Rain and cold weather produced this almost Heart Art in Cindy and Jim’s ditch near the stop sign.
The second day more air had spread under the ice.
Because the ditch is too deep, I would not step down to hear what a shattering sound it would make if tapped with a foot. That is a childish habit I have that still brings me great joy. I didn’t have this yearning when I was young, probably because we rarely had icy puddles where I might have walked in Tennessee. It’s got to be a second childhood experience. I’m qualified.
January 10 was a day for weather in the United States, as reported by relatives. All kinds of things swept the country.
In North Carolina brother Bob and Beth had a geyser at the street, runoff from their gutters in Winston Salem.
Nathaniel took a photo of flooding in Charlotte, NC.
My neighbors had water flowing through their French drain, still going today — 48 hours after the rain stopped.
Daughter Kate and Michael had downed limbs in their yard after a wind/rain storm in New Jersey.
I would have chosen Rose and John’s snow in Washington state. They celebrated by hiking in it.
I’m happy that none of us experienced tornadoes. I heard four touched down in Florida, as well as numerous other reports of twisters in other states. We have many things to be thankful for.
Neighbor Logan knew the evening before that he would have a delayed opening for school. He suggested we walk at my usual time, and if we were still walking, his mom or dad would pick him up to take him on to school. Sounded like a fine plan to me. It had begun to snow when I went to bed, but I didn’t expect much to happen. Much to my surprise, I woke to find snow on the ground before the sun rose. It was only a dusting, but it would still make the walk exciting for me.
I left my house at the appointed time, but all seemed quiet across the street. I walked up and down once in front of Logan’s house and tested the flagstone walkway. It wasn’t icy. I might have gone to the front door if there hadn’t been snow covering the steps. Not going to chance that! Instead, I used one finger to leave Logan a message, writing upside down. Can you read it?
I turned the camera around to get a clear picture of it and went on to walk by myself.
First stop was a neighbor’s French drain, chugging out water from behind the house. The rain had stopped the day before, but the ground was saturated. It fascinates me that the water will continue for a long time.
The water from the French drain runs in a ditch and empties into the first little stream I come to. The stream had been low for months, but it was running well.
I chatted with Lisa near the stop sign. She and dog Rosie had walked to the creek, and she walked beside the pavement up the steep hill because it was icy.
When I came home, there was still no sign of Logan. I had changed the shower curtain before leaving the house, and now it was time to use it. It says, “There SNOW place like home.” The photo shows that the snow woman on the left had stuck her toe out to see if the floor was warm. I’ve bought a new curtain about every other year and now have a nice collection. What I discovered is that I’d rather decorate my bathroom for the season than put candles in windows or hang a wreath on the door. Silly, but fun for me.
Looking across the street, I could see that the sun had not yet melted the snow on the steps. I texted Shawn to see if Logan had seen his message. He hadn’t, and I suspect it melted before he was out on the porch. I had fun writing it, anyway, and there will be other times to walk.
The town next to me is Clyde, a name that John and I had fun with. He said he wanted to find a house there so he could tell people we lived in Cliiiiide, said with a made-up mountain accent. I laughed every time.
Today a lost dog parked itself on a porch two streets away. The house owner checked with her neighbor, who in turn contacted Shawn on our street and included two photos. Shawn spread the word to us. D. must have dictated her reply, because she suggested someone call a humane society in COLLIDE. I love it! I’m dying to tell someone I’m going to (run into) Collide for lunch.
Less than an hour later word came that the dog belongs to the man who owns the fruit/vegetable stand near the creek. The man is very personable. He talked to John and me a long time one day. The two men talked about traffic on Long Island. He grew trees here and drove them to a nursery in Southampton. It pleases me to think Waynesville trees are growing in an extremely rich area of Long Island.
After waking up in 2024, I was sitting on the edge of my bed intending to look at messages on the phone. My bed was probably made on a farm in West Tennessee in the 1800’s, so it is quite tall. I was sitting about waist high. During the night the mattress topper must have shifted. With little warning, I slipped off the bed, landing on my feet. Ah ha!!! I literally did it the German way for the first time!! Friend Gerhard has always translated his new year’s greeting as “sliding into the new year.” I did it for real!!
The last day of the year was such a pleasant one for me. I had no expectations and just enjoyed the day’s unfolding. There was only one service at church, and it was later than usual for me. I knew David was running the sound board. He is always quick to notice when a mike should be muted or turned on. I wondered why he was later than usual coming home. He said people were saying goodbye to him. He intends to move as soon as he finds a place, wanting to be more independent.
We wanted to go out to eat at a nearby restaurant and juggled our choice of three. Barbecue won. The franchise owner was there working and welcomed us warmly.
During the afternoon and evening I talked or texted with all my blood relatives. I’m sure that’s a record. Most unusual was welcoming the new year six hours ahead with Lise. She stood at her window and aimed the camera at her street where people were setting off fireworks. Danes are addicted to fireworks, especially at this time of year. They were using powerful ones that we would reserve for football fields or riverbanks. Dangerous? Oh! My! Yes! Cars and pedestrians wove their way around the explosions. Ash and debris rained down, which is why Lise kept the window closed. This began at dusk and continued beyond the usual 4:00 a.m. quitting time. Street cleaners pick up all the spent casings starting at 5:00. It was all exciting and fun from across the ocean.
I chatted with Kate, and David came in while we were on the phone. They talked shop for a long time, while I was making a quiche. Both work full time in supermarkets. As they talked, David was watching the Danish fireworks with Lise and telling his mother what was going on. I texted with John $ and Rose, three hours behind me. I didn’t wait up for their new year.
Neighbor Joyce had driven four hours from her daughter in Nashville to get home. She must have been quite tired from the visit with grandchildren in Texas – the jumping off point being Nashville. She came over to visit with me until almost midnight. I enjoyed hearing about her car trip to Texas and the flight back. I was more content than ever to sit in an armchair to listen. I forgot to take a photo to mark the occasion.
I was alone for the last fifteen minutes of the year and thought about what I had done at midnight most of my life. We always looked at the ball dropping in Times Square. Amazingly, I found live coverage through the internet on the iPad. To mark the occasion, I took a video of the last few seconds with a camera. What a good way to end the year laughing!
Brother Bob and Beth came to spend one night earlier in the week, and they set up our family clock. They are moving to a smaller home and had already delivered the case. The first step was leveling the case. What a job! Beth leaned the clock back so that Bob could get to the leveling screws. After making slight changes, they pushed it back against the wall to see if it was level. I lost track of the number of times they repeated this.
This was the final measure. With the clock leveled and back against the wall, he used gloves to handle the weights and pendulum. The clock has a lovely ticking sound, and the chimes are marvelous. I am going to enjoy having it.
After that painstaking work was done, we went to Beach Mountain Diner to have lunch. I think Bob was demonstrating a fancy way of eating sweet potato fries. I always have lots of fun when they are around.
I was halfway down the drive when I heard a voice across the street. Logan (13) called out, “Are you walking? Want company?”
He ducked inside to let his parents know. I waited for him, and then he waited for me when I realized I hadn’t put in hearing aids. That was highly unusual for me. We walked to the stop sign, chatting all the way. Logan is so easy to talk to, and we always cover a variety of subjects. As we walked toward home, he wondered if he might have breakfast with me. Of course my answer was yes, then he admitted he was in lock down for having done something wrong. It was a way of getting out of the house and being with people. Did I remember the last biscuits he ate with me? I didn’t know if we’d had homemade biscuits or refrigerated ones from the supermarket. We decided on homemade. He got permission from home and invited me to have dinner with his family that evening.
Kudos to him for saying he had to wash his hands before we set to work! I measured everything, then he made the biscuits by himself. The dough was perfect, and he did a wonderful job of cutting and putting the biscuits on the pan. The steps are sifting, cutting in shortening, adding milk, rolling out dough, cutting, and putting biscuits on the pan. Flip through the slideshow to see the process.
When Logan saw how nice the biscuits looked, he suggested he could take home the ones we didn’t eat. He said it would go so well with the turkey breast his mother was going to cook. He, David, and I had one biscuit each to go with bacon and eggs, and he took the rest home. I love the way he gently suggests sharing things that will benefit the most number of people. What a delight he is!
After eating breakfast, Logan suggested one round of the card game SET. David looked on, mentally finding the sets, but leaving us to claim them. As usual, I was roundly trounced. Logan 19; me 5. I’m sure he waited for me to find them before zipping through the rest. It was all fun, making the morning shine!
How I wish the sound had come through for the video below! It was priceless.
For 59 years straight I went to church on Christmas Day. Not this year! Confident the service would be streamed, I turned on the iPad. When I couldn’t find it, I ran to ask David if he knew anything about it. He didn’t. I tried again, seeing the statement that the next service to be streamed would be on December 31. I was frustrated and very disappointed. I must have missed any mention of which services would be shown and recorded. As I sat there in despair, I noticed a text message had come in at 9:50. It was from next door neighbor D. She wrote, “Merry Christmas! Are you doing anything special?”
I replied, “Shawn, Bob, Logan, and Lisa are coming for dinner about 12:30. There is lots of food. Would you join us? Love to have you!”
Her reply turned the day around. Yes! She and Jeff would love to come. That gave me such a boost. I set the table for seven and began to prepare the vegetables. The Chicken and Stuffing casserole was in the refrigerator, ready to be cooked.
Here we are, having almost finished the main meal. D prefers not being photographed, so I cut her off. For the foodies, we had chicken casserole, baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes (not having seven of either), broccoli with Hollandaise sauce, and fried apples. Shawn’s rolls were a lovely addition. For dessert we had the pound cake Shawn and Bob gave me for my birthday, as well as some Lebkuchen. D poured chocolate wine, her contribution to the meal, to go with dessert. That certainly hit the spot!
Lisa said beforehand that she would be very happy if she could watch the football game. At the table I asked her when the game would begin. “Six minutes ago,” she answered. She and Logan watched the game quietly on a phone, not intruding on the rest of us at all. I thought it was a brilliant solution. Everyone got what they wanted.
Unobtrusively, Kasey was working the table from below. I don’t feed the dog from the table, making her wait to lick a plate later. I don’t know what she garnered, but she was very happy. I was glad she had been indulged without breaking my personal rule. Her face showed up in this photo. What a happy dog! Bob took her out for a walk. He came in laughing, saying she ran in circles around him. He just held up his arm holding the leash as she raced around.
The party lasted long enough to be totally satisfying. We relaxed and visited in comfy chairs. Despite my objections, Shawn and D washed dishes and let me load the dishwasher. Everything was cleaned quickly. I’ll say as I’ve said before, I have the world’s best neighbors.
After everyone left I talked to son John $ and Rose, eating Chinese food in Washington. Grandson Nathaniel and Sarah chatted on the phone with me while they traveled from her mother’s home to her grandmother’s house. Daughter Lise was the last, doing Facetime and introducing me to her friend. Tanya (sp?) prepared American macaroni and cheese, a particular favorite of hers. Tanya also cooked the traditional Danish pork dinner and potatoes. The white potatoes are sweet! Lise said many Danes don’t do it as well as she did, and she comes from Nashville TN! She also served the traditional rice pudding, a dish much more elegant than the name implies.
It seemed everyone had a marvelous celebration. It was wonderful to be included in person and via tech assist. It was truly a merry Christmas for me.
I was excited to have company on my birthday. My brother Bob, with his daughter Kathie and grandson Max, came to deliver some family furniture. Bob and Beth don’t have room in their new, smaller house for the grandfather clock that had belonged to our parents. I was happy to give it a new home. They gave David a bed that had been in the guest room while we were growing up.
I prepared a quiche for lunch and thought it was the prettiest one I’d ever made. Here it is before the liquid was added. It was great to visit while eating, and then they hauled in the clock and set up the bed.
First to come in was the clock, and I asked for a photo with the movers.
They had the bed frame set up in no time, and I took video clips of putting in the slats and adding the mattress and springs.
After the family movers left, Shawn, Bob, and Logan came over to celebrate my birthday, and what a celebration it was! They brought a card, a bag of lovely gifts, a balloon, and a cake. I was overwhelmed. As I began to open the gifts, Shawn asked if I knew about the gift from Logan and Bob. While my family was here, the two of them cleared all the leaves from the back yard! I wanted to see that immediately, so we went to the deck for a photo. All the leaves are in that one pile showing between father and son. Very impressive and most appreciated!
One of the gifts was a lovely jigsaw puzzle that has a special finish. That reminded me of the annual family puzzle that blogger Linda sends me. I asked Logan to fetch it from the game room. He was looking at the picture on the box and discovered he was in it for the first time. Linda knows how special Logan is to our family, so she included a picture of him with the big fish he caught last summer. I didn’t realize Kacey was looking at the box. She doesn’t know she is in the puzzle for the first time, too.
Logan lit the candles on the cake and posed with me. It was a most delicious pound cake. Shawn commented that it weighed more than a pound.
I showed them a mug I was given several years ago. It says, “All I want for Christmas is for someone to remember my December birthday.”
People have always been kind to notice my birthday, this year more than ever. I appreciate all the cards, emails, phone calls, blog comments, and text messages. Thank you all very much for making my day so very special.
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 