On Sunday 29 December we attended our Ellijay branch.  Our Gospel Doctrine curriculum for next year is the Old Testament.  We got a copy of the Old Testament Class Member Study Guide.  Even all such documents are on our iPhones and iPads, I like having a hard copy in our library.

I finished reading "Jo's Boys" by Louisa May Alcott after having read "Little Women" and "Little Men" as well as "Under the Lilacs."

Louisa May Alcott
(1832-1888)

We enjoyed watching the "Secrets of Highclere Castle" and Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in "Wisteria Lodge."

Eccles, Holmes and Inspector Baynes
in "Wisteria Lodge"

In the evening we watched an hour-and-a-half of "Trains of North America."

On Monday 30 December we watched the second hour-and-a-half of "Trains of North America.  The entire three hours (we fast-forwarded the fund-raising portions) was fun as we have been on two of the trains highlighted, i.e., the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway just north of us and the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad in Bryson City, NC.

We visited Peggy Espersen in the afternoon. 

In the evening we enjoyed another episode of "Larkrise to Candleford" that we have on DVDs.

Then we enjoyed another episode of Father Brown that we had recorded.

On Tuesday 31 December we did some shopping for New Year's Eve.  Later we enjoyed watching David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in "The Third Floor Flat."  

David Suchet as Poirot

Eileen made delicious sausage and cheese balls as well as "pigs-in-a-blanket" for New Year's Eve.

We had "mulled" apple juice and "mulled" cranberry juice, three salads, and jumbo shrimp.

We enjoyed watching two episodes of "Remington Steele."

Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist

We called and sang "happy birthday" to Joan Blemly in Maryland.  She was a dear co-worker of Eileen's in Anne Arundel Public Schools.

Eileen, Joan, and Irene Lauermann

I finished reading "O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather.

Willa Cather (1873-1947)

We made it to midnight to watch the ball come down at Times Square!  It helped to have an exciting bowl game to watch almost until midnight.   We watched the latter part of the Chick-fil-a Bowl where Texas A&M defeated Duke 52-48!  It was sad to see that the shows on the networks leading up to midnight were rated TV-14 :(

On Wednesday 1 January I finished reading "Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life" by Connie Rossini.

I finished reading "House of The Lord The Story of Kirtland Temple" that we had purchased in Kirtland in September.

Kirtland Temple

We enjoyed watching the Rose Parade from Pasadena, CA, on HGTV.  It was great to see veteran broadcaster Vin Scully as the Grand Marshal of the parade.  The many tweets from viewers at the bottom of the screen throughout most of the parade were very annoying.

Vin and Sandi Scully

We watched the second half of the Gator Bowl as Nebraska beat Georgia 24-19 and the second half of the Rose Bowl as Michigan State came back to beat Stanford 24-20.

I finished reading "The Heart of Mid-Lothian Vol. 2" by Sir Walter Scott which I began on 10 October.  I had previously read "The Heart of Mid-Lothian Vol. 1" from 28 March to 10 October.  The Heart of Midlothian is a heart-shaped mosaic, formed in coloured granite setts, built into the pavement near the West Door of St Giles High Kirk in the High Street section of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It is situated close to Parliament House, which formerly housed the Parliament of Scotland and is now the home of the Court of Session.  Together with brass markers bearing building dates, it records the position of the 15th-century Old Tolbooth, demolished in 1817, which was the administrative centre of the town, prison and one of several sites of public execution. The building features in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Heart of Midlothian, published in 1818.

Effie Deans in
"The Heart of Mid-Lothian"

The Old Tolbooth in Edinburgh

Heart-shaped mosaic in Edinburgh

We watched the first half of UCF vs Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.  28-20 UCF at halftime.  We were especially interested because our granddaughter Megan graduated from UCF.

I finished reading "Napoleon Bonaparte" by John Stevens Cabot Abbott.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

John Stevens Cabot Abbott
(1805-1877)

On Thursday 2 January we woke and checked ESPN to find out that 15th ranked UCF, 17 point underdogs, defeated 6th ranked Baylor, 52-42!!  Right from the start UCF was never behind!  It was one of the biggest bowl upsets ever!

We went into Ellijay to mail two cards and the Book of Mormon to the young lady in Brasstown, NC.  Then we visited "historic" Ellijay, going into the Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company and Whistle Tree Pottery.  We enjoyed the immense Christmas tree in the middle of the town “square.”

Blue Ridge Olive Oil Company

Whistle Tree Pottery

We got a bucket with lid at our amazing Ace Hardware store in which to mix the Squirrel Away stuff that we got from Heather and Tom with birdseed.  We'll see if we have success keeping squirrels out of the birdseed. 

The Folger propane truck came by and delivered 143.6 gallons of propane.  We are rarely here when he delivers our propane. 

We watched the Sugar Bowl with 11th ranked Oklahoma defeating 3rd ranked Alabama 45-31 while outside it was snowing. Oklahoma was 16 point underdogs!

On Friday 3 January we admired our light dusting of snow.  Cold as it was (20 degrees in mid-morning), the sun melted it wherever it shone on it.

I put the Squirrel Away in the birdseed for the bird feeder out front and so far the birds are enjoying it.  The squirrels do like the corn cobs that I put out.

We slowly started putting away some Christmas decorations.

In the evening switching between channels I watched 12th ranked Clemson vs 7th ranked Ohio State in the Orange Bowl and 13th ranked Oklahoma State vs 8th ranked Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.  We went to bed at halftime with Ohio State ahead 22-20 and Missouri ahead 17-7.  (Clemson won 40-35 and Missouri won 41-31.)

On Saturday 4 January lots of Christmas decorations were put away.

I put the Squirrel Away in the birdseed for the two bird feeders in the backyard and the squirrels did not seem bothered by it, so I added more Squirrel Away to the birdseed.

Eileen spent a lot of time going through a small suitcase of genealogical material and old photos of her Aunt Esther's.  As always, many photos have a date and place written on the back but no names!

Eileen watched a couple of episodes of "Diagnosis Murder" with Dick Van Dyke.

Cast 1993-1995

Then I turned on the Kansas City Chiefs - Indianapolis Colts football game.  It was in the 3rd quarter and Kansas City was ahead 38-17.  And Indianapolis won 45-44!

Eileen enjoyed another episode of "Larkrise to Candleford."  Then we watched episodes of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country."

And, of course, every evening ends with our study of the Book of Mormon.  We are currently in 3rd Nephi chapter 5.

Then we'll read some of the material for our Sunday School lesson, which as I said earlier is the Old Testament this year.  If it is the week prior to the 2nd or 3rd Sunday of the month we'll read some of the material from Teachings of the President of the Church : Joseph Fielding Smith which is taught in Priesthood and Relief Society.

If it is the week prior to the 4th Sunday of the month we'll read the selected General Conference talk  from the most recent conference.  Lastly I'll read to Eileen from the Mitford novel we're in before it's lights out.  Currently that is "In This Mountain" by Jan Karon.

Jan Karon