New Year's Weekend 2023

A couple of days opened up in our week, so we headed up to the cabin for an overnight getaway. It was colder up north, and the trees had a sparkly layer of snow and frost on the branches, which was absolutely beautiful. There wasn't as much snow around the cabin as we thought there might be to shovel, so we were able to take care of it in a short amount of time.

We drove to Brainerd and stopped at a gas fireplace store, hoping to get information on the possibility of a gas fireplace insert. Maybe it was me that brought up that idea, thinking how easy it would be to just flip on a switch and not have to deal with starting a fire or cleaning up after a fire. We discovered that it would not be inexpensive to put one in, plus where to put the propane tank would be a challenge. But, most of all, the actual insert would probably be much smaller than what our fireplace already had, so it wouldn't be as nice. Thinking through the whole process made me appreciate what we already have, and I suggested that maybe if I wanted to start a fire, we could try something like a Duraflame log. We stopped at the little grocery store in Garrison on our way back for a gallon of milk, and bought some Duraflame logs, too. I'm excited to give them a try!

Back at the cabin, I made us a couple of two egg omelettes with cheese (with eggs from Katie's chickens), and toast with apple butter for supper. Then we popped popcorn to eat while we watched some shows before bed. We don't have internet at the cabin, either, another thing we've been discussing the possibility of getting. So, we tried out our phone hot spots in the meantime, and were able to watch a show on Netflix. Then we watched the Big Bang Theory on DVD. I moved the old boombox (that my dad had given to me) back onto the kitchen counter where it had lived for many years. (someone had put it in the basement! 😏) I've missed listening to 106.7 WJJY, and it made me happy to have my boombox back where it belongs.  

Boombox is Back!

In the morning, we tried out our new snowshoes. My old Sorel boots worked well, but my gloves weren't nearly warm enough. I'll need to remedy that! The snowshoes were great, though. 

Nick Island in the Background

What else ... if we were to get internet, we'd probably put a larger TV over the fireplace mantle. I moved the little birdhouses that were over the mantle to new homes in the bedrooms just to see if I could envision the change. Are we really moving ahead out of the Stone Age? 😂

When we got home, little boy came over for a New Year's Eve sleepover while Katie and Avi went out. After playing with cars and a supper of mini corndogs and strawberry applesauce, it was time for bed. It was so sweet to watch him snuggle under the covers and close his eyes. 💕 We made a Lottsa Mozza Chicken Alfredo pizza for us, and had HUGE creampuffs Katie and Avi gave us for dessert. We also had some hot apple cider with Fireball cinnamon whisky ...

Look at the size of these things!

Watching Crows

Jake and Brianna came over on News Years Day, and brought Mandarin Yang take out for supper. Yummy. We toasted in the new year with Astoria Sparkling Moscato Rose, sat in front of the fire and chatted, and played Jackbox games online. So much fun. 💕

Cheers!