My youngest brother is bringing his family for a short visit to show off his new granddaughter. He is absolutely Stupid over that kid (there will be no children here so I will Never be afflicted with such insanity).

He and I get along best even though 9 years separate us. (After me our mother gave it up as a bad idea.) We haven't seen each other in 3 years. None of my other brothers have ever come to visit.

In honor of the occasion I have ordered up the very best weather California can provide; sunny skies, gentle breezes, temps in the 70sF. Recent rains have given us green prairies and foothills.

But best of all, the Almonds are in full bloom! The valley is a sea of white, the air smells like honey, and is filled with the sound if a Bazillion busy BEEEEZZZZZ!!

Of course we'll simply Have to take Nix and go to lunch! They'll all fit even if some of them have to ride in the trunk!

(';')

 

Sounds wonderful


Cheers
DD

 

Oops, you didn't cover your rego plate this time.
Enjoy the visitors, always good to catch up with family.

 

IT IS!!
DRAT!
Thank you, Clarke.
(';')

 

Nix looks so, clean, shiny, happy! I am jealous.... in a nice way, of course.

 

I, and I guess most Brits are truly JEALOUS of your weather. Roll on spring!

 

I guess I'm very lucky since my brother and I are both into cars as a hobby. Altho, we started off, both of us having 65/66 Mustangs in high school, he went off, got married and did the whole family/minivan thing for 20 years. Its only the last 8 years since he came into some cash from a company buyout that he decided he wanted to get back into the car hobby. He suggested it would be cool if we both had the same kind of car and could do stuff together. I had remained single and played with Toyota Supras through the 90s and early 2000s but I couldn't get him interested in those. We first tracked down his old 65 fastback, gone since 82, but the owner wouldn't sell it. If he couldn't have his original back, then he wanted something else. We both loved the C3 Corvette. Our next door neighbor when we were kids had a blue 77 which was etched in our memories. So we each bought a vintage Corvette and get together most every weekend to either work on them or go to a car show. Maybe your brother will catch the Jaguar bug.

 

Thank you, Guys,
Yes, Lagonia, Nix is a happy car. I try to keep her that way by keeping her clean and well fed as all kitties require to thrive. She rewards my attention with Excellent performance and economy (considering how I drive), corners like she's on rails, stops on a dime and purrs for company.

littlelic69: We actually had close to a normal winter this year and it took an El Nino to do it. Large parts of the state are still critically dry, but short of some miracle our major rain is finished. Be patient, we'll send Spring to you as soon as we're finished with it.

pdupler: None of my brothers have moved farther than 2 miles from the house where we grew up. I'm the only one who Left Home.

Our oldest brother is the car guy. It started in junior high school when he was allowed to choose and order the engine in the new family station wagon. (You Know it wasn't a 6-banger but the hottest V8 of the time!) In high school he was racing on the local roads, "graduated" to 1/8 mile drags and finally to tractor pulls. In college he overhauled Daddy's tractor; it's still running well to this day. I learned quite a lot of what I know about cars from watching him and ignoring his, "would you just go away!?".

Our second brother is an archeologist working for Big Oil, BLM and BIA. He doesn't work on his own cars, just buys another one when they wear out; drags the old ones out back.

Our third brother died in a farming accident in 1989 leaving behind a Devastated family and an infant son. (Our mother has never really recovered.) He was Very good with farm machinery.

That leaves my youngest brother, who has had a hard time finding his niche in life. He's done a bit of everything, stuck to nothing for more than 2 years, except for 12 years in the US Army where he made Master Sgt. He is Not a car guy, knows nothing about cars, doesn't even change his own oil. He's never seen Nix, it will be interesting to know what he thinks of her.
(';')

 

Ouch, a very inadequate word for losing a brother.


In about the 60's, we lived and worked in CA's Imperial Valley.
All things related to farms.


I met a tough young guy. a serious farm injury left him with major
physical issues. But, he coped. a young daughter. Mama fled. But, great family, sans a Dad backed him. Master of "T" Fords. Three perfectly restored!!! A "Doctor's", coupe, a three door sedan and a T dump truck!!! His daughter and mine participated in the local Carrot
carnival parade. He chose the dump in odd costume. Fun for all.


The next year, my kids rode in my "speedster". Lotta stuff from his
junk made that car!!!


Big jump. His Buick V8 powered Sand buggy!!!


Larger. Fixed, sorta, a Jaguar XKJ 120 with a "horribly" damaged
bore.... I was amazed, all said it would smoke and miss. Wrong, it ran great, little if any smoke!!!


Carl

 

Elinor, nice to hear about your family......great catching up with them all from time to time, I have four sisters and their children and grandchildren make for a huge get together......enjoy your brothers visit.

This was Christmas Day at my place...!

 

The ooohs and aaahs when family come visiting, and you pick em up in a classic Jag is very rewarding. Nix looks wonderful in that pic

 

From niece, Absolute Shrieks of delight at seeing a shiny old Black car. I was so proud of Nix, she stretched in her most showy manner and purrrrrrred.


Niece wanted to sit in the driver seat, Sure! I could see she was picturing herself on the open road in control of the car. She declined my offer to let her drive but I could see it took all her will power to say no.

We Definitely share DNA, specifically, the Driving Gene!

OK so you probably all want to know about the kid. She's 17 months old, a 'happy' baby even though she was cutting back teeth. She's just beginning to be a person. When they first arrived her bright eyes took in All her new surroundings. Mom tried to get her to sleep but Naa, she might miss something interesting! Stayed awake the whole time.

At lunch she was still a little hesitant but that didn't last very long when food appeared. She eats regular people food. She likes bananas and chicken garlic pizza, washed down with chocolate milk. And she drinks from a glass! My kind of girl! (No, I don't want one, and it wouldn't matter if I did, so it's just as well I don't.)

We had a very nice visit, caught up on all the family gossip, went next door to see the horses (which are in horsey jail because they broke down all their fences over winter) and saw the dog.

It's kind of nice to have neighbors who own these animals, I can go over to play with them and spoil them, and then I can go home. No feeding the dog or shoveling horse poop.

Then we came back here for dessert.

They were only here for the day, niece had flown to California to visit her mother (brother's ex) who lives a couple hundred miles away (that's plenty close enough!) and brother grabbed the excuse to kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak, spend time with his granddaughter and us too. About 4pm little girl was getting crabby and they had to get on their way.

It was a Gloriously beautiful day, not only the weather but the visit. Yes, and a good time was had by all, and Nix made me proud.
(';')

 

Elinor, Good to hear you had a great day catching up with your brother.

Jim, that sounds a bit like my family. Mum comes from a stock of 13 siblings, makes for lots of cousins. I have 6 siblings,all with children and most with grand children. Nieces and nepthews nearly my age.
My kids are the youngest of Mum and Dad's grandchildren. Makes for interesting times when we get together. Usually in Melbourne.