These are the dark days before Christmas and the weather is gray and wet, which rather adds to the gloominess.
Not too cold at the moment though (around 42F), and no wind, which makes for nice brisk walks, just the way I like it ..

The vineyards are all barren now and most of the trees as well ..

One of my walks brings me by the chickens that provide our eggs:

Well, those are the boys, and a duck, above, but these are (some of) the galls:

They are quite tame and when I stop to have a little chat they gather around my legs hoping, I presume, for a little treat. One or two even let me pet them for a bit ..
They are young hens and the eggs they're laying are still a little small but the yokes are a deep orange and they taste great!

Last weekend the temperatures dropped that much that it snowed heavily in the mountains.
Mt Hood opened it's ski-lifts for the season and we even had a little sprinkle on the valley-floor!

                                      

                                       

                                               Hard to see but that's snow, not rain

                                     

It sure got us in the spirit to visit the little Holiday Market at the cultural center. Last year we went to the fall-market so this year we thought we try this one, just to be different ..

            

As expected the booths leaned heavily towards Christmas and lots of people took the opportunity to cross off some items on their shopping list with the unique and often hand-made presents ..

                                                       

                                                       

Staying true to my dutch heritage, we once again celebrated Saint Nicolas Day a couple of days later:

        

                                              

Of course I'd baked speculaas, although I had to make my own spices since I'd run out of the dutch spice-mix I always use. Traditionally made in the shape of a doll, I was lazy and went for a circle. Tastes the same!
I think I came pretty close to the 'real' thing but I'll make sure to pick up a jar of the mix while we're there!

              

 

OK, back to Christmas, next up was another visit to our favorite Gallery Theater in McMinnville.

This time for a performance of Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol':

 

Again, it was a wonderful performance!
But than, what's not to like about the delightful story of Ebenezer Scrooge, haunted by his 3 ghosts ..

        

                                                 

... and adorable tiny Tim with his well known statement, "God bless us, every one!" which he offers as a blessing at Christmas dinner.
The story was told by a narrator who entered the scenes 'un-seen' by the characters but of course visible to us telling us the story in, I must say, quite a faithful rendition of the play.

The whole cast was exceptionally good!

After that much Christmas cheer it was impossible not to bring out at least some of my Christmas decorations, despite the fact that we're leaving for Holland this coming Tuesday and won't be back until the holidays are long done and over with.

                   

Although I didn't put up the 'big' tree inside, I grabbed the small one to light op the front steps and hung my wreath as usual.
Inside, a candle is always good for ambiance, although we're very careful .. RV's burn easily!

A garland or two, complete with tiny twinkling lights, and a spray of (fake) poinsettias in the wall sconce completed this year's seasonal decorations .. good enough!

And if that wasn't enough 'Christmas' yet (you can't accuse us of nor trying!) we got in the car on Wednesday night and drove to office of the Kelly Realty Group in town, who'd set up a 'cozy Christmas drive-through' in front of their building:

Beautifully decorated, complete with carol-singing elves, swirling 'snow', gifts and candy for the kids (including us 'kids at heart'), it was a real winter wonderland!

Of course we had our picture taken with Mr and Mrs Santa Claus, for which we didn't even had to leave our car:

To top it off, and since we figured we wouldn't get much of it in Holland (I don't even think there's such a restaurant where were going), we decided to go for Sushi afterwards ..

           

Not very Christmassy of course, but always soooooo good!

By the way, this was our 'haul' at the drive-through, we were handed a large flannel bag (Santa's bag) which contained several cookies and candy and a whole bunch of wrapped presents that turned out to be toys, crayons, a book and a stuffed animal.

                                           

Obviously this was mend to be more of a children's event but we 'didn't get that memo'!
The next day when I went grocery shopping I donated everything to the Toys for Tots toy box ...