Home for the Holidays

Believe it or not, almost all of our snow has melted and gone. We had a week of warm December weather that made a mess of everything, melting snow like it was springtime. We had mud everywhere for a while but now that the cooler weather has crept back in, everything's frozen solid again. But the white stuff that fell in November is 95% gone, leaving a dry, brown landscape pockmarked with areas of icy, white crust. To make things even more interesting, there's not much snow in the forecast in the days leading up to Christmas 2014. So, it could be a brown Christmas this year. That would be very unexpected, up here in the mountains!
It's exactly one week until Christmas Day and I'm just starting to get into the spirit of the season. We have the tree and most of our decorations up, making the house look quite festive.We've been out a couple of times supporting the local economy, buying a few gifts, shopping for Christmas dinner ingredients, and purchasing a bottle or two of "good cheer".
We have again been invited to Brian and Louise's place for dinner on the 25th and have graciously accepted. They have become good friends over the past few years and we look forward to our time with them.
As usual, our little print shop will be closed over the holidays so we'll both get a few days off together. It will be nice to spend some "off" time with my new bride this Christmas. We'll go and visit some of the friends and neighbours that we never get to see enough the rest of the year. Catching up is always fun!
To all you readers, and to those we won't get a chance to tell in person, Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!