Rainy, wet and grey this morning. Still very warm however, I doubt it got below 50 degrees all of yesterday, and it stayed way above freezing all night I am sure. It has been a very busy couple of days and I was just sitting here watching the rain in the forest while trying to remember all that has happened over the past three days.

    Friday was still somewhat sunny at times, but the rain was starting to set in as I recall. Rima only worked until two and then we both took off for Roanoke for the evening. She had to go to the DMV down there and register her newer old car. Other than time spent, there was no problem getting it done and getting some new plates. Like most government licensing entities they basically just want money. So if you have money it always seems to go okay.

   We finished up in time to head toward downtown where we planned on going to the theatre. But first, some dinner. We wandered around until we came across a Lebanese restaurant, The Cedars, or some such name, that sounded interesting. We had a great meal of, what I always think of as, Mediterranean food. So hummus and pita, swarma and lots of other grilled meats and vegetarian style dishes. Top it all off with some baklava and you have a meal that is hard to beat.

   On to the theatre after that where we had tickets to their version of The Sound of Music. This production was really quite wonderful. Every one of the actors did a fine job with their lines and songs, even little Gretel with her 'hurt' little finger. The women who played Maria had a beautiful voice and pulled off the little humorous nuances with aplomb. But for me, the best voice of the night came from the young lady who played Lisle. Altogether it was a fun little performance and Rima and I had a great time watching it.

    Saturday was spent cooking for a family get together for some of Rima's family. We did a bone in pork roast with a peach reduction sauce that we got the recipe  for from the Cooks Country/Americas Test Kitchen web site. It turned out better than expected and made us all hungry long before it was done and out of the oven. A couple of her kids and two of her grand kids showed up for dinner, as well as a couple of other guests. We had a good time eating and drinking around the table. Afterwards, when we were all to full to really move, there was time for talk and play card games or sit and read. It was a very nice evening.

   Yesterday was rainy and grey all day. Still very warm outside so there was no ice thankfully. Rima and I hung around cleaning up most of the morning. But in the afternoon we ran into town for a couple of hours. One of the choirs she sings in was having their Christmas concert and I went to listen to that. Only about an hour long, it was well attended and was a nice bit of holiday cheer on an otherwise dismal day.

     Rather than face leftovers, or having to scrounge around for a meal, we went on over to Micky G's
for some dinner afterwards. A nice steak for Rima and for me... a simple caroli. We had a nice dinner and then came home and put a movie on the tube. Knotting Hill was our choice. Actually one of my favorites believe it or not, but brand new for Rima. Fun to watch some of the funny scenes again and have a laugh or two. Afterwards it was time for some limoncello and some frozen cookie dough before finally hitting the rack.

    Hope to go over to Christiansburg later this afternoon. I have it in mind to go see the newest Hobbit movie that came out a couple days ago. Otherwise I think it is going to be an inside day I'm afraid. Right now though I need to clean up and get dressed the rest of the way. Hope to have some photo's in a day or two.