Monday, December 26, 2016

December 2016

We've had a lovely hawk visit us for the last several months.  I'm especially grateful for his (her?) consumption of mice, voles and rabbits.  A week ago we had below zero temps and the hawk is not as present.  Now we have a rabbit that is enjoying our back yard, at least until Gretchen comes out.




Rusty has spent lots of time in the shop working on my Christmas presents.  He emulates his Uncle Jeff with the naked-apron look.


Each year the Nebraska State Capital has an artist produce a Christmas ornament that replicates a particular element of the building.  I've been collecting them for several years and requested that Rusty build a display rack specifically for these ornaments.
A beautiful Christmas present for me!

On a clear night in early December, with a giant full moon, we drove into the country and dined at Prairie Plate with friends.  It is a farm-to-table restaurant with limited seating and wonderful food.
Susan, Rusty, Di, Kerry, Deb, Clayton


On a very cold, snowy, and icy night, we ventured out to celebrate with the Just Cruisin' Bike group.
Two of our lady riders are wearing slings because of shoulder injuries from the bike.  Thank goodness I'm not one of them!
lots of good eats!




Mom gave us a gift card to Rudy's, which is a remarkable, local kitchen store in Twin Falls.  I've long wanted to try making paella, so we bought the basic necessities.  Paella is a Spanish dish involving seafood and saffron rice.  It requires and exceptionally large pan for the many ingredients.
The process begins with lots of chopping of fresh ingredients.


Chicken thighs are marinated in seasoning and then carefully browned.

Onions, garlic, red bell peppers and parsley get sautéed,

Valencia rice is added.

Then lots of chicken broth, saffron and a little tomato.
Then shrimp, clams and muscles are tucked down deep.

The final step includes beans, peas and artichoke hearts.


Prosciutto and melon appetizers.

Lou and Karl
Karen and David
Nearly everyone had second helpings, so it must have been good.  Thanks, Mom!


Chris started our annual Christmas tea 26 years ago.  As always, she is a lovely and gracious host, and this year was no exception despite her stressful life.  We were sorry to not have our dear friend Kathie join us and are hoping for better days for her in the near future.
Fashionable in our hats, Di, Linda, Lorraine and Jan

In blue and wearing her fascinator, our lovely host Chris!

Examining the beautiful table.  Scones, tea, finger-sandwiches, cookies, etc.

Time out for a small oops!

This year's book was a Caldecott winner, Beekle.

We all enjoy taking turns reading pages from the book aloud.
I know how lucky I am to have such dear, lifelong friends.  As we grow older and several of us have big issues to deal with, it's especially nice to find warmth in the hearts of dear friends!


Rusty and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the White family on Christmas Eve.

table is set...

food is ready...
tree is trimmed...presents wrapped...fire built...
Michelle, Anna, Celeste

Xavier and Celeste

Dragon and Unicorn

Presents for all!

Celeste gets busy with her new toys.

Jeff catches a few zzzzzzz.

Gretchen and Anna share a kiss.


Clayton and Susan Streich hosted Christmas dinner for those of us whose kids have flown the coop.
It was a lovely turkey dinner with all of the trimmings.  We enjoyed playing a challenging board game called NAQ.
Marni, Jeff and Susan

Rusty and Clayton

Our Just Sayin' Team Leader, Shari.

Last year one of my goals was to ride over 1000 miles on my bike.  I easily exceeded that with over 3500 miles for 2016--and no broken bones!  We'll see what happens in 2017.



Sunday, November 27, 2016

November 2016

We have been blessed with a very lengthy, very warm Indian summer.  No one seems to be complaining, although it does give me concerns about global warming.
Rusty and I biked the trails.


My mums finally bloomed in time for Halloween.

Celeste dressed up as Bat Girl

I think these two are becoming friends.

My Aunt Joy has been a Chicago Cubs fan all of her life.

She finally got to see her team win!


The warm weather has given me many opportunities to ride, even though the calendar says the season should be over.  I had coffee and donuts at our house after one of our Saturday rides.

The Just Sayin' team

We hosted an evening for our dinner group.  We relish our times together and wish we could gather more often.
Love these folks!

One of my favorite activities is the First Friday Art Walk.  I talked some friends into joining us at The Sheldon and The Kiechel art galleries.
Sheldon Art Gallery, an elaborate collection of American Art.

Lorraine, Sissy, T.C., and Rusty at The Kiechel which specializes in 19th and 20th century American art.

Dinner at Dish after the art walk.

I joined some folks for a photo shoot done by Parks and Rec to promote the Haines Branch Corridor.  When completed, this trail will connect Pioneer Park to the Spring Creek Prairie outside of Denton.




Rusty had such good luck with his homemade lures that he's been spending time carving a few more.
Whittling away!

We took a trip to Idaho to see Mom, Dar and Tom.  Day 2 of our drive was the day following the election.  We drove most of the day in stunned silence!
Tom and Dar are wonderful hosts!  It was so great to spend time with them!

Dar cooked fabulous food every night.
 Dar and I did some  biking, hiking, and some swimming, and spent a couple of lovely evenings in the hot tub under the stars.
Mom  was able to join us for an afternoon and evening.

Tom cooked salmon on the grill, Mom's favorite.
 As I write this, Mom is out of rehab and back in her apartment.  She's happy to be back in her own place and among her friends.  I'm so thankful for her diligent work in therapy and her positive attitude.  They both attributed to her quick healing.  Go Mom!

Which is prettier, the canyon or my sister?

We went to a local dive in Twin Falls and had Big Ass Prime Rib dinners.  They lived up to their name.  Yummy!  The bar played older music and when Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville came on the entire place sang along.
Look at the size of those beers!

Shortly after we returned from Idaho, Rusty got a call from Lindsay announcing that she and Jeff are engaged to be married.  We are very excited for them and think this will be wonderful for them and Celeste!
Rusty poured champagne to celebrate.

Although I forgot to take pictures, I hosted a pre-Thanksgiving open house for my Irving friends on Wednesday.  It was so wonderful to see all the smiles and hear the laughter of my dear friends!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Fowler clan in Kansas City.
Linda and Phil hosted dinner in their lovely new home.

Andy, Judy, Olivia, Danny and Bill

Olivia has a tradition of doing dessert on Thanksgiving evening at her home.  She is close to the Plaza so folks can walk down and see the lights go on.
Pierce, Olivia and Reece.
Despite making two pies and taking them to K.C., I was too full to enjoy them Thursday evening.  I've been craving pumpkin pie all weekend.  Tonight I called four restaurants and none of them had pumpkin pie.  They had pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin chiffon, pumpkin whatever, but no pumpkin pie.  In desperation I told Rusty to come with me to Village Inn as surely they would have pumpkin pie.  NOOOOOO!  They had a pumpkin cream.  The filling was palatable; the crust was not.  Guess this is just to be remembered as the No Pumpkin Pie Thanksgiving.  😂