I am repurposing the Christmas card messages I've written
since 2001. From old Christmas cards to new blog posts. One a day. Merry
Christmas.
The 2013 card from Tom and me took a photojournalism approach.
Ireland
We went to Ireland for vacation at the end of August, but our plans for driving around the island changed after I broke my arm on the second day.
 |
| Here I am, at the River Liffey, about an hour before falling in a movie theater. So young, so carefree. |
 |
| . Here I am, still young, still carefree, a couple of days later. Tom, not so much. It's always harder on the caregiver. But we had a great time for the five days in Dublin before coming home--and we'll definitely go back. |
Later, back home, I had to have this ingenious plate installed to keep my bones together and aligned. Cool. Bet you’re jealous.
Michigan
I took a couple trips to Michigan. The first was a business trip in April. I tacked on a couple days to visit my sister Dianne and her family. It was near Easter and I made sure everyone had bunny ears.
In August we vacationed in Manistee before I went to my 50th high school reunion in Ionia. The photo below shows a freighter, carrying salt, coming into the Manistee River. It called for two drawbridges to be raised. Lots of fun to watch.
Austin
On a visit to see Rachel in Austin, she and I focused focused mostly on gardening. Here she is chopping the onions we harvested.
At home
Our old garden was trampled and largely lost during the 2011 kitchen construction. Creating the new garden was a labor of love and has brought us such joy. Hmmm. More emphasis needed on the labor part. Tom designed (and built) the planters and deck, and I designed the plantings. We had to lug in tons of new dirt (which I now call “soil,” per the garden club). Below is an "aerial" shot of the finished garden.
We had our traditional Halloween with champagne and neighbors on the front steps. Joyce wanted to be a panda but turned out to be a cat. And yes, that is Tom in in the middle.Tom and I joined the garden club on a day trip to Mt. Cuba, a garden estate in Delaware. We had a great time with our friend Doris and about 40 other jolly people, enjoying box lunches and wine on the bus and touring through some great gardens that are focused on native plants. The trip, $105. The experience, priceless.
We enjoyed having family members visit during Thanksgiving week. Here I am in the kitchen with my sister Joanne.
Love to all, and Merry Christmas.
