Okay, the office, the catalogue, the tablet.

Christmas shopping in a subterranean space, quiet and warm.

Whee, cruising into a strange Christmas, doing our best.

Nothing but love, Val

the end of thanksgiving weekend

It was a lovely weekend.

Onward.

Love, Val

thanksgiving weekend

We got the tree up. Jay loves this tree more THAN EVER.  Aaron carried this heavy thing upstairs. Julia and I set it up. I put the lights on.  James and Julia both worked on that top of the tree decoration.

There was zero drama, no concern about the height of the tree, no pine needles and sap, no tree stand to adjust. No fire concerns.  It's super efficient.  The set up doesn't even involve matching branches because the branches are all hinged and flop into place in sections. 

It's kind of genius, although I do miss the drama and unique-ness of a real tree, this is streamlined for sure.

This guy is back and also the little water skiing Santa.

Dan and Alicia invited us over for a bonfire and pizza. The kids were funny and sweet and the pizza was delicious and it was fun to spend an evening in their back yard in the dark.

We went inside to say good bye and caught a picture of two of them.

And that brings us to the end of Saturday  night, which feels like a dozen Friday nights in this long weekend.

Onward. 

Tomorrow is still November.  Love, Val

thanksgiving, 2020

Pictures, not in order, of our very tiny Thanksgiving.

The meal was delicious, and Thanksgiving is a challenge, so many individual food items, all hoping to get on the table at the right temperature, but we did it. 

People were patient and kind, ate their food, didn't complain.

The pie on the left is one from the milkman that I baked, and it was good, but I think I overbaked it. The crust suggests this. The other is a handmade French Silk pie Dan made and brought over yesterday. 

It was divine.

We watched tv, took naps, had  a most relaxing afternoon, although we missed the energy and the racket.  Nobody busted out any Power Ranger costumes, no tiger suit, none of that.

Julia's buddy came over, we ate leftovers. She's sweet.

I talked to Little Jay on the phone for a while, talked to John and Heidi, texted Maria and Dan, all my people. So strange not to be together today. It's okay. It's FINE.

And at the end of the night? These two:

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love, Val, aka MOM, aka Grandma

 

so, the corn

 Corn looking good.

First batch, okay the story is: Maria sent him the grocery list by text, but also the recipe by email.  

He never read the recipe.

I have never made scalloped corn, but am aware of how it is done, that the butter has to be melted, the roux, the milk stirred in.

He cooks all the time, and he's a good cook. I don't worry or supervise.

But today, when I went through the kitchen and saw the flour on top of the pile of ingredients, I thought, "That's not right."

 No it wasn't.

Jay's response, "Well, shit."

We threw it all out and began again, following the recipe, sautéing the onions and green pepper in butter, stirring in the flour and milk, adding the eggs late.

As we started over, I called my parents to say hi, and when she asked how things were going, I told her, "Bad. Very bad."

As she heard the story, she laughed, deep hearty laughing I haven't heard in a long time.

Thanks, Jay. Glad to amuse.

This weird Thanksgiving, help us all.

Dan dropped off a handmade French Silk pie, looking forward to tasting that tomorrow.

In our distant and strange Thanksgiving, the love is unchanged.

Forever.

Happy Thanksgiving, Love, Val

pure sweetness

Alicia purchased this gift for Heidi and Joe's youngest baby off etsty.  It's incredibly sweet and cute.

Entirely crocheted, perfectly perfect.

And this is the funny representative of questionable ideas.

Yes, I love her most dearly.

She filled the ice cube trays with soapy water.

Let that sink in for a second.

Her mother found this out the hard way.

Sleep tight, 

Much love, Val

sundae water

 She was making concoctions in the kitchen, not my favorite activity, but seemed harmless enough at the moment.

Well she made this, ice water, straw, banana slice garnish, said it was, "Sundae water."

Well, then the little sister had to have Sundae Water, so more concocting.

Later in the afternoon we had this:

She told me it was, "Grape water," but I didn't have my glasses on and those looked like black olives.  Closer inspection? Blueberries.

Then she made a snack for her sister--a little dish of blueberries with Hershey's syrup.

Sister ate them.

Okay, good night. 

Love, Val

some people we were glad to see

They stopped by to drop off the wreath we bought from the fundraiser, and we were so happy to see them. We all stayed outside, and they ate Taco Bell in lawn chairs in winter coats.  

Elin heard the car doors and perked up, and when she saw the kids she was giddy delighted.  In the last year or so she's discovered she's crazy about kids.  Something about that one in the blue and orange coat sends her around the bend.  (I like him a lot too, true story.) We kept her on a leash so she didn't try to race around on her bum leg.

The kids were silly and sweet, and I was so happy to see them, hear their laughter and goofy stories.

We laughed so hard about the dented bumper and reminisced about our Thanksgiving trip to the indoor water park last year.

Here's the wreath, quite a beauty.  I have my Thanksgiving one up on the inside door, the one Maria made the fall after she graduated college, and I love that nutty turkey.

Here's the fancy new one  Last year we hung it on the inside door after Thanksgiving, and it baked between the two doors, turned brown and crispy. The sun was too hot, built up a little oven, even on cool days.  We figured out a way to hang it on the outside this year.

And that's the end of that.  This evening I was tired of missing people I love and made a couple phone calls. It's not the same, but still, feels good to be together in real time, even if it's only voice.

Onward.

So much love, MOM, aka Grandma, aka Val

 

so, results

They sedated her and medicated her for pain, and did x-rays and yes the ACL is torn away.

That will be $550.

The surgery to repair this busted up knee?

4k

Still stunned.  

Today we picked up a used dryer that matches the used washer and all is good out in the kitchen.

Looking good. Cost way less than $400, which is way less than 4k.

It's okay.  The dog will be cared for, and they have financing for those who don't want to front the cash.  

Onward, Elin, crazy sprinting girl who tore her knee to bits? 

We love you. 

Good night, love, Val, aka MOM, aka Grandma

 

a quiet week

It was very quiet, boring.  This made me laugh--to be a kid, on a random Thursday morning, in a pandemic, stuck at home.  That's the life we live.

This photo I call Spontaneous Napping.  Girl got tired.  Couch cushion in the sun felt divine.  I texted Joe and he came upstairs and plucked her from there and tossed her into bed.

The washer wore out, could not be repaired apparently. So we bought a used washer, no big deal. But when installed it looked like pure crap next to the old dryer.  I have located a matching dryer on Craigslist and this current dryer will be in the garage if anyone needs it.  It's a good dryer, was purchased shortly before Maria was born, with thanks to my parents.

And this girl-- a month ago she hurt her left back leg while running in the snow in the field at the cabin, must have slipped and twisted it.  She improved quite a bit the first week or two, but then after that, not really.

So we took her to the vet today and they sedated her so they could properly examine the leg and get good x-rays.  Torn ligament, and surgery is needed.  So unfortunate.

Last night before her vet appointment I wanted to give her a bath. Well, she was wise to my intentions and ran outside. We lured her back inside with buns, but then she plastered herself to the floor and would not get up. When we looked away, discussing, she jumped up and hid in the family room in the dark.

Okay, fine.  You win.  No bath.  It's been a month since her last bath and she could use one, but whatever.  We'll be more crafty and sly next time about this, not turn on the water until she's standing in the tub, not tip our hand like we managed to last night.

And that's the end. The pandemic is taking off again, virus everywhere.  I miss my grandchildren very much, though I appreciate the kids I do see, and the ones who live here.  Maybe we can figure something out that's safe so we can see each other outside.  This won't go on forever, but it sure feels like it is.

Much love, Val, aka Grandma, aka MOM
 

the last of the season

We're closing up the cabin this weekend, calling it good for the year.  There's some ambivalence, but also we're glad we were able to have a season up here at all, looked pretty dicey back in April with covid.

Elin was afraid of these noisy geese.

We had Chinese for supper, sesame chicken, and cream cheese won tons, and now the girls are enjoying a marathon of America's Top Model with their dad.  He's surprisingly into the plot twists and intrigue.

I bought that afghan at an estate sale a few weeks ago for five dollars or some other ridiculously small amount of money. Somebody spent many hours crocheting this and assembling it and we're pleased to have it here.

 2020?  I don't even have anything to say to you at this point, except we hope we all survive you.

Love, Val

fetching the trail cam

We took her along.  She had her nose right in the snow, breathing and puffing, smelling who knows what?  One looked liked rabbit footprints and she was fascinated.

There he is, grabbing the trail cam.  It was a gift from Kirsten, and he has struggled with it badly. It's been a love-hate relationship for the two of them.  He loves the pictures, but gets so aggravated by the technology. Today though, smooth.  Looked at the pictures, hardly any deer this time, just a very busy squirrel, a rabbit, and the wind blowing brush around.

 Love, Val

pretty day

 Love, Val

keeping on going

It was warm this weekend, so I put the Thompson's water seal on the deck. This is not any new deck. We put it on the cabin in 2011 after my parents removed it from their house in a remodel, and gave it to us. It was probably  ten years old then. 

My dad swears by Thompson's water seal.  He's a bit fanatical.  But here we are with a deck still in great shape all these years later.  He knows.

The dam was worked on this fall and opened up to permit a one foot drawdown to protect the shoreline from ice heaves and erosion.

A couple weeks ago, we were here in full snow gear. Today 70 degrees

When we got home, there was this beauty arrived in the mail and I set him up, and what a fine looking turkey this is.

Onward.  

Love, Val