Tidbits

 Stace has a friend at work who used to be a mechanic, and he offered to help Melanie and Nick out with some car repairs over the weekend. That meant he drove their car home, and Stace got to take his baby home. Pretty sweet.

Still so cute.

I was given this little crocheted plant in a thank you gift bag from Jarod, and had it on my dresser. Winston decided it was obviously for him.

Violet finished up her sophomore year of school! She wrapped up her online classes early this week, and her one day of finals at the high school on Wednesday. She got mostly packed for her upcoming trip to Alaska, so on Thursday we had time for an outing.

She wanted to check out a stained glass store in Pasadena, and it was worth the trip. She found several pieces for projects she'd like to do.

We also enjoyed hanging out with the shop cat, Chonky Thomas. He has quite a following.

On Friday, I dropped Violet off at the airport in Burbank for her flight to Seattle! Unfortunately I didn't get our traditional "leaving" photo, as we were a bit flustered because I wasn't able to park and walk her in. The short-term parking lot was full up! 

Also on Friday, Stace left for a weekend trip with his work friends - more on that in a separate post.

On Saturday, I helped Melanie with a small wedding in Redondo Beach. 

We had a nice time together, and she took me out for tacos afterwards to pay me.

I also got paid in these beauties.

Trip to Redmond!

We had a wonderful trip to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty! Stace took a few days off, and Violet worked very hard on her online classes beforehand, so she could relax while we were away.

Winston and Evie wanted to come along! (He's inside the bag in the picture on the left.)

 This was a first - Cora took us to the airport! Because it was Burbank airport, it was a short and easy drive, and great freeway experience for her. (She's had lots of experience already, but the more the better.)

Cora has theatre class and work at the high school, so she couldn't come with us.

Violet took the lovely photo above as we were landing at Sea-Tac airport. 

And here's her finished stained glass piece - Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty loved it. It goes so well in their home, also. Violet is pretty amazing.

She got to spend some good times with the cousins - like little Sophia here, who's now 1 1/2.

We took lots of walks, and on one of them, saw these deer. There was one more on the other side of the foliage.

We ended up at the lovely park near their home, which features a barn and animals that Aunt Patty now volunteers at. 

These roosters were gorgeous!

Aunt Patty was telling us everyone's name.

These next horses are at a different place close to their home, at an equine rescue. Violet is really interested in horses at the moment, and loved walking down to say hello.

Another view of the rescue. We were spoiled with amazing weather! It's been raining there consistently, but when we arrived, the sun shone brightly.

Violet put this cactus puzzle together nearly on her own.

And after being out in the cold at night, not much better than homemade hot chocolate and popcorn! We enjoyed this treat while watching the new version of All Creatures Great and Small. Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty love it, and knew that we would, too. We ended up watching all of Season 1 while with them!

Tidbits

Violet has been busy on stained glass - she's making this larger piece for Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty from her own design.

She's also working on a squirrel.

It's been cool watching her work, from design, to cutting the glass pieces, to grinding it to shape, to foiling the pieces and then soldering them together.

 Here, she's soldering. 

And yes, it's all a bit dangerous. She has nicks from the glass and a slight burn from the soldering gun. Nothing too bad though, thankfully.

Violet returned to school this week, but it'll be a short week for her, as we're flying to Washington Thursday.

On Tuesday, Rigo and his guys came out to trim our liquidambar. It had gotten very tall, and though it seems really healthy, I've been nervous when we've had big wind storms.

Around 3 p.m. Monday, we had the windows all open, and could hear sirens outside. Then, we heard a howling and yipping that could only mean coyote. Normally though, coyotes are active at dusk and overnight. 

We went out to look for it, and there it was, on the hill. Another curious neighbor came out to see it, and said he's been seeing it around for a couple of weeks. 

Sure enough, a few days later, Stace and I went out for a later afternoon walk, and Stace found him on our lawn! Glad we no longer have free-roaming cats.

Christmas Day 2025

Christmas Day! We hosted, as usual, and it was a lovely day. 

We opened family gifts in the morning, spoke to Nan and Pop, and later welcomed our family here. Dinner was roast beef and many trimmings, provided by Melanie.

Lots of joy and laughter!

Violet loved the print Cora gave her, and the Oh Hellos CD of a popular album that we'd had trouble finding a few months ago.

And Cora loved the crow stained glass piece that Violet made her.

We had Sue and Gord on the video call, so they could watch the fun.

One of our Christmas Kitties...

Tasty.

One of the highlights for me was watching Cora and Ellie play soccer. She had SO much fun playing with her older cousin.

Violet created this dried orange and wood garland for Melanie and Nick.

Ellie had fun opening up a little Christmas stuffy.

Merry Christmas!

Creative Violet

Violet has taken up a new artistic endeavor - stained glass. Her school has the equipment and supplies, and Violet has made some outstanding pieces. These were her first two. 

She made the cat, below, as well.

She also cut the hem in these jeans and added the black ruffles, which she created on the sewing machine.

Such a cool style!

And, we got some new oil pastels, and she came up with this elk. It's amazing to watch her work.