Monday, December 21, 2020

It's beginning to look a lot like....

 The Juvat Clan is almost completely rejoined from various points around the Globe.  MBD will be joining us sometime this afternoon after she picks up Tallulah (her Goldendoodle) from the breeder.  Once this litter is delivered, Tallulah will be theirs with no further requirements.  SIL will be joining us Christmas Eve, because his employer (Scrooge, I believe) has him scheduled until then.

Little Juvat and DIL arrived safely late Wednesday night, thanks to some heads up work by the United Ticket agent in Kuwait.  They had been booked from Kuwait, to Frankfurt, to Dulles, to Austin.  However, the flights to and from Dulles had been cancelled due to snow.  The ticket agent informed them of that and they were able to reroute their Frankfurt departure to Chicago and then to Austin.  Unfortunately, others checking in with different agents didn't find out that Dulles was closed until arrival in Frankfurt, at which point all the flights to alternate airports were booked.

So, the Big Guy was looking out for the clan.  Since they'd been traveling for 24+ and didn't arrive until 2245 (10:45PM for mere mortals), we had agreed that an evening in the 12th AF HQ building on Bergstrom AFB, built in the mid-70's by Little J's Grandfather, was a wise idea.  (It's currently decked out in a Hilton Hotel uniform.)

Dad was the Red Horse Engineering Squadron Commander at the time.  Red Horse is an Acronym (of course) and I don't recall what it stood for.
Source


 

We picked them up the next morning.  I was impressed.  They made it to almost 8PM that evening before crashing and burning.

But, they have had a few days now to rest, they seem to be regaining airspeed.

Mrs J and I have been busy, as I mentioned last week, and the house is looking pretty Christmas-y.  The old Christmas tree was, indeed, skunkified beyond recovery, but the new tree fits the new house's high ceilings quite well.

Our guest house is fully booked through the Holidays (yes, Beans, with paying guests). So we decided to also make it fit the season.

I actually took this photo of the master bedroom to inform Mrs J that we were ready for our guests and that I had made the bed.  She was in town and the guests had called asking for an early check-in.  The scramble klaxon was sounded and the alert bird scrambled.  I walked out the door as they drove up.

So, despite that short bit of excitement, it's pretty quiet around Casa Juvat.



The sentries are alternating watch/nap duties.

Mrs Little Juvat is recovering from Steak and Egg Burrito breakfast catching up with her friends.

Later this afternoon, they scheduled some "action" activities.


Hey, they had a long trip after a rough year, they have parental permission to chill for as long as they want. So there!

Had a pretty spectacular thunderstorm night before last,  the steel roof sheds a LOT of water.  I'm glad I put downspout extensions on so the water was moved a few feet away from the house.  However, putting the dogs out to do their "business", resulted in foot baths upon re-entry. The ground around the house hasn't completely re-compacted after construction so even a little water turns it pretty muddy.  

Life in the country!


As the saying goes in Texas, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes it'll change."  Yes, Beans, upon uploading the picture and noticing the dangling garland, I'm pulling out the ladder (Again!) and fixing it.  But, at least the lights work now.

So...I know this isn't a deep philosophical/political/other, posting, however, it's the Christmas season and my Family is back together.


Much like this two week old jalapeno plant, time flies and they grow fast.  I'm going to post this and go be with them.

Y'all have a wonderful Holiday Season and  Merry Christmas!

46 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Scott, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you also!

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  2. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
    Frank

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    1. Thanks Frank, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also.

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  3. Merry Christmas to you and your assembled clan! And I kinda miss that quick change weather. Blue northers would usually get pretty exciting! as long as they weren't accompanied by lotsa large hail and/or tornadoes!

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    1. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you also, Tom. Yeah, the metal roof is supposed to be hail proof, but I don't feel it's necessary to prove that. Tornadoes are comparatively rare around here, although they do occur. Now, up in STxAR and my old stomping ground (AKA Lubbock) that's not the case. While there were a lot of aspects of the High Plains that I liked, Tornadoes weren't among them.

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    2. Yeah I know what you mean - Dad was from Wichita Falls, lots of hail and tornadoes regularly up that way...

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    3. DIL is also from Wichita Falls, she's not easily fazed by bad weather either.

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  4. Merry Christmas und Fröhliche Weihnachten!

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    1. Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr auch für Sie, Boron

      (Google translate is a wonderful thing ;-) )

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  5. Happy Christmas, neighbor. Enjoy the family. That hanging garland shot reminds me of LBB. That color of grass, tree and sky are so familiar. Makes me pine for my people. That land only exists in memory now.

    May God bless us... everyone.

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    1. Thanks STxAR, Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year to you and yours also. You're right about the colors, not so sure about the terrain though. I remember taking Mrs J to a Tech game when we first got back to TX. Driving north out of Big Spring after dark with an overcast. Mrs J asked where those lights reflecting off the cloud were from. I responded "Lubbock". "Oh, so we're almost there?" "Yeah, about and hour and a half or so"

      That having been said...I only have fond memories of that area.

      I agree, God, please bless us. We're going to need it.

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    2. Those trees remind me of LBB, and that Christmas song.... "and a cartridge in a bare tree..." I remember the glow on the clouds, too. I'm a bit more maudlin than normal this year....

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    3. Well...it's been a tough year all round. And you've had a bit of individual bad luck thrown on top of the general crappy events, so a little maudlin is to be expected. But...only a little. Never Give Up, Never Surrender! You need to watch that movie. It'll cheer you up.

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  6. Nice work on the mantle there.....the sentries do have choice perches eh? Indeed, Merry Christmas to you and all of yours juvat.

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    1. Thanks, Nylon. Can't claim any credit for the mantle. That was solely Mrs J. I'm the muscle. "juvat, bring me the Candle holder...No, not that one, the one over there!
      "Yes, Dear"

      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours Nylon.

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  7. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

    A Very Merry and Blessed Christmas to the massed pipes and drums of Clan Juvat!

    (What? No pipes and drums?)

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    1. Have you made the trip South, yet? If not, I think the "lot like Christmas" will become more concrete when complete.

      A very Merry and Blessed Christmas, as well as a Much Happier New Year's to Sarge's Clan, also.

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  8. I am very grateful and glad that everything is well at An Taigh Juvat and that Little J and his wife are safely back home (trying to get our oldest, Nighean Gheal, back from Europe at the height of The Plague was a little more worrisome and concerning than I typically enjoy). Hope you (and they) enjoy a well earned Christmas break.

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    1. Given the past tense of the verb in the description of your son's travails, I'm assuming that the travel travails are over. If so, I know how you feel. If not, I know how you feel and will add your family to the prayer list.

      Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours also, THBB.

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    2. Thank you Juvat. It was actually my daughter (Nighean is the Gaelic word), and this was in the March/April timeline. She was literally skittering across Europe as things slowly shut down, She got out of the UK only a few days before they shutdown as well.

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    3. Oops, sorry about that. My daughter had a somewhat similar experience in her "Study Abroad" time in Senegal. I didn't stop worrying until she and her study partner rendezvoused with her partner's parents in Rome. Fortunately, this was pre-WuFlu, so Rome was comparatively safe back then. But I recognize the feeling.

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  9. "The ground around the house hasn't completely re-compacted after construction so even a little water turns it pretty muddy."

    Moats are also excellent drainage ditches. Just sayin...

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    1. Stefan,
      I have a question. Are you a Moat Salesman? or Perhaps in the Moat construction business?

      :-)

      Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours, Stefan.

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    2. Dear Raconteurs,

      No, I don't sell them, and certainly don't stoop to digging them anymore, but as Founding President of the Voluntary and Obscure Moat Appreciation Fraternity, I would disappoint the Membership and do gross disservice to the Craft if I neglected promoting the virtues of them, even if only to those fortunate few with the opportunity of the pleasure and security of Moat Ownership.

      Thanks for the rousing tales so artfully written, and for sharing your journeys. I wish you all a safe and happy time together and apart, during this Merry Christmas and in the Happy New Year, regardless of how doolally the world is getting.

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    3. Stefan,
      Nice Comeback. Well done! :-)

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  10. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, Juavat! Err, on second thought, it all looks just Tooooo damn cozy. Bah Humbug! :)

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    1. Moar covfefe!, can't even spell Juvat correctly tis AM.. :)

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    2. VX,

      I gotta ask Is Virgil Xenophon Cajun for Ebenezer Scrooge? Asking for a friend.

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    3. On a similar note, I thought JUAVAT was just a phonetic spelling of my callsign in Cajun. Zwa' vet sounds pretty suave and deboner to me!

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    4. I had no ideer you were a de-boner. I could've used you when a couple days after Thanksgiving.

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    5. Well, boiling the turkey and making broth ARE my Thanksgiving Friday Chores.

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  11. The Christmas quilt in the photo looks awesome, and the same describes all the decorations.

    The ground in Philly is still laden with a thick coat of snow, and viewing that through the window while holding a hot beverage is the best way to enjoy the scenery.

    Have a great Christmas.





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    1. The Casseta looks very nice this time of year, but that's all Mrs J's doing. I'm just the muscle. It's taken a while, but I can make a bed now with the best of them.

      Viewing snow through a window while holding a hot beverage was my strategy for surviving my time in Korea. Now, my winter prayer is "A couple of days below freezing to kill off the bugs then back into the 60's please, Lord".

      Thanks, have a Great and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year also, John.

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  12. There is a certain wonderful safety having one's loved ones home from foreign lands, even though it sometimes seems like enemy action during the process of getting them home.

    I would expect sub-clan Little Juvat to be wasted for several days after their ordeal of traveling, lockdowning, thising and thating. And they didn't have to try to fly into or out of the UK, which would have resulted in more lockdowning.

    The tree looks very nice there. And glad the new tree is not the old tree. Actually I am sure you are far more glad the old tree is no more.

    Any update on Der Skunk?

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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    1. You're right about that. They're somewhat like kids in a candy store right now. DIL has gone with me to the Grocery Store every time I've gone since they arrived. I think she's amassing a very large goody box to mail back.

      Interesting you should mention the UK. Kuwait did the exact same thing. Little J was informed that travel to and from is blocked until Jan 1. He's not due back til the 5th, but I wouldn't bet that the Jan 1 re-opening is all that solid.

      Haven't seen (or more importantly smelled) hide nor hair of him since the episode. Checked out the storage closet day before yesterday. I can tolerate about 5 minutes in it and then have to leave. But it is getting better. This has been a pretty good indication of whether or not stuff in that storage is "essential to Keep". There might be some, but ruthless will likely be the word of the day soon.

      Thanks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you and Mrs Andrew also.

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  13. Finding myself and Jeanie in Kalifornia, under most severe lockdown, I have opened up the laptop to wish all here and there a most-merry, Christ-filled Christmas time! Life here is only sort of like being in California. Enough said. The kids can't wait to move to FL, but I don't think I'll see the day. All the event OPS have been published and most are happy with assignments. Daughter Noelle, whose birthday is shared with the Lord, will again feel somewhat secondary, forgetting we had a great birthday celebration for her on 25 June. All's good with the kids. The vinyard came up with at least a case of Pinot for the first time (lavernevinyards.com), Chris' lady got a new job with Apple (goodness, they seemed to have sent her almost one of everything they make for her stay-at-home office). Middle son has somehow taken up cooking and wants a Wustoff chef's knife for Christmas. None of us can figure this out, since he couldn't boil water up until WuHan began. Daughter (qv, above) busy with 13 year old girl daughter and 11 year old pro sports enthusiast, who shares a total mindset about such things with father.
    I yield my remaining time to the President, who may need it.

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    1. Unabashed commercialism here, need to add an "e" to the url. Vineyards. Oh well, they can't sell any of it anyway.

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    2. Sounds like WuFlu be damned with you guys. Well Done. As to your Son's cooking skills, amazing what a little extra time can do for your skill set.

      Let's hope the President uses it wisely.

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    3. Nice Website BTW. I subscribed. Looking forward to being able to visit, taste and most important...Buy!

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  14. Merry Christmas to you and yours! - Barry

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    1. Barry, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours also!

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  15. Great news, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the clan!

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    1. Thanks, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your gang.

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  16. Merry Christmas, Juvat! And may your 2021 be nothing like this year!

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    1. Thanks, Proof. Ain't it a shame that that wish is a good one? But I agree with the sentiment.

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