Sunday

This is it -- the final bit of holiday. And, too, the final set of hours when both young families can come together around a large table and share a meal with us.

As if to emphasize the utter splendidness of this year's long holiday week-end, we wake up to a full monty, in terms of sunshine. You would not be able to paint a more brilliant sun, giving that deep blue to the sky that we love so much on winter days here!

Ed and I are up earlier than the younger set, because of the cheepers...






...and because I have things to do in the kitchen. But before I pull out the knives and whisks, Ed and I sat down to a light breakfast together, just the two of us, to tide us over.  And yes, today we can eat in the sun room! (Most of the heat in this room comes from the sun and throughout the two week period of cloudy skies, we'd had it closed off.)






(The cheepers bask in the sun too...)






Then come the brunch preparations. I like to do a full mise en place (meaning I like to get all ingredients in their final stages of preparation before I start to cook).






I am also a ridiculously orderly cook. I don't like leaving messes around me. Clean up as I go along.

The brunch menu isn't at all elaborate and everything comes from a cookbook that my girl requested for Christmas (Huckleberry): A cauliflower-mushroom-gruyere frittata (thank you, cheepers for the eggs!)






...and Honey Crisp apple flapjacks.
















The farmhouse is at its sunny best and the kitchen table is just the place to linger for a long long time.






Of course, eventually, the Minneapolis couple has to take to the road, but it is a happy send off because we all know that within at most two weeks, they'll be back.

(They are a committed soon-to-be aunt and uncle!)






(To the joy of the expectant couple.)






In the afternoon, I help my older girl and her husband take down their tree. Typically, they keep it up 'til the New Year, but not this year! They want order in their house and we are able to do the full clean up in the light of this brilliant Sunday afternoon.

(Though their cats could not understand why we were removing their very favorite place of rest.)






(Last photo by the tree before it comes down!)






Job done. I drive back to the farmette just as the sun is setting.






Oh, I hope your week was equally full of the pleasures that matter most to you! And if you haven't had enough sunshine this month, may the next few days dawn as brilliantly for you as they did for me today.

(At sunset: )