Author: Judy

I am a new transplant to Portland from Salinas, a small city in Central California. This is a blog about my new city.

Inside and Outside 2021, Part 2

Dear Liza,

Continuing our look back at 2021…

In July, harvesting blueberries on Sauvie Island got us some much needed outdoor time, and….

Celebrating Kestrel’s 10th birthday got us some family time!

Our first airplane trip in two years got us down to visit you and your family in August.


September saw us at the Kennedy School, celebrating Auntie Bridgett’s birthday.

And inside, I tried my hand at leaf printing.

October brought our very first neighborhood party in Portland.

And family fun with the cousins, of course.

As the colder November weather drove us inside, we celebrated family snuggles at home…

And Pierre Bonnard and the Nabis’ sweet portraits of family life at the Portland Art Museum.

And finally, December saw Mouse fascinated by the snow outside,


And by me making Christmas presents inside.

So now, farewell to 2021, and welcome, 2022! May you find the world kinder, safer, and healthier.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Inside and Outside 2021, Part 1

Dear Liza,

Looking back on 2021, I’ve decided to have a look inside the house and outin the world each month.

January 2021 saw us celebrating by making hats from salvaged Christmas wrapping paper.


Outside, we visited Cannon Beach and felt the sea breeze on our faces.



February found me adding a few bridges and neighborhoods to my Portland map.


Outside, snowfall made our front patio a magical place.


In March, I made my very first mince tarts.

Outside, the ground was warm enough to start working in the garden!




April saw all the Grandkids on a Zoom call for Liza’s 8th birthday. Filters are fun!

And outside, the first seedlings of my radishes came up!


May saw flowers exploding all over Portland, like this iris in a local bioswale.

Looking back, I can’t find a single photo taken inside in May. But here’s a nice picture of my favorite people at Edgefield for Grandpa Nelson’s birthday.


In June, the weather was warm, but the Covid was still with us. Home activities included my learning a new quilting style, Kawandi.

While outside, I spent my Momma’s birthday at The Grotto, which she would have loved.

And tomorrow we will finish the year and get ready to look forward.

Love,

Grandma Judy

December Hodgepodge

Dear Liza,

This nutsy year is coming to a close, and before I re-cap the whole thing, here are some random images from December.

An unconventional snowman, made just before everything melted, keeps watch on his corner.


Remaining snow frosts adorable metal yard decoration of Audrey II from ”Little Shop of Horrors”.


Someone’s Solstice Circle rests in Laurelhurst Park

A very holiday-ready spray of Pyracantha berries and moss hovers just beside a sidewalk.

See you in the New Year!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Playing Scrabble en Francais

Dear Liza,

You know Auntie Bridgett and I have been studying French for years now. We do an hour or so of Duolingo online every morning. We practice talking to each other in French when Grandpa Nelson isn’t around (because we don’t want to be rude). And now we have a new way to learn.

For her Christmas present, I made Bridgett a French Scrabble set. The ones you can buy in France are a little different from American sets, since French uses more vowels. The accents and other bits that are not letters (like the accent over the ’e’ in cafe) are not on the letter tiles.

I went online to make sure I had the right number of each letter and the right value on each tile, because some were different. Part of the gift, of course, was an official French Scrabble dictionary. We can play on our American board.

The other day, we had our first practice game. We know more than two thousand words, so we felt very confident. But it was a challenge!

Whatever seven letters you have on your rack are all you have to work with, and sometimes they are not very promising.

Still, we stuck it out, helping each other when we needed it. There was a lot of “fishing” in the dictionary, looking for words that used just those letters.

We have played a few games now, but still haven’t finished one. But practice, while possibly not leading to perfection, will certainly lead to improvement. And besides, it’s fun, these cold winter days, to have a new challenge.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Snow in the Sunnyside

Dear Liza,

We finally got snow! Just a few inches, but it was so COLD all of Monday and Tuesday that the snow just gently sat on things, staying fluffy and gorgeous. It was amazing.

I read somewhere that two things can completely change the way a place looks; snow and love.

Having seen the world with and without both, I can attest to this truth.

The snow kept melting and refreezing all day, which made the sidewalks really dangerous and kept me from getting my booster shot, but all will be well. Eventually.

Love,

Grandma Judy.

Christmas Day 2021

Dear Liza,

Once noon came around, it was time to get moving. Katie and the kids were on their way! As they came through the door, the first thing we saw was Jasper carrying the Buche de Noel, a wonderful rolled up cake that looks like a frosted log. We have seen folks make them on The British Bake Off, and know how tricky they are. This one, made by Katie and Kestrel, even had meringue mushrooms and a caterpillar named Jeffrey.

But before we got to the delicious dessert, we played games. Jasper had brought his video game and he and Grandpa Nelson had on-the-couch-guy time.

Kestrel found some dice in the cupboard and made up a new game we called Three Blind Dice, where you close your eyes and choose one of the different colored dice, roll it, and do some complicated math to see who wins. It was fun and got everyone on the floor to play.

There were also sugar cookies (thanks to Auntie Katie’s dough) to roll, bake and decorate. Kestrel used a stool to be tall enough to roll and cut them. She has a delicate touch and a lot of patience. It was fun seeing her and Katie working together!

Lots of coming and going in our small kitchen made for a few traffic jams, but it all worked out.

Auntie Bridgett and Kestrel set the table with all our pretty Christmas plates, and when the pork and veggies were ready, we feasted. My challah came out so pretty.

And when we were full of happiness and food, delicious cake and pretty cookies, we watched a really fun and interesting movie called ”The Hogfather”, based on books by the late, great Terry Pratchett. Like all of Sir Terry’s work, it was odd and ironic and wise. Everyone enjoyed it.

When we were all ready for bed, we packed everything up and walked Katie and family to their car in the near freezing night.

Merry Christmas to all!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Christmas Morning

Dear Liza,

There was so much going on here at Christmas, I’m going to have to tell it in chapters!

Christmas morning dawned COLD, with snow predicted. Auntie Bridgett and I had breakfast and did our online French lesson as usual, enjoying the glowing Christmas tree and waiting for Grandpa Nelson to wake up and have his breakfast.When he did, we got to the very important business of opening presents!

There were lots of wonderful books, jewelry , hats and games. I had made Auntie Bridgett a French Scrabble game, using regular English tiles and altering the scores and number of them as needed, because French uses more vowels than English. I made a Paris map fabric bag to keep them in. She seemed pleased! Of course, there was a French Scrabble dictionary, as well. We are going to get so smart.

Warm, very stylish hats for everyone came from Auntie Bridgett’s Mom, Donna. Here is me in my Irish wool Claudaugh.


I started the pork loin in the slow cooker and we enjoyed our new toys. Grandpa Nelson read us funny bits from a new book called “Cows on Ice and Owls in the Bog”, by Katarina Montnemery, about funny idioms from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Idioms are sayings like “Go jump in a lake”, where you don’t really mean what you say. So far my favorite is a Danish saying, ”Just pat the horse.” It means to calm down.

We spent a very slow, glowing morning, feeling blessed to be snuggled in, as warm as a cat. This cat, to be exact.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Christmas Eve

Dear Liza,

Merry Christmas! We had a nice, though cold and rainy, Christmas Eve.


We had leftovers from our lunch at Suzette Creperie for dinner.

I baked some fabulous Challah to have for Christmas dinner, thanks to a youtube video by Bincy Chris.

Auntie Bridgett and I went for a really cold walk to see the lights of the neighborhood.

We watched “Mary Berry Saves Christmas” , where the British Baking Show maven guides three novice cooks to make special dinners for their families.

We added final gifts to the tree and chatted with Auntie Katie about her visit Christmas Day.

And we waited for snow. It has been so cold, and is getting colder. While Denver seems to be bright and snow free, we have had snow predicted for Christmas day or soon after, and we are excited!

Of course, this morning we woke up to a clear, snow-free sky. But Christmas hope springs eternal.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Freezing Rain for Christmas

Dear Liza,

Thursday, Grandpa Nelson and I walked to Zach’s Hot Dog Shack for lunch. It was cold and bright and bad weather is predicted for tomorrow, so we went while the going was good. By the time we were heading home, the sunshine had blown away and the wind had come up.

And I was woken up last night by rain slapping against my window. I listened to it for a long time.

The rain isn’t a surprise, I know. Portland gets rain. Lots of it.

But for Christmas week, we are also predicted to get temperatures well BELOW freezing. For days. That almost never happens when it rains. We either get wet and in the forties, or dry and freezing.

Wet and freezing means ice and snow on the streets. It means dangerous driving conditions on Christmas, when people want to go see family across town. It means no bus service or Lyft. Heck, even walking will be a slippery mess, with ice and puddles and frozen leaf-slime.

I am posting this lovely, peaceful picture of our courtyard with Christmas lights because it may be my last outside photo op for a while. Merry Christmas!!

Love,

Grandma Judy

What Ever Happened to Linus?

Dear Liza,

Way back at the end of summer (which feels like forever ago) I harvested the pumpkin from my garden allotment, a small Sweetie Pie variety I had named Linus.

All though September, he just sat on the kitchen counter, waiting. He was part of our Halloween decorations, and didn’t get used for a pie at Thanksgiving.

Then a few days ago, with no ceremony whatsoever, I peeled, chopped, and roasted Linus with salt, pepper, and pumpkin pie spice. He was delicious, and just the bit of nutritious sunshine that I needed. “Summer’s not all gone yet,” he promised.

And now, I have this small, totally cool souvenir. It is Linus’s stem. It has dried and weighs almost nothing, but still has the bright orange color inside and wiry, ancient-looking tendrils.

Why did I keep it? No idea, except that it was my first ever harvested pumpkin, and the shape and color just seemed too special to compost right away.

It may get used for a paint stamp in an art project, or live in a jar with sea shells and beach glass. And it will remind me of summer, which is always good.

I hope you have a delightful Christmas, and know that I am sending you lots if smiles.

Love,

Grandma Judy