THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

In the blink of an eye Christmas has come and gone. It was a beautiful day, one shared with loved ones and thoughts of those who are no longer with us and dearly missed. The Christmas dinner, roast beast and twice baked potatoes were cooked to perfection. My dear husband's popovers, popped and then some. The chocolate cream pie and Christmas cake were delectable too. Both of which I did not make, dare I admit both were store bought. This Christmas I did not tie on my apron strings, no peanut butter balls, thumb print cookies, no fudge nor whoopie pies, no peanut brittle or pumpkin pie. I admit the one cookie I did miss was the sugar cookie, but my waistline did not.

The Christmas spirit still burns bright here at Dog Trot Farm. The snow may have vanished with today's temperature (which by the way neared fifty), but the gift of giving still remains. In today's world their are so many in need, we hear such heart warming stories of those who are not only generous with their money and time but opt to remain anonymous. We here at Dog Trot choose to help our local animal shelters, every bag and or can of food, toy, bed, is greatly appreciated, it does a heart good to help those in need.Speaking of giving, I received such wonderful, thoughtful Christmas presents. Tomorrow more on those, but let me just say, one gift reduced me to tears, another has caused complete intimidation, while another will keep me on the straight and narrow... A world of advice, if you own a little banty hen, who desperately desires to become a mother, no matter her commitment, no matter her plea, take those eggs away. Winter is no time for a hen to hatch chicks...Oh, I do love the sound of peeping chicks in the house and Winslow Homer has certainly enjoyed bunk mates, but lord have mercy the chicken dust, well it's like a dust bowl around here and I am no fan of dusting. Now and again Miss Josephine enjoys an outing to the coop to stretch her legs, scratch around a bit, ruffle her feathers, (even mother hens require a break from their little ones) Loretta (The Don's second main squeeze) becomes quite jealous as she soon realizes Don Juan has not forgotten his "Josephine"(Don Juan is under the impression that Josephine has come for a conjugal visit) When her presence is noticed The Don is off to do his business, Loretta pouts in the corner, while Josephine is ready to return to her babes...Have ya noticed the days are getting longer?

Good night....