Lada's birthday

We had a little party for Lada's birthday. 

Dasa made a cake, the neighbors came over

We even danced.  fun stuff

Snowshoeing with the dogs

Even a coat didn't keep EV warm, but it was lovely to get out in the snowy woods

Isn't Rin cute?

OMSI with Hugo and Lada

Again, OMSI is way more fun to share with a kid!

Czech Christmas

It was fun to have the Czech kids around at Christmas time.  

Hugo helped me decorate the tree.

It's a lot more fun buying gifts for kids.

Eric's family

We needed a family pic for the adoption book.  I like how this one turned out.

Christmas candy

This years candy stash

frigid frost

a week of frost on the lawn

 cold!

Tomatillos

So, as the season fades into winter, I've been able to sneak just a few more tomatoes and peppers off the plants, making me reluctant to clean the beds up just yet.  The weather has been crazy wet lately, so yesterday I decided to do a last look though before everything rotted.  Much to my surprise, there was tons of stuff!  Look at all of those tomatoes.  And more importantly, look at the tomatillos!  The plant I put in this year really never looked very good.  Flopped all over the ground and generally was pathetic.  In september I pulled off a few pathetic tomatillos, enough to make a small batch of salsa.  But when I looked yesterday, I found all of these!

This does not include the two fridge drawers of eggplant and the drawer of peppers I picked before the weekend.  The peppers in this pic are actually from Shawna's garden.  

So, I made salsa verde and bread and butter jalapeños.  And I though I was done canning for the season.  Good thing I had gotten lazy and the canner was still sitting at the top of the stairs waiting to be put away in the basement.  

Living room art

We finally found a piece for above the fireplace. It was a big challenge because the space is huge but awkwardly shaped.  We wanted something that would compliment the oddity.  Solo is a moving piece that will hypnotize you. 

Full pantry

Though its not the can pantry I have been promised, we got these shelves from Josh and Shawna and it was just in time because look at the canned goods I have this year.  

No jam, we still have some from 2 years ago.  This year was the year of the pickle and the tomato.  

Spaghetti squash.  I haven't brought in the butternut yet.