Some Work, Some Rest, Some Walking

Christmas Eve Eve, and life slowed down a bit today. 

I did make and bake the Christmas bread. It's a lovely, soft dough flavored with cardamom, our Swedish wreath bread.

The braided wreath will be frosted and decorated with candied cherries for Christmas morning. The recipe makes two wreaths, but I bake the rest as dinner rolls, one pan for Christmas dinner, so Jill can have a place to smear her cranberry sauce, and one pan for the freezer, for some future occasion. 

As I was waiting for proofing and rising and baking, I actually sat down!  Then after a long lunch hour, we went for a walk, the first in several weeks. It was cold and clear, blue sky and long shadows on this short winter's day.  It felt good to be outside, moving at a faster pace than the many hours I have spent standing in the kitchen. 

After we got back and took care of a few more little jobs, I propped myself up on the couch to read the new book I just started until my eyes fell shut and I took a little nap!

I don't often take naps, because I have a hard time getting re-started after them, but I did manage to cook us some dinner before calling it "done" for the day. I think we'll watch a move on On Demand tonight. It's time to catch up on the few good movies of 2017.