A New Year

Hello, friends.  I hope you've been doing well.  Last week, I went to our little local grocer.  Though they were out of the cilantro I stopped there for, I found 12 oz grade A maple syrup on the clearance rack for $3, and bought 8.  At the nearby Dollar General, I found 50% off Christmas, and picked up twinkly lights, gift tags, and ribbon.  I used our potatoes and vegetable broth in mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy.  Lots of sweet potatoes and greens were eaten in various forms throughout the week.   A few Christmas items I wasn't using were added to the donation box.   Though it was mighty cold hanging it out, with temps in the 20's, I dried laundry on the line.  I found cherries for $3.99/# at Food Lion.  While in town, I thrifted a 1/2 gal canning jar $1.99, canister for my shop $2.99, and two pretty handmade pottery bowls 2/$3.99.  Our elderly neighbor, who I've mentioned here before, sadly passed away.  The day after the funeral, J brought a trailer load of our wood to his widow.  

One of the hellebores has a flower bud, a hopeful sign at the start of the new year.  A customer who has turned into a friend sent me a lovely handmade Christmas ornament.  Sweet surprises in the mail are one of life's old fashioned pleasures, don't you think?  I prepped all the pears, and the apples that wouldn't last, and made sauce, canning two 1/2 pints of each. I hope to process the remaining apples soon.  Annabel put up an excellent post on these times.  I'm thankful that there are so many good people sharing information.  Though there is plenty of junk online, and those stirring up drama and fear, there are also those who calmly share information which is helpful to know.  It requires some discernment, and I've been consciously choosing to watch and read more things that uplift me while informing me.   Happy New Year, friends!