In the northern hemisphere, we have less than a week until the shortest day of the year, less than a week until Christmas, less than a week until our home will be filled with dogs and family.

I am happy to report that my cooking is right on schedule.

I’ve made chili,

more pumpkin bread,

and I put together a pie using peppermint ice cream made by Gifford’s, a Maine business.

All are in the freezer waiting for the big day, and the cupboards are bulging with goodies to go along with what I’ve made.

On Friday and Saturday, to get us all in the mood for a Maine Christmas,  Mother Nature obliged with a nor’easter.

During the storm, here was the view from our living room,

and here was the backyard from another room.

Unfortunately, the snow was wet and heavy and knocked out power to more than 100,00 customers in central and southern Maine. Today, there are still over 18,000 customers without power. Given that the entire state only has a population of a little over a million, a fair number of households lost their power last weekend.

We did lose our power, but only for a few hours in the middle of the night, and we scarcely noticed it.  As I’ve mentioned before, although we live on a country road, we are lucky to be on the same line as the town’s fire department. Every time a bruiser of a storm comes, we give thanks that our power line is linked to the fire station’s line.

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My new book, Of Time and Magic, continues to sell very well. In fact, Of Time and Magic has sold better on release than any of my previous books. Many thanks to all my blogging friend who have bought Of Time and Magic. If you haven’t bought a copy yet and want to, never fear! We have plenty of books in stock and would be happy to mail them in the U.S. after the holidays if that is more convenient.

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If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very merry Christmas or Joyeux Noël as we Franco-Americans would say.  I will be taking a blogging break until the new year. Wherever you live, whatever you celebrate, I hope the last days of December are filled with warmth, merriment, good food, family, and friends.

And a happy New Year to all!

At our home on the edge of woods, Thanksgiving was simple, quiet, and good. I made two loaves of pumpkin bread and thought we would have one to eat and one to freeze for Christmas. Silly me! We ate those two loaves as quick as can be, which means I’ll have to make two more for Christmas.

We had a nice little brunch on Thanksgiving morning. As you might notice, we even had dessert, leftover homemade chocolate pudding from the pie I made. Good thing we don’t eat like this every morning.

I forgot to take pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner. Too busy cooking and getting ready for our little feast. Afterward, we were all too stuffed to do much of anything, and we settled in for some episodes of Season 4 of The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition. Past seasons of the Baking Show—British and American—are available for free on the Roku channel. There are commercials, and they are often clumsily inserted, but the shows are still worth watching.

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Outside, the snow has all melted, and the gardens are in a strange in-between state, not quite fall, not quite winter. There’s still plenty of green on the lawns, but one morning there was a skim of ice in the ornamental bird bath.

Black-eyed Susans, their petals long gone, lean into another plant, whose name, alas, I have forgotten.

And Minerva, in her wisdom, presides over the front garden.

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The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree. It is an artificial one, and while I miss having a real tree, I don’t miss the mess or the expense—in central Maine, $50 is about the least you can pay for a decent-looking tree.  (I know it is much higher in other places.)

Still, it gives me pleasure to put up our ornaments—some plain, some silly, some old, some new, some poignant. The house ornament was made by my blogging friend Judy of New England Garden and Thread. 2020 was indeed the year we stayed home, and to me the ornament is a lovely reminder of all the ways we stayed in touch during that first terrible pandemic year. Many thanks, Judy.

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A couple of days ago, a special card came into our home—another beauty from my blogging friend Alys of Gardening Nirvana. Alys made this card from a 100-year-old National Geographic. In the lower-left-hand corner is the word Maine. In the middle, White Pine. The white pine is Maine’s state tree, and the tassel is its state flower. My oh my! Thanks so much, Alys.

Yet again, as the day grows shorter and the nights grow longer and the cold settles into our yard, I am reminded of how much there is to be grateful for.

We are not a fancy family. Our celebrations are usually held at home, and they feature favorite foods of the people being honored. So it was with our eldest daughter Dee’s birthday gathering on Friday.

Dee wanted biscuits, and I was particularly pleased with the way they came out. Once upon a time, I made them regularly, but now that we are on a low-carb diet, they are an occasional treat. I was glad I hadn’t lost my touch, which can easily happen when you don’t bake often.

My old tattered recipe gave Dee a giggle. It is certainly a minimalist recipe.

I also made a potato and cheddar soup, which everyone loves. Alas, I forget to take a picture of it. The soup is served with tortellini and steamed broccoli.

But I did remember to take a picture of the cake, also made by me.

Although we like to keep things simple, we do like a pretty table, with flowers as the centerpiece.

Our daughter Shannon, her husband Mike, and their dogs Holly and Somara came for the celebration, and what a jolly time we had. The day was warm enough for drinks and appetizers on the patio in the backyard, where the dogs could stretch their legs. We talked about all the things we love to talk about—books, movies, television shows, and, yes, politics. (Fortunately, we are all on the same page when it comes to politics.)

The day was particularly golden.

Both up

and down.

In Maine, October is such a beautiful month for a birthday.

And how lovely it was to have everyone around the table once again.

Happy birthday, Dee!