I would order seed from.
Bob worked on the plans for the west porch. That's his project for the upcoming summer.
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| Planning, a necessary task |
With regards to our weather, we have been generally above normal in temperature, with very little snow.
You've heard about Buffalo's Christmas blizzard (and perhaps Watertown's Christmas storm). Well, we had none of that. We did get four days of very high, cold winds. That made a Christmas walk very infeasible. We opted to stay by the fire, reading and playing games.
We have survived our COVID experience, although I still have a "froggy" throat. I hope that resolves soon. Our energy levels have bounced back, and that's a good thing.
Bob has now worked at Cornell Vet School for ten years. He will be retiring next week. His final day of work will be on the 9th. It's a bit scary to not be receiving a juicy paycheck. Pensions and investments just don't feel as secure. But Bob is looking forward to the change, and I am looking forward to having some help around the place. We'll be making adjustments for some time to come.
He wants to help me out more; get closer to nature with walks and study; do more volunteering; and get into a more consistent exercise routine.
I'm continuing to cut back on my chores by simplifying our lives more and more. I hope this will free up our time so that we can take in more park trails throughout the week.
That's about all of the news for this month. We hope you're taking advantage of this season of rest and restoration.
Till next time,
Kathleen and Bob
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| Taughannock Falls on 12/30 |
