Festive Frivolities!

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Festive fineries are sprouting up all over the homestead lately! For the last forty-eight hours I have been crafting, cooking, and concocting all manner of Christmas gift accoutrement.

Yesterday, from the time I waved the hubs and the boy out the door, I worked on gift-type things. The hub's rifle team had a match way up in Moyie Springs, which is about an hour and a half north of us, and the boy had to take his Toyota to our friend's shop up in Bonners Ferry to install new leaf springs and suspension. So they were both gonna be gone all day.

So, after I sent the boy out the door with a still warm walnut, brown sugar, and cinnamon strudel topped buttermilk coffee cake for our mechanic friend, I got to work canning caramel apple jam.

Caramel apple jam is pretty dang close to the perfect food. I can't even describe how it tastes. It's got all the floral notes of an apple infused into a spice-laden caramelized jam that tastes divine on most things. Heck, I would probably chew on old shoe leather if it had caramel apple jam spread on it.

Anyway, uncouth thought aside, I spent until almost noon making a double batch of jam and canning it. It's a bit of a time consuming thing because you have to finely dice the apples that go in it into 1/8inch pieces.

It's so worth it though.

Plus, the apples were off of our friend's tree in a neighboring town, and homegrown apples just taste so delightful!

I also designed and made some super cute Christmas corgi gift tags, designed and printed lavender hydrosol labels on my Munbyn thermal printer (getting the formatting right can always be an adventure, but I nailed it on the first try which really did feel like a Christmas miracle!).

After my walk today I filled and labeled a lot of spray bottles of hydrosol, and oh yes, I baked a cake in there somewhere too, because I am making cake truffles for the hub's rifle team kids.

I think I did a bunch of other stuff too, but honestly, I can't quite remember it all. Which makes me think that I might need to go take a bit of a rest and relaxation evening.

Well, after I cook dinner. I am going to be lazy and make bratwurst and tater tots tonight, because even the Kat is entitled to a phone it in dinner on occasion.

Plus, I better take a bit of a reprieve. Tomorrow, aside from finishing the cake truffles, I am going on an adventure to procure some artifacts that shall guarantee our New Year's festivities will end with a BOOM! (Bet you can't guess what they are😉)

But honestly, even though I am going pretty hard right now, getting ready for Christmas and such, I am more than completely content. I refuse to stress about what gets done this year. What happens, happens, and it's all being done in the spirit of amiability and much love.

Plus, each time I walk out the door to the fruit room to the freezers or woodpile for something, my eyes flicker upon the most beautiful wreath that a dear friend made for me. It's the endeavors of joy, hospitality, and brotherly and sisterly) love that make this time of year a real treat to wander through.

Even if one needs an extra nap or two as they navigate the fray!

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And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's now in white pine and orange scent iPhone.

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