Christmas!

This is several days late because we only today got our internet service back after 7 longs days without it since the massive power cuts. It is reputed that at one point 500,000 people were without power since the storm on Sunday. As of this morning, 50,000 people were still without power and as of earlier this evening about 25,000 still do not. We lost power on Sunday and were without until Tuesday late afternoon. It was boring and stressful, mainly because it was about 10 degrees out and figuring out what to eat without the use of any kitchen appliances or the stove was not fun. Worse, most of the stores around us were without power and so were closed, so if we needed to stock up on anything it was simply tough luck. But at least we had the wood burning stove so our indoor temp was in the mid-60s, unlike most people whose household temps hovered in the low 40s. And, blessedly, we had hot water to take showers and wash dishes. Still, we were damn glad when the power went on. Here is our Christmas tree. It was green when we brought it into the house but almost immediately began to die quite dramatically. It was very mysterious (especially since we have had this tree for 4 or 5 years and it has done very well inside in the past) but once Simon noticed the feline urine smell coming from the dirt, the source of the problem seemed clear. I have my suspicions as to who is the culprit, but no proof as of this point. Of all the Charlie Brown Christmas trees, this has to be Charlie Browniest.

Martha trying to keep warm any way possible.

Frederick must have his walkies--even in dramatic weather.

Ok, enough is enough.

Very pretty.

Thomas modeling his new felted vest.  I am confident that he will be wearing that for every semi-formal occasion he is required to attend during the next several years.  It was a helleva lot of work to make this since I have gotten rid of my top loading washing machine.  Grandma's machine is strange and was unwilling to agitate in any way that was recognizably useful.  For all future purple vests (and Thomas will continue to grow, I suspect) I may have to invest in a counter top top loading washing machine.

Here Thomas smokes Simon while playing some Mario thing or other on the WiiU.  After Simon gave up I tried.  That wasn't too successful, either.  Eventually Thomas got so frustrated with the both of us (he accused us of purposefully playing badly to mess up his scores!) that he booted us off the game and played solo.

Frederick amused himself outdoors.  He liked to slide down face first with his mouth open so he could plow the snow into his mouth.