Happy Holidays

The b/f & I don't celebrate Christmas (I'm Jewish, he's a Scrooge), but Dec. 25 is the b/f's father's birthday, so we had a birthday party.

Choosing presents was a challenge, since the birthday boy said he didn't need anything. However, we did come up with a few ideas, including a Stuff On My Cat calendar (that site cracks me up every time I look at it), some handknit potholders (his were probably nearly as old as I am), homemade cookies, and the like.

A few weeks ago, he commented that he might dust off the bread machine bought for his late wife several years ago, and try making bread. So, I wrapped up a bag of King Arthur bread flour with a copy of my favorite bread machine cookbook, Men's Guide to Bread Machine Baking (out of print, but not hard to find). When he opened this gift, he started laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. For some reason, he found it highly amusing that a couple of years ago, we gave him a lump of coal, and this year he got a sack of flour. Since laughter is very healthy, I decided this was a good thing.

After the presents, we played with his model trains:
And then the steam engine (look closely; you can see the steam from the exhaust, and the tiny light that is lit by electricity generated by the dampfmachine):
This was Peter's first time to see (and hear) the steam engine; he had reservations.
I had a happy holiday; I hope you did too, whichever holiday(s) you chose to celebrate!