Sunday, November 19, 2023
Relaxed Sunday. Had a cigar this afternoon while Dale took a bike ride.
While smoking I listened to Joel Paterson's other holiday album, Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar. Retro sounding just like the other one and lots of fun.
Dale got home as I was finishing up my cigar. When finished I joined him inside and poured myself an Old Fashioned and listened to some more Chistmas music. Dale poured himself some wine and joined me.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
While at The Loft we heard All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah. I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas music but there's something about hearing this song for the first time each year that feels like it's official the holiday season has begun, at least the secular part of it. Close enough I guess.
After she dropped me back off at home I had a cigar out in the back yard.
After that I went back inside to listen to more holiday music. Which included the new album by guitarist Joel Paterson. It has a retro sound and I quite enjoyed it.
After THAT I listened to the new one by Seth MacFarlane & Liz Gilles, also very retro. Dale expressed he though it was too early for Christmas music but I declared it Holiday Music Preview Weekend. I told him it's not too early if it's a preview. He accepted that but, really, what other choice did he have?
Peter and Jenny came over for dinner. We ordered in Chinese food and had a great time talking and catching up. After they left Dale and I listened to more holiday songs.
November 12, 2023
Alice from church gave us a Christmas cactus. It was very sweet of her to think of us. It's blooming a little although Sylvester bit off the flowers. Prior to settting it out we checked online to see if the plant is safe for cats and it is.
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Martinmas snuck up on me this year as it often does. Woke up not feeling well this morning so I cancelled with Noel. Sat around all day which worked out just fine since I don't have the bandwidth to do much more. Work has just been exhausting which is probably why I'm not feeling well.
Spent time looking through a new Christmas book I picked up last weekend while out shopping with Noel. It's simply titled The Christmas Book and it's published by Phaidon. The book contains more than 200 images of paintings, books, prints, sculptures, textiles, ceramics, and photography, and covers topics such as Advent; the Christmas tree and holiday decorations; gift giving and carol singing; and classic Christmas films and music. It's a delightful publication.
Checked out some of this blog's previous Martinmas posts where I acknowledge the loss of our beloved black lab, Athena. Had an Old Fashioned tonight in her honor and used a lab themed lowball glass I picked up a few years ago. I still miss her greatly. She reminds me that disparate emotions can coexist within us - the joy of living with her and the pain of losing her. Cheers, Athena, I won't forget you.
I believe loss can make us cherish even more what we currently hold dear. Sylvester came to us just under two months after we lost Athena. He too is an angel and I'm grateful for his presence.
Chicken is a traditional Martinmas food. Dale and I decided to make a chicken pot pie for dinner. We use chicken thighs for the dish and the dark meat makes it especially rich.
We watched Meet Me in St. Louis during dinner tonight. It's a great movie for November as two major parts of the movie cover Halloween and Christmas which this month bridges. The movie is just shy of being 80 years old and I believe only one member of the main cast is still living. Margaret O'Brien, born on January 15, 1937, is 86 years old. She's one of the last surviving stars of the golden age of Hollywood.
June Lockhart, another of the last surviving members of Hollywood's golden age is still with us at 98 years old. As a kid I absolutely loved her in the tv program Lost In Space.
Some music Dale and I listened to during cocktail hour this afternoon.
