We wish you a very happy Solstice, a wonderful holiday season, and a happy new world!

Since last summer, you could say we have been home bodies. We rearranged our lanai furniture this spring to make a more inviting seating area for entertaining and we added an outdoor table. We now eat most our evening meals on the lanai enjoying the sunset and beautiful color in the clouds. We traded out the fish tank for a bird feeder and bird bath. The fish went to a good home and we get occasional reports of their progress. During morning tea and later as we work on our computers, we are entertained by the antics of the birds, have colorful flowers in our view, and watch the beautiful blue ocean for signs of Humpback whales. We saw our first one from shore in the distance last week. Hopefully, soon, there will many spouts close to shore. Neil saw a spout and a baby tail fluke just as I typed this. The binoculars are in handy reach on our desks.

This past month we have been reorganizing and updating inside. [Thank you wonderful parents for Christmas money.] Having finally found a fabric we both liked, we recovered the couch cushions allowing us to get rid of the sheet that covered the previous worn and split fabric. We are really appreciating seeing the couch again. We took advantage of Cyber Monday to get a new color laser printer. Its arrival required some major reorganizing (and cleaning) to position it in place of the two old printers (one color inkjet and one B&W laser). Next came the sewing projects to, shall we say, camouflage it and produce a fitted dust cover. We are rather proud of how the corner area now looks: hiding the storage area underneath the top shelf. We had some extra fabric we hadn’t used on the printer covering and decided it would be great to replace the plain blue shelf covering in the bedroom.

We are very excited to have company coming. Neil’s daughter, Mailea, is arriving right after Christmas for a few weeks visit to Maui. She is currently in the middle of her PhD program and looking forward to some R&R. Ari, Neil’s younger daughter, was thrilled to transfer mid-year to her desired nursing specialty of labor and delivery at the hospital in Santa Maria where she has worked the past year. Mom and Bill were able to come in October for a week while I house sat in Makena and they are going to be able to come for two weeks again in January. They are seriously thinking about buying an oceanfront condo and moving to Maui. I am keeping my fingers crossed! Neil and I previewed many condos for them through September and sent photos and descriptions.

They narrowed it down to four of them which they viewed during their October visit. There are now more on the market and they will have time in January to view others.

Quentin and Vajra had Sophie’s holiday visit over Thanksgiving this year. We got to spend a few days with them during her visit. Quentin continues to do well in school and is a joy to me. Dad and Jane have been through some health issues this year. Jane had back surgery in June and there were complications. She was in the hospital a few more times and in the rehab center till fall. Both she and Dad are thrilled to have her home again and doing well. Dad is now feeling pain in his back and having tests.

Plus he just had cataract surgery on one eye and feels his vision is blurry. He is hoping it is from the drops and will clear up soon. We enjoy having Jean and Morley right next door. They are doing well and we are grateful.

We are grateful for each moment of each day and for having wonderful family and friends. May each moment be blessing to you and we wish you a very joyous season.