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.

Early morning Christmas tree as seen from my chair in the den.

The wind has been relentless here. It started on Wednesday, and lasted all day long yesterday. Just when I thought it had died down, it’s picked up again this morning. Needless to say, I’ve had enough. Along with the wind came plunging  temperatures, so it’s very cold out there.

There’s not a whole lot to share with you today. We’re taking it easy, eating some pumpkin pie, watching old movies. We purchased 2 pies right before Christmas, froze one, and pulled it out to thaw on New Year’s Eve. Yummy. I’ve put a few little decorations away, including the Vintage by Crystal figurines. I’ll probably remove the Christmas decorations from the dollhouses next. But the tree and those decorations will stay until it starts to get dry. So far, it’s in spectacular condition! I can’t remember exactly when we got it, but I think it was the 9th or 10th of December. We’re coming up on a month and it is as moist as it was the day we got it.

I’m still reading Orbital – about 6 astronauts on the International Space Station. It’s a small little book – about 200 pages – but it is slow going. I like it, but it’s not the kind of read that moves along quickly. I should finish it today.

Every once in a while, I check in with Eric Idle’s reading blog. He’s a voracious reader. His blog was where I discovered the Slough House series by Mick Herron, well before it was known here in the states. I thought I’d check in again about a week ago and came up with some books I thought were interesting and I ordered them from the library. A series by Adrian McKinty about a detective in Ireland during the “Troubles.” And another book by one of my favorite authors, Edward St. Aubyn – A Clue to the Exit. Don stopped by the library yesterday and picked them up, so I have plenty of reading material on hand. I finished the puzzle and it’s been stowed away once more.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.