by rakeeter 
All the Christmas decorations have been stowed back in the attic until November. Christmas presents have been or are being assimilated. Christmas delicacies are now New Year’s baggage. Sybaritic December has given way to sober January. Continue reading “January”
by rakeeter 
by rakeeter 
Last year Joyce and I bought each other a CD changer to replace the defunct one we had. It was our Christmas present to each other and that worked out well, made Christmas shopping easier. So this year we bought each other a tree, a five-foot (+/-) pinoñ. There are several gaps in the perimeter plantings, a result of the drought, so I planted the newcomer in one we can see from our skyview room. The nursery loaded it in the pickup with a skidloader and Chris helped me unload it by sliding it into a wheelbarrow from the pickup, then tipping up the wheelbarrow and sliding the tree out on the ground. We didn’t try, nor do I think we could have lifted it. Our mild weather of the last two weeks continued Thursday and I spent a couple of hours preparing the hole to plant it in. The trunk of a dead juniper was still there but I discovered it had already rotted out enough for me to simply shove it over and drag it out of the way. That meant I could dig my hole to position the new tree in line with the other trees. The juniper roots were so rotten they gave me no trouble. Continue reading “Christmas tree”
by rakeeter 
It was a cold, icy Thanksgiving on SA. Somewhere a dog barked.
That cold and icy weather made for a lot of family time but no one suffered for it as far as I know. There was plenty of good food and the best turkey I can remember. Joyce had it roasted by a BBQ joint over in Pleasant Valley and we fed off the carcus from Thursday through Saturday. The Wylies had planned to return home Saturday but wisely adjusted their schedule due to inclement conditions. They traveled without incident on Sunday. Continue reading “Thanksgiving”
by rakeeter 
Rebecca used some of her hard-earned money to invest in a rip-stick. All the kids at her school have them, you see. Kari spoke of practically being run over by kids riding them as she walked up the sidewalk to the building to collect Rebecca after school one day. She insists Li’l r won’t be running people off the sidewalk with hers like the hooligans in her school. Rebecca and I went up to the rail trail so she would have plenty of room to get the hang of her new possession. I resisted all temptations to try it myself. It wasn’t that hard. All I had to do was think of the explanation I would have to make at the emergency room. Continue reading “Rip-stick”