The end of 2022 - MADE IT!

 Last minutes in 2022!

OOPS!   KoKo is already asleep.  

One minute to midnight and pouring rain (Hurrah!) there are a few fire crackers, but it seems there isn't much celebrating in this neighborhood.   We end the year in the hope that 2023 will be a better time around the world.  

Be safe.  Keep well. Love, Del and KoKo

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Sunrise - Sunset 12-30-22

Being a night owl I don't often see a sunrise.  And I obviously am not good at taking pictures at that time of day.  But the sky was brilliant one morning last week and I was up at 6am or so.  These two recent pictures are from my back slider looking east over the patio homes that are at a lower level.  

Sunsets in my life have always been plentiful.  

Sunset from front porch

Another from front porch.

This is from a few doors down, also looking east, of course!

Naturally the very best sunsets are looking out over the Pacific. 

The desert offers fantastic sunrises and sunsets like this one near Tucson.

Not my picture - maybe Sherrie Spangler?

This is my original sunset made years ago.  About 36" wide. 

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Flowers in Winter 12-29-22

My first 17 years were spent mostly in Portland, Oregon, where it rained and snowed (a little), but since 1957 I have lived somewhere in Southern California.  Therefore I expect flowers in the winter.  

Now, of course, we have potted poinsettias.  This is the one my front porch, it will last for a month or more if I remember to water it!

This unknown rose was here when we moved in and may have been here from the first homeowners.   It blooms most of the year and if I don't prune it regularly it grows berserk.

When the flowers first open they are this very pale pink with a hint of lavender.  

The blossoms are a wide flat shape and the lower petals start getting darker.

And finally they are dark pink before they start falling apart.  

When I went to see my friend Liz her Cecil Brunner rose was in full bloom.

This is an old climbing rose introduced in 1881 and can grow up to 30 feet high.  The flowers are very small, maybe two inches, but it blooms prolifically so that it is almost a solid pile of blossoms.  In the front of this bouquet is an orchid that came on my plate when I went out to dinner the same day I cut the roses.  

I wish I could send you the fragrance, it is almost overwhelming.  Even after the blooms died and I put them in the mulch container (with lid) I could still smell them.  Oddly this is one fragrance that doesn't bother me. 

NOTE:  I looked it up and the oldest known rose is on a cathedral wall in Germany and documented to the year 815AD.

 

Hibiscus seem to bloom most of the year, heavier at times and only about six flowers on this bush now in winter.   I particularly like this orangey variety - kind of like a sunset. 

And look at the cute shadow of the stamen! 

 And there are always geraniums and pelargoniums which grow like weeks here.  They were my mother's favorite flower, even though in Portland they needed to be housed in the basement during the winter.  

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The last of Christmas 12-26-22

The day after Christmas and some decorations are already down, but others will stay up well into January and even a few lights stay up all year, even if they don't light them up until next Christmas.   I have no lights.  In fact, my only showing for Christmas is a wreath on the door and a potted poinsettia on the porch.  I have a variegated poinsettia in the kitchen because a friend gave it to me.  It is quite lovely and I remembered to water both pots today.  But in the neighborhood we still have...

Christmas hippopotamuses and a Christmas bull in the background, sharing space with a realistic snowman.  

I've never seen a Christmas hippo.  No idea if this is a thing in some other country.  The people have only lived here a few months and they are not very friendly.  The steps are a new installation, finished just in time for the hippos.  

This family gets more elaborate with each holiday.  The lollipops and other decorations are homemade using plastic plates, bowls, cups, swim noodles, cardboard, plywood and cellophane wrap.  They are very clever. 

I think these signs inviting Santa are also homemade. 

Santa had a bit of an accident and is sprawled among scattered packages. 

Poor guy, maybe he tippled a bit too much. 

 Here is KoKo with the giant skeleton in his Christmas garb. 

 The little skeleton by his side was bareheaded, so when I was at the 99cent store I bought him a Santa hat.  It needed a safety pin to make it fit, but keeps his bald head warm.  

We are expecting rain (HURRAH) so maybe some things will be taken down tomorrow.  Although inches are predicted we may only get a drizzle.  With our 20+ years of draught we don't get too excited now.  Any drop will be welcome.

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Christmas Countdown #15 12-25-22

 

Here it is 11am and Santa is still asleep!  He had a rough night.

Hope your weather improves and you have some sunshine.

Merry Christmas Day.

                                                                        

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Christmas Eve surprise 12-24-22

In my life I have been fortunate to have excellent postmen.  The only postwoman have been substitutes whose endurance I greatly admire.  For the last few years Dave has been the regular on our route.  KoKo adores him and Dave always gives KoKo some praise and pats, although .he has a long way to bend down: KoKo is about a foot high and Dave is about 6'3", I think.  We are the very last house on this lap so his truck is parked at our curb.  KoKo tells me when Dave parks and, after an appropriate amount of time has gone by, he gets all excited and tells me Dave has arrived on our porch.  Today was a special arrival because Dave came in costume!  KoKo wasn't quite sure who was at the door until I opened it - Dave on a reindeer! 

KoKo greeted the reindeer first!

A confusion of legs - The longest in gold colored pants are Dave's.  The shorter with red trousers are Santa's.  The plaid jacket is Dave's.  And the gold colored reindeer head is attached to Santa's legs.  Got it?  As you see Dave is so tall I lopped off the top of his head  KoKo is there in Dave's arms, but struggling to get down because he isn't usually picked up by anyone except me or the vet.  

And if you live  anywhere else in the country you will appreciate that SCalifornia had a gorgeous day with a high of 78F today.  I am so sorry you are suffering through such terrible storms with ice and snow and complete disarray of transportation.  Hope it clears up soon.  We are supposed to have rain this next week - fingers crossed.

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Christmas Countdown #14 12-24-22

 

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Christmas Countdown #13 12-23-22

 

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Christmas Countdown #12 12-22-22

 

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Wordless Wednesday 12-21-22

 

Well, now it is almost 1am on Saturday so no longer wordless!  This is a drone photo of people on a Florida beach.  The photographer is Tom Hegen  www.tomhegen.com  Or see his works at www.behance.net/tomhegen  Scroll waaaay down for the beach series.  All of the series are interesting but somewhat repetitious.

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Christmas Countdown #11 12-21-22

 

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Wordless Wednesday 12-21-22

 Trouble getting Snagit to access pictures.  Check back later, I'll get it to work again. Del

A busy day 12-20-22

Up and on the road at 7:50am, stopped at Starbuck's drive thru, light traffic to Dana Point due, I suppose, to some schools being on holiday schedule.  KoKo accompanied me to the Surfside Quilters Guild Board Meeting, just because I didn't want to leave him home alone.  He has grown into my lap these last three weeks while I tried to keep my ankle elevated.  At the meeting he wallowed in all the attention and petting in exchange for licks for everyone that would accept them.  When the meeting started he curled up in my lap and slept almost all the way through it.  GOOD dog.  

Lots of business, including discussion about our very successful stocking stuffing project at last week's general meeting.  Now that we have some experience struggling through the first time maybe we could do it for the December meeting every year.  More discussion needed and thoughts from the membership.  I hope we do it again because I missed it this time and it seems like it was a lot of fun.  After the meeting we drove up to La Habra to see and gift our friend Liz.  KoKo was so excited, he always loves sitting on her lap getting her pets and giving her a bath if she allows it.  He is a licker!   Then home to drop KoKo and I went to the market for milk, brown sugar, and rolled oats - can you tell what I have been eating for breakfast.

After all that I had to get my foot elevated and have a little nap.  The ankle is MUCH better, but still some swelling.  It is difficult to apply the Ace bandage although my technique has improve with regular practice!   I am going to walk KoKo in the morning, maybe just up to the corner, down the other side of the street and around the cul de sac.  Then I need to pay some bills, do a load of laundry, and finish up the bit of mending I started the other day.  Focus, I need to relearn how to focus.  I don't know if it is pandemic isolation or just old age, but making decisions and focusing on projects is really hard these days.  I knw I am not alone, so I suspect it is the isolation.  This too shall pass, huh?

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Christmas Countdown #10 12-20-22

 

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Mysteries 12-19-22

Maybe instead of mysteries I should title this "Things I think about."

Such as why does this seem to be the land of white vehicles?  Not something new, I have noticed it for years and possibly have posted about it previously.  But my neighbors have new vehicles, so they are a completely white car family to go with their glaring white house.  And the next house down the cul de sac has two white cars (way off on the left of the image).  Just curious.

And does anyone know what these are?  I came across this in a long unsorted drawer.  It is a cheap plastic pouch marked "Ortho Molecular Products" which is a company that sells many different vitamins and other "healthy" compounds. 

Inside are these two plastic "tools" that close when squeezed.  Sort of like tweezers.  The stem part is hollow.  4.5" long and 3/4" wide.  I have no recollection of ever seeing them before.  

Surfside QGuild Board Meeting tomorrow.  It will be so nice to see some quilting friends since I missed the general meeting last Tuesday.  I just need to be with some friendly people now and then!!

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Christmas Countdown #9 12-19-22

 

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Christmas Countdown #8 12-18-22

 

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Sylvie Aquilar quilt from TCQC 12-18-22

"Bluebird" was Sylvie Aguilar's contribution to the SAQA 2022 online auction.  Her skills are excellent and I like the balanced design.  And, of curse, the blue - orange color choices.   UPDATED 12-25-22

"Bluebird" Sylvie Aquilar -     12" X 12"

Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton thread, cotton batting.

Machine pieced, fused raw-edge applique, machine quilted.  

Glue stick!

The realistic eye is fused raw-edge.  The orange feathers are fused glued with glue stick and then stitched down. 

The edge of the feathers are cut very precisely, fused, glued with glue stick but not stitched down. They look like they are loose and some are, but I could press them all down again.  It is probably just from handling and transporting.  But I do like the loose feather look.

Nice printing on the label, but no contact. oops!

The channel (matchstick) background quilting shows up nicely on the back. She has sewn in corner hangers.  Machine stitched binding, very neat and even. 

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Still gimping 12-17-22

I haven't been able to walk the loop, but the neighbor on Brian had his skeleton up for Halloween and transitioned him to a sort of pilgrim and then to a Santa skeleton.  You can see how tall he is by comparing KoKo who is at the very bottom of the picture.   Driving here and there I have seen a number of these big guys this year, most were dismantled after Halloween. 

Several people after seeing the dessert pictures mentioned the Danish Kringle from TJoe's .  I am actually on my second almond Kringle this year.  I portion them, Baggie them, and put about half in the freezer.  I pop the frozen piece in the microwave for a few seconds and eat it warm.  DELICIOUS!   I have also been stocking up on TJoe's Cranberry/Orange relish that is sooo good, but once only available for Thanksgiving.  I complained a couple years ago that it should be available for Xmas and I suppose others did the same.  So it is now sold through December, or until they run out of supply.  I freeze it and haul it out throughout the year.  Sooo good on a number of different cuisines.  

I was off my feet quite bit yesterday dealing with a missing check.  The company did receive it, but then it just disappeared.  I have never stopped payment on a check before and found that I was required to go to the credit union to show my ID and sign a form to authorize the stop payment.   But before I found that out I spent forever on the phone being switched around to a bunch of different people and listened to the tinned music almost more than I could stand (mute helped).  The CUnion is only a mile away, but all told I spent hours dealing with this problem.  On Monday I will verify that the check was REALLY stopped before I write another one.  I do still pay most of my bills by check because I feel that I keep better track of my money.  And I won't forget how to write in long hand.  I do make grocery lists, but that is about all I write except occasional scribbled notes to myself.  

Hope to do some sewing tomorrow.  Mostly just mending, but may do some machine quilting.  Wonder if I can elevate my left leg while running the machine with my right.   Doubt it!

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Christmas Countdown #7 12-17-22

 

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