Since we have no family coming to spend Christmas with us, we three, my daughter Pamela, my son-in-law Tracy Drake and 94 year old me, make the most of our day by going to the Charter House on Longboat Key for an 11:30 reservation Christmas dinner.

The hostess seats us at a table in a room with a wall of glass looking out on the wide beautiful intra-coastal water where we enjoy the fantastic view as we sip our champagne and orange juice cocktail.

We start our dinner with a bowl of lobster bisque (Manhattan style) followed with coconut shrimp appetizer.

I go all out for my main course and have northern cold water lobstertail with drawn butter, yellow long rice and asparagus tips. So have a look-see…………..

YUM!! YUM!!

After each of us devouring our delicious foods we decide to have desert at home which will be our choice of chocolate cake with Breyers chocolate and vanilla ice cream or cheese cake with fresh strawberries.

And here we are in front of the restaurant loading up to journey home to Deer Creek where we live.

Tracy and my walker in the back seat

Pamela’s Audi convertable

None of us knew who that man was, he was walking into the restaurant with some other people and just plopped himself in our picture. Pamela took the photos.

Surprise! Surprise! In Florida you never know what will happen next.

We had a delightful drive back to our home going around Armand Circle, (I’m holing on to my hat all the way) across the intra-coastal waterway bridge, past beautiful Marina Bay, by Marina Jacks restaurant where years ago I had found the 78 ft sail boat that I chartered for a five hour party sailing the intra-coastal celebrating my daughter Carole Suzanne and her new husband Terrell Smith’s wedding.

After arriving at our home in Deer Creek we open our Christmas presents and enjoy our chosen desert.

Have a look-see at my Christmas presents……

Godiva chocolate truffles

PJs for cold nights

White long sleeve knit top with multi-colored leggings and two long scarves

Charcoal leggings

Makeup mirror and David Baldacci novel.

With only the three of us we made the most of our beautiful Christmas Day.

FRF ❤️

My daughter Meredythe Wedding, her husband Joey, with their dog Copper, all pile in the truck and start their journey to a Christmas lunch at ELK Horn Lodge in the snowy mountains of Montana.

Every where they look it is so beautiful to see the snow covered mountain ranges but soon they are down to a crawl if not stopped completely for what was ahead in the highway.

Let’s have a look-see…………….it’s a cattle drive with cowboys on horses accompanied by dogs. It’s our lucky day!

Traffic at a stand still !!!!

The cowboy on his horse with his dog along the side..

And they finally arrive at their destination ELK HORN LODGE

INSIDE

MENUS  AND HISTORY OF LODGE

And now for their Christmas lunch here in the beautiful snowy mountains they both so love. IS ANYONE HUNGRY! A Montana French Dip Sandwich! Wow! Roast beef, peppers and cheese on a sub-roll to dip in au jus. YUM!

The Elk Horn Lodge was as far into the mountains as one could travel by car or truck as the road was closed because of snow drifts. Now, with tummy all warm and happy, to journey homeward.

Another cattle drive. We really struck good luck today. So here we go again at a crawl and then stop as the cattle just don’t want to clear the way. So…………….we wait! And take more pictures.

Don’t run over me!!!!!! I have the road!

See Baldy Mountain in the distance beyond these Hereford cows. It is named Baldy because it is so high trees can’t grow there.

And so we come to the end of of a perfect day in beautiful south western Montana where my daughter Meredythe said “You can’t wrap up all that beauty and place it under your Christmas tree.”

AND………..HOW RIGHT SHE IS!!!!

FRF ❤️

That is what I say about my daughter and son-in-law, Meredythe and Joey Wedding’s dog’s lives. It’s for sure they each really love their pets.

Let me give you an example in these pictures so have a look see……….

Choco snoozing above in a big soft chair

Copper on the soft sofa

But it’s Sparky who takes the prize

Now I ask you Is that DOG HEAVEN or is that DOG HEAVEN

When their son Dean accompanied by his dog Spike a Jack Russell  came to Ohio from Dillon Montana this past summer to visit, he took friendly Choco along to Gable’s nursing home in Marysville Ohio to visit his sister Jodi who is a patient there.

Another time Dean went to visit Jose here is Jodi with Dean and his dog Spike a Jack Russell

But it was when Dean took  Choco that everyone there was so happy and that visit went over beautifully so the nurses ask Dean to take Choco through all the halls there for all the patients to see and pet this adorable Choco who loved people. 

Jodi in her wheelchair went along with Dean and Choco all through the nursing home and the patients enjoyed that so much they want Choco to please pay them another visit soon.

For these people confined to the nursing home this was very gracious and satisfying. 

From one of the dogs who lives IN DOG HEAVEN ON EARTH !!!!!!! 

FRF

I’ve gotta be a very fortunate almost 94 year old. This delightful couple were my neighbor’s, wintertime, when I lived on Bird Bay Way In Bird Bay Village, Venice Florida until I sold my condo and moved to Salem Ohio April 20, 2006.

And since that time I have continued to receive cheerful cards from them often. Even now that I am back living in Sarasota Florida when they are here for the winter they come to visit and when they are at their beautiful home in Tomahawk Wisconsin I often get a cheerful card from them.

Have a look see at this one I just received

Here was my memory flashback. I had Holstein milk cows ( got my start with 20 breeding age heifers from Wisconsin) on my dairy farm back when I was very young and full of energy. Although that is a Guernsey Milk cow it is in a pasture field beside a field of corn.

One summer my cows pastured beside a corn field just like that. The only thing between the cows and my corn field was a single wire hooked to electricity. I’m back in the pasture bringing  the cows in for the evening milking and I notice one of them has had her calf born through the day but there was no sign of that little new born calf.

So……what to do?????  Well, I spent two days walking through that tall corn trying to find that new born. Little hoof marks were every where but no calf. Sooooo……. after the second day of walking that corn field and I’m bringing the cows in for evening milking I got a bright idea.

Like how does that cow get the little calf to come out of the corn field to eat? Well maybe she Moos. So, why not Flo!! I’m walking behind the cows I start Mooing, and then the cows started mooing also and what do you know, that little calf came running out of the corn field the hot wire above its head and went along with the cows to the barn.

That little trick worked. You have to get a new born calf away from it’s mother right away so she goes in your milk line and the new calf is fed on a bucket that has a nipple at the bottom.

From 22 starting heifers from Wisconsin, a gift from my father, my husband and I built our herd to around seventy cows and it was always ‘Who is gonna help Mom milk?” sometimes the hired man, or one of my daughters but always me!!!

Until I received that card from my dear friends from Tomahawk Wisconsin I had forgotten that I had walked along behind the cows in that pasture field going Moo, Moo, Moo. Wasn’t I LUCKY THAT I THOUGHT OF THAT????

And…a very special thank you Tom and Debbie Winters for that ADORABLE MEMORY FLASH CARD!!!!!!!

FRF❤️

Dillon is a little town in the valley between two mountain ranges in the south western most corner of Montana.

My daughter Meredythe and her husband Joey Wedding are there for a six month winter. They went out in the woods and cut down their Christmas tree.
Pretty good deal, HUH?

So……..I’m going to show you their special Christmas decorations there in the beautiful snow covered Rocky Mountains.

The tree from the Montana woods! You like???

From Joey’s hunting.

And more

Meredythe’s collection of treasures. A very old Shirley Temple doll, two Madame Alexander dolls, the Christmas plate in center of the table a treasured gift from her sister Carole Suzanne Smith (Susie) who we lost with cancer.  Meredythe said she is going to put cookies on that plate. Maybe Orange cookies with orange icing. YUM! YUM!

Looks like a little girl standing there doesn’t it? It is a large Shirley Temple doll from my collection that I gave to Meredythe.

This is my Christmas in Montana story especially for you. Hope you enjoyed!

FRF ❤️