two birthdays, a friend from afar, and a pile of melted snow: welcome 2012!

I can't believe I almost let the new year slide sneakily past.
The following is a tale of the last week in three parts:

Per Telschow Tradition, the New Year's Eve was spent celebrating Samuel.  He was born at 6:45p on December 31st of 1987.  Every year since we have had designated holiday plans.  This year was no exception.  The birthday dinner of Sam requests was joined by five Comino cousins.  As was the strawberry-topped tres leches cake.  (I had a piece of chocolate Crazy cake waiting in the wings that mom smothered in strawberries too.)

The boy turned 24.  He's getting old.

-----

On Tuesday evening, I joined Rachel and Josh for dinner at her parent's house.  We celebrated the arrival of their (and now mine as well) family friend Abril from Mexico.  Abril was in town for the week to visit - she like the winter - and on Thursday I had the pleasure of showing her around a bit in the morning.

Our destination was the Elkhart County Historical Museum in Bristol.  I hadn't been there in a while and had never made it to the third second floor so we had a grand time poking around and checking out all the old things.

Abril practicing to be Amish.

Me as the switch board operator.

Thread cabinets in the general store display.  It looks like my house!

The cash register was beautiful.  I really enjoyed the brass sign.  The general store vignette as a whole was pretty great.

 

Abril and I in the Victorian room - it was a little scary.  Dark, stuffy, and scary.

There were a few examples of this cut wood work.  It is so beautiful and I just loved it.

After the museum we headed up to Shipshewana to join Rachel, Whitney and their cousin Sam at Davis Mercantile. 

Rachel on the race horse.  It was Whitney's birthday and so we celebrated with a carousel ride on the third floor.

The evening was spent back at Whit's with her big brother Joshua (aka Rachel's Mr.) making pizza.

Rach and I crammed 26 (and one to grow) on the cake and managed to get them all lit.  Abril, Rachel and I had made the cake the night before.  It's vegan, as is the icing.  Whit can't do eggs and I can't do dairy so the combination of the two of us leads to a lot of questioning of servers at restaurants and some pretty tasty vegan desserts.  This cake fit that description.  We added some spices, replaced a bit of the oil with homemade apple sauce and added apple butter to the frosting.  It was almost as sweet as the evening's company.  I am quite grateful to have gotten to know Whitney in the time since Rachel and Josh's wedding.  We have had some good times together and I look forward to many more.

-----

Last weekend we had lots of snow.

It was beautiful and fell in big fat flakes.  It covered the vegetable garden I had failed to till up from the fall.

Today, it was 50F degrees and sunny.  This in completely crazy by January in Northern Indiana standards.   Being that all the snow had melted it only seemed fitting that I take care of that vegetable patch and put it to sleep for the year.

This afternoon I pulled out the strawed and dry remnants of vegetables past and put the climbing fences and tomato cages in the garden shed out back to winter over with the mice and spiders.

It has come full circle and my first garden is put to bed.

Much like this pup who is curled up snoring next to me all tuckered out from the afternoon of running full speed around the sopping back yard.