Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official start to winter. Winter has actually been here for quite a while now and it will stay long past its official end in March. I love the idea that tomorrow the day will be a little longer and that we have started on our way toward spring again.
Last week the weather was dismal. I don’t think we had any sunshine all week. The temperatures stayed just warm enough to melt off most of the snow and get things slushy and muddy and then freeze again. It looks like we won’t have a white Christmas after all.
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| Not much snow now - no white Christmas here! |
Wednesday was the Christmas Concert at Northern Potter. Josiah was very involved in it, playing in the band, the jazz band, singing in the high school choir and the select choir. It was a nice program.
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| The high school choir. |
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| The high school band. |
I was tidying the back porch last week, just moving things around mostly, when I noticed something wonderful. I keep some of my bonsai trees on the back porch during the winter, the ones that need a period of dormancy. I have a little contorted quince and two Japanese apricots (Prunus mume). I usually bring them into the house in February when the temperatures get too low. One of the Japanese apricots is in a larger pot. It has never bloomed. The other apricot is in a shallow bonsai pot. It bloomed once before in the fall and had only one flower. While I was cleaning the porch I noticed it had flower buds again ready to open! I brought it in the house and set it in a place of honor on the plant shelf in the music room. Three beautiful pink blossoms opened the next day. It makes me so happy to see its lovely pink bud here at the beginning of winter.
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| Blooming bonsai. |
Friday evening was our branch Christmas dinner. We had a delicious salad, ham, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, and various desserts. We had a good turnout. After dinner we had a program with carols and Christmas stories. It was a nice affair.
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| Our branch Christmas dinner. |
Hannah loves to paint her fingernails. She tries to come up with a theme for her nail designs. Right now she has Christmas nails.
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| Hannah's festive fingernails. |
Today was our Christmas program at church. I was in charge of it. We sang carols. I had selected three stories that we three members of the branch presidency read. Our stake president was visiting and he spoke. For Sunday School I taught the last two books of the Old Testament, Zechariah and Malachi. I’ve enjoyed teaching the Old Testament this year. Next year we will do the New Testament, I love that even more.
The Shilligs are coming to our house for our Sabbath Soiree this evening. They will be heading out tomorrow to spend Christmas with their children and grandchildren out west. It’s always a little lonely for us when they are gone. Daniel should be home sometime during the beginning of the week. We are nervous about him driving across the country and we’re praying he’ll get home safely and in time for Christmas.
We have just a day and a half of school this week and then we’re out for our Christmas break. It’s hard to believe that Christmas is here already. We did some more baking last week. Hannah made frosted orange cookies. I made lebkuchen. Hopefully there will still be some to go with our eggnog on Christmas Eve.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
