Celebrate, Movies, Nature

The Air Had a Certain Chill to It

64 Comments

On Saturday, we had our first dusting of snow, enough white to see but not really enough to count as a first storm. Still, the sky was a severe gray, and the air had a certain chill to it that let a person know winter was not far away. Even at my age that nip brings an expectation verging on exhilaration—winter is coming, a hushed time of brilliant and blue days mixed with stormy weather.

To take some pictures, I hobbled out to the slippery porch. To say I was mindful of where I put my feet doesn’t begin to describe how I moved.

Here are the pictures I took from both inside and outside.

This one is from the aforementioned slippery front porch.

Still on the porch, looking downward at the red bow on a wreath.

Then from an open window in the living room—snowy leaves on the hedge,

and a frosty birdbath.

Finally from an open window in the bathroom, a picture of the backyard and patio.

If the weather isn’t too cold, we’re hoping to have some more time on the patio with a fire in the firepit. We shall see.

My knee continues to improve but ever so slowly. I still limp from room to room and often use a cane. But, I can bend the knee now, and I don’t spend quite as much time on the couch. I haven’t returned to working on Book Four in my Great Library Series. I plan to do so this week. Again, we shall see.

With Dee’s and Clif’s help, Christmas decorating has begun, making the house look bright and festive. And, most important, now that Thanksgiving is over, we have begun watching Christmas specials. Not surprisingly, the ones that have fantasy and folderol are my favorites, and last night we watched Robin, Robin, a sweet, short stop-motion film from Aardman Animations (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit). Next on the list: A Boy Called Christmas.

I have some cooking planned—a tofu chocolate cream pie, a vegan tourtière pie—wait, what?—and other goodies. Regardless of whether I fail or succeed, I will be reporting on how they turned out.

The lights, the decorating, the cooking, and the holiday shows all combine to make dark December, right around the corner, a cozy month. Like winter, much anticipated.

 

 

 

 

 

64 thoughts on “The Air Had a Certain Chill to It”

  1. Laurie, settling into the comfort of December is such a pleasure, so much so that sometimes I do not want the days to lengthen. Of course that reticence soon gives way to a different pleasure as we move ever so slowly towards the distant spring.

  3. I see my tomorrow in your images, Laurie.

    Yesterday it was sunny with temp. -4 degree but right now its dusting snow with wind around 10m/s. Bu Thursday weather will be in 2 digits below zero. Autumn is over.

  4. Quite frankly, the thought of Christmas scares me for I have done zilch to prepare for the festive season yet. What a bind to be limping still so I am glad Dee is there to help. Burrow in and enjoy your coziness, while we look forward to sunny days (with some rain we hope), swimming and food that doesn’t require too much cooking1

  5. I agree, that “nip” does bring a sense of exhilaration. But it does also bring slippery patches; there’s no such thing as being too careful!

  6. Your photos look lovely, Dee (although I usually do prefer observing snow on my computer screen rather than IRL). 😀
    Your recipes sound right up my alley. I look forward to reading more about them.

  7. The weather certainly seems to have shifted towards winter these past few days, nippy, for sure! We received a very light dusting this weekend, but the ground is freezing up. I wonder when the first significant snowfall will arrive?

  9. Oh it looks beautiful with the first dusting Laurie and lovely Dee and Clif are helping with the festive decorations 🎄🎅 Hope your knee continues to feel better and better 🤗💜

  11. Cooking is a good plan for this time of year. I am glad that the knee is improving. Watch out for hazards as you get more confident and start running around. 🙂

  14. Laurie, thank you SO much for the Robin, Robin recommendation! I am a huge Aardman animation fan (I’ve seen everything they’ve made, and “Chicken Run” is my all-time favorite movie), but I hadn’t heard of this one. We watched it this afternoon and loved it! We want to watch it again–there is so much detail in the animation you don’t get it all at once. (Didn’t the cat–Gillian Anderson–sound exactly like her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher?)

  15. How exciting, to see your snow! I well remember how I looked forward to it in past years; there’s just something about cold and snow that make Christmas warmer: odd, but true.

    Time really is a-flying, and I need to get baking for out of town people done quickly. If shipping’s going to be an issue (and it seems it is), I’m not going to try for a near-Christmas delivery of treats. Better to get them off now. Whatever you do, do it carefully, and pace yourself!

    1. Thanks, Judy! Let me assure you that the tofu pie is not in the least healthy. 😉 Lots of carbs and calories. What it doesn’t have is dairy, which is good for my very lactose-intolerant husband.

      2. It is a meat substitute. But the silken tofu can also be used as a dairy substitute. I’ll be making the pie again this weekend to see if I can tweak it so that it tastes more the way we like.

  17. Tofu chocolate cream pie….do you have a recipe for that? (As if you have nothing else to do!) Mostly, I’ve tried making it twice and wasn’t quite satis

    1. Still working on it. I made one for Thanksgiving that we weren’t totally pleased with. The recipe called for almond extract, which gave the pie a bitter taste. I’m going to make the again this weekend—without the almond extract—and if it comes out well, I will share the recipe.

  20. I hope your knee continues to improve Laurie, it is only when you have sore knees that you realise how dependant you are on them! Your photos certainly show us that winter is on the way…time to stay inside, keep warm and watch your favourite movies!

  22. Dear Lauri,
    I also like the first dusting of snow, but sadly, we haven’t yet been touched by any of the storms that drifted through the region.
    I hope you will enjoy this festive season with your husband and daughter and wish you continued improvement for your knee.
    Best,
    Tanja

  23. We have grey, rain, hail but no snow so I am envying yours! Stay safe and warm and look after yourself.

  24. That looks like more than a dusting, although I know you have different snow standards to work to. I’m sorry your knee is still giving you trouble. You must be weary with it.

  25. So sorry your knee is still an issue. SO frustrating! Your snow dusted photos are beautiful. We’ve had frost every morning for a week or so (25 degrees as a low) but no snow yet. This is early for such cold for us.

    I am interested in any vegan recipes. My son’s girlfriend eats vegan and I am always looking for something new to serve. Some of the things are so good I have adopted them myself. Beyond Burgers are so delicious I eat them always instead of beef, but they are expensive and come in TONS of plastic. So I don’t feel like I am hitting the mark there.

    Sigh. Always striving to do a bit better.

    1. Thanks, Jodie. The knee continues to improve. Yay! I’ll be making the tofu chocolate pie tomorrow and will report on Monday. As for Beyond Beef burgers…I love ’em and eat them with nary a qualm. Well, almost. Hate that plastic packaging, too. On our low-carb, low-dairy, vegetarian diet, Clif and I have given up so much that an occasional Beyond Beef burger seems just fine. 😉

  26. I love this time of year and the wonderful photos you captured, especially the leaves and frosty birdbath!🙂 Wonderful to hear that you’ve had some improvement with your knee and help with all the decorations and cooking. I’ll be looking for the movies as I begin my holiday movie marathons and please take extra care as you hobble around with your camera during these snowy days.🙂

  27. We too have just had our first snow of the year. In our part of the UK the infrastructure struggles to cope with heavy snow but one of the joys of being retired is that we don’t have to worry about the slippery commute into work. I’m pleased you enjoyed Chicken Run – Wallace and Gromit animations are wonderfully quirky, very British I think, so I’m pleased they also work on your side of the Pond!

    1. You got that right about not having to go out on slippery roads. For a long while we have been huge fans of Wallace & Gromit. We are a family that is dedicated to quirky. 😉

  28. Thank you for risking your knee and taking those wonderful snow scenes for us. This is the time I really look forward to vicariously enjoy wintery wonderlands.

    P/S Putting on my Editor’s hat now (and also because I would want to know if it was me): you have several repeated paragraphs in the 2nd half of your post.

  29. I hope your knee feels better soon, Laurie!

    Snow – it looks beautiful! I don’t know if we will get any here or not this year. Mother Nature takes us on some roller coaster weather rides though.

  30. I’m so glad that awful summer business is gone, and things are getting back to normal.
    I regret there are only two more weeks until the solstice, and days will begin lengthening again.
    Things are always jollier when the place looks like the North Pole.

    Merry Christmas,

    Paz

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