Aaahhhhhh! Christmas!

We've had a beautiful Christmas, here in Belgium, and have been quite fortunate with the weather.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, it was dreary, with rain showers off and on for most of the day. The weather finally eased up in the late afternoon, and then came the wind. Gusty, blustery, cool but not icy, and no more rain.

We drove to Mons for the Christmas Eve vigil mass held on SHAPE, and enjoyed a lovely service. The parish choir was assisted by some young local musicians, including a beautiful harp, a couple of cellos, a flute, and a violin. And, of course, the usual piano accompaniment. All very wonderfully arranged and delivered.

After mass, we drove home on nearly-empty roads, getting battered by the wind that had been steadily picking up through the evening. Not enough ever to cause damage, but you would certainly need to hold on to your hat when out in it. And not long after we reached home, than the rain started again. We had to round up the cats, who had wanted out when we got home. And Stuart, as usual, was the stubborn one and wouldn't come in until he could no longer keep dry in the bushes. And then it began to pour!

For about and hour, as the Belgians say, "it rained ropes!" We had to check on all the windows to make sure everything was securely closed, as the wind was battering the house and would blow the rain into the smallest openings. We finally headed to bed and listened to the storm for a while before dropping off to sleep.

When we awoke this morning, we found it was a gorgeous day! A beautiful sunrise, with blue skies, puffy little cumulus clouds, and just enough wind to keep them scudding across the sky. We opened our packages, then after enjoying a little buche de nöel (a log-shaped cake), we enjoyed a pleasant walk around the neighborhood. We haven't had many days this nice for quite a while, and we just had to enjoy it while it lasted. Tomorrow we will probably return the fog, drizzle, and rain that is more typical of our winter weather.