Day 253: 'Tis the Season

'Tis the Season for colder temperatures and helping friends, and we have had both this week!

After a lovely Sunday, the bottom fell out Monday. Tuesday, we realized that although we love all of the light from our back windows, those windows were freezing. Enter some new curtains:

We will likely keep them open when it's not too cold, but they made a huge difference temperature-wise for us! 

I've also spent quite a bit of time in a friend's kitchen this week. He owns a chocolate shop, and Covid forced him to lay-off all of his employees. Christmas is his biggest season, but he was drowning. I've been going in, masked and gloved up, to help package orders. I take him dinner; he gives me dessert. We both think we have the better end of the deal. There is no better place to be than his kitchen, thick with the smells of cocoa, peppermint, and roasting nuts. I don't know a ton, but I can follow direction well. Luckily for him, a former employee who opened her own catering business just had to close it, so she is now helping him pretty much full-time, which means he will need me less. It's wonderful! She knows how to do all of the things and can help him organize the business side of things. But...I can now break a two or four ounce piece of chocolate bark within .1 of an ounce on the first try. Most importantly, it's been really lovely to help a friend.