Winter has arrived!

Dear Reader,

Mr. Fuzzy hopes this find you enjoying the warmth of friends, family and fireplace here at the end of the calendar year. Apologies for the long delay since the last post but since the world was due to end on the 21st, there hardly seemed a hurry. Now that date has come and gone - and by all appearances, existence continues to exist, well, its back to the blog.

Last Sunday, I shared a table with Mike & Rebecca at the ritual weekend breakfast at the cafe. Rebecca had brought home baked gifts for all of the usual suspects in attendance. Shown below are Mr. Fuzzy's polar bear and ice skate. Never have such detailed holiday cookies ever graced his table. Be sure to click on them to enlarge, otherwise the fineness of the detailing will escape your eyes.

Winter still seemed out of sight until the Winter Solstice - perfectly timed to coincide with the first major winter front to strike here. The drought mentioned in the previous post had continued unabated until a few days ago when nearly an inch of rain fell on Stratheden. Not nearly enough to close the precipitation gap opened by the drought but a beginning. In the wee hours of this morning a snow began and before first light, rain mixed with freezing rain. The forecast is for this to continue all day. Spectacular beauty is all about.