LAST DAY OF 2010


This year New Years Eve will find me and my sweet hubby relaxing quietly at home in front of the fire with a nice bottle of the bubbly. Its been many years since we went out on the town, to some event, or to someone's party to see in the New Year. And these days that suits us just fine. Been there, done that many a time.

This year we settled on Dream Weaver, a nice Tobin James California Champagne, from the winery at Pasa Robles...TOBIN JAMES "DREAM WEAVER" CALIFORNIA CHAMPAGNE 750MLA blend of chardonnay, chenin and muscat, made by the Charmat Method. This fizz a biscuity, floral nose with a nice spice note. Ripe and soft this easy drinker is nicely balenced with a pleasing finish.

I'll be back after the new year to let you know if it is as promised. At $9 a bottle, a small indulgence for a special night, we hope for something slightly nicer than the occasional $3 - $6 bottle of wine we will occasionally spring for... hopefully it goes with chinese take-out, because we are really going low-key this year!

I saw online a news Headline today RE the most expensive bottles of champagne out there, Piper Heisieck 1907 tops the list at $275,000 a bottle!

"Two thousand bottles of Piper Heisieck 1907 vintage were recovered from a sunken ship in 1998. The ship had been transporting the wine from Finland to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1916 when the boat was struck by a German torpedo. The bottles were well preserved by the cool temperature and darkness of their undersea cellar. The value of one of these bottles is close to $275,000, making it the most expensive Champagne in the world."

The tragedy is a few of America's (or the worlds) uber wealthy will somehow manage to "enjoy" the maybe 15 minutes sipping indulgence a bottle of this will afford, as millions go hungry and homeless in their backyard. Just think how far that amount of money, for just ONE bottle of this bubbly, would go towards helping feed American's hungry and homeless, the numbers for which are growing in leaps and bounds? And why do we not read about THAT in todays news headlines, or see it on CNN? Statistics show we have 33 MILLION hungry and starving children right now in the US.







Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. Oprah Winfrey

CHRISTMAS DAY 2010

We awoke early this morning, all eagerly looking forward to visits with our loved ones at the Taft Camp. Carole and Rod were both up earlier than I was, it was the smell of fresh coffee wafting through the bedroom door that persuaded me out of the bed. Susie was the last to leave her warm, snuggly bed, she seemed content enough to languish a while longer.

The two of them were off and enroute just after 8 am, Rod and I were last out the door, 15 minutes later, for the 40 minute drive to the Camp. We were surprised to see how few cars were in the lot. Aside from Carole and Susie, Rod and I took up residence at maybe the 5th table of the many still unoccupied. That didn’t bode well…it meant "everyone" else would be arriving later, it being Christmas Day, stockings & gifts were being opened at homes prior to visitation, and when the crowds did descend on the Camp our visits would surely be terminated early.

However, with that in mind, we had already been in agreement with our loved ones that it would be a short day ... there were some good football games on the tv that our son wanted to see, and both Carole and Susie hoped to head out early as a big storm was approaching and they had miles to go!

We had a wonderful visit with Corey….as we always do! But being with him on Christmas Day is even more special. We celebrated another holiday “down”, with just 3 more Christmases till his release. In fact that third Christmas could very well be spent on the outs. How very excting that thought, and not so far away.

Corey told us a wonderful Christmas story. He and all the other inmates in his particular Unit (120 men altogether) had awoken that morning to a surprise gift from Santa. “Santa” turned out to be another inmate in the unit, who had taken it upon himself to arise very early and deposit a soda and a bag of popcorn to every single man in the unit. What a wonderful gesture….120 cans of soda and 120 bags of popcorn, all personally delivered before dawn!! One of the very best things about this season, that warms my heart and makes me eternally optimistic, is the goodness we see in our fellow man. This gentleman did not have to do this, in fact, Corey doesn’t even know him except in passing.

Our morning with our son passed far too quickly, but we hugged, we laughed, we were happy to be together. Just before noon however the guard stood and commanded all our attention. The lines of folks waiting to get in was very long and there were no more available tables, would anyone volunteer to leave prior to his having to consult his “list”? We, along with Carole and Susie were the first to volunteer…not that we were wanting to end our visits, but we had all agreed in advance (with Corey, and they with their husbands) to have a shorter than usual visit this day. We took our leave, each of us driving off in different directions, each of us with a light heart, just slightly tinged with sadness, all of us knowing this journey we were all on would soon end and the Christmases that awaited us all, for Susie next Christmas, for Carole in two years (or less!) and for us, in three, were going to be merry indeed.

How beautiful a day can be When kindness touches it!~George Elliston

CHRISTMAS EVE 2010

Another Christmas come and gone, our 6th one since being in California, and one of the best ones yet, aside from the first one in Taft, when Derek and family came down to spend it with us.

This year good friends celebrated the holiday with us and it was good fun! Carole (from LA) and Susie (from Carlsbad) came to the house after visiting their husbands at the Taft Camp. Caroles visit had been “terminated” early, she had been one of the first visitors to arrive at the Camp, around 8 am, and as the room filled to capacity and the lines at the door to get in got longer and longer, the guards started going down their list of those visitors who had come earliest. Sadly Carole wasn’t able to spend all Christmas Eve day with her husband. So she arrived at our house around noon and from there took off to the the MALL for some last minute shopping. Tis the season fa la la la la... ! Susie had not arrived at the Camp until around 9:30 am and what a difference that made, by then the lines had shortened and she and her husband never did have to terminate their visit early, she happily stayed and visited with Ron all day.

When Susie arrived she presented me with a lovely potted assorted cacti arrangement all tied up in a gorgeous maroon bow! How lovely! Also she had roasted an assortment of root vegetables to go with the roast pork loin I had in the oven. She had carrots, yellow beets, turnips and potatos seasoned and roasted to perfection. After appetizers and wine, we sat down to feast.

Unable to make up my mind as to which dessert to serve, I splurged and whipped up Ina Gartens fabulous (and oh so easy!) recipe for Eton Mess (I know, sounds weird but it’s a wonderful concoction of crumbled meringues, raspberries and whipping cream, YUM) as well as a new version of Tiramisu (a holiday “staple” for my family)…this used espresso flavored crumbled brownies, layered with tirimisu cream, espresso soaked ladyfingers, more tirimisu cream and topped with coffee flavored whipping cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Santa had generously filled all our stockings (that were hung by the chimney with such care) so we settled, in each to explore what he’d left for us all. Then it was movie time, served up with our “second” dessert of the evening, after which we all retired, full to the brim, sleepy and eager to get a full nites rest before our highly anticipated visit at the Taft Camp the next morning, Christmas Day.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN, LET IT RAIN

I'm listening to Christmas carols being sung on my radio, and as I sing along "Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..." I can't help substituting the words above.

And another song comes to mind. Do you remember the 70's hit "It never rains in California"?....the tell-all is the end of the sentence ..."but girl, don't they warn ya, it POURS, man it pours!" Such is the case here in our corner of aka sunny, southern california. I have not see this much rain in the 6 years we have been living here. The pool in the back yard is almost full to the brim, and still it rains. I asked my husband if we need to start preparing the sandbags! He tells me the way the concrete patio is angled any overflow will run down and into the grates whisking it away.

I had some shopping to do yesterday and this picture (not mine) is easily one someone could have taken of me! Well, different car, different street, but as I turned the corner from our cul-de-sac and headed up the street I drove through a virtual lake! And to think not that long ago I believe I was bragging on here about sunny days and blooming roses! That'll teach me!

However it does seem to finally be letting up after 4 days. It actually stops now and then a few times during the day. Yesterday, tuesday, it eased up just long enough for the sun to come out, the grass to dry a tad, and my lawn-care fellow to show up and mow and clean up all the fallen leaves. Shortly after he was done it started to rain again. In reading the papers I see LA, just 2 hours to the south, has been having a time of it as well..."After days of relentless rain, Southern California residents are anxiously eyeing already saturated mountainsides denuded by wildfires. Forecasters expected more rain across the state today, but the focus clearly was on Southern California where a monster storm was expected to bring torrential rain, thunderstorms, flooding, hail and possible tornadoes and water spouts. Forecasters warned of possible rainfall rates of 0.75 inch to 1 inch an hour and thunderstorm rates of 2 inches an hour in the region. Steady rain began falling late Tuesday and was expected to intensify into early today."

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. ~Terri Guillemets

'TIS THE SEASON....

The tree is trimmed, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon will be here...

Christmas in sunny southern California still takes a bit of getting used to for me. Even as we near our 6th Christmas here, I find it "odd" to step outside of my decorated home and see my orange tree in all its glory, the sparkling pool, the blooming roses!

Mind you, I'm not complaining! Not in the least. But the two still seem incongruous to this born and bred Northwest girl. Christmas to me, probably for always, will mean SNOW, lots of it! And snowmen, snowball fights, colored lights twinkling out from snow carpeted boughs and shrubs...but again, there is something to be said for not having to shovel the driveway, forgo the ice-packed, snow-covered roads, donn hats, mittens, layers of underwear, clothing, socks and boots. This "season" for me means tossing over my t-shirt and capri's a light jacket to go for my walk around my sunny neighborhood.

Anyways, speaking of the tree, here's mine this year, all decked out in birds and twigs (yes twigs! that had fallen from neighborhood trees that I picked up along my walks), and assorted ornaments I've collected in the past 6 years here. My "family" ornaments, from our life "before" (meaning before we came to the fork in the road and were booted kicking and screaming, LOL! into the one least desired!) remain boxed and stored back "home" and I look forward to opening those up someday for our first Christmas after returning to Washington...perhaps in the next 2 or 3 years...who's to say for sure when?...I've learned life changes on a dime, who knows what the future holds?

But for now I'll enjoy the oranges (and my lemons, kumquats and grapefruit!) and keep pruning my roses!

P.S. Doubleclick on pictures to get more detail...to actually see those oranges, & those birds on the tree.

I do like Christmas on the whole.... In its clumsy way, it does approach Peace and Goodwill. But it is clumsier every year. ~E.M. Forster