Delayed Christmas

Since Christmas Day was so cold, we delayed the visit to my parents until today. It was a lovely day to drive up to farm. This is probably the last time Carter could see the farm, as my parents have sold it and are building a new house down the road.

We sat on the porch, and exchanged gifts. Carter and I wore our masks the whole time. I do not want to be responsible for getting my parents sick. My Aunt Janie Leigh also came up and joined us for our outdoor visit.

My Dad took us to see his new project, the house he is building for them to move into. He is the only 83 year old who builds a new house for himself. It is coming along nicely and he predicts they will move in around April. It is going to be something to move from the farm where they have a big house, a guest house, an office barn and an art barn, two garages as well as two huge tractor barns.

The cleaning out of all those places has not moved at the needed pace. When we went into my Dad’s office barn to say goodbye and to get a photo with Carter I noticed the amount of stuff on the desks and tables was about normal. Covid is not helping this situation.

For Christmas my mother let both Carter and I pick out a painting from the art barn. With hundreds of paintings in her studio space I probably should have taken a dozen paintings, but that was not my gift. Carter did get a painting of Trafalgar Square that she had been coveting. I am happy it is staying in the family. I am getting “Ladies of the links” a water color I have always liked. I have to wait until Dad’s farm workman can bring a ladder to get it off the wall as it was hung 10 feet off the ground.

I hope my parents get the Covid vaccine soon so I can go up and help them organize this move. It may only be down the road, but as it is down sizing some hard decisions must be made. You just can’t keep everything.