. . . on Christmas Day in the mornin'

Start the music (click in the center on the arrow) and it will play as you read and scroll through the pictures below. It's one of the songs we sang around the dinner table after the meal (while the 2 'grown-up' boys of the king got an attack of the giggles - grin!)

Christmas Day has come and gone already - but what a day it was!

The early morning sun before the day really got going was spectacular. The light was green and golden.



Here's just an assortment of pictures of some of the characters who assembled at the Greenwood.



Luther is missing his tartan bowtie, by the way, in case anyone comes across it.



For those of you visiting from A Simple Yarn, yes, every houndstooth scarf you see is part of the wonderful stash we commissioned from Cheryl. . . .

See how perfect?







Here's a close-up of the one for my brother.
Now, more people:









On Christmas Day in the mornin'. . . .

not your basic black

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend toward the sartorial basic black. The doctoral robe, I thought, would be right up my alley (namely 'basic black'), and a coloured hood is certainly acceptable, sort of like my usual coloured scarf.

You may imagine my surprise to be presented with a very brightly coloured doctoral gown.*

Red and yellow. [gold?] It could stop traffic.The hood is a little scary. . . . Check out the side view!


It looks like I've donned a pair of very bright trousers. Lovely.




But the doctoral hand-off is accomplished and attesting latin certificate borne away in triumph. . . . celebratis plenum ac perfectum Doctoratus In Philosophia. . . .Mission accomplished. After all these years.

Now what? Ah - still making it up as I go along.

___________________________________
*Fellow post-grad "A" calls it the McDonald's Robe. . . . an unfortunate - but apt - description.

deerhounds on parade

Today was old-home weekend - and Luther saw some old friends and family.

Mom?! Is that you?!!!!

Here's Luther and his brother. Remember greenboy? Here they are: blueboy and greenboy, together again.
Remember what they looked like as little guys? As above, Luther's on the left. . . .
We lined up for the Scottish Rites Parade in Old Town Alexandria. I've never seen so many deerhounds in one place! Here are just a few. . .
It was a long, long day.

Thanksgiving. Serious lack of visuals

Sorry. This is the only shot I got of Thanksgiving. To set the scene: It's O-dark-thirty, and the king has just finished making the stuffing and stuffing the turkey.

I took one shot, just to warm up a bit before documenting the 29 lb. bird going into the oven.

It's the only shot I got before the batteries gave out. Someone forgot to re-charge them. . . . [OK, OK. I confess.]

Last year, Luther wasn't born and we were still in the rental closet. We managed to pull off a nice-sized turkey dinner, though! As I recall, there were pictures.

This year, Luther is here - hugely so - and the bird is bigger, too. We were expecting 21 for dinner - ended up with 18 - and I was determined to try brining the turkey this year, hoping to keep the white meat moist. A friend of ours gave me the recipe last year, but I couldn't find a large enough vessel to contain a submerged turkey, let alone keep it refrigerated, to try it last year.

This year, thanks to the unheated studio with work sink, I was all set. All I had to do was heat pot after pot of water hot enough to dissolve the salt and brown sugar, steep the herbs, and then trot it across the courtyard to be dumped into the sink. Then add turkey and additional cold water to cover, and leave him alone for 12 hours! The king awoke at 3 a.m., made the stuffing, retrieved the bird, and got him all ready and trussed for the oven.

Which brings us back to where I started this post: the turkey ready to go in the oven. The turkey turned out great. Maybe one of our guests has pictures? If so, maybe we can get a little ex post facto posting. . . .

Meanwhile, we enjoyed a lovely day at the greenwood. A week or so ago, we had our first fire in the fireplace.
[note scrupulously clean firebrick]

Now, although this is not a picture of Thanksgiving day, this is just what it looked like, after the feast!
Yes, it's Luther's favorite spot, whenever there's a fire lit. It's part of being a deerhound, I think. Whenever someone doesn't know what a deerhound looks like, I always tell them it's the kind of dog you see lounging by the fire in every knights-at-arms movie ever made. They always know the kind of dog I mean. Luther fits the mold precisely.

What are we thankful for this year? Family, for sure. Friends and family, and our 'livestock' - wee Luther - and all the amazing critters we have all around us here at the Greenwood. The economy may be in recession, and our government talking about spending money in amounts I can't even comprehend as "bail out", and life as we thought we knew it may well be gone for good, but God is good - and faithful - and I think it's high time we stop focussing on things and acquiring ever more, Instead, we're looking around us and seeing the wonder and joy of everything we already have - and the love and joy of our friends and family.

May that same blessing be yours this season of Thanksgiving, and may it spill out onto all of us here in these United States. Please, may the madness stop. Let us slow down; love; laugh; spend time together.