Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

Well, we made it. Another Christmas has come and gone, but this one was extra special. Mary spent hours in the kitchen, from where I've just returned after finishing the final cleanup post early morning sojourns for the fur-children. It always seems as though every holiday dinner takes hours in preparation, minutes to devour and hours to clean up. But in between, this was the best Christmas dinner I've ever eaten. We both came away stuffed, me especially because I enjoyed the canned jellied cranberry sauce all by myself.

Prior to dinner, Mary had made cinnamon French toast for breakfast and chopped cheese and vegetables for the mid-afternoon pre-dinner snack. I spent time finishing my latest novel, and Mary spent time reading her latest too. I forget the title, but it deals with time travel. I also spent time with the butterfly jigsaw puzzles I'm working on and I am nearing completion. I have three more to go. 

What's a Christmas without a puzzle and me in the hat that Mary knitted for me?

The pre-dinner snacks.

Let's go back to the fantabulous dinner that Mary prepared. I had a small part in the production, retrieving food and cooking items from the top shelves and shaking the garlic to remove the peels/skins. I also participated in the consumption of the meal as I previously noted. Mary took some pictures to commemorate the process and consumption, so I'll include them here and try to appropriately add captions.

The beginnings of the green bean casserole. Mary carmelized the onion for the topping.

Sauteeing the mushrooms for the dressing.

The croutons that Mary had prepared on Friday before the addition of the mushrooms and onions.

The vegan roast in its early stages.

Sauteeing the onions for the green bean casserole.

The green bean casserole prior to baking.

The garlic smashed potatoes, pre-smashing.. "And I helped!"

Pre-consumption.

Post-meal.

Mary did the majority of the final clean up and I completed the balance when I was downstairs with the fur-children around 4:30 a.m.

Tangentially speaking of the fur-children, when I was outside, the temperature was fine albeit in our back forty, the winds are blocked so I didn't experience the current weather conditions that make that 41° as reported by the NWS, feel like 33°, nor did I notice the foggy conditions that they are reporting. The NWS has once again issued a gale warning for the "Big Lake." Later today, the temperature is forecast to rise to 53° with a possibility of T-storms in the early morning. Yes, T-storms in December! 

Tomorrow, the winds continue to blow strongly and the precipitation will change to snow showers with the high temperature reaching no higher than 29°. By Tuesday, we return to 41° with strong winds still prevailing. The sun will rise in a few hours @ 8:15 a.m. and set exactly nine hours later @ 5:15 p.m. The same for Tuesday. However, Wednesday, the days begin to get longer as the sun will rise @ 8:15 a.m., but set @ 5:16 p.m. 

Today. I have to deal with the cable company to resolve the channel that doesn't come in on the upstairs cable box. For some reason, one channel does not appear on the TV in the media room. I'm hoping to avoid a trip to Holland for a replacement cable box, but so far I've done the usual things, such as unplugging the box with no change. I'm guessing that the cable people will want me to try again.

Otherwise, we have no specific plans. Ciao.