End of December 2021

 

Winter.  December.  Weather can be kind or fierce.  Early December was mild and dry.  That changed the minute my sister and BiL left our house on Dec 7th for their home in Louisiana.  You've heard how parched California is, so any rain or snow is welcome, but I hoped that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would be exempt from winter's storms.  My hope came halfway true ....

Matt and Jen and little Evie were able to come up from their place near Sacramento to spend Christmas Eve with us.  It's a tradition that Jimmy cooks up a big batch of gumbo (this year it was turkey gumbo), which we serve with hot bread and cold potato salad.  We open our gifts, too.  It is so much fun watching Evie.  She eyed her stocking (hung by the chimney with care) and you could see the wheels turning inside her head ... "what's in there?"  She seemed very pleased with Gramma and Pop-pop's presents -- she was all about unicorns and ponys.  We ate, we played, opened gifts, and just really enjoyed our day.  

Da tree.

Matt, Evie and Jen.

Oh joy, a little squishy pony!

* * * * *

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Jimmy and I elected not to get on the road on Christmas Day (Saturday), though we would've loved going to Matt and Jen's house.  The forecasters had predicted a snowstorm and we didn't want to get caught in it, either coming or going.  But, as these things do, the storm stalled and didn't hit till the next day/night.  And then it came on with a vengeance!  Even before the storm was upon us, it was being hailed as a "snow bomb."  As with a hurricane, better get your supplies in now!

Comparing hurricanes to snowstorms is apt because both can cause a lot of damage.  Nevada County (where we live) has been paralyzed by this storm.  Trees are down on homes and roads, power is out everywhere, roads choked and blocked by snow, and stores are closed.  Gas stations are sold out.  I took the above picture early Monday morning from our front door, looking out toward a hidden Prius.  We had no power as of 5am Monday. 

I find newly-fallen snow beautiful, crisp and a brilliant white.  I wandered (waded is more like it, and it's exhausting wading thru this stuff) around taking pictures.  Above is the bird bath.  No bathing today!

Left to right on the back deck:  The grill, our table, and a rose bush.  Two feet of snow.  Good luck walking around on the deck.  Not gonna happen.

Okay, now we decided to go out and explore, like an adventure.  Like I said, trying to walk is difficult, and tiring.

Now what do I do?

How do we get out to the Prius?

Swim thru the snow to get to the road.

Prius is buried.

Downed trees all over the county.  A good Samaritan has sawed off this tree and dragged its branches to the other side.  This is one house up from us. 

Jimmy is trying to knock snow off his shop awning before it collapses.  Can you see him in his yellow jacket?  I wouldn't be surprised if some of the limbs on our trees broke.

We kind of plowed a path with our footsteps from the garage to the road, and then climbed up and over the snowplow berm to take these pictures.  Good thing we own snow pants.

With no power, we decided to move into our Tergel, where we could turn on its genny and have lights and heat.  But first we had to shovel a path from the house to Tergel.  I wish we'd have thought to pull in the slides before this snowstorm hit!  As it was, Jimmy hauled a ladder out of his shop, climbed up and with a hoe from the garage, he was able to knock most of it off and we could get the slides in.  Tergel stays warmer if the slides are in.

A dark-eyed Junco rests on a snowy perch.

With the feeder listing to starboard, the Juncos are all over these feeders.  They've cleaned out the one on the left and will have the solid feeder gone soon!  I've never seen so many Juncos.  The Chickadees and Nuthatches are outnumbered.

Our resident hummer is safe beneath the eave and can drink and rest without getting wet.  Snow was falling when I took this pic.

Tuesday morning, and now Jimmy and I are going to dig out the Prius.  The road is still very slick and mushy in spots.

A daunting task.  So much snow.  Too much snow.  Has to be done.  Good aerobic exercise?  All righty, then, let's get to it.

Progress ....

Jimmy has worked so hard, he's shed his jacket.  I kept mine on.

Honest, there's a car submerged beneath ....

Yes, it's becoming visible.

I worked hard, too.

Maybe a little rest?

Nope, too cold.

Nice white top hat!

I hate to think that we're going to lose our pink Dogwood tree, but it looks as though its branches are broken.

Tuesday evening at 7pm, power was restored!  We cheered and returned to the house, resetting clocks and turning on the furnace.  (54° inside).  While being in the motor home is fine, being in the house is better.  At bedtime, we were happy to crawl into bed with the heated mattress pad (decadent, I know).  Plus, with the car uncovered, we knew we could get Out and About the next day if we wanted to.

Ah, well, not meant to be.  Around 5 am Wednesday, the power was gone.  Another foot of snow fell in the night.  Oh nuts, more shoveling.  Boohoo.  A county that was digging its way out is again paralyzed by snow.

It's still snowing.  We rolled over in our nice warm bed, and decided to stay there!

Hello, V C! Sunday, 12/5/21

 

Victorian Christmas has been a Nevada City tradition since 1978, and this year our picturesque downtown will once again transform into a Christmas Card come to life.  And it'll be especially dear in 2021 since COVID closures effectively shut down Victorian Christmas last year.  This annual family festivity would be held on two Wednesday evenings and three Sunday afternoons -- Victorian Christmas was back!

We were excited!  It was decided that we would have brunch first.  Nine of us:  Jimmy and me, Nannie and Bubba, Matt and Jen and Evie, and Alice and Tom (Jen's parents), would meet at Diego's in Grass Valley at 11:30.  We were fortunate to be seated in their back room, which we had all to ourselves.  Perfect.  After eating, Evie suggested we play charades ... with her directing each of us what we were supposed to act out.  Like I said, being alone in the back room was ideal!  We had a grand time, and the food was delicious. 

Looks like Nannie has borrowed Evie's reindeer antlers! 😊

Wonderful tile mural in the background.

Evie playing with one of her ponies.

They ordered panqueque's, one chicken and one steak.  Their faces say it all: "Look at the size of these things!  How am I supposed to eat THIS?"  Rightly so, they were huge.  We enjoyed the leftovers the next evening!

Our waitress was busy, but we were fine where we were.  She's distributing "go" boxes to Nannie and Bubba.  Nannie and Evie are cooking up something mischievous behind Bubba's back.  I think Jen is practicing her charade animal.  What a loverly bunch/brunch.

We knew parking would be at a premium for VC, so we didn't attempt it.  A shuttle ran from the city center to a dropoff near the heart of downtown.  It was only five bucks, but worth it not to drive in circles looking for a place to park.  The return was free.  Wandering carolers entertain visitors.

Victorian Christmas features music and food/drink and vendors selling handmade items, and the stores along Broad Street remain open for business, and so on.  Nannie and Jimmy stand in front of the hot cider vendor.  Masks were optional.  We started with masks, but they went by the wayside at some point.  

Icelandic Elves are certainly an added decoration to the street.

These four children were singing a Christmas carol when Evie walked up.  She (and I) stood and listened, mesmerized by the kids and their song.  When it was over, we clapped our hands and added a dollar to their hat.

Jimmy and I figured it would be crowded today, and it was, and good for Nevada City!  We bought a couple of things, and I hope others did, too.  Not only fun, but great for the local economy.  Of course, look at the weather -- warm/ish and sunny, who could ask for more?

Oooh, the man in the red suit!  Evie was game ... till it was our turn and then she wasn't sure about getting too close to this guy!  This Santa was full of personality; he was just right for the job.  Evie was too shy to tell him what she wanted, till he asked if she wanted toys.  Then she shouted out, "PONIES."  We sat for a bit and then were joined by the rest of our crew, or at least some of 'em.

Jimmy and Bubba are missing.  I think Tom is pointing at one of them, telling them to join the picture.  Looks like Evie is ready to bolt.  L-R:  Jen, Matt, Tom, Alice, Nannie, and me and Evie and Santa in the bottom row (as if you didn't know). 

Jimmy and I stuck together, but we kept losing others.  No wonder in this crowd.  Nannie and I posed with the Christmas tree, et al.  As much as we saw and heard today, we still missed lots, like the extensive collection of Dickens Village collectible town models, and the highland dancers and the magic show, and more, but you simply can't see everything.

This little miss stood in line for 45 minutes when she found out the Balloon Man was making animals for children.  (God bless her parents who stood with her!)  She wanted a unicorn.  Balloon man (with his wife, above) is granting her wish.

She stood, rapt and concentrated, as her unicorn took shape.  In the last picture, right, Balloon Man shows her the unicorn.  Total joy!

Here 'tis, little girl.

Jimmy and Bubba, meanwhile, stopped for a coffee in Kosmos Space Cafe.  By now, we were pretty much done and ready to return home (via the shuttle to our cars).  Late afternoon, and the sun was lying low in the sky, temperature falling.  Time to leave.

Look at my unicorn, Dad!  Her joy was palpable.

We rounded up everyone.  Nannie and Bubba bade goodbye to Matt and Jen and Evie.  Hope to see you again soon!  And we made our way to join the line for the shuttle.  I bought a bag of caramel corn and we waited and ate at the same time.  Win-win!  We made it home just as darkness descended.

Monday was our laid-back day.  Maybe a load or two of laundry.  A brownies-and-coffee visit from our dear across-the-street neighbors, which is always fun.  We had homemade tamales to eat for dinner, thanks to Alice; she knows a special place to buy them.  A change in the weather was coming and today was cloudier, cooler.  Anyway, it was time to pack the suitcase; tomorrow (Tuesday) we'd take Nannie and Bubba to the airport.

What a wonderful visit!  Soooo happy you guys came to spend the week (really and truly!).  Look how the weather cooperated for once -- you missed the cold and wet completely.   I repeat what you said to Matt and Jen and Evie:  Hope to see you soon!  Much love (miss you).  Merry Christmas!

Family Time, Saturday, 12/4/21

Our family is spread all over the country, which is too bad:  Siblings don't see each other very often, cousins don't know each other, nieces and nephews are detached, and the entire family is hard put to stay in touch ...  nothwithstanding Zoom and Facetime.  We try for reunions, but that's its own problem with kids in school and vacation times varied.  Throw in a pandemic and it gets even tougher.

When an opportunity arrives to spend time with family, we leap at the chance.  Hence, today was a catch-up day for Nannie and Bubba and their nephew, Matt, and his wife, Jen, and four-and-a-half-year-old Everly Rose, aka Evie.  Matt and I lived next door to Nannie and Bubba in Louisiana for ten years, which made her his second mom! 

Eventually it came down to a family group photo, with me setting up the camera's self timer.  This pic was the best of the lot!  L-R, Bubba, Nannie, Jen, Matt, Jimmy and me, with Evie in front.  I was hanging onto Matt's arm so I wouldn't fall over after running into the shot, haha.  The young people, however, never take a bad photo!

Oh, this was fun, watching Nannie and Evie.  I don't remember what the talk was, only that it was silly, and you see their faces reflecting their amusement.  Except for the top left (say cheese), neither knew I was taking pictures.  Enlarge the pic if you can.

This was my favorite.

Got 'er to sit down and sit still.  Good going!

Matt and family went into the woods last week (à la the Griswolds) to cut down their Christmas tree.  For a ten dollar fee, people can cut a tree on forest service land.  Pretty cool.  Hope a free squirrel isn't included!

Santa's waiting to come in!

I hope I don't get in trouble for including this one, but I thought it was cute.  So did Jimmy.  He's the picture-picker for all the blog posts.

Still clowning around. 😊

We do it well.

Jimmy wanted a nice pic of the sisters (who no longer look like twins since my hair is now silver, but apparently we used to, 'cause we got asked often enough).

After a few hours, it was time to fill our tummies.  Matt suggested we drive to Folsom, walk around their historic district (similar to Nevada City's), check out the outdoor ice skating rink (ooooohhh), and try a BBQ place he'd read about in downtown.  OK!  And from their place in Fair Oaks, Folsom is on our way home.  Nannie and I were considering taking to the ice with Evie in tow (she wanted to ice skate), but we were spared the ignominy of falling on our faces or (yikes) breaking a hip because the ice skating was sold out.

J. Wild's Livery and Feed on Sutter Street in Folsom had fantastic grub.  Above is my plate of pulled pork nachos, mmmmmm, good.  I probably could have, but I didn't eat every last bite.

Girls on one side ...

... boys on the other.

I saved the best for last.  At Matt and Jen's, we took a couple of "silly face" shots, and this was one of the better ones.  We laughed and laughed while taking one shot after another.  Remember the Live, Love, Laugh quote?  That's what today was all about.  Lucky, lucky us.