Long time, no play

 

 

Between travel and being sick, it's been a long time since I played with my ukulele group. I haven't even picked the darn thing up for weeks and no excuse for that.  Fortunately, muscle memory retains that handful of common chords which make up about 90% of all ukulele music. 

Our leader shares songs each week by airdropping them to our iPads-- no paper music in this group. That keeps things fresh and more interesting than playing the same old stuff over and over. And now of course, we are into Christmas carol season, so there was a new "book" sent around yesterday.

We're lucky to have a charismatic leader, and he challenges the players with different material. He is also a good teacher. However, he has a penchant for complicated covers by the legendary artists, like Frank Sinatra's jazzy "Jingle Bells" or Bruce Springsteen's rocking "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." Just my humble opinion, but 40 amateur ukulele players can't really do these brilliant arrangements justice.  

 

But who cares, all in good fun! 

Gosh, it was cold sitting out on the coffee house patio for 2 hours. I even got there 15 minutes early, but the chairs under the heaters were long taken. The group has become so popular and it looked like people had been sitting there for hours. But it was nice seeing familiar and new faces. 

More holiday fun this Sunday-- we have tickets to the Seattle Symphony Holiday Pops Concert. That should drum up some much needed Christmas spirit.

Have a good weekend.

Cards and trees and cookies

 

 

We buy our our Christmas trees now from McLendon's Hardware in White Center instead of the rather snooty West Seattle Nursery. A lowly Douglas Fir costs what a fancy Noble Fir did a few years ago. But no matter, there is nothing like a real tree in the house, that is, while it's still fresh. By January 1,  the thing is crackling dry and you can't get it out of the house fast enough.

Over the years, we have gradually scaled back on the size of our Christmas trees. The house is still pretty (maybe even prettier) and not so much work. I can remember only one time when we didn't put up a tree (we were traveling or something) and it was too sad. 

So the tree is non-negotiable. Over 50+ years, I've collected boxes of heirloom ornaments and decorations, so carefully packed away each year. I hope the girls will treasure them someday.

In other rituals, we still write a Christmas letter to send with our cards, another old-fashioned thing. I love getting those from other people, and appreciate how challenging they are to write. There's a fine line between "news" and "bragging" especially when it comes to grand kids. Ha!

On the cookie front, I'm falling behind. By now, there's usually a stockpile started in the freezer, ready to decorate. But again, why go crazy? None of us need that much sugar.

I'd really like to perfect a biscotti recipe, and then make it my signature Christmas cookie--something that folks remember. Quality over quantity is the new Christmas game.

Twice baked

 

We're getting into Christmas cookie season. Can you believe I've never made biscotti? I found a recipe on the Internet that didn't start out promising. It said the dough might be "sticky," but mine was like a gloppy cake batter.

So I added additional flour trying to form the dough into these messy logs.

They spread out quite a bit during the first bake. So far, so good.

Then the slices go back in a slow oven until completely dried out. This took much longer than the recipe said.

Voila! I was generous with the almonds, which made the texture extra crunchy. But the additional flour diluted the flavoring so they're a bit bland. A dip of dark chocolate would help. Anyway, biscotti is fun to make and eat-- they aren't too sweet. Back to the drawing board on the recipe. If you have a good one, let me know.

The calendar page turns

 

The Thanksgiving feast laid out. Sorry, Tom looks like he's hiding behind a candle-- the cook/photographer was a bit harried at that particular moment. 

The traditional dishes are easy to cook, the trick is getting everything on the table at the same time. Judging from the leftovers, everyone enjoyed it.

We had a short but sweet visit with my sister Marji, visiting from Las Vegas. She stayed with Dave in Enumclaw, and they came up to Seattle just for turkey day. 

It isn't often when the three siblings are together at the same time. Dad passed away last Thanksgiving, so this weekend was a special time of remembrance. 

On to December!  I pulled the purple Halloween lights off our hard-working "holiday" tree.

And lugged the porch pumpkins over to a corner of the yard. Of course, they could go in the yard waste bin, but I like watching them return to nature over the winter. And the critters like chewing on them.

On Saturday, I made an early morning trip to Home Depot for lights and this impulse purchase for the kitchen window box. Usually I just stuff it with evergreens from our own garden.

New colored lights for the porch tree-- John has them on a timer when it starts to get dark at 4.

It looks pretty from the living room when we're drinking our wine before dinner. 

That blue sky is not an optical illusion. Other than morning fog, we had great weather all weekend with spectacular winter sunsets.

And last but not least, a simple string of white lights in the kitchen greenhouse window. Taking the cactus out first is a chore, but it needed cleaning anyway.

From the sidewalk, this looks like cheerful people live here. (We're trying.)

In just 3 weeks, the Winter Solstice arrives and we start the long, slow crawl back to light. 

"In no heart is there total darkness."

Anon.

Black Friday

 

There was once a time when retailers didn't even advertise Christmas until after Thanksgiving, and no one wanted to be first to break the tradition. 

The term Black Friday originated in 1950s Philadelphia, coined by local police officers to describe the chaotic day when hoards of people came to town after Thanksgiving for football and shopping.

Today is also "Buy Nothing Day" (ha ha.)  The kids are going downtown to the Pike Place Market, Uwajimaya and probably the giant Goodwill. I'm running on slow gear this morning so will probably take a rain check on that.

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” 

Gertrude Stein

Happy Thanksgiving

 

The turkey is in the oven. We're looking forward to a nice day, and even some peeks of sunshine this afternoon.

 

Pumpkin cheesecake and pecan pie for dessert-- made yesterday. The sides are already prepped and ready to go. Have a sweet day, wherever you are.

Here's a little poem my sister wrote this morning:

Thanksgiving

Hate is a noisy thing,
the spark of evil is fire.

Love is quiet,
the spark of joy is light.

On this day may we be open
to the light that surrounds us.

And grateful for the opportunity
to share our love.