After our week of rain, we had Christmas week of no rain.
On Saturday morning, we woke up to this view.
It went through, and moved out. They predict more for Sunday, into Monday.
What happens on Monday? The Rose Parade!
Hopefully it will clear out before the parade begins, but knowing how good forecasting is, I doubt it.
Tune in on Monday, to find out how it turns out.
I mentioned in THIS post, that I bought my Husband little tokens for each state.
I could not show it off, because you have to place all 50 States onto a ring.
If you know anything about adding a key to a ring, it takes a bit of time.
Multiply that by 50...yeah, it took me days.
So it is finally done, with 35 of them on the main key ring, and the other 15 on a smaller ring that I had.
My fingers hurt so much!
We had no idea where to put it, and then decided why not hang it under the photo from the Ryman Auditorium?
So that is where it currently lives.
We are both pleased.
Where does Makenna sleep during the day?
More than any other time of the year, the winter months will find her in the dining room.
She prefers sleeping on the chairs, though she also will choose the couch in the dining room, when the sun hits it.
In the late afternoon, she may find an area of sunlight on the living room floor, and she will sit in that spot for a bit.
She is now banned from our den, which used to be her go to location. She is also banned from the crafts room, too.
We prefer to know where she is sleeping.
I woke up on Wednesday morning and the Full Cold Moon was visible out my side window.
I grabbed my camera, and got a few photos of it.
It actually was full on Tuesday, but close enough for government work.
It was quite large and beautiful.
I hope you had a chance to see it.
This was Christmas Morning at the angel house.
My cat loves sitting on top of the couch in the morning, after meal #1.
So I took a photo. The definitive picture of our Christmas decorations.
I brought out my nativity, on Christmas Eve. So that was new. It sits on the coffee table.
Gina's angel was pride of place in the front, on the circular table.
The tree was lit, which it normally is not, when the sun is out.
My cat was happy, watching the traffic, and the tree lights.
This is the last Christmas/Holiday post...and now back to normal posts.
So...what did Santa bring to us?
From my Son, we received 3 bottles of Kentucky bourbon BBQ sauce, and mango salsa. I thought the gift tied together our trip in May, to Kentucky.
I got my Husband a "The Wander Club" keychain with all 50 states on it.
They had a sale going for the entire set, and I thought it appropriate to signify the end of a process for he and I.
I also got him a Milk Street Nakiri knife, which I hear is super sharp. We shall see.
Makenna got a larger water bowl, and a toy to play with.
That was our holiday. Very quiet and laid back.
It was a quiet Christmas Eve, here at the angel house.
We started off with calzones for lunch, with a small salad.
I could not get down to the Valley, for my normal fish run, so we improvised.
I was not impressed with the seafood medley, so next year back to real fish. (this had mussels, scallops, octopus, and calamari in it).
I did do a pound of shrimp, as usual, and I bought scungilli, and made a salad of it.
Not quite 7 fish, but we never care about that.
The wine was Barefoot Rose. Quite good, and only $3.97.
My Son made the calamari sauce, and also shrimp. I was extremely proud of him.
Watching the Yule Log on TV, to end the evening.
Tomorrow, Christmas.
It's the most wonderful time, of the year...
Being it's a combined household, one of the trio had a Christmas tree, but they did not have decorations for it and only a few strings of lights.
It's the right time of the year, to buy decorations. You can usually get things for half off.
So their tree is ready for the big night, and hopefully Santa will bring them presents.
Merry Christmas Eve to all.
We were in the market on Tuesday, and I saw a single slice of ham (on final sale) for $4.
What the heck, I bought it.
I decided to make a quiche, and looked up THIS recipe from The Pioneer Woman, which is on the right side of my blog.
I substituted the ham for the bacon, and they had no swiss cheese, so I substituted mozzarella cheese.
Otherwise, I basically used the recipe, as written.
I held off on the 7th egg, and I ended up not needing it.
It used both of the Marie Calendar pie crusts, so we ate part of one, and put the other in the freezer for another time.
As if the rain this past day wasn't enough...
We had a bird hit our sliding glass door on Thursday.
It spent about 15 minutes hanging around our patio, and the cat became enthralled by it.
So much so, that she finally left the ottoman, and went to the door to watch, and potentially attack it.
Thankfully, the bird seemed to recover, and went on its way.
It has been a weird Holiday season for me, but on Wednesday evening, I decided to make Struffoli, an Italian holiday treat.
It is incredibly easy to make, so I thought I could handle it...and I did.
The recipe is on the side of my blog, or over HERE.
Many, many memories go along with this Italian treat.
5 days to Christmas, and I thought it was time to showcase the Holiday Card we chose.
I bought it from Shutterfly, and it was super expensive. I will not make that mistake again. Back to Walmart for me.
We have a photo that was taken last month, in Michigan, which made me happy. A photo of a healthy Makenna, and the two of us at Mt. Rushmore.
Obviously, our last 3 states were highlighted on the card. My Husband is just so happy about that.
It was worth the time and trouble to plan and execute the trips this year. We had a blast.
Looking for a quieter 2024.
My Son's house is seeing lots of people, at this time of year.
His major command center is in the living room right now, so he had to jerry-rig something, in his room, on Monday.
He was proud of his work, and so he took a selfie and sent it over to our phones.
Normally, his monitors are watching so many things at the same time. Instead, he just had the laptop.
It worked for us, and it was good to talk to him, even though it was a day late.
My Water Post For Today.
Just a view of Lake Michigan, as we came into Chicago last month.
The Great Lakes always look good, especially on a nice day.
I love the bird sitting on the light pole, in the middle of the photo.
Just pure luck.
I hope you enjoy.
Due to the miles between me and my East Coast family, Santa visits a bit early.
This gift is from my Brother and his family.
A basket of cheese and sausages.
I am not a huge fan, but my Husband is one happy camper.
It's nice to receive an unexpected gift.
Let the holiday begin.
The holiday season is going into high gear.
I got a message from a Facebook group I belong to, that said that Santa was going to make a visit to Fort Madison, in about 2 minutes.
I, of course, stopped what I was doing, to check it out.
Almost exactly on time, the Southwest Chief made its appearance. It seemed that they mostly took professional photos for Amtrak, or Fort Madison, but I am sure it was cool for the passengers.
I really wish I had waited a bit for my trip, but that is life. No kids going home, no major storms, we had a great time.
I mentioned some cows I saw in New Mexico, after we went through the Raton Pass area.
These cows are Colorado cows, at the bottom of the state, near New Mexico.
If you look back to the original post HERE, you can see the weather went from stormy, to puffy clouds.
It made our trip across the Country, much more interesting.
I missed the big moment coming into Albuquerque, when it hailed. I was taking a shower at the time. :-)
I have been looking for a baby's first Christmas type ornament for a few weeks.
I lost my local Rite Aid a few months ago, which is where I normally found one.
Yesterday I went to my new pharmacy and food store, and checked there. No go.
I went to CVS, I got a frame for my Ryman photo, but no baby ornament.
Finally, I went to Saugus Drug, which has many things and I found this one for our newest Great Niece.
You are seeing the 4 of them, all set up around our aunt and uncle ornament, that was sent to us so many years ago.
I feel better now, the tree is really done.
The Ryman photo is mounted on our family room wall.
I had to do a bit of trimming, but it seems to have worked out OK.
A nice memory of our trip to Tennessee.
It took over a week, but the living room is finally decorated.
Each year it seems to be less than the year before.
I guess that is how life goes.
You build it up over decades, and then don't bother as much as you get older.
No matter what, it is what it is, and the three of us are happy to have it done.
On Sunday, December 10th, my Son officially signed the papers that make Ella his cat.
The foster mom was so excited that Ella seems to be settling in, and my Son is enjoying her.
She now has full access to the house, and travels around the different levels, at will.
It gives me great pleasure to see them both getting to know each other, and looking happy together.
I can't wait to meet you, Ella.
My Water Post For Today.
This is South Commerce Lake, which is just south of North Commerce Lake.
It seems that access is limited to just lakeside residents of the area.
It is beautiful to pass by, and it makes me double glad that there are public areas of Walled Lake, just down the road.
My son is about a 1/2 mile from this view, but can only use Proud Lake, which I highlighted a few weeks ago.
"Don't let the light go out! It's lasted for so many years! Don't let the light go out! Let it shine through our hope and our tears."
Yes, it's Peter Paul and Mary's song: Light one Candle"
As I watch the cat each year, I think of the fact that the candles draw her in.
We light them each night, and she sits by them, watching.
I love this time of year, and she does, too.
For the past month, people have been questioning where they can bring pumpkins to be used for animal feed.
Many in Castaic have farm animals, but that is quite a distance for me to go.
The Signal ran an article in the paper the other day. My ears perked up, and after throwing it away each year, I now had a possible recycle for it.
It ended up that Hart Park, where Walt Disney's 10 Bison live, is collecting them.
It was easy to do, and I saved the phone number, to check out if they will be doing it again next year.
Enjoy the free food, bison.
Another year passes. Chanukkah has arrived.
I have been having some personal problems, due to the change of seasons.
I wanted to make a challah in my bread machine, but could not deal with braiding it and such.
Thus it is bread machine shaped. Oh well...it will taste the same, no matter what.
The tri-tip roast is the main course, along with matzoh ball soup, and some potato pancakes.
For any who care, here is the recipe.
Bread Machine Challah
This bread machine challah recipe is absolutely delicious. I use a 2-pound bread machine to make the challah dough. It freezes well.
Recipe by Marylyn Pisseri
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
20 mins
Additional Time:
1 hr 5 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 55 mins
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
½ cup white sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
2 ½ teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
2 ¼ teaspoons bread machine yeast
Egg Wash:
1 large egg 1 tablespoon water
Directions
Place warm water, sugar, oil, eggs, honey, salt, flour, and yeast into a bread machine in the order listed, or follow the order recommended by the manufacturer if different. Select Dough cycle; press Start.
Remove dough from the machine after the cycle is done and place on a lightly floured board. Punch dough down and let rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, grease a baking tray.
Divide dough in half, then divide each half into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into ropes, about 12- to 14-inches long. Braid 3 ropes into a loaf to form 2 loaves. Gently place loaves onto the prepared baking tray. Mist loaves with water and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Make egg wash: Beat together egg and water in a small bowl until well combined.
Brush the top and sides of loaves with egg wash.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. If loaves begin to brown too soon, cover them loosely with aluminum foil.
As we traveled between Raton, New Mexico and Las Vegas, New Mexico, we come through a pass of some sort.
I was waiting to take photographs of a river, and instead, I got some lovely photos of the grazing land
This land had a lot of cows, and I enjoyed seeing them do their thing.
Not that this area is known for its farmland, as I said it was basically a pass, but there you go. Cows.
I love the clouds, too.
You never know what you will see.
I literally just assembled the Christmas Tree on Monday, and within the hour, Makenna had moved in and made it her place.
It reminds me so much of her 1st Christmas in 2009, when she took posession of the tree. You can see my post about it, HERE.
Over the years, she sometimes uses it, and sometimes ignores it.
Looks like this year is a year of using is.
I love my kitty.
The first week in the life of a new arrangement, is always hard.
I get photos all the time, regarding what Ella is up to, and how my Son is adjusting to it all.
This one, was the worst.
I don't remember it, but there is a place that you can access the ceiling in the laundry room.
This was the initial place Ella was given, to get accustomed to being in the house.
It was fine the first day, but late in day two, she somehow jumped up into the ceiling.
She liked how cozy it was, and even took a nap up there.
My Son finally got her down, and now she is forbidden from the laundry room.
Otherwise, they both seem to be adjusting fine.
My Water Post For Today.
This is my best guess for the river we were crossing over, just before coming to the downtown area of Chicago, Illinois.
The Calumet River seems to be a boating area, as you can see in the photo. According to Wikipedia, it is one of two ways for boaters to get from Lake Michigan, to the Mississippi River.
It eventually dumps into the Des Planes River, further downstream, meeting with the water from the Chicago River (the other way for boats to get to the Mississippi).
So many interesting things to see from the train.
I hope you enjoy.
A week late, but we were in no hurry to get them up this year.
Getting home two days before Thanksgiving, has been hard on us, but we seem to be getting back into the swing of things now.
Anyway, less lights, but good enough.
Happy Holiday season.
We saw on our 8 day journey, much setting up for the holidays. Both at airports, and at train stations.
Here are a few that I managed to capture.
Lamay, New Mexico seems to have an area for children to visit. It was in process, when we went by.
Chicago had, not only a huge Christmas Tree in the center of the waiting room, but there were other holidays represented in other areas of the station.
Again, it looks like things were in process, when i took my photos. Both Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were represented.
I also saw a tree at Detroit airport, so they were getting their act together, too.
It was a nice atmosphere, to pass through on our journey.
My Son decided to adopt a cat.
He picked her up on Thursday afternoon, and she has been given the entry hall into the half bath and laundry room. That is adjacent to the "Orange Room" where the futon bed is. He placed a gate there, so she sees it, but can't get there...yet.
Her name is Ella, though they might change that later. Who knows.
She is 1 year and 8 months old, as best they can tell, and she is part bengal.
The foster mother gave my Son all sorts of free stuff, including a large cat tree for her to sit, and play on.
He is very lucky, and I wish him lots of luck with my first Grand Cat. :-)
I don't know if it is the change of seasons, or the fact that we left her at the vet for 9 days, but she occasionally comes up onto the ottoman, and sleeps with us.
She used to do this all the time, but I think she has problems getting up onto it.
It seems to be that the injection she gets once a month, is doing its job.
No matter what, I am glad to occasionally get her back with with us at night.
Glad to have your company, this holiday season.
Being we just came home from a 3 airplane and 1 train journey, it's time to compare the two.
The airplane journeys were usually under 2 hours in length, that made them easier to handle, than a long journey.
Spliting up the original flight to Nashville, into 2 legs over 2 days, made it also easier to handle, than our 2 stop trip to South Dakota in September.
We seriously hated that layover in Denver. Almost 60 gates between our first flight and our second flight.
So I made the offer to my Husband to split our flights by a day and enjoy time with his friends in Phoenix.
They enjoyed their time with us, and we saw more than just our hotel and airport.
Flying to Nashville, Tennessee was later in the day, and so we arrived around 9PM Central Time.
I did not mind the time, but I did mind the fact that I was in a strange town in the rain (and after dark).
In good news for me, we were only about 10 minutes from the hotel. All airport streets, not Interstates (good planning, angel).
Getting picked up at Detroit was also pretty easy. We contacted our Son, and he pulled out of the cell phone parking area, to get us.
We did not pay extra for getting a low number group, so we had to wait for group 6 each time. We ended up with no problem, because we paid $10 per person, to choose our seats. Though we were in the later group, we had no problem placing our backpacks up in the overhead compartment. Being we did not have to run to another gate, we had less stress, in regard to getting out of the aircraft.
Getting through TSA each time, was a true nightmare. I had a problem with my small crossbody bag, with my identification in it. They refused to let me board, until that disappeared into one of my other 2 bags.
So I packed it into my carry on bag, and off I went. Sheesh.
Got a pat down at Phoenix, similar to the time at Rapid City. They sometimes think I have something between my legs. Sigh...
The minute we got to Detroit, I had my Son bring us to Costco. I could get an $8 throw blanket, for my final hotel, and the train trip home. Trust me, I was much happier with that.
On the train, I noticed that we sometimes had meals with other people (breakfast), and most times all alone. Better than having a fight each meal.
It was darker much earlier in the evening, so we saw less, but the trees were bare, and thus when we did have daylight, it was more interesting.
Price wise, the Amtrak was much more expensive than the flights, but it was a 81st birthday gift to my Husband.
I love Amtrak!
As our Wolverine Train arrives in the City of Chicago, we pass over an Interstate.
I believe it might be the Dan Ryan (I-94), but don't quote me on that.
No matter what, it is always so interesting to see the buildings Downtown, off in the distance.
Unfortunately, I almost missed them, though it is better than normal, which is I totally miss the shot.
I would have had it, if my camera didn't decide it had waited enough and shut down. Darn!
So Downtown off to the left side, is what you get...enjoy.
My Water Post For Today.
The Rio Grande runs from the north to the south, through Albuquerque.
For some reason, this branches off of the main river. I assume it is for flood control, in wet years.
We saw it just to the north of the Downtown area of Albuquerque.
From what I could see, it empties into the fiesta balloon park, just on the other side of the railroad tracks.
Interesting land use, since the chance of flooding in October, is just about nil, during the balloon Festival.
We arrived in Nashville Airport at the ungodly hour of 4:30AM.
We had a scheduled breakfast with our Son at 8:30AM in Detroit.
Thus, breakfast was not on the agenda, at all.
Plus, we were going to be boarding an aircraft, and I did not think the doughnuts would make it through pressurization, and all that.
So we skipped them, but someday, I would like to have one again.
Remember, they were born in Downtown, Portland, and look at them now.
They are all over the West, and heading East. Here are some of their Locations.
It is always interesting to see how the other half lives...
We saw this outside the Ryman. Johnny Cash's Tour Bus.
Johnny Cash, and his family, when on tour, would spend time in this bus. They did not sleep in it, they just worked in it.
He, June Carter Cash, and their son, John Carter Cash, would fly into the town they were playing in, and spend their off-time there.
They used the tour hotel, just to sleep at night.
Johnny said it always felt like he came home, the second he stepped off the plane, and entered his motorhome.
4 months after June died, Johnny Cash died. He never used the tour bus, after she died. There were too many memories there.
Check out all the dated audio equipment, and old style appliances. It's a time warp, for sure.
