thinking of silence. thinking of carols. thinking of fires and eggnog. thinking of the crunch of fresh snow under boot. i am thinking of a vacation with a blanket of white all around.
we aren't big vacationers, yet. but this year we are talking about taking a big step at christmas. packing all our traditions in a box and taking an adventure.
the where is not yet settled. we are in the throws of looking. how much fun is that?
the hope is to pack our little family and head to another place. allowing ourselves to luxuriate in peace and a lack of pressure. maybe forgetting the stress of school and work and social circle for a short time.
i want to dust off our sleds and run off into the powder. what could be more christmas than that?
family time.
we spend lots of it, and yet frequently it seems we aren't getting enough. this summer L and i have come to greatly appreciate our family time. more than we had in the past. nothing is different, but it seems even richer.
this past weekend we had lots of sudden company. we weren't expecting it quite the way it happened, though we were glad for it. the unexpected nature though made for a pithy of family time with N.
thankfully we still found time for a project and some together time.
we made ice cream. lots of it. there was Summer Delight, made with necturines, blueberries and raspberries. there was Strawberry Something, containing strawberries and chocolate chips. the last and i confess my favorite is Cup o-Joe Joe, containing espresso and Joe Joe cookies.
it was one of the best afternoons we have spent in a while. not to slight any of our other activities, but the kitchen it dissarry and all of us going in different direction was a fun family moment.
i don't know about other's experience making ice cream, but mine consists of my father and i sitting in the thin shade between the garage and the summer heat hand cranking the old-fashion ice-cream churn. hard work, sore sholders and eventual the ambrosia of summer. i usually got the job of putting ice in the barrel and salting it as dad churned. that was until i was strong enough to crank and then it was all mine.
and it tasted wonderful.
