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suggestion to administrators/monitors:
Leave this here today (or maybe even until Jan. 2...??) and then move it to "The Lounge"...eh?

Some people are working...
Mrs. bloke's sister always works holidays at her hospital job, in the blood/plasma dept...but will be off at 3 P.M. (single-shift only, this time...)

Many of us, though, view today as a holiday.

me...??

I re-lit the wood stove (was hoping for enough glowing coals for a "morning recharge", but it really burned down nearly completely, overnight, so...), heard/read about a Christmas Eve-ning suicide-by-cop (here in my quiet county, last night), will eat Mrs. bloke's delicious no-carb breakfast, (now that the "WHOOPS" trombone - repair forum - is done and under my friend's Christmas tree) will get back (today) to my Holton tuba project (hopefully, mounting the valveset, so that it can be tested/played a little bit), and might also take a peek at a tired old Holton "Farkas" horn (that my college-teacher friend needs to buy - to use to teach, as he-and-his are coming up here from MS next week).

I'll be cutting off all of that in the early afternoon, and we're then heading over to my sister's (after her own kids and grandkids have left the building) and - after that visit (when Mrs. bloke's sister is home from working at the hospital) - probably go visit with her and her daughter for a bit.

Our son is here at blokeplace, today. Yesterday was his birthday, and he had his traditional BR ice cream cake.
Tomorrow (as it will be in the mid-50's, instead of the low-30's), Mrs. bloke will probably ask him to help her out with some farm chores, while I repair some fences and haul more brush and wood (larger than I care to split - but which I cut up small enough to move...as the wood/fuel supply is inexhaustible) into ravines - brush and large limbs that were blown over in a storm, and which necessitated the fence repairs.

[EDIT: I am amending this to be more accurate.]

Well, on Christmas Eve we had a tornado blow through about ten miles from us, and we had one that never hit the ground go *directly* over us (about 1,000 feet up in the air - very close), and the air-raid sirens were droning and wailing and all of us (two humans and three felines) sat on the floor of the small bathroom for about ten minutes until the radar on the local NWS webpage showed us to be in the clear.

I had insomnia and did not fall asleep until about 5:00 a.m. because I was worried about additional surprises like that from our friend Gaia.

I woke up at 8:15 a.m. not for Santa-fueled excitement, but for my neighbor's screaming and the two large fire trucks blocking the street and the Chief's pickup in our driveway.

Her electric space heater shorted, caught fire, and set her couch and wall aflame. She panicked and ran, but forgot her little dog.

The poor, little pup died of smoke inhalation.

The house is mostly damaged by smoke and water. It will still be habitable after some attention from SERVPRO. I think she is going to take her son and move in with her mom across town for the time being. (In Yazoo City, "across town" means about a mile away.)

We gave her an old winter coat that fit her okay. She cried on my shoulder for a few minutes. I told her the dog's death was not something she could have prevented, that it was not her fault. I tried to be comforting.

We are not celebrating Christmas at all, now; it just feels wrong. No music going. Just another day. I will probably head to the shop out back and try to immerse myself in one of my projects to avoid thinking about Tasha's dog or house.

I am grateful that 2020 has already beaten me up; being this down means I don't have far to fall if something like this happens.

I hope no other bad things happen to us or to our neighbors. (We have had several old houses burn down this past week.) Enough is enough. I am done with this damned year from hell.

Six more days of this craptastic year to go.

Merry Christmas to you all.

#UpYours2020

Nothing much, here, since we are honoring a request to quarantine before heading south to visit the kids and grand kids (including the triplets, the main reason to quarantine) next weekend.
After a hearty breakfast, which WILL include a carb-containing home made donut or two, I'll continue a major book-sort project in my den. I tend to like real, paper books, especially old books (pre-1900 school texts being a favorite) and have too many. My kids have little interest (since, you know, you can find and read 'everything ' on-line), so I may search for a collector and sell or donate them. I also love outdoor magazines from pre-1960, and need to thin that shelf as well. Fun fact: a couple of years ago my son gave me several outdoor mags from my birth year of 1958 for my birthday. They won't be going.
Beyond that, there'll be puppy play time outside, probably a long walk to check trail cams, Zoom time with kids and siblings, and a ham and lefse dinner. Will be a full day.
Merry Christmas to all, and God bless.
Tim

My kids are 3 and 5, so you can probably imagine what today will be like. So that, plus 2x zoom calls. I hate zoom so much, but that's just how it goes. One set of grandparents is halfway across the county anyway, so it's not like it's any different because of the germs.

Mrs Bort is making her famous Christmas cinnamon rolls. Swedish meatballs for dinner. Lunch is an epic charcuterie board. Wine (mulled or otherwise), beer is verboten today. Which I've never really understood, but if that's the request, I can go along with it.

Church was yesterday afternoon, virtually. Probably trying to hit the drive thru communion line.

Frankly, I think I might like Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day. But all around, it's an epic time of joy, a lot of work, little sleep, too many movies and traditions to squeeze in just barely, kid arguments, grownup arguments, then back to joy and love.

Jesus is born, and that is the best part of all for Christmas. Peace and joy to all.

PS, the air temperature is about -3 right now. Tim, how's the weather up there?

Family's over: 2 kids, son-in-law, 2 grandkids. New cat still learning to get along with old cat, and vice versa. Cooking's done. Nobody's sick, and we all agree on politics. All's right with the world (inside our house, that is).

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:09 am PS, the air temperature is about -3 right now. Tim, how's the weather up there?

Brett,
We started the day at -12. It's +4 right now, headed for maybe +20F. Pretty balmy compared to the last couple of days (high of -11, wind chills of -30F).
We got tied up in family zoom chats last night, missed the on-line Christmas Eve service. I like the drive-thru communion idea, as it's better than nothing and shows some dedication to get out just for that!
Yes, 2020 has been tough on so many. I'm glad that we who so chose have a born in the manger/raised from the grave savior to whom we can turn.
I'm grateful my wife doesn't mind being serenaded (her term) by my endless, random Christmas carols on my tiny tuba.
Peace on earth,
Tim
PS. I need to hear more about those cinnamon rolls and Swedish meatballs. Mmmm-mmm.

.

The family gave me a new pair of powered speakers. So I sat them up in the living room and have been playing seasonally appropriate brass quintet music all day.

Big floofy flakes coming down right, which weren't in the forecast, so that's fun.

Being in the hospitality and entertainment industry, I'll be working later today. It's all good.

Stayed up way late last night listening to some outstanding Christmas music on Interlochen Public Radio and chatting online with my sister. She advised last Sunday that she wouldn't be coming home for Christmas, so I sent one of her gifts Monday afternoon. Surprisingly, the Post Office got it from Michigan to California by Christmas Eve.

Just got off the phone with my Mom and Dad, who I'll be seeing Sunday and Monday. We'll be roasting a duck, feasting on today's leftovers, and enjoying Mom's incomparable Christmas cookies. My gifts to them this year include a deluxe Scrabble set and some Yahtzee scorepads. I'm sure we'll enjoy breaking them in and will take lots of breaks for cookies, coffee, and warmed-up leftovers.

Mom bakes half an upright freezer full of cookies after (American) Thanksgiving and then gives platters of them away for gifts. I'll be bringing a couple of platters back with me to give to my closest friends.

Being away from home yet again on Christmas, it's a time to savor memories of holidays past. Being from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and having more than a few Swedes in our extended family, there would always be Smorgasbord somewhere on Christmas Eve. Aunt Christine would often break out the accordion for polkas and Christmas music, and her Mom, Esther, would always fix Lutefisk that could be delicious but was sometimes horrible. And even if was horrible, you always told Esther that it was great, because, ya know, she's getting old.

Spending Christmas Day the same place I’ve spent the last ten days, on the couch trying to battle through this stupid virus. It’s not bad, just a pain in the butt. Worst parts are the fever that won’t let go, fatigue, and body aches.

My wife shook off her fever days ago and our kids seem to have avoided that altogether. Very glad for both them.

Not the Christmas we planned on but we are together and we have smiles on our faces.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We start the morning with singing "Away in a Manger" followed by family prayer and scripture reading. Opened presents, then my parents came over for breakfast. We're at my in-laws until the end of the day. Lots of food and kids playing with their cousins while the grown-ups watch movies, play games, and chat (and surf TubaForum.net, oh wait, that's just me).

Merry Christmas! Praying for a smoother 2021, though we've certainly had it much easier than most this year, for which I am truly grateful.

Worked until noon yesterday. Came home, presents were wrapped but I like to put bells and ribbon on them. The wife’s birthday (60) was two days ago. She got lobster and a side of baked oysters I threw together as well as her ice cream cake and a few things I got her.

Watched White Christmas and Wonderful Life then went to bed. We hide our gifts and when we get up to pee and the other is sleeping we sneak presents under the tree for one another.

After breakfast, I installed the sound bar and subwoofer I got her.

I got the sonic tuba clean I had been dropping hints for!!

It’s actually nice just hanging out here instead of going out to dinner and driving all over Delmarva visiting family...

The wife is rerunning the turkey roulade tonight.

I’m trying not to think about bathroom we need remodeled, the new leak in the roof or the oil and alternator lights that came on in the car last week.

Right now, nothing but joy!!

The last four "eating holidays" (TGs, XMASes) I've had the pleasure of going to a friend's place, a retirement trailer court (they are common in this part of the country) where, this year, we get take-out dinners to eat at home instead of the en masse buffet in the big hall. We'll be sitting on his porch with a third person, eating, chatting, and social distancing outside. Always a relaxing, pleasant time.

And it was an extremely pleasant 70 degrees and sunny here....and we did have a relaxing, pleasant time.

A family game night on Skype for Christmas Eve. Today, we opened gifts and then we will be having a virtual Christmas dinner again on Skype. My son and daughter-in-law are looking after the turkey, gravy and stuffing. My former wife is making the cranberry sauce and a dessert and I am making mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. We will meet on my son's steps and exchange the dishes with each other and then return to our homes and share the time with my daughter and her partner in Calgary. Certainly not the same as being in the same room, however we are safe as both my province(Saskatchewan) and my daughter's (Alberta) have exploding COVID 19 transmission rates right now. My stand partner and I got together yesterday and played Christmas carols for an hour and a half. Best wishes for a "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year" to all of the tubaforum.net folks! The year 2020 cannot leave fast enough

Played for two masses; one midnight mass (at 11 pm) and one at 9 am. It felt so good to play with a (properly physical distanced) group! The kid was off with her fiancé must of the day, so Mrs. ronr (if I may follow the trend) had two meals of leftovers. They always taste better the second time around!

ronr wrote: ↑Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:51 pm ...Mrs. ronr (if I may follow the trend) had two meals of leftovers. They always taste better the second time around!

One of my favorite things about holidays is the leftovers.

Having enough for two meals after the main feast is just perfect, and I try to manage holiday meals with that end in mind. We've all hosted holidays where there was enough leftover turkey for a month's worth of sandwiches and after four days of nonstop leftover turkey meals with no end in sight, PBJs start to sound like a treat. That's why we now bake a duck instead.

addendum:

*Mrs. bloke and I did not "exchange gifts", this year.

We've done a bunch of work around blokeplace in 2020 (actually - for you greenie types - using a bunch of surplus/recycled materials), and realized that those repairs/etc. are our "gifts" to each other.
Further: Open ANY drawer or ANY cabinet in ANY room, here, and it's loaded down with crap (or - often - two-or-three duplicate craps).
Though we realize that we always want to be as children ("yea!!! presents!!!", etc...), those "presents" have come to ~present~ a burden, from which we need to become unburdened.

My brother and sister sent us consumables (as we also sent to them).

Our (adult) children received things to eat from us, as well.
________________________________
*WERE IT THAT each of us wanted some "big" present... well...I'm building myself a new tuba, and Mrs. bloke has a really nice/enhanced-with-modern-keys 1940's bassoon (that she never has done the last two days of work to complete the restoration) out in her workroom - for herself.

Consumables are my favorite give/gift as well.

Cookies, coffee, booze...

We are the custodial grandparents of two boys, ages 2 and 4, so we got up really early, after going to bed really late.

My wife--nickname Hestia--had laid a fire the night before. So by the pre-dawn's early firelight, we proctored the opening of the boys' stocking gifts. Yes, it was very orderly; like a room full of puppies.

My son (the boys' uncle) and his wife came for breakfast. We have a family tradition: "dirty eggs," which are scrambled eggs cooked in the sausage grease immediately after the sausage is removed. We also had sweet breads (pumpkin, etc.) and biscuits.

Then we opened other presents. I think. Sort of a blur of tearing paper and little boys.

There was a bottle of Blue Juice in my stocking. All good.