CHRISTMAS EVE

Rain. Pouring rain ever since midnight. It's nearly 4:00 a.m. Christmas Eve morning and I haven't been to bed yet. The caffeine from several strong cups of tea has rendered me restless.

The past few days have been overcast with an eerie wind brushing through the treetops. Mild, colorless days, snuffed short by an extremely early dusk. I took a few photos yesterday from the back porch.
The hazy sun lingers so low in the sky that it's hardly visible from trees and hills (these photos are in color).

Yesterday the 'possum appeared on the back porch for his daily ration of bread. I was doing maintenance on the lawn mower.
Why the hell should I have a lawn mower when I'm surrounded by acres of 30 foot weeds? I'll never know.

Possum and Lawn Mower

 This is a very unflattering photo of my cat Scruffy (below) but she was fascinated by the 'possum. The picture makes them look closer to each other than they really were.
I quickly took Scruffy back inside after I snapped the photo. I wasn't in the mood to see fur fly in a rumble.

Scruffy and Possum

I have some things to do (like laundry) and then I'll try to get a few hours of shuteye. Going to put this post on hold and finish it later today. 

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It's now after noon on Christmas Eve. I slept about three hours, woke up with the usual excruciating back pain, hobbled around doing the usual chores.

It's a dark, damp, dreary day with  spectral mountain fog  weaving through the naked trees. I actually love it - - very atmospheric.

 View from the front porch, taken a few minutes ago

I'm in a lethargic, introspective mood today. Don't feel much like writing or communicating at all. I've become hermitized, like Heidi's grandfather, and it suits my brooding disposition.

Spell Check just assured me that there's no such word as "hermitized". I beg to differ.

I have no holiday plans, no guests but my three cats (and the 'possums). Gone are the days when I used to bake delectable goodies and cook elaborate meals. Tonight I plan to have roasted chicken with stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

Just for the hell of it, here are some photos from the distant past - when I used to enjoy cooking and actually had a life.

 Yes, I really and truly used to make homemade donuts. Never again! Too damn much trouble. Those green demitasse cups are for eggnog.

 

 Homemade turkey soup, and pumpkin 
bread from scratch.

My German chocolate cherry cake

This was a gingerbread house and New Year's Eve cake that I made

I used to make Hungarian cookies every year. The ones on the right are filled with raspberry and apricot jam. 

In retrospect I'm not nearly as dumb as I look. Or as tough.  Heck, I would probably make a great wife for somebody (that was said with bitter sarcasm....).