Christmas Feast, Round One

This morning was quiet.  My parents arrived yesterday, my son Wednesday night, and my brother this afternoon.  Before noon, I was busy making bread for dinner while Brett rode Flash and got the property spick and span.  The dogs were sacked out.

My brother arrived in the mid-afternoon with his wife and their daughter, Taylor.  They brought amazing cheeses and champagne.

On the right, goat cheese topped with lemon curd and pistachios.  A crowd favorite.  My favorite?  The very ripe, stinky, soft triple cream French cheese on the left, in the back.

Taylor is supposedly doing her math homework with my brother.

Dad

After snacking, we headed to the barn.  Taylor wanted to ride one of the horses.  She posed for a few pictures with Jackson.  He's still off on that front foot so she had her choice of riding.... Flash.  But, at least, Jackson got a photo op.  He was more interested in cookies at first.

Meanwhile, Brett tacked up Flash.  Taylor rode in the arena until it started to get dark.  Flash was an excellent boy.  He's so good with kids.  He's very careful and won't go forward if they become unbalanced.  Taylor was well balanced so they walked all over the arena.

After putting away her helmet and feeding Jackson a cookie, we headed up to the goat area.  She was particularly taken with Little Bear.

I put out the goat's evening alfalfa and they dug right in.  After closing up the goat shed, we headed back to the house for dinner.

Time to dress the turkey for tomorrow (feast number two).  Then I'm going to collapse on the couch.