Suzy Says

The death of Her Majesty the Queen darkened the end of 2022. The shadow deepened with the sudden and untimely death of my beloved friend Melanie on a beautiful, bright May day. Just as 2022 will forever be the year we lost The Queen, 2023 will forever be the year we lost Melanie.

It’s also the year that Megan had surgery for her thyroid cancer. Her life changed forever that day. Recovery has been longer and more painful than either of us would like, and I can’t help being concerned that there were not clean margins. It seems super unfair that she should be going through this at the young age of 52.

On the bright side, Jonathan and Rio had some fabulous adventures on their first (but not last) trip to Alaska.

It was a long, cold, stormy winter, with lots of power outages, including New Year’s Eve, five days in January across two outages, two days in February, one in March, and a late-breaking outage in May, caused by a human driving into a power pole instead of the weather. We even got some snow this year, and for the first time I can remember since I have lived in California, it lasted a day or two. So weird to drive on snow!

I watched some great TV shows this year, including: Daisy Jones & the Six; Your Honor; Poker Face; Florida Man; The Last Thing He Told Me; and Beef. Perry Mason Season 2 and Bosch Legacy Season 2 were also excellent.

I read 124 books this year, beating last year’s 110 and my previous record of 118 in 2010. Standouts included: Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History by Tracy Borman; Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane; The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay; The Forever Witness: How Genetic Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder by Edward Humes; Desert Star by Michael Connelly; and Somebody’s Fool, by Richard Russo.

January: The crappy year started out appropriately crappily, with a power outage and a staggering rent increase. Unhappy New Year to Me! The hits keep coming, with giant storm after giant storm, including one that prevented me from getting home. They inspired me to stay in town for the dreaded monthly board meeting. A delightfully social weekend.

February: Winter was beginning to lose its grip. But it was still chilly. And winter wasn’t done with us yet.

March: Snow gave way to hail. Is there such a thing as torrential hail? The loss of yet another Queen, as Queenie closed her fabulous restaurant. This development did make me up my weekend breakfast game, though. My eggs Benedict and skillets are restaurant-worthy. A terrifying drive home in yet another storm. I never want to hear the words “atmospheric river” again. Celebrating Dad’s 92nd birthday with my family. A break in the seemingly endless storms inspired me to take a drive down the beautiful South Coast.

April: Celebrating some milestones in the middle of the week. A beautiful trip to Anderson Valley. My blog turned 22. Another lovely visit to the Valley.

May: My longtime friend Richard adopted a kitten! It was love at first sight for both of them. And we lost beloved Scout, Jonathan’s adorable mini cat. Truly, this was a year (and month) of loss. Melanie died on a bright, beautiful afternoon, just three weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She left on her own terms, in her own way, and I am thankful for that. We will carry her bright spirit with us always.

June: Jarrett and Kalli got married at the family property. Megan had her surgery. The 13th seemed particularly unlucky this year. Megan started the long (and so far, not all that successful) recovery process. Jonathan and Rio enjoyed their Alaska adventures.

July: The Imperious Empress Audrey turned a less than sweet sixteen. Long may she reign. A heat wave for the long weekend. Visiting the local farmers’ market.

August: Real estate stalking is extremely unwise. Some miscellaneous updates. Missing Dad on the anniversary of his death. Getting my hair cut, and having some fun with Megan.

September: Garden goodness. My annual peach pie. Enjoying the County Fair. Attending a vineyard wedding.

October: A lovely staycation and dinner in town. Kitty updates, and a kitty intruder.

November: Megan’s and my outing did not go as planned. But we still had fun. I missed the annual family cider pressing. Megan and I shared a lovely evening. A quiet Thanksgiving.

December: Getting ready for Christmas. And getting prettier. Attempting to stave off woeful misfortune in 2024. I really, really, really hope it works. A quiet Christmas.

This year, I survived. Next year, I want to live.

It was a quiet Christmas at Chez Suzy this year. After everything that happened this year, I wasn’t feeling particularly festive, despite the sparkling tree and a four day weekend (almost long enough!). I did manage to make a wonderful Christmas dinner, though.

I tried a new recipe for ham. You roast some clementines with the ham for about half an hour, then puree them whole and mix with brown sugar, mustard powder, mustard, and olive oil. You apply this to the ham, which you have studded with cloves, and bake for a couple of hours until the glaze is sticky and fabulous.

I made my annual cheese biscuits to go with the ham:

I learned that you can’t reuse parchment paper. The second batch stuck to the previously enjoyed parchment paper, and the whole point of parchment paper is that it stops things from sticking. Lesson learned on that one.

I also made a salad of bitter greens with roasted pears and a dressing of shallot, honey, cider vinegar, and olive oil:

It was a wonderful mixture of flavors. And just to make things extra festive, my medical provider (and co-worker, and my brother’s girlfriend’s tenant, among other things) made me this beautiful seasonal arrangement:

It even got the Dodge seal of approval. It was nice of her to think of me.

A YEAR AGO: A south coast Christmas.

FIVE YEARS AGO: A chilly and not particularly festive Christmas.

TEN YEARS AGO: A wonderful Christmas.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A merry Christmas.

Solstice on the Ridge

As early as January 3, it was clear to me that 2023 was going to be a hell year, kicking off with a 25% rent increase out of the blue and having to mortgage my shopworn soul to buy a car due to the sudden demise of my earlier car. I had no idea of the nightmares I would be facing as the year progressed (thankfully), but I was already determined to stave off woeful misfortune in 2024 by making and eating dumplings on the Solstice.

I briefly considered making said dumplings the weekend before and eating them on the Solstice, but I decided that might be considered cheating and allow for misfortune to swamp me yet again, so I started the dumpling endeavors after a full day of work, suboptimal conditions for any cooking project. I also toyed with the notion of just making one kind of dumpling, but again feared this as a potential loophole for doom, so I resigned myself to making both har gao:

and chive and pork dumplings:

I also made dipping sauce (3 parts soy sauce, 2 parts mirin, white sugar to taste) and cucumber salad. Why not?

I had the Leafs game on while I cooked, and they lost spectacularly to Buffalo as I mixed, chopped, pleated, and steamed. I am pleased to say that the dumplings turned out well. Dare I hope that this is an auspicious omen for 2024?

A YEAR AGO: Enjoying saeson 3 of Emily in Paris. It’s going to be forever until season 4!

FIVE YEARS AGO: The delights of the Festival of Lights. I missed it this year and last year, a bad habit I need to break.

TEN YEARS AGO: Working hard? Or hardly working?

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Ah, life in Oaktown! That, I do not miss. I do miss my Henry, though.

Little Salon in the Big Woods

It was way back in the long-ago summer that I had my hair cut by the incomparable Angelika. It was in the spring that I had my highlights, so I was overdue for some primping.

I allocated some of my Christmas bonus for beautification, and left work early to head to Angelika’s little salon in the big woods. Getting my hair done is a lengthy process, partly because my hair is lengthy and partly because Angelika takes very small sections of hair for highlights, the secret to it growing out so well that you can get away with getting it highlighted twice a year without looking like you have several inches of dark roots.

It was so great to see Angelika and catch up on her news. Being Angelika and living up to her name, she gave me a bag of Christmas gifts when I left. I felt bad that I didn’t give her a gift, but I hadn’t thought of it and money has been tight since I had to get the new (to me) car and my rent went up by 25%. Sigh. I don’t think she minded, though. The bag is under my tree, waiting for Christmas Day. And in the meantime, I am thankful for the gift of friendship.

A YEAR AGO: Having to get a new car and a new phone did not make me happy. At least they are still both working! So far…

FIVE YEARS AGO: Dodge impersonated Houdini.

TEN YEARS AGO: The twelve dogs of Christmas.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: A Christmas memory.

TWENTY YEARS AGO:

I’ll admit it: I didn’t wait until the first Saturday in December to put up my Christmas tree. I put it up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. At least I didn’t do it the day after Thanksgiving. I just felt in desperate need of need of sparkle and some light in the darkness.

So I plunged into the depths of the Closet of Doom, which, in my current mood of confessing my many sins, is almost certainly never, ever going to be organized.

I managed to extricate the tree and my box of ornaments, and set to work. I applied the lights first, and this turned out to be a good thing, because they had retired at some point between last Christmas and this Thanksgiving, and remained resolutely unlit. I removed the dead lights, buried them unceremoniously in the trash, and headed to the Albion hardware store, where I cornered the market on Christmas lights. I heartlessly bought the last three boxes of lights and headed back home, trying not to snicker Grinchily.

I am pleased to say that the Albion hardware lights worked just fine:

They are LEDs, so I can feel good about them using a little less electricity. It was so fun to rediscover my ornaments, from the plastic snowflakes to the glass icicles to the Eiffel Tower:

and my special ornate S and the Wedgwood acorn:

I put the wreath on the door and I was done! Every day, I am enjoying the beauty and sparkle. I wish the holidays were just a little bit longer. It’s such a magical time of year.

TEN YEARS AGO: A busy day.

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Getting ready for Christmas. I still use that same wreath!