Summer 2020

 We had a very nice summer!  Most of us received our Covid vaccinations early in the year so we could let our guard down a bit and enjoy being together for a change.

This lizard may set a record for oldest living reptile.  He's been in our yard for several years.  

Randi took this photo to document it!

Ross had these blue stones left from a project and I decided to incorporate them into our stone path.  

I love the way it turned out.

Our first, and turns out, only trip to a restaurant since some time in 2019.  We celebrated Jim's 61st birthday and Frazier's 12th birthday at Enoch's Stomp.  It was nice enough to sit outside - even in July!

It could have been worse!  

Mae Mae fell and broke her hip, but she is on the mend with lots of help from Jim, Ross, Tommy, and Pop!

Jim and Ross worked diligently on a project called a Swedish ladder for Ross's workouts.  It turned out beautifully and we even made a trip to Dallas (our first in at least a year!) to install it.

And here we are at the end of summer.  The kids are all back in school.  And I do mean ALL.  

Ansel started to kindergarten!

I'm afraid as the summer ended, Covid cranked up again with a vengeance - a new variant has taken hold.  As you can see from the map above, what a difference a month makes.

Our beloved Big Jim chose not to be vaccinated and is battling the virus as I type this post.  He's been hospitalized since the date of the map above.  He seems to be improving and we are very hopeful.

His sweet daughter, Katherine, is his saving grace.  She has worked tirelessly to ensure his care is the best it can be and is constantly keeping him in good spirits.  It is more than anyone could ask for.

Frigid Follow Up

 Just for the record and it was indeed a record, we did in fact lose our beloved palm trees :(  I know it shouldn't have been such a big deal, but frankly, it was.  Our oasis changed completely on May 24, 2021.

And here we are . . .

Crape myrtles guaranteed to survive the next record freeze we will likely never see!

And the tree in our front yard . . .

looks pretty awful too.  Not quite sure what's next here.

Frigid February

Every 90 years or so it gets really cold in Longview and we just happened to be here for it.  In the early morning hours of Tuesday February 16, the temperature dropped to a record breaking -5 degrees. Negative 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Negative 21 Celsius.  The previous record of -4 was set back in 1930.

And this was not the beginning nor the end of this record breaker.

It all started on Monday, February 15 when temperatures began to plummet and snow began to fall.

We received 10 inches of snow . . . and then it got really cold.

I missed snapping a photo of -5, but this is pretty dang close!

It was really beautiful, of course.

The pool, a balmy 34F.

Then we got an additional 2 inches of snow followed by sleet.  These frigid, below freezing temperatures, lasting for 5 days.  

Icicles!

One for the record books.  They aren't likely to see snow like this again.  At least in Texas.

Winslow had experience with snow, but it took a while for Eames to warm up to it!

We're keeping our expectations low on palm tree recovery.  This little one and the big ones.  It would defy all odds if they survive.

They're already looking pretty sad as is all that landscaping we put so much time and effort and money into.

But, despite the loss of flora throughout our yard, we were fortunate enough to have power and water throughout it all.  Randi lost power off and on for enough hours to get very cold and Ross lost power off and on and mainly was without water for several days.  

We were holding our breath because without electricity the pool filter couldn't circulate water and our pool pipes would freeze and burst.  First world problems to be sure, but could have been a mess and costly to repair.  A generator for the pool will be our next fun home improvement project.

We were way luckier than others throughout much of Texas (75% to be exact) where electricity providers are deregulated and customers are saddled with as much as $5000 to $17000 electricity bills - for that week.  Dallas, where Ross lives, is in that deregulated area where customers must choose their provider.  He was wise enough to have chosen one that had a fixed rate.  

It's a mess only Texas could create.  More proof.

We (and by we, I mean our family) are all back to normal now, but many are still without water more

than a week later.  Another fine Texas mess.

And here we are, exactly ONE WEEK later  . . . 84 degrees warmer.

Put Kettle On

We've been watching so many lovely Bri - ish TV shows, I'm drinking tea!

I absolutely love the BBC and never in a million years thought I'd say that.  Right.

The BBC is like a tax in the UK.  Founded in 1922, it operates through a license fee charged to all British households and companies.  Brits pay (in pounds) the equivalent of about $200 a year which brings in about $5 billion.  Brilliant.

When first getting a feel for European life, we found out right quick that Europeans want to speak English like the Brits.  Not like Americans.  Me thinks that's a bit cheeky.

Jim's bosses, through our years in Belgium, were from Scotland and have a similar accent since they're all on that same island.  They always seemed a bit pretentious, but looking back, that's probably unfair since they simply spoke in the accent they grew up with. Like me, love.

I got used to hearing the accent and while it drove me bonkers initially, I finally embraced it and now kinda fancy it.

One time, one of our Flemish teachers introduced me to his mother and I popped over to spend a day together.  The intent was to get together regularly for her to learn better English and me to learn better Flemish.  Well, it was awkward and, bollocks, we ended up just speaking English. 

She asked a question about the difference in how Americans phrase things versus the Brits.  She wanted to know if we say "the hospital" and "the kettle" and so on.  I said yes, mate, Americans always use "the" when referring to things like that.  He's in the hospital.  I'll put the kettle on. 

She disagreed with me.  Blimey!  She said it was the Brits who used "the" because her English teacher told her that.  I told her that was simply rubbish and she had obviously misunderstood.  I'm not sure if I set her straight, the poor daft woman, but I'm bloody positive I've never said "He's in hospital." nor "Put kettle on."  

Chias, love. 

Salon Spouse

I haven't posted about my hair in a very long time.  Due to the pandemic, I haven't darkened the door of a salon since December 17, 2019.  I kid you not.

We're making money folks and since we've saved on all those salon visits, tips and product, Jim invested in a fancy pair of scissors so HE could cut my hair.  

I know, crazy, right?  While I've cut it a time or two myself - Jim, never.  He's never done anything more than say my hair looks great no matter what it looks like.  He's smart like that.

I've been cutting HIS hair for the last year and even with crappy scissors he's gotten compliments on it.  That's what he said. 

So, after no salon visit for 58 weeks 4 days, here's the before and after...

 Not bad, huh? 

 

It didn't make ME shorter as indicated in the photo :)

Horseshoe Bend Lakehouse

The pandemic put a hold on our plans to build our little dream lakehouse at HSB, but we haven't stopped dreaming nor have we stopped planning.

A big part of the pleasure of building is being able to consult with people like, well, the builder and to shop for things like flooring and windows and paint and granite.  

With all this time afforded by social distancing, we've modified our original ideas into something much more suitable and more personal.

We took the giant leap to clear the lot for the house and drive.  Shocked initially by all that was taken away, we've embraced it and think we made good choices.  A few images of the clearing . . .

The equipment was unexpectedly huge so a huge swath was left everywhere it went.  I definitely was not prepared, but it had to be done.  Otherwise we could not bring a car, set up a tent and leave every tree in place.

We've come up with what we think is a great little floor plan for a simple and cozy yet beautiful cabin.  Here is our inspiration . . .

How beautiful is that?  Called Cabin Noir, it's located in Birmingham, Alabama.  We really love everything about it and hope to incorporate many of the ideas from this truly lovely lakehouse into ours.

Social Media

 As I was reading through my new blog books, I read a post I did on facebook more than 10 years ago.  I never joined facebook or any other social media platform.  Not then or now.  I email and text, but that's the extent of my media socializing.  

We recently watched three good documentaries on the subject - "Snowden", "The Social Dilemma", and "Spycraft".  Worth watching in my opinion.  It definitely confirmed how much I don't know about the internet.  

I've said many times, then and now, the internet will be the death of us.

In that post of 2010, I mentioned that facebook had 400 million users (about 6% of the population) and today that number has ballooned to 2.7 billion (about 69% of the population).  I was happy then to be in that 94% and happier to be in the 31%. 

Back 10 years ago, users spent about 45 minutes a day on social media and today that's jumped to nearly 2 and a half hours a day.  Which is the reason I never got on it to begin with.  I know how addiction works.  And I also know my head from a hole in the ground which can't be said for some who believe anything they read. 

Of course today about 90% of the world has access to the internet where in 2010 that was more like 30%.  Wow.  No wonder social media has taken over.  Access and ignorance seem to go hand in hand.  

Well, it's certainly proved to be disturbing in many ways and dangerous in even more.  I won't be logging on to any social media platform, but I am falling further into that percentage who don't and I am absolutely fine with that.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."  -George Carlin

A Year to Remember . . . and to Forget

A year like no other is now ended. So far, we as a family, have made it. Unscathed and healthy. I was much of a recluse before the pandemic struck and like my friend Barry said . . . he was social distancing before it was required. Me too. 

I do miss the family times we most definitely took for granted. We took the "stay at home" recommendation seriously. We stayed home. We took the "social distancing" recommendation seriously. We social distanced. We took the "wear a mask" recommendation seriously. We wore a mask. And we're still doing every one of those today. 

A vaccine is here and in record time for vaccines. Thank goodness and Moderna and Pfizer. While we won't be at the top of any list to receive it, we will receive it. And until we do, we will continue to do all those things listed above. No amount of risk is worth it. 

In addition to Covid-19, another sad event left a void in our family. JimA, Josh's Dad, passed away on November 4. We've known he and DebB for 20 years now and shared so many good times. We will miss him very much. He was a good man. So talented too. Our get-togethers just won't be the same. 

About that same time we had a presidential election and much to our relief we have a new one. Despite not winning a second term, the old one has done more damage to our society than even I thought possible. I, and several million others, predicted he'd do just what he did. I look back at my blog post on the sad day four years ago and it's almost prophetic.

But there have been many good things this year including all of us remaining in good health.  I could not be more grateful.

And speaking of grateful . . . not too long ago was my birthday.  I turned 60 and while I often feel very much age 60, I could be in much worse shape!  

Ross sent this beautiful bouquet and I enjoyed it all week!

Then we chatted with the kids in celebration :)

This amazing set of books is a concerted effort with Randi handling the bulk of it.  

And no doubt it was quite a job!  

It's a printed version of my blog!  Absolutely amazing.  I've already read through 2009 and 2010 and most of 2011.  I can hardly believe it's all about us. Thank you, all of you, for a wonderful birthday!

As much as I love Christmas, I decided to forego the usual decorations and put up just a little tinsel tree.  It's festive enough for now and perhaps all my old decorations may feel like new again next year.  

We celebrated the holiday with gumbo on the patio with Ross and a chat with Randi and family to unwrap gifts.  The weather was actually quite nice!

Randi.  So clever.