We have most of the elements for a Nativity scene here at Bedlam Farm. The Pole Barn could serve as a manger, we have sheep and donkeys, a shepherd (I think Maria could be cast as a Madonna, she is sweet and radiant), we are lacking a deity of course, but we are talking about a scene, not the real thing. A local church staged a nativity scene at Bedlam Farm l.0 and another in Cambridge has asked me about having a Nativity play done here next year. I’m game.

We spent Christmas very quietly. I got up early did the farm chores, fed the dogs, let Maria sleep late and I went back to bed myself. We got up late, exchanged presents. I got fuzzy slippers, a show-your-art-guru potholder, a pill case and I gave her a funky indoor/outdoor jacket, an alpaca scarf and the new Donna Tartt novel, which she has had her nose tucked in for much of the day.  I also got her a gift certificate to a local consignment shop, the only new clothes she owns are ones I bought her. We went out to visit each of the animals and acknowledge their place in our lives – apples for the donkeys, biscuits for the dogs, worms for the chickens. Maria is winning over the new sheep as well as the old – Ted the ram is eating out of her hand.

We took the dogs for a long walk out on a country road. I have some calls to make. I am working on my Simon book a bit this afternoon, holed up in my office with a space heater and two dogs, Red and Lenore, two candles going.

In the afternoon, I fell asleep with Flo on my lap, Maria did the afternoon chores, I am cooking my winter favorite, Turkey Glop tonight – fresh ground turkey with onions, garlic, red pepper, tomatoes and kale sauteed together. Very good cold weather meal, and it is cold. My frostbitten fingers (a legacy of my first winter) shrieked every time we went outside and throb beyond. Frostbite is a gift that keeps on giving, every winter.

Tomorrow, movie 2, we’ve invited George Forss and Donna Wynbrandt to see the Hobbit “Desolation of Smaug” Friday afternoon. “Inside Llewyn Davis” isn’t here yet, but “Wolf Of Wall Street” is, I’ll see that over the weekend. Saturday, we are going to visit my sister for the first time in a decade or so, looking forward to it. A lovely Christmas for me, almost perfect, a bit bittersweet as these holidays are for us, but we are making our own family, our own history. It is quite lovely.