‘Twas the day after Christmas. . .

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great day- full of gifts, cooking, and eating- and we even caught a movie! It was just the three of us- my husband, our son and myself.  We were sorely missing a big chunk of our family (our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons), but were able to connect with them through facetime, texted photos, and a phone call. All in all a lovely day.

Today’s photo is a detail from the beautiful and fragrant sage wreath made by our daughter for our front door. It is so pretty- and so special to us because she made it herself!  Thanks, Caity! <3<3<3

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Textured with ecru from Kim Klassen’s Cloth and Paper collection.

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White Christmas?

To start things off on a positive note, I did some Christmas baking!

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I had hoped for some beautiful snow photos on my blog today. We had snow predicted for last night, but all we got at our house was rain with a few snowflakes and some sleet. Nothing stuck (unless you count puddles).  And then we woke up to fog- fog in Arizona!?!?! I might as well be in the Bay Area! Here is the view from my desk window:

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Handmade- and Comfortable

Two of this week’s Flickr topics were perfect for me!

The first was HANDMADE/HOMEMADE. I chose to photograph these little blocks, stamped by my son, Matt, when he was in fifth grade. Arranged one way, they say HOHO, and, turned around, they read XMAS. He would not be happy to see them on here on my blog- but, fortunately, he probably doesn’t read it!

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Another topic this week was COMFORTABLE.  We don’t have a formal living room in our new home; the living/family/great room is arranged for comfort, with couches that have recliners built in (pretty un-cool, but oh so comfortable!). So, with temps in the twenties (expected to dip into the teens), here is a shot of my slippered feet by the fire as I wait for the snow to start falling.

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Ho, Ho, Ho!

We have definitely got the Christmas spirit this year! We just finished decorating the outside of our house; I think it may be the earliest this has ever happened. And, truth be told, we had stopped putting up Christmas lights outside of our old house a few years ago.  Moving has re-energized us!  And now, I need to get back to putting the finishing touches on the tree.

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Key

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I spent part of today working on some lessons in the Photoshop Artistry class I’ve just started.  I decided to combine a topic in my Flickr daily challenge group (lock and key) with Texture Tuesday and some of the skills I’m trying to learn (and re-learn) in Photoshop.  The fun part was trying different adjustments and filters and taking snapshots in the History Panel- a technique I tried a long, long time ago and had never really added to my workflow.  Snapshots! I had totally forgotten about using them, and they are a quite useful tool when trying to do something artsy.  This photo has a painted effect AND a texture.  I added text- and ended up having more trouble with that than anything else- go figure.

texture= Kim Klassen’s granny’s cupboard

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Boxes and Crazy Clouds

The movers arrived Sunday morning at 8:00a.m. during a steady rain that kept up all morning. It was an exciting and exhausting day- and we wouldn’t have made it through without the help of our good friends, Dale and Debbie, who are moving experts. Dale arrived with a toolkit, Debbie with an exacto knife in her pocket.  And where were the Andersons’ exacto knives?  Packed in moving boxes of course!  We haven’t moved for 26 years- we’re out of practice.

Here’s a progress report at the end of Day 2:

The office is up and running! Our desks and supplies are organized (roughly), and the computers are hooked up and waiting for cable internet (currently getting by with our mobile wifi).

The master bedroom is arranged (Debbie made the bed!), but our closet is still a disaster (most of our clothes are not unpacked). Our bathroom is organized if not decorated.  The other two bedrooms are full of boxes.

The garage is a work in progress; a lot has been accomplished.

The kitchen is fully functional- although it was a comedy of errors as I taught myself how to cook with a gas stove today! We had our first sitdown dinner tonight (thank goodness for Trader Joe’s frozen goodies), although we still have to sit surrounded by boxes.

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We’ve hardly made a dent in the unpacking, but there is no deadline, right?

We had monsoon rains accompanied by thunder and lightning in the late afternoon and evening. I took this shot from our back patio after the rain, but while thunder was booming.  I continue to be fascinated with Arizona skies!

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In Between

We moved out!

We went from this. . .

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to this. . .

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to this.

moving

I don’t think I have ever worked so hard physically as I have the last few months- and especially the last week. We either gave away, sold, or packed twenty-six years of accumulated possessions from my parents, us, and our children.  I mentioned on Facebook a week or so ago that I dreamed I was running a marathon (if you know me, you know this would be a nightmare!).  Well, last night I dreamed I was gliding around on a Segway!

There is a HUGE sense of relief at having completed this arduous task.  Our backs are unstiffening, and our joints are no longer screaming as we make our last good-byes.

And so now we are in between houses and living in hotels. There is a bit of a feeling that I should be packing or cleaning something, but it’s OK. And we are looking forward to the next part of the adventure- MOVING IN!

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Don’t worry. . .

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As I was putting this little stone (a gift from Tra!) into my purse to make sure it goes with me to Arizona, I kept hearing “Don’t worry, be happy” playing in my head. Good words to remember as we make this huge change in our lives!

We are mostly packed.

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We (assisted by some nice young men) have packed 137 boxes so far- and there are at least 50 which were professionally packed (mostly china).  We’ve lived in this house for over 26 years and have accumulated a lot of STUFF  (listen to George Carlin’s STUFF routine on YouTube!) over the years. I cannot imagine ever doing this again; our bodies are aching at the end of each day.

We are taking the afternoon off to say good-bye to some of our friends (sniff, sniff. . .).  Then we start packing our suitcases.

But where is my phone? I hope I haven’t packed it. . . (seriously!)

 

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Saying good-bye

Although it seems to us that we have been getting ready to move forever (especially to me- the declutterer), our friends are commenting that it is happening all too fast.  Now that we are getting packed up and starting to say good-bye, time is speeding up for us too. We will be closing escrow in less than two weeks- and will be out of our house in a little over a week. We have said good-bye to many, many possessions, and now we are starting to say good-bye to friends.

Last night we attended a fantastic party at the magnificent Sappho’s home with many of our friends from Unity of Walnut Creek.  We were surprised and overwhelmed when we were gifted with gorgeous hand-blown margarita glasses brimming with beautiful notes of love, good wishes, and promises to visit (all written on cactus decorated paper).  Thank you, Sappho and Unity- we will miss you so much!

How can we leave all the beautiful friendships we have made over the last forty plus years in the Bay Area??? I keep telling myself that we are at a stage in our lives when we are free to travel and that we will be meeting up with friends at various beautiful vacation spots over the years. And we hope to have lots of visitors to our new home in Arizona!  Hear that, everyone???

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A Friday Find

Kim Klassen started a new link-up a while ago called Friday Finds. I hadn’t planned to participate, but I found fresh lavender last night at Trader Joe’s- does it count if you find it on Thursday?

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I used a matte edit- not my usual style, but I think I like it here.

 

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Red Glass

My children went in together on a birthday gift this year- one to always remind me of Benicia, since we are getting ready to relocate.

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Isn’t it beautiful? Benicia is known for its glass studios, so this gorgeous red vase will always remind me of my 26 (and counting) years in this wonderful little town (and of my two grown up children collaborating on a gift!) as we prepare for our next big adventure.

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Repositioned

We are having a bit of touch-ups and repair done on our house in preparation for selling. One item that needed painting was the wrought iron railing on the porch and steps leading to the front door. After the railing was painted, the front porch plants (and front porch pig. . .) were returned in a new arrangement by the painter.  Here’s a quick snap and edit done after dinner last night.  I textured the photo with Kim Klassen’s breakfree texture, and it will be this week’s nod to Texture Tuesday (but on Wednesday…).

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In the kitchen. . .

I am eternally grateful to my macro lens for providing me with seemingly endless photo subjects.  Here’s a sample of what I found in a kitchen drawer- and on the counter. I purposely used a shallow depth of field on all- just because. . .

kitchen macro layout

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