Friday 26 December 2014

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Most people, I think, would normally call our Christmas a little old-fashioned - cutting our own tree, decorating with greens, hand-knit stockings for everyone including the critters, a creche filled with corn-husk figures...but this year was really old-school for the 25th.

The wind picked up overnight Christmas eve, and howled all night. At some point before sunrise, we lost power, and it didn't come back until 6 in the evening, despite assurances from Hydro at intervals that it would be on within the next hour or two. I'm sure a lot of people had sudden changes of plan regarding Christmas dinner. Fortunately for us, we have the well and a wood stove with an oven, and an unheated pantry, which served to keep the milk and cream cool in a pail of snow. And there's always plenty of bushes outside to use for a toilet and no neighbours visible from here...I tell you, if ever I get to buy a house in the country, the well and wood stove are going to be counted as essentials. They've earned their keep here so many times!

So life went on well enough for the day. Mom and my brother were collaborating on a pair of trigger mitts he wants made from a piece of shearling. I curled up and knitted on one of my commissions, a pair of gloves, which got finished last night:

Later all four of us sat around the table and shelled dry beans from the summer's harvest, producing two bushels of hulls, and a large bowl of beans. We stoked the stove up to heat water for breakfast and lunch dishes and for cooking dinner (it produced a beautiful rare Who roast beast), and lit the tinware chandelier above the table when it got too dark, so we could read and knit by candlelight while the roast cooked and the veg simmered. The lights came on just before dinner, so that was helpful for washing up. All in all, a nice relaxing day ;)  

With the gloves and a second commission, a super-cute pair of baby socks, finished...

I'm back to my sweater for a while. Sleeve number one is done, and I've started the second one. I'm determined to have the thing finished this year!

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