Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve on the Island 2012

May the blessings of Grace of our Dearest Lord Jesus, on this His birthday, be upon you and yours today and throughout the coming year.

Well, it's our first Christmas here on the island. The Christmas gifts as such, are wrapped for the most part and under the artificial Christmas tree. We have always had a live tree for Christmas, but the logistics of keeping it fresh in a condo may be a bit daunting. It is certainly less messy, but the scent of a live tree cannot be duplicated in plastic. Oh well.

The golf club has strategically placed Christmas tree silhouette groups, in lights at various spots on the course. Lighted decorations, trees, snowmen, candy canes, wrapped presents, etc. are everywhere. It is so very beautiful. They did all the work and we simply enjoy it. We haven't had any snow to speak of, so everything is still rather barren and stark. It began snow/sleeting a few hours ago, but it remains to be seen if any of it sticks. Wednesday, December 26, they're calling for a big storm to hit us. Go figure, the day the kids are to travel in from Cleveland(Erin,Madison, Aubrey, Frank and Trevor) and Columbus (Ian). Erin assures me that Trevor's 4 wheel drive Jeep can tackle anything the weather can throw at us. I pray their Guardian Angels will escort them safely here and then back again.

From the 20-23 of December, my brother Mark, my niece Sarah and my nephew Andrew were here for a visit from Charlotte, NC. It was so good to be in their company. Distance makes it so difficult to be a part of their lives. None-the-less, we made a few good memories. On Friday, we had a chili fest here, both the Manly Meat Lovers Chili as well as the White Chicken Chili with homemade cornbread and butter. Tasty! Saturday we had an early dinner at Ingrid and Bart's....yet another food fest, medallions of bacon wrapped beef and chicken from the grill, holiday kielbasa from Kilgus Meat market, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, cranberry mold, Betty's pasta salad, rolls. Oh my, then there were still desserts. My parents came to enjoy the festivities. We are blessed to still have them with us @ ages 87 and 88. A few photos documented the memory. My youngest brother Bryan, his wife Dawn and their nine girls also shared the day with us.

Rick and I will be attending midnight Mass here @ St. Joseph's, Marblehead in a few hours. It won't be anything like our beloved St. Joseph's in downtown Toledo, with the Latin Mass, and beautiful Latin hymns and traditional Christmas hymns, but it is still the Mass.
Merry Christmas!!
Respectfully Submitted,
Die Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen, Yours Truly

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12-12-12....A day that just needed a post!

12-12-12     The Feastday of Our Lady of Guadalupe; Empress of the Americas!

It's a crisp, sunny winter day here on Catawba. No snow yet. It's been too warm for snow....temps in the upper 30's and 40's mostly. Perhaps we'll have a green Christmas again this year. Meteorologists have reported large solar storms spitting plasma at the earth as the culprit for us, yet my aunt in Germany has seen more snow in the last few years than she ever has. Oh well, that's all above my pay grade.  :)
It's taken a while...ok, a long while, but I finally feel like I am home. For so long I felt lost and disconnected here. Timothy Lane was a fading memory, and this place just hadn't felt truly like home. How blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place. The lake with all its moods is just down the street and a wonder to behold. Bald eagles periodically soar overhead. Seagull calls fill the air. Deer have wandered past our window, a big buck on one occasion. Despite the bare trees and lack of flora, the starkness is still beautiful on a sunny day.
About two months ago I joined the local library's Monday morning quilters/crafters gathering. From there I joined the Ohio Star Quilt Guild. What a wonderful world of women I have discovered. (perhaps that is why I now feel a connection, I don't think I could ever be a good hermit). Through a quilt block challenge, I have perfected the technique of making the Ohio Star block. I submitted 9 blocks for the challenge. Overall 68 Ohio Star blocks were submitted by the group. Each block submitted earned you one chance in the drawing to get all the blocks. Since I never win anything ever, I just enjoyed the exercise. Well....@ the November Guild meeting, my name was drawn! Pretty overwhelming for a "baby quilter"! Sixty-eight Ohio Star blocks on cream backgrounds are mine. With the help of the Monday morning ladies, all of the blocks are staged and layed out and ready to be finished into a King sized quilt top. It won't be started until after January 1st, so stay tuned. Right now I need to finish sewing my Mrs. Claus outfit for Saturday's Christmas party for the children of the local Air National Guard base. So adieu for now.
respectfully submitted, Baroness von Thomas Haus, Queen Yours Truly!