The Rest of January

Back home and finding “the groove” again. Not so easy. Of course we came home to all the Christmas decorations. Well, only the indoor ones. We had taken the outdoor ones down before we left. Wouldn’t be fair on the neighbors otherwise. But it took several days to get “back to normal”.
Sigh. I do love Christmas.

Oh yes, when your sleep gets interrupted at 3:30 in the morning you know that the fire alarms need to be replaced. 

There were some remnants to enjoy of the new amaryllis bought for Christmas. And this just was getting beautiful. Rescued last Easter after the services. It filled the kitchen with better aroma then my cooking. 

The days since we are back have been varied. It is winter so it should not be surprising when it is cold and ugly. But we tried whenever possible to go for walks. If we managed the 10k steps we were happy. When it was really bad James went to a gym. When my knee tells me I do go to our Pavillon gym to use the bike. Otherwise I only go on walks when I can wear my hiking sandals. If you keep moving the toes don’t get too cold. 

False hope of spring around the corner. 

A photo for a letter to William. A lonely flower on our “sweet William plant”

Something new for us to do: we are playing a game of Five Crowns almost every day, usually after lunch with our coffee. Fun! 

Saturday the 18th ... Richmond Forum. I had not heard about these three people and had no expectations. It turned out a very very interesting lecture. A brilliant evening.

Of course Nashville is not around the corner and we miss seeing Helen and William. But thanks to FaceTime etc. This photo I "stole" from FaceBook. Aahh.

Helen had a birthday last Friday. We were sorry we could not be with her. We decided to go to a German restaurant we had heard about. It is south past Peterburg and about a 40 minute drive. But we had a really nice lunch.

It's a small place next to a gas station on I 95. The owner is from Germany and we were surprised about a good number of guests on the other tables speaking German with each other. 

The map wanted to be pinned "where we had been". James added pins for where he had lived for 7 years and also where I had been born.

There was also a corner with German stuff to buy. A box of (promised to be fresh) what was called "top kisses". I can't say what it was used to be called when I was a child. it is not politically correct today. We bought a box and took them "over the river". Sarah had invited us to dinner and this was dessert. The kisses all disappeared. 

The kids are plagued with germs they most likely catch in school. All seemed o.k. on Sunday. They surprised us on Sunday when all 5 came to church service. We took the three boys home for lunch. I love this picture of them. They lost a little car under a huge piece of furniture. Caleb knew where the "hindering hand" was hanging in the garage. 

Almost time to flip the page on this one. Helen gives me a wall calendar for my birthday every year. Often it is a quilt one. I am enjoying the new photos every month. This calendar is from England. I saw it in Jane's kitchen year before and one from the artist was on my wishlist. Word got to Helen. Thank you!