A last look 2023

Our living/dining room as seen from just outside the kitchen. I thought I'd record how this year's holiday tree looks in situ. I might post another shot tomorrow looking the other way. Tomorrow is the day that it all gets put away.

The fire is so delightful!

One of the big new year's news items here is that oysters from certain parts of the coast are being banned due to some kind of viral infection. People are upset (especially the oyster farmers) since oysters are among the most popular of New Year's Eve foods in France. We used to enjoy eating raw oysters, but no more. Ken's been sick a few times over the years after eating them. I've been lucky, but neither one of us wants to take any chances. So, for our New Year's Eve lunch, we're having shrimp and cod, both cooked.

Bon Réveillon ! Happy New Year!

Doesn't that pheasant look pleasant!

One of our bird feeders broke and fell to the ground last week. I spread the seed under the tree the feeder hung from. Since then, a few birds, mostly tits and robins, have been pecking away at it. Imagine my surprise when I looked out the window yesterday and saw this guy enjoying some seed! I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots before he disappeared.

A male pheasant under the maple trees by our driveway.

A few weeks ago, I saw a pheasant out back, pecking at the ground for tasty morsels, but he wasn't in a spot where I could take a picture. By the way, most of the pheasants we see in and around the vineyard are farm raised, I'm told. They're released into the wild just before the hunting season starts.

Frolicking

I'm pretty sure that I've posted this before. But I can't remember when, maybe ten years ago? The photo is stamped "Dec 63" and I'm pretty confident that it's accurate, given where my family lived at the time.

The four year old me, frolicking in the snow.

Only three more shopping days until the New Year! I've got to go to the pharmacy this morning to renew the meds (blood pressure and cholesterol). Tomorrow I'm going to the Saturday market for some fresh fish for our New Year's Eve lunch. I'll have to go early lest they sell out fast. Lest? Where did that come from?

The ghost of Christmas past

This photo is dated March 1969, but I'm not sure that's when it was taken. I don't ever remember our family's Christmas tree still being up in March. It may have been taken in December, but not developed until March. I see that there are no presents, wrapped or unwrapped, to be seen. Still, I can't rule out that the tree was actually still up in March. Lordy Moses.

The tree was obviously too tall for the room and had to be lopped off.

And, yes, that's me making my entrance down the staircase, ready, it seems, to head outdoors in the chill of an upstate New York winter.

Two pie are...

...better than one. We finished the apple tarte on Christmas Eve. I made this pumpkin pie yesterday. Again, I used sucrine squash that grew in this year's vegetable garden as a stand-in for pumpkin. And it tasted delicious.

The crust is made with butter.

I hoped you recognized the joke in this post's title. "Two pie are," or 2πr, is the formula for calculating the circumference of a circle. If I did my math right, the circumference of this pie is just over 81 centimeters or about 32 inches. Which is my waist size. Or was, before I ate those pies.

Tarte aux pommes

This one didn't turn out as pretty as most. I think I turned the heat down too early. However, while it looks a little under done, it wasn't, and we ate it up!

Tarte aux pommes.

'Tis the day after Christmas and the English have a name for it. My task for the day is to make a pumpkin pie. I was going to make it yesterday, but I was too lazy. And too full from the holiday meal. Ken has photos on his blog today (click the link on the sidebar).

A chorus line

Of Santas, of course. This tree ornament was a gift from a friend back in 1988. More precisely, a gift from the young daughter of a friend. Doing the math reveals that was thirty-five years ago. Yikes! Needless to say, said daughter has since grown up.

Happy holidays to all!