FRIDAY NIGHT

music, and it was a first!  First time eating chips and fancy dips while enjoying live opera!  First time hearing this particular type of cross-bred music! 

The Yard Man read about this concert to be performed at a local pub, and he was intent on hearing it.  I wanted to go, too, of course. ( The predicted major snowstorm  be dam..er..[diminished, we hoped*].) 

Listener Dear, alas that you, as well,  weren't seated in that relatively small audience; the show  was terrific!

First came the opera singers, one by one.

 

(Can't show them all [sniff], not even the one that had me spellbound [well, to be honest, Dear Listener, they all had me slightly agog!])

 

And then there was a performance by Jake Lewis and the Clergy (Nothing religious, they just liked the sound of it, Jake said.) The Yard Man and I whispered often, "What a great show!"

The finale of several selections was a joint effort (Ahem, count yourself fortunate to hear one, Dear Listener!)
......
*
The evening ended on a happy note, when we did not slide backwards off the road.  That final hill was just a tad too steep (had me singing arias of my own!),
but we got turned around, and had a relatively short detour to a route that would let gravity bring us safely home!
 
*

ALMOST ALWAYS A BIG DITTO

 I've said it before.  I've said it often.  I say it every year.  If there's ever a place for ditto marks, it's here, Listener Dear...
at the Christmas Sing!

And then, last night, no sooner was I set for more, more, more of the same, than up steps a new attendee (slightly more distant cousin of The Yard Man) at this family function, and he's got a very particular set of skills to share with us! 

Alas, I'd like to show you more, Listener Dear!  

His sounds were impressive!

His sounds were humorous!

His sounds were utilized on The Oprah Winfrey Show*!

So, there you go!

I look forward to a ditto!

...... 

*fame!

SORRY TO INSULT

your intelligence, dear Reader Dear.

I just knew you knew it.

"FARM"
It was the correct answer, of course.
Here's the half-ton butter sculpture to prove it:

The Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show has been presenting these half-ton butter sculptures each year for the past twenty-five (a heck of a lot of butter, when one thinks about it [I would so love for someone to speedily tell me how many tons of wheat would be needed to make the pancakes...  (guessing allowed)...]...)
......
And one more little thing:
Let's not forget, Reader Dear, those lovely maple trees!
Maple syrup!  What would those buttered pancakes be without it?!

......

IT'S A FILL-IN-THE-BLANK!

But have no fear, Reader Dear!  I'm going to give you so many clues! Guessing the answer is going to be as easy as pie...er, as easy as freshly made potato doughnuts, freshly made hand-cut french fries, freshly made apple dumplings with ice cream, funnel cakes, thick and creamy milkshakes....

 

  Yes, if you can't get this answer in   the blink of an eye, you're really   going to feel like a goose when you finally figure it out!

Perhaps you'll even feel a bit sheepish.

Well, okay, so here it is  (Fill in the blank):






Yesterday, The Yard Man and I accompanied all but one of our direct descendants to The

99th Annual Pennsylvania __________Show!

Clues:
1. The buildings in which this show is housed are sprawling, the crowds massive.
2. The crowds are always hungry.

(Sometimes the crowds get a powdered-sugar coating on their clothes [when they eat those out-of-this-world potato doughnuts in a super-enthusiastic way!])

3. It's all about food.

4. It's such a big clue, I'll just say it again: It's ALL about food*!
   ( Except, uh, when it's just all about fun)

So, there you have it**, Viewer Dear.  (You do have it; please say that you have it!) 

*Yes, ultimately
..........................................................................................................................................................................
.....To be continued (in the very slim case that you do not have it--
**the answer)

IT ALWAYS SEEMS

the first few weeks of January are just one gigantic Whoosh!
The visiting loved ones may be the first or the last to leave; but there, also, go the holidays!
Next the Old Year tilts a hat and walks swiftly out the door!
One must also bid farewell to the lords a'leaping and the ladies dancing and the maids a'milking (Admittedly, Reader Dear, this would be so much harder to do if the maids were actually down on their knees here, scrubbing my floors, and doing the laundry, rather than caressing bovine udders!)

Should the Christmas tree still be lingering about, it's only because it can't walk on its own (dying a slow death, you know*)!
......






In the vacuum that's been created, I've discovered The Doldrums creeping around,  doing their best to sneak in somewhere.   So I've been keeping a diligent eye on them.  We've had mostly overcast skies. Rain. Snow.  A dearth of sunshine.  And, today, we got bone-chilling cold!

But, ha, we also got bright blue skies!
I threw the door wide open to give a belated welcome to The New Year
(booted The Doldrums aside)!**

O, Happy New Year, Reader Dear!
......

*which is why I undressed it today, got it ready for cremation .
**Of course, I had to close it again very quickly.  The warm inside air was going Whoosh!

DO YOU HEAR THOSE DRUMMERS

 drumming, Reader Dear?  It's the Twelfth Day of Christmas!  I suppose I should denude the tree of its ornaments and get it out the door.  Alas, it's still looking perky and holding onto its needles!