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 :)