Red-Handed Jill

We had one of the worst storms in ten years yesterday. Winds of 100MPH (150 up in the hills) and a hell of a lot of rain. Marin (north of San Francisco) was pretty much shut down due to flooding and they closed a lot of the bridges. It pretty much calmed down to just steady rain by late afternoon. This morning and afternoon we had thunderstorms. The storm passed right over us so that thunder was LOUD. As in house-shaking loud.

Patt - you'll need tassels. Lots of tassels.

Nervous. We're in the middle of the biggest storm in years. Up to 100 (in some places, 150) mile per hour winds and LOTS of rain. Marin County is practically shut down due to flooding and bridges are being closed (and you almost can't get anywhere in the SF Bay Area without crossing a bridge.) I'm working from home today and the lights are flickering. Patt - it's headed your way - time to batten down the hatches.

Yikes - hope you've got lots of thick wool blankets! Do you have a propane heater? Best thing since sliced bread, sez I.

Oh yes - Choco looks so dangerous! Morgan's first pic of 2008. He is DETERMINED to not let me take his picture.

Heh - me too. And with beets and berries and... The curtains turned out great - they are a really rich red, worth all the work.

I'm dyeing the bedroom curtains. There are several, since they cover two of our walls. Five years ago they were kind of a gold colour but I dyed them claret. They've faded some so I'm re-dyeing them. 20 cups of salt 1-1/2 cup of fiber reactive dye 2-1/2 cups of soda ash 1 really big dropcloth Fun fun fun!

Whups - forgot that I was going to post this. This year's tree topper:

Doofus Hamsterdoodle Heh.

Morgan twitches his tail when he's in a mischievous mood (i.e. when he's about to try to nip Jack or me) or when he's stalking one of his toys. He always gets this sly look on his face, but the tail gives him away.

Hmmm.... I've done brief forays into wrath and envy and of course lust after my better half Iron Jack, but other than that... nope. I know - SO boring! Ransom - I am SOOOO with you on procrastination.

^ Actually, I make a point of not doing New Year's resolutions. When I'm ready to make some improvements, I make 'em. < Our tree actually stays up until the end of January - keeps things festive. V Pass the question

I've been reading Hen Frigates - it's about the lives of women on merchant ships.

Hot Fuzz is freakin' hysterical! I hadn't laughed so hard since, well, their last movie Shawn of the Dead.

^ Definitely a 1920's rum runner. < Back to the diet - I tried to be good, but slipped once or twice. V Any VERY pleasant Christmas surprises?

Sunny but crisp - in the 40's. Pretty cold at night, though.

A bunch of us pirates invaded the local Trader Vic's for Christmas Eve. We stayed in the bar and ate mass quantities of appetizers and drank lots of hot rum drinks. In fact, they ran out of skull cups! (Heh.) Then we went home and Jack and I exchanged our gifts. Jack got me some WONDERFUL things, including an antique tool chest that had belonged to an Alaskan tug boat captain and it was filled with antique sail making and marine carpentry tools, including a couple of pieces from the Napoleonic era. (The other thing I collect besides wooden boxes is antique tools.) On Christmas morning, we went to my folks' place for brunch, exchanged gifts with them and then went on a long walk. Now we're at home, relaxing. It's been a very good Christmas.

"But how are we ALL dead?" ".... the salmon mousse!"

Well, Iron Bess did mention that they had re-cut the movie at the last minute. AWE had some great moments in it - I loved seeing Barbossa really come into his own as a captain. However, I think that if the movie had been shown as it was originally edited, fewer folks would have had misgivings about it. I'm hoping they'll release a Director's Cut where we'll see something that more resembles what the movie was originally meant to be.

Crazy? Just look at that face - eyes calm and the ears facing forward. Doesn't look unmanageable to me; he looks like a big playful puppy.

I already have the skull clock - it looks pretty good.

BriarRose - the house in that picture is now a B&B in Placerville (a small town in the Gold Country north of Sacramento.) Jack and I have stayed in it. There's a lovely small family cemetery next door. Happy holidays everybody!

Aye - our Tales of the Seven Seas sign hangs proudly at the front of our camp at faires and gets lots of compliments.

I just got the last of Jack's stocking stuffers in the mail today, so I'm done! WOO HOO!! The tree is up and Jack outdid himself on the outdoor lights this year. He put up three sets of luminaria as well as other unusual lights. Other than occasionally hiding under the tree, Morgan has behaved himself and hasn't mangled anything. Jack and I had our holiday party last weekend. For Christmas eve, we and a bunch of other pirates are going to invade Trader Vic's - THAT should be interesting... Then Christmas morning is at my folks' place and then Jack and I will have a quiet Christmas dinner. I've been really good with my diet, so this year I'm making bangers and mash (veggie bangers for me...) and Louisiana bread pudding with bourbon sauce for dessert.

Yeah - makes me wish there was a remote cattle prod. You push the button and the moron who is holding everyone else up gets zapped until he or she moves out of the damn way. I'd pay good money for one of those...