2600 miles to go: January 2022

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Happy New Year's Eve! (December 31, 2021)

Living the life of a Texas chica! Al, Joyce, and Danny saw the t-shirt while in Galveston and thought of me. I do like my Topo Chico infused with lime juice and homegrown mint, mojito style.

Gathering at Jim and Jan's home (December 27, 2021)

Luckily warm weather allowed us to get together outdoors without masks against the Omicron COVID variant. Sarah, Kirk, Jan, Tom, Beka...well, all of us enjoyed Jan's chicken enchiladas. Beka, Sadie, and Miles were visiting from Seattle. Scott had to return before we could catch up with him.

Sadie, Miles, Liz, Lucy (behind the poinsettia), Jake, Luke, and Jim. The kids barely sat down long enough to eat, they were having so much fun together.

Jim and Jan's beloved hens seemed not to mind that we were eating chicken enchiladas.

Jim at the fire pit.

If it's there, you must climb it. Sadie, Lucy, Jim, Luke, and Jake.

Sadie roasts marshmallows for s'mores.

Christmas Eve with Amon and Fox (December 24, 2021)

We inaugurated the Scrabble game brought over by Santa Amon.

Had to piece together an annual Christmas puzzle. How does a Batman puzzle relate to Christmas, you ask? Surely you've heard Bart Simpson sing "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg...."

Papa Tom and Amon revisit Batman in all his various uniforms. Well, almost all. Amon and Fox finished the puzzle at the end of Fox's winter break. Batman cannot fly but nevertheless wears a cape, a traditional symbol of the power and wealth of aristocracy. But Batman's for the little man, right? Stop asking questions, Mia!

Fox face!

Fox asked me to put hot curlers in her hair. So 1950s classy!

Sunday afternoon with Amon and Fox (December 19, 2021)

Fox, in her authentic Arctic Fox tail from a Renaissance Fair, grills cheese sandwiches.

Time for TC to learn how to climb the elm tree.

OK, maybe better to start with the peach tree.

Let there be more light! (December 17, 2021)

We need more light at Ryder's graduation get together. Thanks, Asheville Lewises, for ensuring we'll have more light next time!

We'll be able to see what we're eating and drinking. And more importantly, each other!

The newly power washed deck should be stained long before we get together again. Counting on sunny, warm December and January days to get it done.

The doll shop in Geronimo, Texas (December 17, 2021)

Dorothy Meredith of Attic Antiquity Dolls in Geronimo, near Seguin, gave Kappa a makeover. I don't know why I look so perplexed. That's definitely one of my Mom's expressions. The new Kappa is in the center of the photo: fresh hair, paint on face touched up.

Dr. Dorothy repaired these Shirley Temple dolls and is waiting for the owner to give them a ride back to Oklahoma.

So many dolls!

Kappa's home, in the little red rocking chair.

When kittens pull the roll of paper towels off the shelf (December 14, 2021)

Oh what a party they must have had! Maybe they miss their Mama, who was adopted three days earlier?

37th Street Christmas lights, once more (December 14, 2021)

Cheryl, the unicorn, and me on 37th Street

I'm a babushka doll! Lee and I brought babushka dolls back from our honeymoon in the Soviet Union in late December 1974, early January 1975.

Taking Christmas universe wide.

Everyone's gone home. So quiet! (December 12, 2021)

Zephyr was settling in for a nap until I disturbed her.

New favorite wine, introduced by Jim and Jan Roberts at Ryder's graduation get together.

Hard to say "until we meet again" (December 11, 2021)

I miss this crew already! We had a last night together at their Air B&B on West St. Johns. Sarah Howell came over too. They left early the next day, Sunday, December 12. After Papa Tom left for work at around 6:45 a.m., I zoomed over hoping to catch them and was so excited to see the rental car still in the driveway. Got to spend a few more precious minutes with them. I'll be in Asheville in March 2022 over part of the kids' Spring Break while Ryder and Brandy join friends and fellow Beto supporters in El Paso.

37th Street Christmas lights (December 10, 2021)

The 37th Street Christmas lights are back! Papa Tom lived in this very house with his brother Jim and several guy roommates when he first moved to Austin from Amarillo around 1971 to attend UT.

Papa Tom's house has its very own Georgie on the doormat, just like we do at our house.

The Stuffed Animal Rescue Foundation headquarters. Yes, SARF is real. Read all about their mission at thesarf.org.

It's SkeletorClaus!

River and Mya safely hanging with non-abductor aliens on our planet, not their spaceship.

Of course. It's Texas, y'all!

Sock monkey nativity scene. Remember sock monkeys?

Willie Nelson's Christmas tree.

Live music. Because. Austin's the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world. The world, y'all!

Joy to the Weird from River, Mya, Brandy, Piper, Ryder, and Papa Tom.

Papa Tom and me under the disco ball.

Remembering Texans who lost their lives in Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. We were without water for 8 days, the first 5 days because we shut it off at the street to prevent pipes from freezing, the last 3 days because City reserves were too low thanks to everyone else (not us!) dripping their faucets for days. Sigh. We were only without electricity for about 16 hours but did have natural gas so closed off the kitchen and boiled snow for steamy heat. The temperature in the rest of the house was in the 40s. Austin had below freezing temperatures for 164 hours that week.

Meanwhile, our esteemed Senator Ted Cruz fled to a sunny resort in Mexico for margaritas on the beach. He claimed there wasn't anything he could do for his freezing constituents so there was no point in him freezing too. OK, he didn't say that last part. But he didn't stay and try to help.

Waiting for Rainbow's furever home (December 10, 2021)

Fox and I fostered Mama Rainbow and her 5-day-old kittens starting on September 6. She was finally clear of ringworm at the beginning of December. I contacted all who had expressed interest in adopting her to let them know she was clear. Captain Kai came through! I didn't take a photo of Rainbow leaving but it was a moment of great relief! As I write this on January 20, 2022, I can report that Sunny aka Patches (because he lost so much hair due to ringworm) is living happily ever after in cat condo luxury; that Spot aka Sarge aka Surge was adopted at the beginning of January; that Storm aka Twinkletoes aka Tiny Chef aka TC was adopted by me for Fox in November; and that Sunkist aka Tortie aka Sandy/Collette, was adopted by me on January 17 after being returned to APA by her first adopter and getting no takers from the approximately 30 who inquired after they found out she has ringworm. Currently it's only on her tail but TC pretty much still has it all over. He's on oral meds for 2 weeks, until January 30. I've learned to do the lime dips on Tuesdays/Fridays to kill the spores.

Thank you, Al, Joyce, and Danny! (December 10, 2021)

Thank you so much for remembering us through the year and our baby bees. We're unconventional beekeepers for sure, counting on Mother Nature and the bees to get it right. We interfere very little with the hive. We do supplement with sugar water through the hot, dry summer, and pollen patties in the late fall and winter. We also treat for varroa mites. But we don't routinely inspect the frames, believing the bees are happier (do bees experience happiness?) and more productive the less we smoke the hive and pull out frames. We didn't harvest honey in 2021. But we'll have two hives in 2022 and be sure to harvest honey and share with y'all.

Hot tea and honey in the bee cup. Tom's in the photo too! :-)

Austin's Park and Play (December 8, 2021)

With area kids in school on a Wednesday, we had Austin's Park and Pizza pretty much to ourselves. Go karts first! My first time here was for Danny's 12th (I think) birthday party.

We all rode, grown ups on one side and River, Mya, and Piper on the other. Are their karts more slow? I don't think so, having raced them around the track with the petal to the metal. I think an in-shape jogger could have kept up with us.

OK, usually I'm kicking myself for riding a roller coaster. But this one is a Goldilocks. Not too high, not too fast, nothing upside down or backwards.