As I sit and type this snow is falling heavily, covering the majestic ponderosa pines surrounding us.  Sadly, these wonderful friends will be falling prey to a chainsaw in the spring due to the development proposal soon to come to fruitition.  It absolutely makes me sick, but what can I do about it?  It’s so unbecoming to chain onself to a tree.

On the weekend I was featured in the local Event Newspaper, and the Shaw Cable channel is running the piece they filmed last year.  This is helping nudge along sales, but sadly I have about 10 cases (240 fruitcakes) that I stubbornly wish to unload.  However, I’m still going to the post office daily with on-line orders, and that’s good.

I’m now on box #4 or #5, I’ve kind of lost count, of those Lowney’s cherries.  You know the ones, the maraschino cherries surrounded by a sickly sweet syrup and encased in cheap chocolate.  I’ve also lost count of the number of Spitzbubchen I’ve eaten (please add an umlaut over the u when you try to pronounce it).  I’ve also made rum balls, but have hidden them from myself.

It’s hard to believe, but I have three Martha Stewart magazines waiting to be read!  They were arriving during my busiest time, so I put them away, dreaming of Christmas holidays.  Now that life has returned to some normalcy, I’m stock piling the enjoyable things I’ll be doing, which is mainly lying on the couch with the dogs, reading.

Besides baking and writing the odd Christmas letter, I’ve also done the majority of my Christmas shopping.  Now, several thousand dollars lighter, I am done.  For some strange reason both Nicky and Luke wanted Xbox 360’s, and Denis is also getting some weird crap for his computer.  Any computer or gaming system would be thrown right at someone’s head were I to receive it.  However, they are from Mars, hency they love it.

As children begin to leave home (not mine, mind you, but those of friends) I notice people my age are beginning to down-size.  Maryjoy, one of my dear old pals from Osoyoos school days has sold their family home and she and her husband are moving into a condo.  I, on the other hand, appear to be going in the opposite direction as I am already ga ga with excitement about what will occur next spring.  I am going to expand my gardening to our lower yard and grow vegetables!

It’ll be too wonderful, as by then the hideous new subdivision will be paved in against my Garden of Eden.  Right now, our hill is dotted with ponderosa pine, Oregon grape and wild grasses.  Below that on the flat area, the newbies will see a peasant woman, barefoot, hauling water and laboriously hoeing a row of tomatoes.  She will be slightly deranged at times, shaking a rake at them and shouting as she turns up CBC Radio for the neighborhood to enjoy.  It will be my sweet revenge on behalf of the dear departed trees.