And then it was Christmas in the making and the house became a showcase of Ellen’s decorating capabilities. Garlands, wreaths and bows “everywhere” and the Spirit of Christmas filled the house… The “crèche village” and the Fontanini figures came out of

storage again and the newly constructed “Anneke Express” railroad circles the Christmas tree. The yellow gondola of the “Anneke Express” features a billboard with pictures of Anneke’s birth to the present. Next year those pictures will become a billboard along the railroad right of way while more recent pictures will be displayed on the gondola billboard. A tradition in the making! Between decorating the house Ellen took time to create a sterling silver baby spoon for Anneke. Christmas morning it was finished and when the kids came over for Christmas dinner a glorious time was had by all. Christmas dinner consisted of a plate full of Alaskan king crab legs, a mean steak, fruit salad, new potatoes and vegetables. What a feast! Our second Christmas in the new house, we are blessed indeed!

 
Thanksgiving 2007 and Sara and Elias fixed dinner at THEIR house. Wonderful!

Pear Nectar

The two pear trees next to the train room are beginning to be quite mature. They are now almost ten years old and are producing more fruit than we know what to do with.  The apple trees on the property also produce “more fruit than we know what to do with”, but in that case we haul out the old cider press every fall and, with the help of friends and neighborhood children, make cider by the gallon. What to do with all those pears? One of the pear trees is a “Bartlett”. We have no problem figuring out what to do with those pears…. they get eaten as they ripen. The sap “runneth” down one’s chin when one bites into them. Wonderful! Right off the tree!  Between ourselves, the neighborhood kids and a few friends, the Bartlett tree is stripped of its fruit in no time. The fruit that does not get eaten is dried and becomes “pear jerky”, a delicious snack later in the winter.

The other tree is an “ Anjou” pear that ripens a little later in the season. While it is a perfectly good pear, it is not as juicy and palatable as the Bartlett. After we gave away a couple of bushels of the Anjou pears we still had over sixteen trays piled high with pears! Last year we had received a “juice maker” as a Christmas gift, but because of the flood and the subsequent building of the new house, we did not have a chance to use it yet.

This would be the time to get it out and see what that fancy machine was capable of.

Ellen de-stemmed the pears and washed them, until we got to the one we were looking for! Phew! The last one!

The juice maker proved to be a marvelous machine as it takes the whole pear and grinds/liquefies the whole thing! Seeds, core, skin and all! Just as fast as Ellen washed the pears, I ground them up and by the time the machine produced a quart of “nectar”, Ellen was ready with the zip lock bag…

          Altogether the sixteen trays produced about 4 gallons of nectar, stored and frozen in quart zip lock bags the stuff will be enjoyed all winter!

Kat and the Cider press

It’s fall, and everyone knows that that’s when one makes cider!

What started out as a neighborhood affair years ago has grown into an annual event. This year the new kids on the block were invited to partake of the festivities. Pretty soon though most of the kids decided that this was too much work and disappeared from the scene. Katanna the Great though hung in there and pressed gallon upon gallon of cider.

…And after Kat worked her proverbial fingers to the bone “KK” her younger sister came to clean up the mess. Everything got a thorough wash down! Everything including innocent bystanders!!

On January 30th, Ellen and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary.  We went out for dinner and of course Ellen received the customary roses and chocolate cake.

 
as seen from Ellen's studio...

and in front of my studio

 
and as seen from the front door....glad we have a BACK door! :-)

Can you believe it? We're laying blocks in January! Ellen's greenhouse is in the process of being re-designed. It will have a new, modern polycarbonate roof and will serve her better than the last version!

creeping up into the lower yard....pretty soon the house willbe surrounded on three sides....

 ....so when one walks into the livingroom...this is what one sees....

 ...yep, I agree, impressive and sorta scary...nah...

Thanksgiving 2004 and boy! what a Thanksgiving it was! Elias was in Iraq, last year at this time so this year marks the first time ever that the four of us were together for this typical American Holiday. Thank You, Lord for having the four of us together this year!

In the morning Elias and Ellen went hunting on our "private hunting preserve" and returned mid-morning, Elias got his first deer since being in Iraq! Mid afternoon dinner preparations started and Ellen took great delight in setting the table with her Havilland China, Waterford Crystal and Wallace silver. Candles too!

The menu consisted of  a shrimp cocktail, turkey and sweet potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, fresh broccoli with cheese sauce, rolls and Waldorf salad washed down with a bottle of Ellen's famous persimmon wine. Dessert was a choice of pumpkin pie or persimmon pudding....homemade of course....rather than "pigging  out" we partook of all good things in moderation  and counted our Blessings.

  sure glad he's back in Indiana again!

  ....one happy Ellen!

table setting

these three pictures side by side with the  one caption

   here comes the shrimp coctail!

  the customary formal picture...:-)

  ....to Elias' and Sara's Happiness!

The other day while I was mowing, I inadvertently ran over a rabbit's nest. Right in the MIDDLE of the yard. I do not understand what possessed the mama rabbit to dig a hole in that particular location. I mean she should have known I mow every week...:-) The five little ones all survived the whirling blades above them, but as soon as I passed they scattered in various directions and found other hiding places in the yard. Now we all know that we seem to be blessed by the presence of nature's creatures. There's Charlie the wild/tame goose (pictured elsewhere -has been with us "forever", seven years now...) Then there was Aflack and Blobster the turtle, huge black snakes and various other creatures that seem to find the Donker compound a safe Haven. So today I put out bread for Charlie and guess what came calling! I was able to get within four feet of the little bugger before it ran off. NOT before it posed for me though! :-) Charlie, when he came for lunch was NOT a happy camper! :-)

Recently Ellen and Rogier acquired a "new-to-us" tractor. A beautiful thirty year old Massey Ferguson with an awesome front loader. After spending a few hours on the beast Rogier has a renewed respect for farmers.....Whoa!