O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law in cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
~O Come, O Come Emmanuel, 2nd stanza
John Mason Neale and Henry S. Coffin
To go outside early this morning and attend my flock of feathered hens was not the most pleasant thing I had to do today, but chores of this type even go beyond that quote about the postmen's rain or shine deliveries! It was so cold and rainy that the hens did not even come outside to free-range. I was thinking how thankful I was astute enough late yesterday afternoon to throw another layer of bedding into the coop thinking the hens might choose to remain inside with the predicted weather forecast. We use the deep layering bedding method in the chicken coop and it has been by far the best choice for our coop and our little flock!
I set a pot of natural things in a pot of water to simmer on my stove.
Now my house smells seasonally wonderful! Pine needles, orange pieces and peels, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and even tiny bits of pines twigs and cones, whatever you forage in wood and home can be used. Just keep adding water throughout the day.
I am fine tuning my menu lists for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner. This year it will be a bit different, Witt and his family, now that there are seven of them, have decided to stay home on Christmas Day and make their own traditions. I think this is a good thing, but I am glad they will be coming for Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we will go to Rose's house where she will be serving breakfast, then we will attend church. Later that afternoon, around four o'clock, I will be serving Christmas dinner at my house. The beef tenderloin was just purchased and I am making a French Onion soup for an appetizer, using several kinds of onions.
