26°f, about -3°C this morning, warming up to 60°f! Sunny but breezy, even at 60 there was still a nip in the air.
We cleaned out the van today, and my word did we have a lot of stuff in there. There are so many compartments, pockets, and hidey holes and having owned this vehicle for almost 5 years, we had sure hidey-ed away a lot of odds and ends. Now she is covered with a very large tarp and awaits the coming of the claims adjuster on Tuesday. Fingers crossed that his inspection goes well.
Our pretty courthouse. Sorry for the blurry photo.
More blurry photos! I am not sure what I did wrong, something in the settings, I guess. Here, the Gringo drives a John Derek, while Santa is on a Massey Ferguson 245, just like ours.
Yesterday we did more cleanup outside, but there is still a lot to be done--so many branches and twigs! But in the afternoon we called it a day, and took a little trip up to Aldi's to search out some Christmas goodies. We also got gas in the truck, because gas is always much cheaper north of us---about 50 cents a gallon cheaper.
What did we find at Aldi's? Good cheeses from England and Ireland, tapenade, German and Belgian chocolates, pfefferneuse, stollen, and stroopwaffles, to name a few things. All of these are impossible to find in our town. I have not had stollen since I was a child, so I was thrilled to see it there. I have never had pfefferneuse but want to try it because one blogger (who was it? I can't remember!) posted photos of making it and it sounded so interesting I may want to try making it myself. Same with the stollen--if it's anything close to as good as I remember, I will be looking for a recipe.
We hurried back to our town just before dark to be in time for the annual Christmas parade. Last year two of my sisters were here for the parade, and I was remembering what a good time we had as we hunted for a parking spot. For pictures of that parade, click here.
Town was packed! I was glad to see this as it seemed like participation and attendance had died down considerably until last year, when the parade was moved to late evening. This allows for all kinds of lighted floats and other entries, just so much more fun to watch. I got hot chocolate after standing in a long line, then we went out to find a place to watch.
Santa, of course, arrived on the back of a fire truck.
It was so cold! 24° but with a feel-like factor of 15°. We had a good time, but although the town had many other activities planned all evening, i was ready to get home to the warmth of a fire.
I remember attending Christmas festivities with you last year!
ReplyDeleteI think it might have been around then that I found your blog!
Delete...Christmas parades seem to be a southern affair.
ReplyDeleteReally? I didn't know that. I grew up in Northern Virginia, and there was always a parade. I guess I thought most towns had them. My husband's little coal camp didn't--southern WV. But of course Charleston, the state Capitol, wasn't far from where he grew up so there was a big parade there every year. He never got to go to that.
DeleteA lot of activities in the town...awesome that you have found some good stuff at ALDI. Should bake your own stollen...so easy, and so FRESH!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I will give it a try, Angie. My mother wasn't the best baker so if she could make it I should be able to.
DeleteYou found yummy foods at Aldi's. Too bad we don't have that store here.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had clear skies for the parade even if it was chilly.
It's starting to look Christmassy! GM
Aldi's is about 45 minutes from us, but worth the drive, GM. Especially for those gas prices! 2.49 a gallon is almost unheard of these days.
DeleteA parade is great fun!
ReplyDeleteSo easy to miss something important when clearing a vehicle.
That is true, gz. Trying hard not to miss anything.
DeleteYour weather is so often similar to ours, and our town also does a 6pm parade that is well attended, but not by me anymore.
ReplyDeleteIt may be our last, AC. Larry doesn't enjoy such things like I do, perhaps because he has no childhood memories to attach to them.
DeleteThe lights of the parade are so pretty. I'm glad that the attendance is up and the tradition continues.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy the lights! Larry not so much, but I drag him.along anyway.
DeleteSounds like a busy day. I think night photos tend to blur because they want us to hold still for like 2 seconds...right! My iPhone that is. So fun to see these photos, and think of you all enjoying the parade. Hope your stollen is good.
ReplyDeleteYes, it says to hold still, but the floats and such keep moving!
DeleteLove small town parades! We had our parade this past Saturday, but we were busy and did not go.
ReplyDeleteA cold night for a parade. What fun though.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos. I missed our parade and this is the next best t hing. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy small town recently had the annual parade/light up the city celebration. They even set up a special ice skating event. I just saw your van. Sorry you have to deal with that.
ReplyDeleteOh my! I've been lazy about reading blogs recently and just caught up with your tree & van accident. So glad it didn't fall on your house. I'm quite sure the insurance company will total it so you can get a new one. We have a nightime parade here in my town too, only about a mile from where we live but at our ages we just can't drag outselves out to see it. So it goes.
ReplyDeleteWow! The Christmas parade looks just fantastic with all those lights. You've been busy. I just had some very good "shortbread nutcracker" cookies from Aldi at a friend's and now I have to go there and get some myself!
ReplyDelete