Happy to be home!

I hope everyone's holiday was good, however you celebrated!

I did have a lovely holiday; my aunt does like to pamper and fuss over people. The three days were busy, filled with far more social activity than I typically have, so even though I appreciated her efforts, I was happy to take the train home on Boxing Day afternoon, be in my own space again, sleep in my own bed. Everyone was very warm and welcoming, though, which was so kind of them (my cousin and her family, her mother-in-law, the church members after Christmas Eve service, etc.)

My aunt's apartment (the upstairs of a 200-year old house) looks out over the St. Lawrence River (New York state is on the other side, very close) and there's a lovely walking path that runs between the river and the canal. I'll post pics of my two walks there another time.

Right now I have cute doggie pics to offer, all snapped on Christmas Day. Below are Onyx (senior girl), and Jada (about two, the dog of my cousin's son, who currently is on the west coast for work). Jada is a sweetie, very energetic, and my cousin did say she would be happy if they could keep her. She does need to room to run, so maybe it will work out that way. (My cousin and her partner have a large property about 6 km from my aunt's, further out in the country. Lots of space for dogs have fun.)

My cousin and her husband do have two cats, Tigger and Oscar. I didn't get a good pic of Tigger (but I posted pics of him after my visit on Thanksgiving weekend), and Oscar remained in hiding.

We had Christmas Day (evening) dinner at my cousin's mother-in-law's home; she has a six year old female dog named Peppe (spelling?). Peppe is a sweetheart, VERY affectionate. As in, she absolutely cannot get enough cuddles. Seriously. She pegged me for a sucker right away and spent the night almost literally glued to my legs.

Thank goodness for fur babies to help get me through the Christmas Day activities. LOL. I didn't have that Christmas Eve, though!

Below: The first pic is the upper part of my aunt's Christmas tree. I don't think there was a blank spot on the tree. LOL.

The second pic below is of my cousin's new tree; she went with a theme this year.

The last pic is of the table set for Christmas dinner, at the mother-in-law's. Her house was designed and built for entertaining. She's Scottish, married an American and lived in Atlanta, GA most of her life, then 15 years ago (I believe) moved to Cardinal, ON, presumably to be closer to her son. This was the first time I ever had Christmas crackers and those paper crowns/hats that I've seen on British TV shows.

So I survived all the extroverts and life is returning to "normal," whatever that means. Just don't ask me right now if I would do it all again next year. 🙃