Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Remembering Christmas.
Good evening and Merry Christmas to all my favorite readers! And that means all of you! Muffin and I had a great day, she was extra playful today which was nice. She got some new toys for Christmas which she absolutely loved chasing all over the place. She even managed to lose one. Where? I have no idea. I wasn’t in the living room at the time. Now, this apartment is not big. But Muffin still manages to lose her toys now and then which are impossible to find. I have searched. Very thoroughly. Nothing. But a couple days later she is playing with that ‘lost’ toy. How did she find it? How did she get at it? Sigh.
While Muffin slept I cleaned. The top of my kitchen cupboards. Definitely needed it. Due to health reasons I must admit that I don’t get up there to clean often. I’m not exactly tall. So I must get on a chair, then stand up on the counter so I can see what I’m doing. Not exactly a good idea for me. I tend to fall easily. Getting up onto the counter wasn’t so hard to do. Easier than I thought. Getting down was the hard part. At least, getting down normally. There is a quick way down. But it’s not really recommended. Believe me. It’s not fun. I don’t think wearing socks on that slippery counter was really the best thing to do. Or smartest. But then, I don’t claim to be smart. I had stuff on top of the cupboards. That had to come down and get cleaned as well. Poor Muffin. I think that loud noise scared half her fur off. She was sleeping at the time. She woke up. Fast. She didn’t even come to see if there was anything good to eat. I guess it was the wrong kind of noise. Nothing broke however. That was good. No. I didn’t fall. Other things did though. Sigh.
I always enjoyed Christmas when we lived in the country. We would be up early Christmas morning. The tree was beautifully decorated. It was just a mismatched bunch of decorations, tinsel, lights and always looked great. Our Christmas tree hunting always paid off in the end. There would be a nice fire crackling in the antique cook stove in the kitchen. That always gave the old house a real warmth and coziness during the cold of winter. It was especially nice on Christmas morning. Before opening the gifts Dad would always read from the Bible. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It is easy to forget with all the ‘busy’ness of Christmas, just what Christmas is really all about.
Muffin is still sleeping. I kind of feel like doing that myself. Oh well. A bit early yet. Anyway, I do hope you all are able to enjoy a very Merry Christmas! Hopefully I will be adding some new stuff to Steve’s Country Extras over the next few days. And some new pics. Maybe.
Steve and Muffin.
Looking For That Christmas Tree.
Greetings all! It’s the last Friday before the last weekend before Christmas. I actually went shopping this morning. I was reminded why I don’t like doing such things. It’s just WAY too busy at the stores! I just don’t enjoy that. But I did it anyway. Now I should be able to stay away from stores until next year. Hopefully. Sigh. There is enough food for everyone, Muffin, birds, squirrel and me. Amazing. It is supposed to snow tonight. And tomorrow. Sigh. Most people would think that is great. Right before Christmas. Perfect. Not me however. Oh well. I think cabin fever is starting to affect me already. Sigh. Today the sun was shining for a bit. It was 12F. 0F with the windchill. And I was outside. Bare hands. Trying to get some pics of various birds. My fingers turned a dark red. No feeling. Until I came back inside. Then the pain hit. Sometimes I think I’m stupid. Only sometimes? Sigh. Did get some nice pics though. And I can move my fingers now.
It was a milder day as Dad and I went after another Christmas tree. But the snow was deep that year. We had receiver 40 inches of snow that November. We should use snowshoes, I suggested to Dad. He just looked at me like I was crazy. I thought it was a good idea. So did Mom. So off we went. Parked the car at a spot that looked good. We put on our snowshoes. You go first, said Dad. Naturally. I get the hard part. The snow was soft. I was used to snowshoes. Dad was not. As we began our trek into the forest I heard a scream of sorts. I turned around to see Dad laying face down in the snow. Helping him get up was no easy chore. How did you manage to fall?, I asked. Stepped on the snowshoe, he said. You’re not supposed to do that, I reminded him. BONEHEAD! Considering he was covered with snow I don’t know why he could be enjoying himself. For my new readers, whenever Dad said BONEHEAD I figured it must mean he was enjoying himself. Why else would he say that? I think it actually means something like, your head is empty. But I like my definition. Dad was never mad when he said that. Just something he said. Anyway, off we went again. Dad said to slow down. Fine. Dad stayed behind me a ways for safety. Why? At one point there was a large spruce tree with low branches so I had to push one out of the way. Since Dad was so far behind I knew it was safe to let go of the branch. AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! I turned. Dad was laying in the snow again. On his side this time. He claimed the branch knocked him over. Probably stepped on his snowshoe again. You lost your hat, I remarked. I picked it up and gave it to him. AAAAA!!! It’s full of snow, he said, why didn’t you dump the snow out of it? I thought you would do that. Had to help him up again. He wanted to rest awhile. I’ll scout around a bit, I said. Fine. It was quiet. No wind. Cloudy. Not even any birds. At the base of a pine up pops a little brown head. He looked around a bit. Then jumped out of his little tunnel and up the tree he went. Looking for some lunch no doubt. Found a real nice tree close to that spot. Hmm, Dad has the saw. Back I went. Dad let me have the saw. He didn’t want to go any further. Got the tree and returned to where Dad was waiting. Still so amazingly quiet. Except now it was snowing. Heavily. Amazing how quickly it started. I handed Dad the saw. You carry it, said Dad. I already have the tree. Oh well. Dad was having trouble with those snowshoes. He decided to take them off and walk instead. Not a good idea. After a little ways trudging through the deep snow he tripped on something. Down he went. How did you manage to land on your back? Never mind, he said. He had snow all over his face. And down his neck. When did you take your glasses off?, I asked. Oh no! He lost them in the snow. I’ll help look, I offered. Stay back! Odd. He actually found them fairly quickly. And by now there was almost 2 inches of new snow. We did walk a long way. Finally back at the car poor Dad was huffing and could barely walk. The snowshoes would have been easier, I said. Forget it, he said. Then it was off to our favorite COFFEE shop. It stopped snowing by the time we arrived there. Nothing like a good cup of hot COFFEE after a refreshing walk like that, I said. Dad just looked at me. But he did enjoy his COFFEE.
I won’t be posting again until Christmas day. Well, hey, I need to do something that day. Besides playing with Muffin. Until then, Merry Christmas everyone!
Steve and Muffin. (The featured image at the top is not mine)
