About time.

I signed up and paid for a good drawing class today.  Been meaning to do this for a long time.  You know: it's one of those things that kept getting shoved to the back of the line.  So.  Time to get the pads of paper, the charcoals, and the sketchbook out. Well, next week it will be.   It's either a good ending to this year or a good start to next; you can look at it from both sides, depending on the date you're lookin'.  Check that one off my list. =-)

Ok, going to the movies now.  True Grit.  I'll say hi to the cowboys for ya.  Next, I want to see Colin Firth in The King's Speech.  I love Colin Firth.  Always.  As I told DH today, anyone else who has played or should happen to play Mr. Darcy was/is/will be merely a pretender.  He IS Mr. Darcy. Definitively, and forever.  Period.  =-)

XO, D.
Edited to add:  I really LOVED True Grit!  Jeff Bridges is brilliant as Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon brings a little class and, well, Matt Damon-ness (love him), and Hailee Steinfeld as Maddie was perfect casting; she is SO good.  In all of the roughness and gore there was a quirky sense of chivalry and honor...the code of the west kind of thing, and even hilarity. Yes, the movie is violent and a little difficult to watch in some parts, but, come on: Coen Brothers, the reality of the wild west (it wasn't really nice and pretty and tied up with a bow like the westerns of our childhood, ya know)...you pretty much know what you are in for. But worth the ticket and time.  I'd pay to watch it again.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

...the long sigh of relief that today was. 

No after Christmas sales for me today.  The relaxing and staying at home and out of the fray was worth more than any amount of $$ saved at any clearance sale...

Hope you enjoy this "between" week...I love the time between Christmas and the new year.

Merry Christmas!

I am writing this as Christmas Eve passes into Christmas Day.  I just took a short walk around the yard, to smell and feel the winter air, and check out the moon and the stars.  It is a glorious clear, crisp night, and the stars are twinkling like crazy.  Perfect.

 

Here is a Christmas card  for you all, (almost) just like the ones I sent to all my friends and family this year.  Sorry, I can't put glitter on yours =-)  I am wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the blessings of the season and new year.   Peace on Earth.

Advent: December 24

My first and my favorite, probably from about 1959 when I was 5.  This one started it all. I've shared it before...when I used it in my Christmas card photo a couple of years ago.  It lives in the fire evacuation box the rest of the year because it is that precious to me, in spite of its battered state and loss of glitter. It's a lot like me in that respect, I guess...

Wishing you a beautiful Christmas Eve.  May all your shopping be done, your presents wrapped, and your loved ones near.  Peace.

Advent: December 23

This little wooden set is the first one I ever bought for myself, way back in the 70s.  I loved the simplicity of it. Still do; it's one of my favorites.

Ok, not to beat a dead horse, but, people: RAIN!  What in the world has been going on here?  Sadly, and inconveniently for a lot of people (but not me, ha!) two of the main shopping centers in San Diego were mostly inaccessible yesterday due to flooding.  Well, we have to be honest here.  They are smack dab in the middle of the freakin' San Diego Riverbed...helloooooo...whatevs...I still feel bad for the people who had to deal with it with only a couple of shopping days until Christmas remaining.  I worked at Broadway department store in one of those centers when I was in college...back when there were only a row of stores on each side along the lone arm of the mall...back before the parking structures or a need for them were even conceived of.  At Christmas time we were told to park back by the River on the edges of the parking lot to leave spaces for customers.  I never did...it was dark, and it was creepy,...and when it rained, well a boat would have been nice.  Even with the parking structures they have now and the flood channel work that has been done in "the Valley," it still floods...because it.is.a.RIVERbed!!!  As I have said before, we are weird in California. Just because it hasn't rained in a jillion years doesn't mean it won't at some point (obviously), shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, freeways or not.

I finished my shopping yesterday, at another mall, miles east of and higher in elevation than the flooded ones.  And I got all my groceries for the holidays, too.  Except for the green beans...not a green bean to be had at my market...great planning, that.  Someone probably got in trouble.  The cashiers were tired of hearing about it, from what I could hear while waiting in line!  So I'll go back today or very early tomorrow...I really had hoped to avoid the market or any stores any later than yesterday.  Ah, well...

Today's agenda: WRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAPWRAP, DRINK TEA.

Advent: December 22

Um, still raining...Miserable to drive in it; the roads here are not made for weather.  I got off the freeway when I felt my car start to hydroplane.  Surface streets for the rest of the day.  I have never seen so much water on the road, ever.  Weird.

 

This was my mom's tiny nativity set.  She was tiny, herself, and she loved miniature things.  This is a sweet group, and I like seeing them there on the mantle with Mom's pearl rope and the figurine just barely visible to the right that she bought me years ago at an antique shop.

Advent: December 21

This little set came all the way from Australia, from our exchange student, Monica, and her family, the Christmas after she had stayed with us.  That was in 2000, I think.  She has since married and, just last year, had a darling baby girl.  We still keep in touch and would one day love to go visit her and her large family in Australia.  So, anyway, this set is really cute.  The ceramic figures all have this glorious curly hair and fantastic detail in their clothes and "accessories."  The facial expressions, even on the animals, are great.  And I really like the backdrop.

Last night we went to House of Blues downtown and watched DS play bass in the band he performs with, and also saw 3 other groups.  They were all very good. At first, I didn't really want to go...only because it was a dark, blustery, rainy, cold night that screamed the word COZY at me...but I went anyway because watching him play is one of my very favorite things in the whole world to do...and it was really fun!  I always enjoy myself so much at his shows.  His friends and band mates are so sweet and friendly to us and always seem genuinely happy to see us.  So, I'm very glad I went.  I did so need to get out of this house... 

Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Refrigerator arrived yesterday around 2 pm.  IT.IS.AWE.SOME!!!!!!! And we have ICE!!!!!  Simple pleasures, right?

Did anyone get to see any of the eclipse or the meteors??  The last time this happened, a lunar eclipse and the winter solstice coinciding, was in 1638.  Yikes!  From AOL news:

"Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years for NASA.

'Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21, Chester said, according to NASA. 'Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one ... that will be on 2094 DEC 21.'"


Cool, huh?  Unfortunately, here in SoCA we are having the aforementioned weather so there was no eclipse or meteor shower watching for us...darn it...


Well, shopping with DS today...that will be fun =-)

Enjoy your Tuesday, peeps.


XO, D.

Advent: December 20

Ever since I was a very little girl I have loved nativity sets.  The small ones, the ones with tiny details, or not.  The ones that speak to me, personally.  I love that there are hardly ever any two exactly the same.  Someone (who? I don't remember) gave me one when I was probably about 5 years old, and that started the love.  I still have it.  I'll show it to you in a few days.  I have collected several over the years, and it is one of my favorite things about getting into the Christmas bins every year:  I love getting the sets out, unwrapping them, taking in all their details again, and deciding where they each will stay for the season.  This little set I picked up in Cabo San Lucas a few years ago.  The figures are clay and so brightly painted, the faces so sweet.  The day of the photo appears to have been pretty sunny, sorry for the glare, but it's the only picture I have of this one.

The play last night was fantastic!  I am so glad I pushed on us going.  So was everyone else.


More rain in our forecast.  It's just as well, I have things to do in the house that really need doing, and soon!  And I am stuck here for a 4 hour window today anyway.  We bought the new fridge yesterday. And the salesman was kind enough to find a way for it to be on today's delivery truck, cuz my other one is crapping out in a major way. So now I can buy food for Christmas dinner a few days ahead of time instead of a few hours ahead like I thought I was going to have to do.  But, good lord, what a lot of money for such a thing.  Ah well, it was time.  It is the first of the stainless appliances that will eventually all live in my kitchen.  And, people:  there is an ice maker!  Miracle of miracles, we will have ice and filtered ice water like other modern people.  Finally.

Everyone, have a great week!

Advent: December 19

I made this angel over 30 years ago from a pattern I got from my first quilt making teacher.  She (the angel, not the teacher!) has been lifted to her lofty perch every year since, and since around 1984, one kid or the other has been lifted along with her to do the honors of placement, with photos to document so that each one got their turn when it was "their" year. My mom got the pattern, too, since we learned to quilt together with that teacher, but I  don't  remember her ever making one.  If you've been quilting or sewing long (really long) you probably recognize the holly calico in the dress.  I bought it at House of Fabrics where I worked during my first year of marriage...which was a longggggg time ago! That's a lot of Christmases. (Yes, even then, I had a stash...quite a stash, actually...)

Tonight, DH, DD, DS, DDIL, and I are all going to a Christmas play.  I'm really looking forward to it; it will be a lot of fun.  Especially because we will all be together, and because this theater is a tiny one, so it feels like being right in the middle of the action.  I do love going to plays.

I hope everyone is able to slow down now and then, and to take time to savor some of the sweetness of the season.  Cheers!

Advent: December 18

Kitties are so helpful.

 Other news:  It's raining!  It's very cozy here.  I love it.  I got my mailing done yesterday.  Well, except for the cards...which I still have to make...but I like doing that...mostly.  Today: Cards!  And finishing some presents, wrapping, drinking tea... I do think I might go out and stand in the rain for a few minutes, too.  Californians--we're goofy like that.

Advent: December 17

Thank goodness for Priority mail!!

Advent: December 16

Advent: December 15

 Another of my mom's bears, and you can see just the top of one of her tiny x-stitched stocking ornaments hanging on the breakfront.  I use so many of her Christmas decorations, though I have not ever really plumbed the depths of her bins stowed in the garage after I brought them home.  My sister reminded me of one piece we always loved that I had completely forgotten about, so this week I will see if it is out there; it should be, where else would it be.  It's such a bittersweet season for me. Mom always enjoyed it so much, and everything about it reminds me of her. I miss her incredibly; I will never not.

Advent: December 14

Hope everyone is staying calm, focused, and enjoying the season, ahead of the game, so to speak.  I'd like to stay and chat but I have to go clean...cuz...well...the cleaning lady's coming...

Advent: December 13

 I love almost anything that sparkles...

Advent: December 12

The best Secret Santa gift I have ever received...and I still don't know who gave them to me after all these years...

Advent: December 11

More in the powder room...I do love my shells. And I love that vintage canning jar.  The brand name on it is "Queen."  I had to have it cuz, well, I am Queen.

Advent: December 10

Advent: December 9

Not our house (though ours has had lights up since Thanksgiving--a first for us to be so early.)  It's one from the part of town where every single house for blocks and blocks have lights and extensive displays, and everyone else from all over the county drives through with their car lights off and windows down to enjoy them.  It's pretty cool.  Some places have hot cocoa, others have fire pits on their driveways and sit around with friends and family enjoying the lights with the drivers-by, Christmas music blaring, kids amped up with excitement. Fun, fun!

Advent: December 8

The bead poinsettia and the pearl rope were both made by my mom years and years ago

Advent: December 7

The gang's all here

Advent: December 6

Even in the powder room...

Advent: December 5

I really like the white poinsettias these days.

Advent: December 4

This sweet little drummer boy used to belong to my son...who was a sweet drummer boy, himself...and he also has red hair like the figurine.  Of course I wanted it when he was going to get rid of it!

Happy 29th  birthday to you today, sweetheart.  You're still my favorite drummer boy, though now you pound the bass and strum the guitar instead.  I love you with all my heart.

Advent:: December 3

Advent: December 2

Welcome!  I just poured a cup of tea...come on in.

Advent: December 1

                                                                       Some pretties

Rain coming down, tea, cake, book, comfy chair, hassock...need I say more?

I really needed this...

 My sweet girl.

It was a great day, and my favorite kind of beach weather.

Lovely, just so very lovely...

 The sunrise yesterday was amazing...

 ...and changed so quickly as I watched...

...beautiful!

• • Tuesday

    

    86° / 63°
  • Wednesday

    

    83° / 61°
  • Thursday

    

    81° / 61°
  • Friday

    

    80° / 62° 
     
    We can only hope... Of course they put that little cloud icon up if there is even a 10% chance of rain... but at least it's a whisper of hope.  I will say this:  it is cloudy out right now and only 80 degrees, which it has been since at least 6:15 am when I got up this morning. I love Rian's new name for our state: Hotfornia...that it is, all right...

Ok, enough is enough...

112°F

Current: Sunny
Wind: SE at 10 mph

3rd day in a row vegging...I'm on my third book...this is getting ridiculous...if you don't hear from me after this I've probably finally melted completely...

uhhhh...???

Currently 102.4 °F ...this is AUTUMN??  Remind me again why I came home early...cuz I sure as hell can't figure it out...=-/  It is currently almost 5:30 in the evening and it's still this hot...the temp was reading 106 earlier today...my God...what was I thinking...ok, I wasn't...sigh... I'm going back to my book now...sorry, I just had to vent a little...

I come here for the soul food.

In NY:

We went to the local fair recently (my 2nd fair this summer!) in the next village over from ours.  This particular fair is over 120 years old...my mom used to go to it when she was a kid growing up here.  She'd be pleased that we went.  I have always wanted to go but just never did...don't know why, really...  Well, now I'm able to check that off my list.  What fun it was! It was a very small version of the huge county fair I went to in SD earlier, and in a very different, very rural area with lovely farms and tiny villages all around...just like the village I live in when I am here.  Mostly we looked at the animals...my favorite...well, I like baked goods, too...heh...but this time it was animals all the way...

 

This guy realllly wanted me...or maybe it was the paper I had in my hand or maybe my purse looked especially yummy.  He had a rather disconcerting look about him and he was almost as tall as me when he stood up on his hind legs and tried to get over the side of the pen.  I took his picture quickly and moved on.

This mom had her hands full, let me tell you...

These guys were actually butting heads...hilarious! They were so tiny they were able to walk in between the slats in the pen and so were wandering all over the goat tent.  Goats crack me up, they are SO assertive...

                             

This guy not only had a blue ribbon, he also had a huge trophy.  He was spectacular!

To cute and too tiny for words...=-)

Ditto!  OMG!

Nosy

Tuckered out...finally...

And here was a very cute human sorta-baby:

This little guy had just won a blue ribbon with his calf...so sweet...both of 'em...look at those faces!

All that, and we were home before noon.  That is my kind of activity...short, sweet, and outta the heat... before it gets a chance to do me in!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

PS: JenClair, my new header is for YOU!