Christmas Covidly

 What to expect for Christmas kept Don and me guessing.  Diana and Daniel were planning to come down, but they didn't know for sure.

What we knew for sure was that Daniel's dad, Mark, would be bringing a car to them.  He drove up from Houston, only to turn around and go home the next day.  The weather was picture perfect, so we had a meal outside on the deck.  Mark brought us some gorgeous lemons from their lemon tree in their backyard.  They were the biggest lemons I have ever seen, certainly the yellowest ones I have ever seen, and the juiciest, most delightfully tart ones ever.  What a delightful time we had!

 As we neared Christmas, Di and Daniel decided that they could arrive on Christmas Eve and leave the day after Christmas.  It was going to be quick.  But it was going to be perfect!

When they arrived, the luminarias were already set, and I was beginning to light them.  Although it was a bit windy, we were able to keep them going.  Although they are short-lived, luminarias are the prettiest Christmas decorations.  Christmas Eve in Albuquerque never leaves one's soul, but my luminarias help bring me the memories.

 

After a steak dinner, complete with twice-baked potatoes and asparagus, we spent the evening talking and opening our Christmas Eve books. The next day was a typical Christmas - opening gifts, zooming with family, and figuring out what Di and Daniel are going to take back to Colorado.  Then at 2, we went to the Gaskills for hot chocolate and cookies - outside and socially distanced.  The perfect weather enhanced the day, and we hated for it to end.  

On Saturday the kids left for Denver . . . their car filled with gifts and "stuff" that I needed to get out of the house!  Diana's stuff.  Lucky Daniel!

We had a very Merry Christmas . . . one that only a pandemic can bring.

Earthquakes

 Kansas is not normally known for its earthquakes, and I have always said I prefer tornadoes to earthquakes because at least we know tornadoes are coming.

After we had finished our Thanksgiving dinner, we heard a huge crack and felt the house shake.  Oh dear - an earthquake.  We were surprised by how loud it was, and it seemed unusual.  Turns out it was about a 2.8 magnitude - not bad, but certainly something we felt.  The city was abuzz, because it was the strongest earthquake we had felt.

We had a few aftershocks, and then things settled down . . . until about two weeks later when we had 8 or 9 earthquakes in one day.  A few of them were in the 2.8 range again, and they all began just about a mile or two from our house.  Disconcerting?  Yes.

They settled down after that day, and we have not had one through today, which is February 13, 2021, but who knows when they will strike again.  We found for a few weeks, we were all jumpy - a large truck roaring down the street would surprise us.

For Christmas we received a bottle of wine called Earthquake.  Very appropriate!

A Different Thanksgiving

We so wanted to go to Kansas City for Thanksgiving, but with Covid running rampant, Don and I just stayed home.  So it was just the two of us, and it didn't feel right.  But . . . doing dishes and cooking was a breeze.

 The thought of not decorating the table, skipping the stuffed turkey, and bailing on the persimmon pudding was just not of interest to me, so we did the whole shabang.  I did skip the potatoes and sweet potatoes, as neither of us need those calories, but we made up for it with the dressing.  Oh my - it was extra good this year.

When I was growing up, we always dressed for Thanksgiving dinner, and we usually do at our house, too - though sometimes it just doesn't work out.  This year, however, since it was just the two of us, we did.  Before Mom passed away, she had woven some white material for me to make a dress.  I was not comfortable sewing such beautifully woven cloth, so before she died, I found a seamstress to begin the dress.  Unfortunately, it did not get done for a number of years, because I kept putting on weight, taking off weight, putting on weight, the seamstress moved . . . a whole host of things.  But about five years ago, we managed to finish the dress.  And it was beautiful.  But the lining felt wonky because I had put on a few pounds, and I never wore it.

Since I have lost quite a bit of weight, I decided to try the dress on to see how it fit.  And it was perfect.  So I knew what I was going to wear for Thanksgiving dinner.  With my mom's turquoise necklace, it was just the thing.  I made sure not to spill gravy on it, and before I did the dishes, I changed out of it.  It is the first dress I have worn in way too long, but I really liked it.

Don and I are so grateful for the many blessings we have, and Thanksgiving Day was another one of those.

Manual Labor - Part 2

 Once the painting was done, we had a few days to organize, pick up, and begin to refinish the baseboard.  When Don began to take the baseboard off, he discovered that it was solid walnut.  One does not dispose of solid walnut, so rather than find new baseboard, we decided to sand them to remove any finish and then put tung oil on them.  Once we got all of the boards off and all of the nails out of the floor, I began to sand and refinish while Don worked on numerous other projects.

There are worse places to work than in the mountains!

 

On December 19, the flooring crew showed up - all 6 of them.  And man, did they get to work!  By the end of the first day, they had completed most of the main room - which is very large - and by Saturday, which was only 6 days later, they were done with both the LVP and the ceramic tile.  Don had put heat tape under the ceramic tile, so he spent a lot of time doing that, and between my walks to the cabin and back, sanding, finishing, and cleaning, we were pretty tired by the end of every day.  But by October 26, the floor was in and the rooms were painted - and we were happy campers!

The finished main room

New floors in the bedroom

Manual Labor - Part 1

We spent the entire month of October in the Holy Ghost, living at the cabin and working at Spirit Ranch.  Katie came down in early October to help paint, and what a job it was.  I had forgotten how long it takes to tape for a paint job, but Katie knew.  She had done this many times before, and within two or three days, we had things ready to go.

Then we had to learn how to use the paint sprayer.  She had used one before, so it didn't take long, but what an awkward machine it is.  But it worked, and within two more days, she had the rooms painted.  In the meantime, Don painted the fireplace Mallard Green, and the three of us painted the baluster and the banisters.  We are delighted with the results, and we are so very grateful to Katie for her help!

A bedroom prior to painting

The painted walls look much better, we think!

The painting of the banister - gray to Mallard Green

The gray fireplace

We love the new color!

A Midsummer's Night Constellation

 Over July 4, 2004, my mom came to the cabin, and Kenneth, Diana, and Don joined us there.  We saw an interesting constellation formation that Kenneth said he wished could be painted.  Eventually, Angus Macpherson painted a beautiful picture for both Kenneth and Diana, and they cherish it as a memory of the last time they saw their grandmother.

Fast forward 16 years, and the same constellation showed up at about the same time.  With the marvel of the iPhone 11, Kenneth took a picture of the constellation amongst the trees.

I decided to try my hand at painting the picture.  In Wichita, the Wichita Art Museum is sponsoring an exhibit of amateur (and real) artists, and anyone can enter.  I decided to try my hand at a picture and if it was good enough, I would enter it in the show.  So I worked on it, and this is what I came up with.

I am pretty pleased with the results.

Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Lions

 Beginning in the 1930s, attempts to relocate Bighorn Sheep to the Pecos Wilderness had little success, but in later years (I believe in the early 1960s), newer methods helped establish a nice colony of sheep.  We had seen them at Pecos Baldy several times, but those were the only times we had seen them.

Two years ago, I began to hear of a sheep that was hanging out at Windy Bridge.  We had never seen it until this year, when we came around the corner - and voila!  He was licking salt off the pavement, just like those in Canada.  We loved seeing him, and we pray that he survives - he is awfully close to civilization!

We also know that we have mountain lions in our area, and once again, we got a game-camera picture of one.  I would love to see one live - just like Don did several years ago.  But until I do, game camera pics will have to do.