Last weekend Attila and I were invited to share a turkey dinner with Caitrìona at her farm.

The house had been rented out to tenants for sometime, the tenants moved away last July. Ever since taking back possession of the property, Caitrìona has been renovating.

I had not been back to visit the farm in over 40 years. Rymal, Harriet, Attila and I took a grand walking tour of the estate. How familiar it was, even in its altered state.

In the physical sense, many things had changed over the years. A forest of trees flourished where once there had been a thriving orchard. Former strawberry fields and vineyards were overgrown with brush and small trees. The barns and sheds were gone.

Some things had not changed at all. The "well with no water" was still there. The black walnut tree in the front yard was still there. And most significantly, the farm house was still there.

What a transformation the farm house has undergone. Caitrìona and Wilson have performed magic on the house. They installed hardwood floors, and restored the original red pine floors in kitchen and dining room. All of the rooms had been dry walled and painted.

Caitrìona spent months cruising recycling outlets to furnish the house. This has resulted in a bright, charming, welcoming and comfortable home. I think that is how Caitrìona always meant it to be. It is a vision realized.

The dinner was attended by ourselves, Caitrìona, Rymal, Harriet and her daughter, Helena and two of her three children and my cousin Kate.

Caitrìona prepared a magnificent turkey dinner, complete with homemade bread for the stuffing. Yum! Everyone took great care to relay to me the ingredients in the desserts they had prepared, accommodating my allergy. As a result I ate far more than I should have and far less than I would have liked. It was a feast to remember.

Our first snow storm of the season hit only a few days after we arrived home from visiting Caitrìona. The month of December arrived with a flourish, boasting snow packed roads and zero visibility. By the morning of December 2, a layer of cold white winter lay over the entire landscape.

Then it began to rain, and it is raining still.

My new little job has provided me with a few hours of work each week, for which I have been grateful. I find the first few weeks at a new job a bit stressful. There is so much to learn in a short time! The routines are becoming more familiar now and my comfort level is increasing.

We have had a wonderful autumn and it hardly seems possible that it is only three weeks until Christmas!