Merry Christmas

Let's start with our Christmas Eve reality:

Tis the night before Christmas

and all through this place

there's no heat a flowin',

not even a trace.

The furnace has stopped, and

now it won't go.

The temp is a fallin'

though so far it's slow.

A party we've planned

for tomorrow afternoon,

but if the heat won't start up

folks will leave here real soon.

On Christmas eve

just who do you call?

The builder who's usually

no help at all?

And who was the sub

who put in the furnace?

Of that piece of info

we can't find a trace.

This story will start

again with the dawn.

We'll either have heat

or we'll soon be gone.

To be continued. . . .

Scottie got up of course

as the loudest and first.

Feeling cold air, I

suspected the worst.

Alas it was true,

no heat would there be,

and my heart filled with fear

for a ruined Christmas party.

I got up quite grumpy,

feeling cold and depressed

Yet I managed to pull on a robe,

not ready to get dressed.

While I lit up the oven

and mixed up the scones

Scottie got busy with a

job of his own.

He cut up some wood,

though damp it might be,

and built a nice fire

to warm up little me.

By the time we ripped open

the gifts we'd received

My heart had lightened;

I was feeling relieved.

It might be a bit cold here

and the fire makes for grit,

but I suspect in the long run

it won't matter a bit.

We've found Christmas gladness,

I'd even say cheer, and

All I could wish is that

You all were here!

So, that's the way it has gone. We had a nice Christmas morning with fresh scones and a fire. Thanks to some low clouds we didn't get the really cold weather that can come with very clear weather. The fireplace kept the downstairs nicely warm. Check out Scottie - with part of the uniform for the racing team he's been invited to join - AND with the bike horn, which turns out to be a great dog discipline tactic!

We had way, way too many deserts, but the folks who showed up really seemed to enjoy them. We'll have deserts to contribute to the upcoming New Year's Eve and New Year's Day parties.

The table looked really nice with all the Christmas trees. Friend Yvonne sent me a tree that she has had for years. It's really crazy how many things she and I have shared in common for all these years without even knowing it. Y also sent Scottie the bike horn and got a big laugh from both of us.

Our tree will get the decorations pulled off soon so we can plant it. Have to come up with a name though. . . .



Oh, we'll also need to get the heating contractor here!



Well I'm tired. It's 7:30, and I'm already in bed!

Would you eat the cookin' from this kitchen?

OK, it could be Julius Child. . . .

Or the Mad Scientist. . . .

Maybe Bertie Crocker. . . .

All I know for sure is that many ingredients in the hands of this one man made a HUGE mess!

I'm not tellin' what all got wiped with that towel, and certainly not all the words used, but he did manage to come up with something edible.

We named them Scottie's Sinfully Sugary Sensations. And, they're all gone. Maybe he'll make more.

Visitors both 2 and 4 legged

We've been a busy locale lately. We've had the coyote clan moving through in the middle of the night several times. That always means that Cocoa and Buck start howling an eerie, mournful sound and won't quit until the coyotes are out of range.

Than we've had Oso the Bear who has finally discovered our garbage cans. For some time we'd seemed immune to Mr. Bear, but he's now found us. We'll need to come up with a system to thwart him if this continues.



Then the 2 - leggeds:

Ron, on the left in the photo, whose father was a friend of Scottie's decades ago, and Victor, who we've known for 10 or 15 years, came to visit for a "boys" trip. This is just before they headed up the mountain, and yes, Ron did have long pants in the van.

I could listen to Victor all day. He has a beautiful accent and a most interesting life story from fleeing Lithuania at 3 or so in a hay wagon, through growing up in Columbia, to MIT and onward even including an arranged marriage to the daughter of a friend of his mother. Plus, he's a kind man. When he got the old family estate in Lithuania back a few years ago, he deeded to house and some acreage to the long-term caretakers. I like that in a human.

Always fun to have good friends visit. Wen are YOU coming?

Christmas is gettin' closer! I already got presents.

First let me correct a mis-perception: NONE of our 4 kids are joining us for Christmas. Apparently my prior post made it sound like they are. Monica and family will be in Charlotte; Jeff and family will be in Atlanta; Sarah, grandpa Hughie and family will be in San Diego; and Amanda and kids will be in . . . . Nicaragua.

Now, about those presents:

First, we have snow in the high country. This is Moro Rock taken from our balcony. Won't last, but it looks cool in the meantime.








Then, my Christmas gift from Scottie. We went to Bakersfield Saturday & had a bit of a rocky day. I didn't feel well; store wasn't where it was supposed to be; Scottie didn't want me to listen to Willie Nelson (well, I think it's good), but it ended well.

Scottie let me pick two little stained glass windows for my Christmas gift. I've always thought that "someday" I'd get a couple to go in the small windows on either side of the fireplace. Well, someday arrived!

The windows, being far from energy efficient, are installed to hang in the opening, but leaving the real windows in place behind.

Looks pretty pleased with himself doesn't he?




Of course putting the Christmas greenery back up in front of the windows takes something from it, but it will be way cool on an ongoing basis!



If you click on the photo below, you can see how it looks for now up close and personal.






Of course, this means there will be nothing in my Christmas stocking on Christmas day!


Unless YOU send me something that is. Want my list?

Update on "Stormy Weather"

OK, here's the scoop:

Stormy Weather was written in 1933 and first sung by Ethel Waters at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Wowsa. Since then it seems everybody and their brother has recorded the song. In 2004, Ethel Waters' version was chosen by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Recording Registry.

And, you might ask, just what is the National Recording Registry? Well, friendly reader, it was set up to preserve sound recordings that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically important and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." Can't claim I fully get it, but it would appear that some rather important folks think the original recording of Stormy Weather is important. Works for me.

Stormy Weather

Wasn't that an old song title? Who sang it? I can't remember.

Anyway, we had a wonderful rain storm last night. This morning we have low hanging clouds and wet foliage all around.


The scenery around here changes so quickly this time of year. All of a sudden things green up. We have running water in the river. You can almost feel the parched earth sighing in relief after the months of dry weather.







When you look to the East, up toward Eagle Peak, there's a group of Sycamore trees that grow in a natural watercourse. Now, a sycamore isn't really a tree that gets pretty fall/winter color. They do get some yellow, but it's not the beautiful gold type, then the leaves turn brown and fall off. Only at times like this, when the leaves are sparkling with moisture, do they really take on a beautiful sunny shade and appear to shimmer on the hillside. And above the sycamores you can see the flume that carries water down the mountain.


Love this time of year, just love it. Love the wet weather. Love Christmas season though not the commercialization.

You can expect me to be ridiculously happy for the next several weeks. Hope you're feeling good too!

I'm SO excited!

I really, really wanted to have Christmas at home for our first year in the new house. Not an easy trick when family is spread from coast to coast.

But, that's exactly what we are doing, and we are going to host a Christmas afternoon desert party just to liven things up! So, I've been decorating.
Tree will come in last since we do a live one and try not to keep it in the house too long before it goes outside to be planted, but most everything else is done.

This is the view as you come in the front door:


I like how the garland looks draped in front of the two little windows on either side of the fireplace.

The white lump in front of the patio doors (to the right and sorta behind the table) is all the tree decorations covered with the table cloth I use as a tree skirt.






Pretty much my favorite part of the decorating is getting out my crystal tree forest. Most of the trees were collected by my mother-in-law. I've added a few more, especially last year when everything was in storage and they were all we had for Christmas decorations. I've learned ebay is a great place to find them.

A few tiny green balls in the bamboo and it becomes part of the decorating scheme too, as does the fiddle leaf fig with some big red bows added. It had to move away from the patio doors to make way for the Christmas tree.


In the window to the right are my tumbling Santas that I bought when my kids were little! Let's see, Jeff's almost 41, guess I've had them a while.

When it's night, the candles are lit, and the lights above are on dim, this will sparkle! Other than 3 lace trees, everything is green and white crystal & I stuck with that theme for the ones I bought. I like that Ruth's and mine are now mixed and no one can tell which are which.




This tree moved from the corner to the base of the steps to give the top-heavy fig a safe place to live for the duration.

Amazing what a bow and a couple of oversize balls can do to make a tree look holiday-ish.


These two balls were part of the group that hung in my library corner in New Mexico. Everything the last year there was Silver, Green & White.




Since I'm such a sentimental goof, I have some stuff that's old, really old.




My little Charlie Brown tree for instance is a twig tree, all brown and homely. It has tiny ornaments and bows, and every year it gets stuck in a big box after Christmas without removing any of the stuff. Next year - just pull it out and it's ready to go. I may spend a bit of time this year and take stuff off and re-hang it a bit more pretty. Or maybe not.












At each side of the fireplace are the pets stockings - two per side. Right now they are on with scotch tape until I pick up some of the removable hangers that stick on. I love how the clear, oversize ornament looks in the window. For the party we'll light some of the old laterns too.

Friend Yvonne made the big stockings, one for Scottie and one for me. Quite cool. And large enough to hold BIG presents should you want to send me something!



And, yes, the bathrooms get decorated too. This is the half bath downstairs. It doesn't get a lot - just a little tree covered in tiny wrapped packages and a few candles.

Wonder how many candles I can light for the party?













Moving upstairs - yes, I decorate that way too - We have the Christmas cat boxes on the steps.

Think I need to put a big bow on the old highchair and something on the rail.














In our room all I've done (so far) is take down the painting above the bed and replace it with a grape vine wreath decked in silver ribbon and with a single glass ornament in the center.

I may do a touch more in this room, but I like my bedroom quiet, so no reds here.







Guest bedroom has my stuffed moose (or mousse for our old dog) that plays music, and the Christmas bear that is his girlfriend. May have to put a bow on Lucy Cat. Nahhhhh.













The guest bath has the oldest thing of all. This is a big pine cone that I decorated when my kids were tiny. It's a bit worse for the years but still stands up if leaned on something, and still has most of its tiny, tiny ornaments. Call me sentimental.











So far all I've done in the laundry room/studio is
put out the box where I store Christmas cards. What? You don't save them? I have maybe 3 years worth, but since the box is full, I'll have to get rid of a few this year.


So, the tree is yet to come in. The steps need more work. Nothing in the master bath yet. Outdoor stuff to be finished too.

But, I'm mostly there.

OK - I've been busy

Haven't posted to the blog for quite a while, not because I've lost interest, just been busy!

Of course it's the time of year that we are all busy. Here are a couple of my recent projects:



Friend, ex-landlady, and boss, Nola, is one of those people who will get herself anything she really wants, so there's very little to get for her that has any special meaning.

Since I've gotten to know her grandchildren, Farrah and Fifin, I decided to paint them.

Now I get into my perfectionism/insecurity/who-knows-what stuff about my art. Nola seemed to like the paintings. The emphasis on "seemed" is mine. Never, ever do I finish a painting and feel perfectly pleased. In my mis-guided youth I used to hold ritual burnings every 60 days or so, then quit painting entirely for decades. I've gotten past that, but I still go through my angst.



Of course I couldn't wait for Christmas to get here.


I've already given these to Nola in hopes she'll get to enjoy them now.















Since we don't all get to have our grandbabies close at hand, here's my baby:


He's even learned to respond to "Baby Buck". His personality is just such a complete baby at 2 1/2. I can't imagine that he will ever really be a grown up. Buck likes to cuddle, be hugged, would love to be a lap dog, but at 115 or so it's a tad too much.


House guests coming in tonight. Friends Michelle and Dawn from San Diego will be here for the weekend, so watch this space next week for photos.

The rock's in - even leveled!

We actually have usable space, parking, and room to drive on the side of the house. What a treat!

We got two loads of road base delivered and spread out in the parking area.

I'm thinking I'll make a little herb garden at the side of the house. We've even got road base in the area leading to the dog door so they don't bring in mud.




The parking area will be back by the propane tank. Some time, maybe next year, we'll put a carport back there. And, we've actually got room to back out and drive out forward - what a concept!



Just to the back of the oak trees, but not visible in the photo, are my steps so I can access the little area above. I managed to scrounge enough of the road base to put on those too.



This will turn more brown over time from the dirt getting on it from tire wheels, etc. Don't know if we'll have the polymer stuff that was used on the driveway put on this.




And why is it wet?



Puppers got baths today.

Since I have to tie them so they can't go roll in the dirt, we do the baths on the porch. Before the road base that meant more mud to deal with.

Aren't they gorgeous? Cocoa is so shiny and her muscles show up beautifully; and Buck actually shows his real white coloration. That ought to be good overnight, not much more.

We are doing a big break with tradition this year. Scottie and I are going to eat out for Thanksgiving - at a nice place, may even dress up a bit.

And, we're going to do an open house on Christmas day. Time to start building our own traditions in Three Rivers and this is a good way to start. We also have a couple of sets of good friends visiting soon. Michele and Dawn arrive on Friday, November 30 and leave early the following Monday, a quick visit. Then a couple of Scottie's guy buddies arrive for a couple of days. And we're hoping Sarah, Bobby, Justin and Grandpa Hughie (oh, and Foxy) may come up for Christmas.

Hope your Thanksgiving plans are as easy as ours!

Edgar Allen Poe weather - and other thoughts

"Once upon a midnight dreary. . . ."

I absolutely love this time of year!

Sometime over night we got a touch of rain and this morning we have low hanging clouds. I love waking up and looking out my windows to a sense of living in the clouds!


I always have to grab a few photos of this kind of weather.



We aren't noted for fall color, but a few trees do get a golden color, and the grasses still retain some gold. Part of my planting will have to involve bringing in more fall color. Yep.


Missed one great photo op this morning - Buck and Cocoa were out, in their two shock collars. One keeps them home; the other is to prevent barking. I heard Cocoa yelp, the kind of help that means pain. When I went out - barefoot - to see what was up, a beautiful coyote was heading up the hill. By the time I went back inside for flip flops and camera he was too far away to get a photo. Darn. By the way, el coyote was wearing a heavy coat and a very full, fluffy tail. I'm thinking cold, wet winter.





OK, as you come down the driveway you no longer see the propane tank. Yeah!!!

(Notice the dogs? Whenever the camera comes out, they think it's to be directed at them. Do you suppose I take their photos too often?)






A platform is cut into the bank back of the oak trees and the propane tank hides back there. It's the required 5 feet off the property line and far enough from the house to be safe. Once we get fence up on those posts I'll plant the wild grape that I scrounged from a neighbor for screening so another neighbor won't have to look at our tank when they build and we'll both get fall color, a 2-fer.

Also figured out the a carport can't come off the house without putting a support post right in the way of where we'd need to back to turn. So, the car port, a long range project anyway, will go back near the tank. - Oh also got steps cut into the bank so I can access the little triangle at the top of same for planting, etc.

Moving on to philosophy (is that a collective groan I hear out there?). . . .

I'm feeling my "responsibility" soapbox forming again. Here's what set me off this time:

Reading online this AM, the San Diego Union-Tribune website, and stumbled on an article about how the foreclosures are helping first time home buyers get into the market with "affordable housing". The article mentioned how a guy was able to buy a 900 square foot house for about $305,000 - it had been on the market for $450,000. It also required some creative financing and government guarantees. OK, that's almost $340 a square foot, and we are not talking a nice house or a nice neighborhood. Since when does that constitute "affordable housing"? Same article mentions how prices in San Diego have more than doubled since 2000 (prior to this drop), but this certainly doesn't reflect a cut of half to $225,000. So, where's the bargain? And, aren't creative financing and government guarantees a major part of what got us in this mess in the first place?

Moving on from there, here's my dog walking story. Went out Monday walking the dogs. Dogs were being great; we were having a wonderful time. About 2/3's of the way into our walk, I saw a man jogging down Mineral King with a youngish dog on a retractable leash. He didn't notice us. As he got closer, I could see he was also wearing headphones. Still didn't notice us & the pup (looked like a young lab) was bouncing at the end of its leash obviously having seen us. Looked like a disaster waiting to happen. I took my dogs to the edge of the road and made them sit. Mr. Oblivious kept coming and just as he reached us the pup lunged (playfully, not threateningly) toward us. Well, I've learned this lesson the hard way. Big dogs, leashes, uh-uh. So, I let go of mine, knowing they'd go meet and greet doggie style and then be done. Mr. O held onto his retractable leash, got tangled up and fell. Skinned his elbow on the pavement.

Did I feel (a) bad and (b) at least partially responsible? You betcha. Did I apologize, etc? You betcha. Mr. O assured me he was fine, seemed embarrassed, and went on. So, what has this to do with my responsibility kick? Well, couple of days later, The Man and I are walking the dogs on the same route. He's got Cocoa and I've got Buck. We meet Mr. O, this time without his dog. Still with headphones and sunglasses. Bit more alert now though. He approaches us and in a very abrasive way demands to know, looking at me, if I'll be walking this time every day. I say yes. (That at least got him to take off the headphones.) He turns to Scottie and begins a rage about how my dogs "attacked" him, I can't control them, "you" weren't there and didn't see it, they're dangerous, blah, blah. I started to walk off, and Mr. O, says, actually demands "You're going to walk off when I'm trying to have a conversation here?" I reply that it's no conversation, just him letting off a bunch of anger, and I keep going. Scottie (being very patient) hears out the rest of the lecture and threat to "take things to the next level" should "it" happen again.

So, did Mr. O ever take responsibility for his part in a 3-dog action (dogs were all fine by the way, and all went on their separate ways without any problem)? Nope. Do I think he even sees that he has a part in this? Nope.

And the tie between this and the mortgage mess? A general lack of a sense of responsibility among we humans. Ticks me off big time. From kids running amuck in schools and parents taking no responsibility, to overweight America and the resulting health issues, to the Bushies taking on Iraq and forgetting Osama in the process, to the warming of the Earth and the hundreds - no thousands - of species we'll lose as a result we've lost all sense of direction.

And, for those who remember the neighbor at the place we rented - he who hates the landlady and tries to take it out on anyone who rents from her, works for her, etc.: Said neighbor threatened to "shoot your a**" - directed at a contractor who went there last week to take a look at doing some remodeling for the landlady. And the contractor doesn't want to file a police report. So, where's the responsibility there? Do we wait until someone IS shot???

Enough already. Think I'll take the dogs for a walk. Yep, on the same route.

Gaining space

So, one evening this past week, I arrived home to find the propane tank moved right next to the house, blocking the dog door. Why, you might ask, would anyone do that?


Well, it's all part of the gaining space movement.








If you look carefully at the next photo, the broom marks the present location of the drain. The dog bowl in the middle of the track marks the prior location. Given that the bank used to come down right beside the drain, you can see we had NO space to drive through this area. That has been rectified, and the drain now sits so far into the bank area that it doesn't need a grate over it.

The pipe is large enough, and our water volume gets big enough, that we are told it will "self-clean" meaning we don't need to worry about leaves, etc. Cool, huh?

Dirt was removed all along the bank and around the corner back to the lot line.

The hole in the ground is where the propane tank used to sit.

Thanks to Fred Lowe we aren't even going to have to pour more concrete! He moved the old pad and will reposition it to the back of the newly flat area then re-plumb it. We'll also need to get gravel brought in soon as the clay will turn to red mud as soon as the rains get going.



At some point we'll add on a roof at the point where it will it attach to the current back porch roof and bring that out to form a carport. The area gained by moving the tank will give us plenty of room to back out and be able to exit forward rather than in reverse.

And, we'll be able to put the garden shed to the back also, near the propane tank and out of the way.


I'm kinda thinkin' there's nuttin' that Fred can't do.

After the storm

BIG storm last night. The show was totally amazing.

We stood outside for quite a while watching the storm come up the valley and into the foothills. Then it hit us. Power was off and on for several hours. Wind blew like crazy - the news says gusts up to 70 mph. Rain poured but right here we had no hail.





So, this morning we surveyed the damage.

This was our little garden storage shed. Gone.






Although the shed itself was in pieces, the things in it survived with just a few exceptions. Most needed all the mud cleaned off; not much more.












The shade structure that once provided shelter for the dogs then moved over by the Tuff Shed to protect Scottie's tool area also bit the dust.


For this we ended up with bolt cutters to dismantle it since it was so twisted that we couldn't fold it up any more.

Kinda left us with a tad - just a tiny tad - of the idea of cleaning up after a flood or such.


Then, we moved on.

Fred Lowe, earth mover supreme, showed up to work on a project for us.

Fred is one of those amazing people who has made an art of what he does! We've thought for months that we needed a big bunch of fill dirt to finish off the east side of our yard.

Not so. Fred peeled so much dirt off the bank I simply couldn't believe it.

We, especially Scottie, got to man the hoses providing water to help the soil compact as he moved it.

So, the biggest part of the "hole" where our carport will ultimately go has been filled in. Drainage issues are being corrected.

I got to watch Fred swing the bucket of the end loader around and practically do finish grading with it! Amazing.

Fred comes back tomorrow. He and Scottie will extend the drain that runs under and build a collection area at the bottom of the steep bank. No more water problems on that side!


So, the guys got together to talk about what else could be done with just a little more effort.


Scottie will frame up an area for concrete and pour same. Fred will return, re-set our propane tank running the opposite way and re-plumb the gas line - and oh by the way, at the same time we'll gain a flat area for a turn around at the end of the future carport area.


So, out of the storm comes a silver lining. Cost us some money we didn't want to spend right now, but in the long run will have solved 2 or 3 major site problems at once. Fred's a master. Really.

I'm basically exhausted, in my jammies and in bed with my handy laptop before 7 PM. But, much was done today.

Evening Skies

A warning: If you don't like storm clouds, skies pictures, etc., you might want to tune out for the next few weeks/months. We are heading into rainy season. I love storms. Therefore - storm clouds will appear in this blog.







We have glorious storm clouds but so far nothing more than dribbles of moisture.


So, we have this view, fairly early:








Same view a tad later when the sun just kisses the top of the rock formation.














And, this view, off to the West. . . .














And the same shot later as the night sky melts into the storm clouds leaving just a tiny bit of breathing room between.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we got a nice storm our of this???