This is my mother-in-law, not my valentine. My valentine is sitting next to her mom out of the photo. This will be the last photo this year of Jutta, because, after 67 days of vacation with us, she is heading back to Frankfurt this Friday. During her stay with us, my mother-in-law walked in the Pacific surf on a blue sky, warm Christmas day in Santa Barbara, on New Years’ morning she watched 35,000 geese simultaneously launch into the sky to go feed. January 12th, she celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in San Francisco and then a week later we hiked the snowy rim of the Grand Canyon. Then it was off to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara again before taking in a weekend in Death Valley. In between, Jutta helped me make homemade mozzarella, pickles, granola, and quite a few home-cooked meals. She missed most of the dreadful gray Frankfurt winter but had her fair share of cold weather in New Mexico and even here in Phoenix which came as a surprise to her. After so many days with the old lady, it is time for her to go, but we will still miss her when she finally does return home.

This will surely be one of my favorite all-time photos of my mother-in-law. Following the Wyld Men show at today’s Renaissance Festival, a muddy Dr. Cranius Lunch gives Jutta a big wet and loving hug. At the Festival, the Wyld Men are our favorite show of gut-busting laughter. A crowd-pleaser for years has been the  Ded Bob show, you owe it to yourself to catch a performance. The Tortuga Twins are better than ever and the Hey Nunnie Nunnie show has been growing on me. First stop this year, like all other years, was at the Turkey Leg stand – yum. We also enjoyed the King’s nuts which were warm and sweet, and the Lusty Wench chocolate-covered strawberries were perky as ever.

My mother-in-law Jutta and my great-aunt Eleanor a.k.a. Auntie spent lunch together today. Cooking was courtesy of myself; we had planned to go out, but my aunt was enjoying the sun on the upstairs balcony and I had some farm-fresh veggies with me that I had picked up earlier in the day, so I got to work in the kitchen and whipped up something for the ladies. Auntie and Jutta shared some purple carrots with a honey-butter glaze, steamed spinach, and broccoli with a squeeze of lemon. For dessert, they had some of my homemade applesauce I had brought over to replenish Auntie’s now-empty bottle. My mom had made Christmas cookies which Jutta found so tasty, I am certain she must have eaten no less than a dozen.