Let the assembly begin!
last update: 12/29 @ 20:02

The tradition continues: Robert got a large Lego set for Christmas — we chose not to drag it across the country so it was waiting for us under the tree.

There were some post-trip recovery chores to do so I don’t think he’s going to do this whole thing in one sitting. Actually, I’m sure there will be break for dinner (smells great, Sarah!)

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White Christmas in Seattle
last update: 12/29 @ 19:35

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Decorated Tree
last update: 12/20 @ 09:51

This time our local Christmas tree lot had White Pine trees. We’ve not seen those as an option before.

But we’re fans now.

The needles are a bit softer, longer than the firs we’re used to.

And this one seems to be keeping’s it’s needles better than last year’s tree.

We’re all getting pretty excited with less than a week to go before the big day.

Not surprising but our ornaments seem to have gradually shifted over time from more traditional to more “rivery.”

We have several Christmas canoes and kayaks on the tree, which just makes it fun to look more closely.

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Sad end to the day
last update: 12/18 @ 23:54

The day started pretty well…

After finishing up some household chores, I popped the canoe on car and headed towards Angler’s Inn.

The traffic on the American Legion bridge was crazy bad and I made a huge detour south to go across Chain bridge.

At that point I was starting to think about just heading back home.

But I made the crazy detour and by the time I got to Anglers, there were parking places and I was ready to get on river.

It was cloudy and cool.

But for December, it was great!

There were a few other folks out but not many and so it felt like I had the river to myself.

While the water level was low, I had fun.

A bit of surfing across the Maryland chute, and a bit of surfing across the Virginia chute.

And I was almost able to make the attainment up the center channel. Almost, but not quite.

Then, when I got home Sarah came out to tell me that Pinker was not doing well.

She’s been ill but hanging on for months; however, the last couple days, she’s stopped coming upstairs and purring.

Sarah said she was just sitting all day with her head pointed to the wall.

It was time to say goodbye. A very sad trip to the vets office. But it was nice for all of us to be able to go.

Robert just held her in the back seat (and took this final photo).

She’s been with us for just over a decade and she will be sadly missed.

I know her brother misses her as well. We’ll be sad for while, but our lives were made better by having her a part of the last decade; we’ll remember all the fun and joy she brought and enjoy her brother’s company.

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Birthday!
last update: 12/11 @ 09:35

Robert and Sarah arranged for a Master Class from Henrietta and Rare Tea for my birthday. That was a couple days early last weekend.

Last night, on the big day, we had the traditional Los Tios birthday dinner.

And, of course, that comes with the sombreo and Happy Birthday sung by the staff. Along with Tres Leches cake; very tasty!

A wonderful evening capping an interesting, but getting better year. I know Omicron is sweeping the world, but I really hope it’s going to burn out quickly and we’ll be back to the summer / fall Covid levels before long letting us continue on a path back to normal.

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Last embers of first fire
last update: 12/08 @ 17:07

We brought it home and decorated it (I’ll post photos later; see Robert’s Twitter feed or SZap’s Facebook for photos now).

Then the winds blew in, the temperature dropped and it was in the 30s yesterday.

So, finally, a good time for a fire :)

Thank you Robert for hanging the stockings — that really helps to make it feel like Christmas season.

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Busy couple days…
last update: 12/06 @ 18:44

When we came home, Robert had added Christmas lights to George (the giraffe out front), put up the stockings over the fireplace, hauled up the decorations and set out the tree holder.

Clearly there was a message.

So, even though it was close to 70 degrees, we picked out our Christmas tree and walked it home — the advantage of living so close the the Alexandria Police tree lot.

The were burning the cuttings from the trees and those were all still very green (as they should be) so there was an impressive amount of smoke. That, and our quick pace to get out of the smoke, makes this a great photo that Sarah took!

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