Time Again

The lost watch. The lost dog. The lost homes.

Remember this looks best on the website and NOT in an email….

Larkin came to see us over fall break and help take our dear Miss Emma over the rainbow bridge. I picked her up on a Friday – took Emma to the Vet on Saturday morning – then drove over to see our Calistoga burned property with her best friend from Middle School whose home at our property was destroyed! It was a very difficult day. Like Michael and I on the previous Monday, we drove straight home and didn’t stop. We placed Missy Emma in the grave Michael dug that afternoon.

Larkin was ready for down time after burial so we cuddle up on our king sized bed and turned on Indiana Jones. We’ve had a malamute…Indiana was the dogs name. As we laughed, Larkin said, “mom, I found your watch.” I said, “no way!”

That entire blog beginning was on my blog since October. We celebrated mom’s 90th birthday when Larkin was with us and we all drove to Las Vegas to visit dear friends. Life after the fire has been well…difficult and still is. Insurance companies are difficult…lawyers are required but we are so grateful to have our retirement home, our family and our lives. The holidays were simple for everyone from what I gathered. Larkin stayed in Colorado for Thanksgiving and I planned on flying mid December to help her drive her car home for Christmas break. After the fact, it might have been easier for her to fly and NOT me, but my oh my the hours of driving and seeing the Grand Canyon again and friends in Santa Fe on my birthday (very distanced) was the highlight of my travel holidays.

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The trip back to Colorado was rushed but the hours spent chatting and enjoying our time together was worth every minute. I am blessed to have a great husband and a daughter with whom I can chat for hours and a mom who remains healthy enough to enjoy living by herself with her wonderful companion Shep, little Emma’s cousin so we still get our Pumi love! Larkin is entrenched in her final classes for her masters and focusing on her Humanitarian Engineering thesis.

The Martini travels have abated as the world still quarantines due to the horrid virus. Michael and I along with mom await our second Moderna vaccine shot in early March. The only joy for being over 65! We are planning on being able to travel to new parts of the world next year and we are hoping Larkin can join us for a few trips too! We look forward to the day we can visit with the grandkids and Shanna in North Carolina…we’d be happy to see them here on the west coast.

Sheltering in place with only trips to see mom for doctors appointments or to the grocery store has made me a STRESS BAKER. Larkin began taking up the baking gene over Christmas and we baked together finding formula’s that worked for us. After spending months doing low carb and keeping the weight off, its been a joy to enjoy sourdough bread AND keep the weight off. It is also a joy to be able to share the fruits of our baking with friends. Soudough digests better so maybe that is why I can eat those carbs now?!?

′′ I don’t recommend making bread, it can become a dangerous passion, like poetry. Bread is a rather melancholic vocation, which requires mainly free time for the soul. The poet and the baker are brothers, in the fundamental task of nurturing humanity ′′ – Isabel Allende, Aphrodite

The baking keeps me on my toes (and free time for my soul) and makes me move from my warm cozy spot on the couch. Books still grace my nightstand and new puzzle table sits by the couch while we watch Murdock or other mysteries on TV – or even the Great British Baking show! We have had a few friends drop by for a glass of wine and we have cherished every one of the moments with those brave folks.

We await the finish of our last windows to be installed between bouts of much needed rain this spring. We look out over the back yard and see the daffodils pushing up over Emma’s grave in the back yard and feel her spirit with us!

Sunsets still happen between bread baking. We await more magical sunlit clouds!

For now, I may turn to sourdough baking tips on my blog or recipes from new creative recipes found in cookbooks or sites online. My watch may have been found but both batteries have decided to call it quits so time has stopped once again.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!