Today is January 11, and December is a blur, Gail-Friends. I hope your holidays were happy, peace-full, and blessed. Ours were "different" . . . busy, but blessed. Jem was sick for about two weeks, and our daughter's family was sick for over three weeks - coughs, sneezing, fevers, chills - all the things that go along with flu season. They are all well now, Praise the Lord! And I praise the Lord that I never came down with any of it.
But, let's back up, y'all. Here are a few pics from the months of November and December that show what's been happening at Golden Cottage:
In November, our daughter Amanda was part of an musical variety show called a Brown Bag Concert. She joined the ten-piece Bucket List Band in an amazing concert. The venue was very nice - at a local Elks Lodge. It was called "brown bag" because everybody brought their own dinner meal. Many brought homemade food while others brought pizza, subs, and other restaurant meals.
Amanda is the singer on the left. She, and all of them, put on a fantastic show. The songs were an entertaining mixture of oldies through current popular songs. The venue has a nice dance floor, so Jem and I enjoyed both the music and dancing together. Places / venues like this are rare in this area, so we thoroughly enjoyed the evening out and hope there will be more events like this.
During November and December, we have what we call "Florida snow" in our area. It's so beautiful, y'all, and we dearly love it.
The cinnamon buns are HUGE and smell so good! And the six-layer carrot cakes and red velvet cakes are gorgeous works of art.
So tempting, but thankfully, I was able to resist all of that. (except the stollen and jingle-jangle - but more about that later, LOL). I'm still focused on more healthy sweet treats.
This is a homemade sugar-free keto tiramisu that is really good.
and some pretty and satisfying pumpkin muffins I made.
We did get to go to our oldest grandson's music concert before all of the sickness hit. He attends a musical arts school and we enjoyed his chorus presentation, but didn't make it for the band concert. He is a part of the percussion section and was invited to be a part of a local college concert during the holidays. My photos of the concerts didn't turn out, so that's sad. He's a very talented musician and singer, and a member of a local STEM program. We're thankful that his parents home school him and his brother. He gets his scientific/engineering smarts from his father, and his musical abilities from his mother. What a delightful blend, right? (oh that box he's holding has a funny story with it - but later, Gail-Friends.
Our Hanukkah celebration was lonely but good due to the sickness. I did some decorating in the house and we did the nightly prayers and candle-lighting. There's a song I love to sing each year at this time, even though it's not really a Hanukkah song. It speaks of how Adonai has brought us to this season again. Here's the link: It begins with Hebrew, so hang in there - and pay close attention to the provided lyrics. Shehekiyanu by Ted Pierce.
Here are a few shots of Golden Cottage during the holidays:
I decorated the back porch table with a lighted JOY sign. (more about that later) . Jem and I made latkes and fried donuts. The pretty pillow was a gift from my friend, Betty, my son-in-love's mother.
Well, Gail-Friends, this is getting long, so I'll share more in my next post. Blessings and love to you all, from me and my Jem.
