Archive for December, 2011

This is the time of year to reflect, give thanks and bring families together. We wish everyone the best of the season. May the New Year bring you good health and prosperity.

Christmas is special for the Kids of all ages

We are quickly approaching the time of year when the sun will start it’s way eastward across the sky. For the next several days it will continue its journey southward and the day light hours will get a little shorter then reverse its direction and the days will slowly get longer and longer.

A beautiful morning

The 21^st of December is the winter solicitous, for early cultures this was a special time of the year. I always look forward to this time because it means that it’s all down hill until Spring. I try to ignore the fact that winter has just arrived and the snow is still here for quite some time yet!

I get this sombre feeling as I look over the property, it’s no longer filled with the sounds of laughter, the whorl of machinery, and the phone rings only periodically. This is supposed to be the time when we get to spend a little down time, we do but it is short lived. There are the coming holidays, Christmas and New Years, the lights are already up, and in a couple of days so will the Christmas Tree. There are the preparations, and trying to keep all those secrets and not let anything slip before the big day arrives.

The resort takes on a different attitude when that first real snow storm wraps it all up in a blanket of fluffy white snow. The feeling is, we’re not really closed until that occurs. There is that feeling of accomplishment knowing that everything has been done. Knowing we will be ready to start opening once again in four short months, that is the furthest thing from our minds right now. Until then there a lot of planning for the coming festive season.

Not quite everything has been put on hold there are still the chores that have to be done regardless of the time of year, the animals have to be looked after. They let me know when it’s 5:30 in the afternoon. The goats and donkey line up outside the gate and when the back door opens they all bleat and brae in and out of unison. That continues until they get their ration of grain and as a special treat Harry, the donkey, gets his carrot and a hand full of horse crunch.

The biggest thing on our minds right now is when will that first real dump of snow happen, because we are ready for it. The plough is on the truck, the snow-blower is on the steiner and the shovels are by the door!