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Sarah made valentines for everyone — this is mine.  It says “you sparkle” (or, more accurately, “you sprcl,” which sounds a bit like a Czech insult) backwards on the left.

On Saturday we had our neighbors over for dinner.  Sarah and their seven year-old daughter, Juliet, set up a pretend hair salon and spa in the upstairs bathroom.  This was the menu of available hairstyles. 

I was offered the one on the lower right.

Maria, our housekeeper, often leaves helpful notes for us.  We found this one Friday evening.  It was offputting, although we were reassured by Maria’s use of the past tense. 

Out of an abundance of caution, I checked the sink, and found this:

For the record, it was about the same size as every other bat I’ve seen.  It seemed to be dead.  But when I tried to scoop it into a bag with a piece of cardboard, I found it oddly pliant, possibly reactive.  I told Jen I could not assure her that the bat was dead.  (Jen: “Why not just say that it moved?!”) 

Fortunately, Jen knows a special trick, effective against large spiders — and, it turns out, bats — using only a piece of cardboard and a plastic container. 

The bat was miffed.

Jen spirited the bat outside, and, on Saturday morning when I sent her to check, was able to report that it was gone.

Alert PondCam™ viewers today will have seen Jen clearing out some space for Sarah to skate on the pond.  She (Sarah) had a fantastic time. 

Below you can see Jen hard at work, an image captured from the pondcam, and today’s sunset.  We also had a mysterious visitor – all theories are welcome.

Sarah had a wonderful holiday season.  On the right side of the hearth you can see the empty dishes where Sarah left milk and cookies for Santa, and a bowl of carrots for the reindeer.

She also got to do a bit of sledding with her friend Max.

We returned from two weeks away (Thanksgiving) to encounter the first snowfall of the season.  This created opportunities for sledding, snowman-building, and relaxing in front of the fire.  Below, Sarah is showing off her handiwork from Sinterklaas, Rhinebeck’s annual assault on the Establishment Clause.  While there, Sarah entered the teddy bear dress-up contest (with a stuffed cat), and won the “Most Special” award.

We also had a pretty nice sunset.