Start with a gray, wintry day.

Add some flame. (Lots of flame.)

Gather some friends (well bundled from the cold).

Make new friends.

(Hopefully without feeling cornered. Which, at that moment, Chappy WAS.)

Maybe give some gifts. (This Martha’s Vineyard map was made by Mom, for Susan and Patrick, with a sheep made out of MVFF Cormo that I spun right about where the actual farm is … though we got lucky with that part.) And this is the only picture we got of Susan all day. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Oh, right. I was distracted by these charming faces.

This little cutie wanted nothing so much as to get a really good look at Chappy.

The little shelters looked very cozy. Which is good, because it was cold!

These sheep and goats, though, were just the youngsters of the flock–the rest of the herd were up the street on the actual farm, but we didn’t get to see them. We COULD have, but Patrick and Erin were heading up that way about 4:00, which was just about the time we were leaving … I mean, we would have loved to have stayed longer, but it was getting dark, and we didn’t know how much new snow might have been on the roads … Not much, as it turned out, but it was still an hour and a half to get back home, and headlights at night often give me a headache, and it IS the shortest day of the year!

We had a really good time, though. There were, I don’t know … 20-30 people there, and Susan had decided that having it indoors actually was a good idea after all. (Which it WAS. Because, even though that one fire gave off a lot of heat, um, you can only crowd so many people around it for so long, you know? And the house might have been small, but it was cozy!

It WAS cold. About 20 degrees, gray skies, and flurries of snow throughout the day, with another storm due tomorrow … It was unfortunate that we had that big storm yesterday, and all, but at least the storms were on the day before and the day after the party … not the day OF the party. (Because, there really is no way we would have gone in the middle of a storm … and after turning down that hill off the Taconic Parkway, I don’t think I would have liked to have tried that in a driving snow storm!)

Chappy was sweet and charming and well behaved all day. No temper tantrums. No misbehaving at all. He just wagged his tail and smiled at everyone and looked happy. (And, well, okay, he almost pulled me over into a snowbank at one point, but he was excited–snow manners are apparently different than indoor-manners, and he says I should just have let go of the leash.) He seemed to make a good impression on everyone–especially while I was sitting on the floor, eating, and he just sat in front of me, being good and patient … even if he WAS drooling on the floor. But he wasn’t begging, he wasn’t stealing, he was being good!

The only drawback to the day, so far as he’s concerned? Surprisingly, it wasn’t the 3 hours in the car. No, the only real downside was that he got a bath when we got home because he kind of smelled like a small, chocolate sheep. (Take a closer look at that picture–see all those sheep droppings he was playing in? Because, um, he does NOT get to track that onto my bed tonight!)

Anyway, it was fun, and so worth going, even if we wish we could have stayed longer … if only because there was still so much food … (grin)

Thank you for having us, Susan, Patrick, and Erin (and Harry and Logan)!

Oh, that reminds me. If you really had any doubts? Here’s proof that I DO have a father–standing with Mom and her (cough) latte (cough) from Espresso Love by our Christmas tree after we got home.

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