Christmas at Cowfeathers Photoblog

We have such a lovely place for celebrations, Cowfeathers looks pretty in all weathers. But, Cowfeathers is special at Christmas.

Henri and Fantine, Christmas Eve morning.

Sleeping under the stars. 

Sunday before Christmas, the Children's service. 

Arriving at Cowfeathers after dark.

My parents arrived, and the next morning, Middlest and Dad started their Gingerbread House project. Conceived by email, baked by Middlest in advance, they began assembly.  The cute little house is a hit, and smells divine!

 Chimney assembly and eave gables were the final touches. It features a large "clock" on the back and sparkling gold windows.

Mission Accomplished!

 Christmas has been unusually warm and sunny this year, and the family spent a lot of time reading and working in the sunroom. Willa (parents cocker spaniel) was very accommodating, enjoyed sitting in the sun too, but really would prefer to play ball!

Christmas Eve(ning) began with a lovely candlelight service at church. We are the dressiest of the bunch, for sure, but dressing up is such fun!

Mom and her grandson. FAVORITE (and only) grandson.

The whole family in an inexpertly (by me) taken self-timed iPhone photo. 

After church Christmas Eve cocktails, followed by Swiss Fondue (as good as in Switzerland!) and Shrimp Cocktail. This has become our Christmas Eve tradition over the years. 

Last year we started a Christmas Eve book exchange, like a Secret Santa.  We enjoyed that so much we continued this year. We all received a book to curl up with and read until Santa had come. 

  Christmas morning the sun peeked through the fog to reveal Santa had made it!

The dogs love the stockings the best, and patiently waited all morning on the other side of the gate to receive the toys in their socks. 

"Igotapig, Igotapig, Igotapig...."

 "Mr. and Mrs. Claus" brought with them wonderful gifts for me, including this family heirloom Grandfather Clock.

 Middlest conquered the assignment of gluten-free cinnamon rolls. SO GOOD! We have a good friend that makes a glutenous batch for our Christmas morning too. No one suffered here.

A long day of leisurely present opening, including a few "goose chases"- a Drost family tradition, and indulgent eating brought us to the Christmas Feast of Christmas night.

  A Champagne cocktail to kick it off!

And, a table dressed for Christmas. Huz turned out a delicious meal, as usual, featuring an amazing (I heard, being a vegetarian myself) beef tenderloin.

A nice long winter's nap, and Christmas is done.
Ready for Boxing Day!
Youngest joined the hounds for the Boxing Day Hunt.

 Still unseasonably warm for Ohio, coats were waived, and they started out reasonably clean.

But some hours of dashing about in the mud left them seasonably filthy!

It's good to have friends with whom to run and play on horses. Happy Christmas y'all!

An afternoon of "Chasing Tails."

 It's called "Fox Hunting", but that is bit of a misnomer. In Ohio, "hunting" means guns and dead creatures. And, despite my, at times, unwise choices of equine hunt partner, I haven't yet died, and neither do the creatures. The weapons are limited to goofy, chatty hounds and a horn (the kind you blow in to make noise, not rhino or anything).
You could attempt to change the term to "Fox Chasing", but that implies regular fox participation. Every so often a fox does make the day special by leading the hounds on a futile chase, but more often it is a deer or rabbit or somesuch, which the hounds are not allowed to chase. Mostly it is just a great amount of fun chasing tails. I guess ideally, the hounds chase the tail of the fox, the Huntsman chases the tails of the hounds, the Master of Foxhounds chases the Huntsman followed by the field of riders chasing the tail of the horse in front of them.
It could just be called less mysteriously, "running around in a queue."
But that doesn't sound nearly as rousting as the real deal! It can be cold, it can be wet. It can be cold, wet, windy, muddy... and it still makes you glad to be alive!

And, now, it is something enjoyed by The Boys. Youngest and his mount, Baily have found their stride in the hunt field, and are starting to enjoy the sport. When last we climbed in the truck to drive home after an afternoon of chasing tails, I asked him this; "On a scale from 1-10, how much fun did you have?" 

He answered,  "A lot of fun!" Which, you may note, is not a numeral between 1 and 10. I persisted, and got "A 9! It would've been a 10, except..." and he went on to describe in fine details little subtractions from 10 that pared, ultimately, down to 9.  Which means, a lot of fun.

 Our great group of Pony Club riders getting ready to set off. 

It was a Pony Club Hunt, so a day set aside to invite these young riders to come try the sport. The young members of a field are called "Juniors" and they typically ride at the very back of the field of riders, chasing the last tail. On Junior Hunts or Pony Club Hunts, the young riders are invited right up behind the Master, and allowed to hunt at the front.
The riders from our own Hunter's Run Pony Club chose to ride mostly in the first and second field, the first being the main field staying right with the Master of the Hounds and the Huntsman. The second field follows the Field Master for that field, who takes it a bit more slowly.  But it is still very exciting, and you get to see most of the action. Which is to say, hounds running about, the Huntsman talking to them by voice and horn, and then dashing off, or turning around, or standing, and then dashing off again. It sounds like a 3, but it is a 9, for sure.

As they prepared to go off in the sunshine, we could see the Ohio sky warning of rain, and by the time they set off it was raining sideways. 

The Huntsman gathered the hounds and told them it was time to activate their noses! (Dogs have 220 million olfactory receptors. Humans have only 5 million. And, scent hounds are the most sensitive of canines! ) The hounds set a brisk pace, and they were off! 

An hour an a half later, rain and sun playing peek-a-boo, they came cantering back, covered in mud. 

Youngest managed to close his mouth, but nothing else was spared. Chasing tails means having mud thrown in your face!

A few baby wipes later, slipping into clean boots and a clean jacket, Youngest was ready for the "tea" held after the hunt. This, no doubt, adds to his high estimation of the Hunt. Good Food. 

A lively day in the countryside, a full belly and a warm truck for the ride home, and it didn't take long for me to lose my travel companion. Thank goodness for podcasts! 

Christmas Decorating Challenge 2019

Turkey Day is done. And, the Christmas season is short this year. So, whilst the house was full, I thought it time for a Challenge!
Our youngest guests were unsure what this would mean, and declined to team up, so it was Eldest, Middlest and Niece Helen that were game.
The rules:

• Choose an area or room in the house you would like to decorate.
• 20 minutes max to come up with an inspiration photo. (I have a lot of magazines! Computer allowed)
• Commence decorating!

Eldest chose an old piece in the living room that sports its original green paint and has a nice surface area.

 
On it, she paired some of my blue and white pieces with creamy white sheep roving, green balls and bows and a "tree" made of green bound books. The paintings perched on the chair rail behind the credenza are from our collection of stair riser paintings my father painted for the front stairs of my childhood home, Puckihuddle.

Middlest chose the dining room. It is a wonderful winter room, that really shines during the holidays, so I was interested to see what she chose to do! 

  Her inspiration photo was of a wooden trencher filled with gold balls and taper candles. She stayed with silver, gold and white for the room and table setting, pairing an antique tatted cloth with contemporary silver dot dishes on gold chargers.
She had fun with silver and gold on the round corner table, leaving the burlap cloth and then adding candles, mercury glass, silver deer antlers, and my Christmas jumping horse, a wonderful keepsake from a bygone Miami Valley Hunt Ball, reinvented in white.

Helen jumped right in to the smallest room at Cowfeathers! Our tidy little powder room. Last year I redecorated the little bathroom using Swedish wallpaper. She used this as her inspiration, along with a photo of a woodland centerpiece. 

Out she went with my secateurs and returned with bunches of greens. 

She wrote Christmas quotes on my quote boards and added lots of plaid ribbon and woodland accents, including a stair riser painting of the Puckihuddle woods in winter. 

Everyone wins in this Christmas Decorating Challenge! Especially ME, who now has three more beautifully adorned spaces for the holidays !!

The best kind of Holiday

The best kind of holiday, is of course, spent with folks you love! And, we were so lucky to be part of such a holiday for Thanksgiving. Cowfeathers is a magic place- I think so- but it is special to be able to share some of that magic with family.
We were blessed to have Helen care to come again this Thanksgiving. The best thing-ever-for getting to know my eldest niece is her hard work attending Northwestern Law, making me a "close" relative! I NEVER get to be closest to any family! What a windfall! Helen comes with boundless energy and enthusiasm for some of my favorite things: baking, decorating, chats and going to bed early.
Then, another gift.
Katie and her family also hopped in the car for a long drive from Chicago. Katie is one of Tod's sisters, and brings with her husband Eric, and three fantastic kiddos to call me "Aunt"!

This is interesting. The Dutch version of Aunt is "Tante" and Uncle is "Oom".  Katie's kids call Tod, "Oom Tod" because they have an "Uncle Todd" on Eric's side. And, Helen and her sisters call me "Aunt Cate" because they have a "Tante Kate" on their Dad's side! I suppose, that is maybe only interesting to me.

Anyway, Wednesday was the great day of arrivals! Katie, Eric and family met Tod and our kids at The OSU for a vet school tour and a bite of lunch.

Madeleine had helped me figure out how to seat 11 in our dining room, and she also made dinner! French Onion Mac and Cheese anyone? Yes? How about also a helping of the best three cheese Mac and Cheese Martha ever made (February 1999 Living Mag)? It's comfort food season, people.
Dessert was cupcakes, iced brownies, Molasses cookies or Peanut Butter Bars. Did I mention we did some baking?
Thanksgiving morning dawned with pies already cooling. Well done girls!

Here they are being cut up for after Thanksgiving feasting; classic pumpkin, chocolate pecan, Nantucket Cranberry and Derby pies!
Meanwhile, after a breakfast of Almond Kringle and scrambled eggs, we got started on the table setting for dinner...until I remembered Thanksgiving morning is for fixing things. Sure, pies and sides, but also washing machines.

Thanks Eric and Hamilton for your help! And, Eric figured out a hack to make my next maintenance job a lot easier.

Samuel is a puzzler. He was swift and capably assembled "The Shoe", a puzzle of Columbus, OH featuring the OSU Stadium. This gave the boys from Chicago a chance to learn the odd bodily spelling sport shared by seemingly all Ohioans....

O-H-I-O!

Tod, our hero, had been diligently working away at the feast for the evening. He outdid himself, and the tables all around the dining room were crowded with delicious choices. Left to me, we may have had only a pile of spinach and mashed potatoes.  I love that many hands added to the feast with pie, cranberry chutney, gluten free crescent rolls from scratch, salads and more.  Alyssa helped set the table, listening seriously to the reason for all those forks! And, then, learning from Georgia some fancy napkin folds. She listened to me talk to her about all the generations at the table; my great grandmother's champagne saucers for our fruit salad, Tod's great grandmother's china, my great aunt's table service, and Tod's mother's service. Wine in Tod and my wedding crystal, Tod's parents South American copper mixed with my great-grandparent's Victorian candlesticks. Alyssa looked at me with her big pretty eyes, a dusting of freckles across her nose, and said "It's like their finger touches are all here too." YES. Exactly. 

The girls had even created little cinnamon stick place cards.

A champagne toast in honor of the blessing of family at Thanksgiving, and we were ready!

Our merry group.

And the cousins!

Full bellies and lots of contentment later, it was time for barn chores, followed by a waddle down the lane and back in the cool of Thanksgiving night. 

 
Complete with some climbing of trees (and Hamilton).

After a nice winter's nap, we had a Friday morning agenda: Christmas tree hunting! 

 Our kids are a lot taller than they once were, but they still don't top our tree! Our main tree found, Hamilton cut it down and we were off across the fields of Saum's farm looking for the next candidate. One Canaan Fir and one White Pine- Sam tried his hand at the saw, and trees headed home for....

Pony Rides! Maarten and Alyssa were keen to ride Baily, so after Hamilton took him out for a spin to stretch his legs and give him extra patience, Baily was the perfect party pony. 

 

 Some of my favorite things about our most of 4 days with a full Cowfeathers:

 A mudroom full to the brim.

 Plenty of snuggle time for Pearl. 

Fun with pillows.

Boys on their way to do unending barn chores- willingly! And girls snuggling up for some reading aloud. 

 Football!

Hand and Foot (family favorite card game).

Less favorite is waving "Goodbye!", but blessed to have the chance, as it is only followed by a welcoming "Hello!" Come back to Cowfeathers as soon as you care to.