A quick peek into the china cabinet: Roseville pottery, a china dog from Germany that was my paternal grandmother’s, a hat pin, the Eiffel Tower, a Blythe mug from reader Elaine (who is also a Blythe lover,)  silver and glass candle holders, and some paperweights. I had to move the paperweights from the sideboard when I set up the putz houses for Christmas. I was getting a little tired of them there – they took up too much space – so I may add some to the shelves of my other china cabinets, as well.

The fires. One of the students I worked with at Boston University lost her house. She lived in Altadena. Her entire neighborhood is gone. I can’t even begin to imagine losing everything so quickly, so horrifically. So many of my friends and former students (there are many of them living in Los Angeles) have had to evacuate and the photos they have been sharing are absolutely chilling. I’m praying for them, for beautiful Los Angeles, for the beaches, for wildlife, for the beautiful hills, for the safety of everyone. It’s an unimaginable tragedy.

Not even close in comparison, but we’ve just come off of three days of high winds that never stopped. Relentless. And the wind chill took the temps down to the single digits. We’ll get a break today.

We watched the funeral service for Jimmy Carter yesterday morning. What a incredible human being he was. It was beautiful and moving and funny. Rest in Peace, President Carter. A truly honorable and good man who lived his truth every day.

Last night, Jan was moved from the hospital to assisted living/hospice care. As I haven’t been able to talk to her directly this week, only through voice mails, Joe has been keeping me informed. She has now entered the next stage of her journey.

It feels as if I am continuously praying these days. I suppose I should always be continuously praying. I’m raising my energies/vibrations, sending love and light, praying, affirming, and visualizing.

Maybe life is one long prayer.

I wonder.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Tree’s still up. More bokeh. This is a Vintage by Crystal Santa sitting on a bell.

The tree is feeling a bit dry. But just a bit. We’re aiming for Sunday, the 12th. For now, it’s still heavenly seeing those lights throughout the day.

WIND. All day yesterday. More today. I am so over it! It seems as if we’ve been deluged with wind and fog in December and January.

I was trying to take pictures of the interior of the Lake House. which is all dark wood. Add to that the fact that it’s on top of the china cabinet in the den. It’s a real challenge.

Anyway, I’m showing this to remind you of the very high ceiling in the living room. With beams. It’s such a cool handmade, one-of-a-kind house. All of the furnishings are from my stash, which isn’t all that large, by the way. Note to self: I need to put some logs in that fireplace.

We’ve been watching Shrinking on Apple+. I took advantage of a free trial so we could watch it. Oh my, it’s fabulous! It’s a comedy about psychiatrists starring Jason Segal and Harrison Ford. The entire cast is excellent. The scripts are wonderfully written. It’s so good to see an intelligent comedy series. Harrison Ford is such a damn good actor. He takes risks, he makes it look easy, but trust me – it isn’t. It’s hard work.

I kept forgetting to share this with you, but if you’re interested in the ‘turkey’ that we eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is the box it comes in:

We don’t like Tofurkey – the texture is rubbery. This, on the other hand, is so good! And that stuffing is mouth-watering. Included in the package is veggie gravy. Gardein is based in Canada.

Okay. We have to brave the cold to buy some groceries and return a book to the library.

For all those living in or near the wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Malibu – please evacuate and stay safe. We have many friends in that area.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have a photo for today.

First, I want to let you know that our friend Kathy from Iowa lost her father last Monday. Let’s all send her our prayers, love, and support.

Late in the day yesterday, I learned that my dear friend Jan has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which has most likely spread to her liver and stomach. It’s also likely that there is multiple myeloma in her bone marrow. She has decided against any chemotherapy and the doctors have recommended hospice/palliative care. My friend Joe has been her rock and has found a studio in the assisted living section of the complex in which Jan was living because she’s going to need 24/7 care. He will have to close up her apartment and move what he can to her studio. All of this has to be dealt with in the next 4 or 5 days, so that she can be transported there when the hospital releases her.

Probably too much information, but that’s pretty much all that’s on my mind today.

So, that will be it for today, my friends.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.