A Fantastic Birthday

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.

Christmas Bubble

The Christmas bubble was blue, cobalt to be exact. I knew I had to play with it quickly, because it would likely disappear overnight. The bubble formed as the retina specialist injected medication in my eye. This has happened a number of times, so it wasn’t disturbing. Gravity took it to the bottom of my eyeball, where it didn’t get in my way as I boarded the bus to go home. I knew it was a bubble, because it was perfectly round and fairly buoyant. I looked at the beautiful mountains on the way home, sometimes moving my eyes rapidly to make the bubble move.

I didn’t pay much attention to the bubble until I ate a late lunch. Every time my hand came to my mouth, I felt like I was going to hit it. It would hover in the air where I was focusing. Later I looked at the kitchen floor, and there it was, much larger than before. It seemed as big as my hand, lying on the floor. Of course Kacey didn’t see it or smell it, and she looked at me strangely as I stared down. I should have told her it was ghost food.

That night I played with the ball in bed. It was small, moving only when I looked around. I said good night to it, as well as a tentative goodbye. Only once did one stay into the following day. I looked for it as soon as I woke up, but it was gone. I’ll look for the next one at the end of January.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

The question in the title is not about the Christmas song, although I do love the music. It’s about my hearing aids. The first one was fine, but when I put the second in my ear, I couldn’t hear anything. No! Not today! I was going to get an injection in the eye and wanted everything else to work as usual. Don’t panic! That won’t help anything. I put the aid back in the charger, which should have cut it off and started recharging. The second time I could hear the tune it plays, but just barely. Could it be that wax had shifted, muffling everything? I didn’t think so. I put the aid in again, picked up the phone, and looked for the app that can control it. It wasn’t there! Could I have uninstalled it by accident? I began reading the titles of all the apps and finally found it under C when I thought it was under O. Changing the volume of both seemed to solve the problem. Whew! What a relief! The rest of the day was much smoother.

Distant Snow

David and I were getting excited about a forecast of eight inches of snow. It sounded too good to be true, so I looked at the details. As I suspected, the accumulation would be above 3,000 feet. Going to the stop sign, I was heading away from the mountain view. I didn’t see the snow until I was coming back at the top of our street. There it was, whitening the mountain top.

An hour later this is what showed from my bedroom deck. Real snow with no mess!

Want to see daughter Lise in party mode? She is back in Denmark and had gone out with a friend, who took this photo. She is making the most of time until the 20th, when she will have a hip replaced.

People and Food

The end of November and beginning of December seemed to be all about people and food. We enjoyed having lunch with former neighbors Connie and Marla. This shows Lise, Connie and me, but I lost the photo that included Marla and dog Albert.

Lise and I did not get enough turkey this year, so we cooked another boneless breast, making it our third turkey dinner.

Lise particularly loves calzones, and I think this from Angelo’s was one of the best she’s had in this area.

Grandson Nathaniel and Sarah came for a day. I made sure I was near the front door to catch the mirror ritual. Nathaniel will do it by himself if no one is around, but we join in when we are there. When he comes in, Nathaniel raises the hall mirror so that he can see himself. He lowers it when leaving.

The chef brought all the ingredients for double chocolate chip cookies and baked them during the afternoon. What a treat!

All three helped install a Ring doorbell. The gadget takes a video of people approaching the door or leaving a package. I laughed when I wondered who could be at the door and found out it was me. I didn’t hear the tune when I was outside, but it played again after I came in.

Lovely, Busy Days

We had an impromptu dinner on Thanksgiving Day, organized by daughter Lise. There had been so much going on at home that I forgot we usually had others for the real holiday. She called family members on Wednesday. All could come! My brother Bob and Beth were here, and his daughter Kathie came with son Max. Julie was sick during the night, so she and Michael could not come, after all. What a marvelous time we had! David missed seeing everyone because he had to work at the supermarket until 4:00 pm. There was plenty of turkey left for him.

Logan (13) came over to introduce his new boxer, Izzie, to us. She’s a lovely dog, and he is taking responsibility for her care.

After taking Izzie home, Logan returned to play a new game with Lise. They didn’t have a chance to finish setting it up before he had to go home, but they hope to play soon.

We were horrified to find that it would take a month to get a repairman for our ailing washing machine. It seems a computer program was not working. We looked at new machines at a local shop and at Lowe’s. I would prefer to deal with local businesses, but this one could not compete. It would have taken weeks to order a new machine and have it delivered. I bought one at Lowe’s, and it was delivered and installed in three days. They also took the old one away. Before the new machine came, Lise cleaned the area.

Lise not only brought me 50 tulip bulbs from Holland, she planted them all herself! The ones she gave me last year, planted by her and my brother Bob, all came up and gave us a lovely show. Shawn appreciated seeing them from her front porch. We hope for another good season next year with the new taller ones behind the old set.

Lise and I have settled into a routine. She begins work at 4:00 am, and joins me for stretching and using resistance bands at 8. After we walk to the stop sign, she works more while I shower and get breakfast ready. She talks to friends in the afternoon as I recharge with a short nap. We’ve shopped for things she is taking back to Denmark and set up a new humidifier for the benefit of the piano. We talk constantly. It is so much fun to have a grown child to play with!

Thanksgiving Gobble Fest

My brother Bob and Beth began having a big family gathering the weekend before or after Thanksgiving when their children got married. It was a wonderful solution that kept young families from having to go to two big dinners on one day in order to see the relatives. This year Rick and Myra offered to have the dinner at Woodside, his ancestral home.

Niece Julie took two photos of most of the older set as we ate. Age-wise, Lise belonged with younger people, but health-wise she belonged to us. She is having a hip replaced next month.

Rick did a show that delighted all of us, especially his great niece. Probably because my camera caught most of it, this was my favorite trick.

After most of the guests left, we went out to the event barn. I had never seen it – a real barn with the upper level remodeled for parties, weddings, and dancing. This video shows the enthusiasm of grandson Nathaniel and his Sarah.

The most appropriate video shows Rick pulling scarves out of an oatmeal box with Lucy’s help. It started with an empty oatmeal box without top or bottom. Lucy helped Rick cover both ends with paper, sealed with bands.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Final Walk with Kim

Blogger Kim and husband Dave were at the nearest RV park for two weeks. She and I walked to the creek (2.5 miles round trip) many days. We had said our goodbyes, but the day after daughter Lise arrived, we squeezed in one more walk. This time we walked up the mountain to a spot above the pasture where we could see the highest peak nearest my house.

We walked to the stop sign and took a photo to prove it.

We finished with a lovely chat on the front porch. It was too cold to stay there long, but we were quite warm from walking. After that came the last goodbye. The next day Lise and I went to a large family Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of the state, and Kim and Dave headed for South Carolina the day after that. It was such a luxury being together for that extended time. I’m hoping they will return to Texas via North Carolina after they spend the winter in Florida.

On the Parkway with Kim and Dave

One of the things I like most is driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The views change constantly. After living here nine years, I have a favorite section, and that’s the one we were on with blogger Kim and Dave. We stopped at several overlooks. Since I have a lifetime supply of mountain views stored on a computer, I wanted a picture of the people I was enjoying.

Kim took one photo of grandson David in a dangerous place, and I took the other. He is very sure-footed and is comfortable standing close to huge drop-offs. It makes me nervous to just watch him.

Everyone agreed to stop at my favorite waterfall. We were rushing about, so I didn’t herd the folks together for a picture. Don’t want to become the Photo Nazi!

We had dinner at another of our favorite places, Jukebox Junction. You get two views from different photographers.

It has been marvelous to spend time with these special friends. If any of you get a chance to meet one of your blogging friends in person, DO IT! The rewards are truly great.

Cataloochee

Grandson David drove visiting blogger Kim and me into the Cataloochee Valley, a tiny part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This is our national park with the most visitors every year. On the way, we stopped at an overlook with a sweeping view of the area.

Driving on, we went toward the end of the valley and found people staring and photographing the herd of elk. David and Kim joined in.

These are the animals they were looking at, grazing in the field.

We crossed the road to go through a house built in 1903, one left there after all the residents were moved when the park took over the land. I didn’t take a picture of the house this time, but I did take one of the cold house as Kim stood at the entrance. To keep things cool, the residents lowered food into the stream through an opening in the floor.

While we were looking at the cold house, the elk were moving through the valley. Behind the single elk, you can see the graveled area where David’s car was parked. We had crossed the stream on that footbridge and now were cut off. Park rules are to keep well away from the animals. Although they look as peaceful as grazing cows, they are wild animals and unpredictable. For the most part, the elk pay no attention to vehicles on this road. The truck was traveling from the end of the valley back to the entrance.

On the right side of this video, you can briefly see the white house on the hill where we had been. At this point, we had waited quite a while before crossing the bridge and standing on the road.

On the way out of the valley, we stopped to look at a bear-proof garbage bin. David put his hand in the pocket on top and pushed a bar forward to release the catch. He explained that bears cannot turn their paws over to reach into that protected area.

We were thrilled to have watched the elk for a long time, up close.