A Hummer of a Christmas

 Song - Dueling Jingle Bells by the US Navy Band

'Twas the night before Christmas.......and Santa came to visit to the delight of all the children and even some of the adults! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.......

....and on Christmas morning our three boys and Ashley, Monica, Jacque and Chewy arrived with a twinkle in their eyes............

............and some of them dressed festively for the occasion with outfits from previous years.

We had just settled down to open some presents when out in my office there arose such a clatter.....I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter.......Away to the office window I flew like a flash, closed all the shutters and threw up the sash. When what to my wondering eyes should appear.....

.....but a miniature hummingbird so lively and quick....

Trapped and frightened and we all had different ideas on how to help him back outside.....we opened the windows & took off the screens, opened the doors, gently trying to herd him to the openings, perhaps with a net suggested Mr. B?  As the poor little creature flew near me I gently reached out and caught him in my hand.

His eyes how the twinkled, his nose - what nose - his head and neck like a cherry and I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself! A wink of my eye and a twist of my head......told the little creature he had nothing to dread.

We all walked outside while I released him and away he flew, like the down of a thistle.  But I heard him exclaim, as he flew out of sight....Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

"A hummingbird is just like a regular bird......

except it doesn't know the lyrics."

--John Brown

The Big Night

Song - Tarantella by Beppe Gambetto, Carlo Aonzo & David Grisman

On Saturday night our family had a cousins reunion......

let me introduce you to the Malacarne Family!

These are my grandparents, Art & Sophie Malacarne.  They had four daughters and each daughter had three children - my cousins.  The cousins spent a lot of time together growing up because the sisters were so close and........we're Italian. So they are more like my siblings than my cousins.  Great memories there!

 This photo was taken at the family cabin in Lake Tahoe with all twelve grandchildren and our Grandma Sophie (on the right) and her mother Grandma Mary (on the left).

Can you tell we had fun together?

 For many years Art & Sophie would host a Christmas get together on Christmas Day but the families grew too large once we started marrying and having children of our own.  But we still have that Malacarne bond. So every 5-10 years someone would host a reunion, usually in the summer months.
Last year the "boys" decided to host a Christmas party at a local restaurant. 

It was great to get together but the sitting arrangements were to tight to get up and go visit anyone else other than the people sitting next to you.

So Saturday night it was the cousins turn to host and invite the two remaining daughters - my Aunt and Mom at a new place that turned out to be perfect!

Being the family historian, I was in charge of the slide show and music for the event. Six hundred and sixy-four photos later.........they are still talking to me!

We have aged just a smidgen since the photo above in Lake Tahoe.

 But we still enjoy each others company and getting caught up on family events.  Even the "out-laws" have fun. (They are the SO's who are honorary cousins)

A great night and thanks to those "boy" cousins who know how to throw a proper shindig!!!

 Love each and everyone of you!

"The bond that links your true family 

is not one of blood, 

but of respect and joy in each others life."

-- Richard Bach

Giving Thanks

Song - Take Me Home Country Road by Shaney-Lee (7 years old)

Falling leaves

hide the path

so quietly

--John Bailey 

Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.

'Tis Autumn

Song - 'Tis Autumn by Red Garland

Picked a basket full of Lady Apples the other day and I hope to prepare them for the freezer after having a few fresh ones on top of our salads.

The dogwood tree is enticing me with her beautiful colors.....

And our October Glory Maple is changing overnight into a show stopper.  Every Thanksgiving we take family photos in front of this tree when she is at her peak.

However, everyone is not on the same page - "It's Autumn" so why are my spring bulbs blooming now? Confusing weather we are having?

While I was filling up my bird feeders this morning, I noticed this hawk flying high in the sky looking for some tasty tidbit. As I walked over to our creek, I saw some large water rings and figured there was a large fish beneath the surface.  Then there were more and a creature came up for air.....there were two otters playing!  They slowly made their way downstream before I could grab my camera.  But I'll tell you - it was magical!

"Happy Fact: Otters hold hands while they sleep 
so they don't float away from each other."

Pre-Boo

Song - Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon

Every Halloween Mr. B and I enjoy coming up with a design and carving our pumpkins.  For the last few years we have made it into a small party with family.  So on Sunday night........

The table was set with parsnip & carrot noses, carving tools and designing tools as well as gut buckets.  Andy even got out the power drill (behind the "noses").

As we began to work our magic everyone got quieter and quieter.......until.......

...Buddy showed up in his Lion costume and we all cracked up as he was so proud of his new look!

Ashley finished her pumpkin fast so she could have some cuddling time with Buddy-the-Lion.

After that Jack-O-Lanterns started popping out all over the place!

And the winner of this years event was Walter's sideways scary pumpkin!

Yikes!!!

 Then we all settled down for some delicious Tortilla Soup & Corn Bread.......

.......with our Jack-O-Lanterns lighting the night.

 As guests were leaving, we found Monica had sprouted fangs and Tyler forgot to go to the dentist....yuck!!!

As the night was winding down, Chewy fell promptly to sleep.

All of this monster stuff was too much for the little guy!!!

And Mr. B and I joined him shortly.

"When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,

may luck be yours on Halloween"

--Anonymous

Sisterhood

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Fall was definitely in the air up at Donner Lake this past weekend with warm days and crisp nights.  Leaves were dropping and swirling on the forest floor.

It was our 11th annual Girls Weekend and on Friday we headed up to the Sierra's for a few days of sisterhood, visiting, reading, shopping, relaxing, food and music.....oh......and quite a few laughs!

However this year things didn't go quite as planned. As Ellen and Barbara almost got locked up in the Truckee Jail!!!  This jail was used continuously from 1875 to 1964 and besides the two prisoners above, it has held notorious criminals such as Baby Face Nelson, Ma Spinelli and Machine Gun Kelly!  However, after we bailed these two out, we just went next door for a good cup of coffee.....

In historic downtown Truckee we did a lot of shopping and a little sightseeing

and we had a wonderful lunch together........

 ...at Moody's Bistro. (we were supposed to be mimicking the lady in the poster behind us but some of us - certainly not me - got confused)!

In the afternoon we relaxed around the cabin and then Ellen gave us a short but delightful talk on her passion of raising honeybees!  So many questions about the life of this very important little critter!

We played a late night game of Scrabble.....

I erased some of the words because of your delicate ears.....

But I promise....there was absolutely NO drinking involved!

"Just remember if we get caught, 

you're deaf and I don't speak English." 

 --Annonymous

PS - The menfolk seemed to adjust to their womenfolk being gone from the homestead just fine!

Adding to the Family Tree

Song - Baby Mine by Bette Midler

Two years ago our son Andy married this wonderful woman Ashley.......

And this March we will be adding another branch on our family tree......

So very excited for these two on their new adventure!


"A mother is always the beginning.  She is how things begin."

--Amy Tan

Our Sunset Chickadee

Song - Little Bird, Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell

 As many of you know, we have had a Chestnut Backed Chickadee living in our outdoor light fixture on our back deck.  He/she comes every evening at sunset and although the last few nights I have set up my tripod & camera to catch this fast little being coming in for a landing, I just can not seem to be fast enough......

 .....until now!  

She comes just before sunset and gets a drink of water and a bite to eat.  Sometimes she will stay in the nearby tree and other times she flies off for awhile only to return shortly.

 She always lands on this same branch on our October Glory Maple tree and checks out the situation.  Some evenings she calls out and other times she just observes for awhile.

 The other night I had everything set up and I focused my camera on the light fixture instead of the tree.  And I waited.....and waited......

 ....she flew from the tree, under the umbrella and up to the fixture quickly.

 She grabbed hold of the base of the fixture.....

 ....and pushed herself up inside.......

....and left me waiting right where I began!

Only now I had a big smile on my face.....



"The chickadee and the nuthatch are more inspiring society than statesmen and philosophers, and we shall return to these last as more vulgar companions."

--Henry David Thoreau