my most favorite place...ahhh, home!

 

Beautiful Seneca Lake in the morning sunshine...

This one was taken Friday afternoon, before the snowfall.  Seneca Lake is 618 ft deep, and is fed by underground springs pumping 328,000 gallons of water per minute!  Can you even imagine?  It's a glacier lake, one of the Finger Lakes.  Is this what you think of when someone says New York?

Friday, out the door with all the food for the weekend, except for the frozen cinnamon buns, which I forgot, and the pepperoni, which I forgot.  oops.  I'm glad that's all I forgot though, because it was fine.  Cheryl was the co-pilot, Linda and Patty in the back seat, ready for a nice snowy drive through the countryside.  

I had the chicken breast chunks marinating in lime juice, so I cooked them up in the soup pot and added chicken stock and coconut milk, along with a baggie of spices (curry, cayenne pepper, garam masala, garlic, ginger, pepper), then I added a chopped red pepper, and some frozen broccoli stalks.  I had made the Dutch Oven bread (I stirred in some garlic powder and rosemary into the flour).  It was hot out of the oven right as I went out the door.  

Saturday morning we had a nice brekky of eggs, bacon, chocolate chip brioche bread toasted with butter, and coffee, along with some oranges.  Karen and Mary arrived, along with a delivery from Karen's daughter-in-law, who owns the Airbnb, who sent some amazing goodies from a local bakery!  Then brunch:  salami and cheeses, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, chips and dip, three kinds of cookies, chocolates...then the dinner of strip steak, baked potatoes, and salads...we never even had our homemade popcorn, we didn't need it. 

Sunday morning's brekky was simpler, sausage links, bagels, yogurt...fruit.  I had some sausage and a few berries, because shh, I had lots of goodies on Saturday.  But oh well, it was an AMAZING time with such good friends.  We laughed and talked and even danced a little bit.  None of us slept very well, and we stayed up too late.  But oh dear it was fun, a very treasured weekend.

Time goes by too quickly.  You wait so anxiously for the fun to begin, and next thing you know, it's done and gone, just a vapor.  This weekend brought an even greater appreciation for my friends, and my sister.  We are all different, but we are drawn together by our common faith in God.  We don't argue or bicker or backbite.  We encourage each other, and I tell you, these girls are good listeners.  It's a rich and amazing time.  

We had Sam and Grace and kids over today, along with Anya and Elise.  They did some crafts, then there was running around and hide and seek and just joy, they love being together.  Paul made a nice big pot of venison chili, Jonathan made rice.  Camille made a fantastic three layer homemade chocolate cake with pink buttercream frosting for a Galentines party with her friends...Sonja and Char went, too.  

It's quiet here now, and I'm tired, but oh so thankful.  Tomorrow, pool then I might be bringing a couple of little boys here to spend the night...then more grandkids here on Tuesday...:)