Can we ignore 2025

I don't hold high expectations for the new year. Me. The ultimate optimist. Grief doesn't magically disappear at midnight on December 31. 

And then. And then, the most despicable piece of crap on the planet will set out to destroy everything. Sigh.

On a lighter note, the unpacking continues. I have found my solitary blue ribbon, won for my loom painting. And I found some of my son's 'artwork' from pre-school. Yes, 50 some years ago. I chose a few to commemorate with photos:

Next, I have numerous studio umbrellas/stands. Not sure what to do with them as I doubt most Goodwill shoppers would have use for them.  

Books & Birdgirl

I finally got my South Carolina library card. I've lived here for two years and kept putting it off. No specific reason, just too many other things going on. 

I prefer to read ebooks. It began years ago with my first Kindle. Ebooks are perfect for traveling. I've continued buying/checking out electronic media since then. I can't remember the last physical book that I read. 

I had many, many books at home in Georgia. When I moved I donated all of them. Well, almost all, I kept a few - mostly photography books, but also a couple of fiction. One of them is 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'. I loved that book. Gary and I visited the Bonaventure cemetery on a trip to Savanah once. We also purchased a replica of the Bird Girl statue. When I sold my house, I left the statue there - no place in apartment living for something like that. 

This is an infrared photo of my Birdgirl statue. 

The book jacket

packaging

We all survived, just. I hate to be a Negative Nancy but Christmas is usually  a huge disappointment - a result of overly optimistic expectations.

Anyway, it is done

Packaging

A morning

A morning

I went to the bathroom and noticed my phone clock read 3:40. Got back into bed, couldn't fall back to sleep. I have a clock that sits on top of the armoir and projects the time onto the ceiling. So, I looked up to see the time and couldn't find it. Looked at the clock itself and it read 12:01. Checked my phone again - 3:45. Was the power off during the night? Checked my Ring videos to see if there was a gap. Doh, it's on a battery. Turned on the TV to look at a webcam in South Africa that I like... tv couldn't connect to wifi. What has happened? Four hours later (I was afraid troubleshooting the TV issue might make too much noise), I've reconnected the wifi, set the clock to the correct time. What else. Oh yes, I decided to get my eggnog glasses from the upper cupboard. Got the ladder out, got the glasses. Hmmm, while I'm up here I'll see if there's anything in this other cupboard that I need. Ah, shaped cutters (too small for cookies though - still haven't found those). As I was retrieving these, one container fell and small metal cutters clanged all over the floor. "Sorry upstairs neighbors".  

Soldier Man

With all of the things I have not been able to find since I moved, this guy made it through. You have to laugh. 

 

Memories

I've been unpacking a few boxes that have been in storage since I sold my house in Georgia in 2019. One box contained my father's slides. I had gone through them quite a while ago but it was fun to see them again. He was a very good photographer. I wish he had lived long enough  that he and I could share this passion.

I no longer have a flatbed scanner with which to copy slides, but I put them on a light box and used my phone to capture... the gist of them anyway.

 

The thirteenth

I'm not actually superstitious about Friday the 13th, but it snuck up on me and I'm a little... like when you get zapped by static electricity. 

Anyway, here are a few pics from recent days.

If you haven't worked the Squareword puzzle for today, then don't look below.

Wordle and Squareword are how I wake up my brain each morning.

Frustration with a capital F

The list of "things I cannot find" grows longer. At the moment, I'm missing two sweaters and my father's baby bonnet. I moved from my 4 bedroom house in 2019. Moved in with my niece for a couple of months. Then we moved to another apartment in September of 2019. Most of my belongings were put into storage by my son. In 2022, I moved once again. There are still boxes from the original move in storage. I'm waiting for my son to go to the storage building and tell me what is still there. It's very frustrating, on top if this holiday season being the worst ever! 

But, here are some wet leaves, caught in the crevice between several stones. 

The choices of pie

The pie was pumpkin cheesecake. It's by no means a gourmet recipe, but it's delicious. My mom was a great pie baker. She would have prepared pecan, cherry, and apple pies. And we couldn't/wouldn't choose, instead opting for a small sliver of each.  

Note: Angie is wearing me down re: Christmas decorations. I believe I would honor her memory more by putting up a tree than by being filled with sadness.