Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  It's a white Christmas for us – we got about 2" of fresh snow last night, and cold days (below freezing) are forecast for at least a week.  The weatherman is predicting snow all day today and into the night, so by tomorrow we should have a thick layer of that white stuff around here.

Losing Lea a few days ago dampened our spirits here, but we have a great deal to be merry about this year.  We're all together again, after 8 months of me living in an under-construction house 850 miles away from the rest of my family.  Our new home is beautiful, and getting better every day as we unpack and continue making improvements.  Our animals are settled in and acting like this is their new home, too.  Mo'i, our 16 year old male field spaniel, is doing much better after some minor surgery earlier this week, to remove an infected tooth and a couple of small oral growths.  He also had bladder infection, which antibiotics knocked down almost instantly.  We're surrounded by friendly neighbors who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome here in our new home community.

So there are lots of smiles and good cheer here, though punctuated by moments of sadness.  When I walked the dogs this morning, I took Mo'i out by himself, instead of with Lea, his usual walkie companion.  He snuffled away happily in the snow (he's discovered voles) while I stood in the swirling, falling snow and shed a few tears for our old girl.

Right now, as I type these words, I'm sitting in our kitchen's dining area.  Around me are three happy and content dogs, all sacked out on their little doggie beds.  Behind them is a window looking to the north, over a scene that could be on a Currier & Ives print: snowy fields, big fluffy flakes gently wafting down, and the sky lightening as daybreak approaches.  I took the photo above right out of that window.

Merry Christmas, everybody!