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“these are a few of my favorite things”... ...kids, grandkids, a simple life, our church, genealogy, gardening, antiquing, crocheting, quilting/sewing, reading,canning/cooking, music....I can't decide!
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Completing the catch up...
As I type tonight, hubby is starting the first fire of the cold season. We had nearly freezing temps last night and we expect the first hard freeze tonight, we picked the last of the green beans, tomatoes and strawberries this week in anticipation. It is time for soups and stews and chili!!
After our trip to California for the wedding and our visit with son and daughter in law, my friend Anita and I had planned a trip to CA for over a year (son and wedding were a late addition to our calendar this year!) she had a family reunion to attend and one of her long time friend's daughter's wedding. She doesn't like to drive the whole way alone and I do like to drive and she stays at my moms house with me, uses it as a base of operations and a good time is had by all!
I got a whole extra week with the adorable Lily! It really was nice to have enough time that she got used to me and was very comfortable playing with the 'other' Grandma that she doesn't see very often.
You can see my mother in the back ground with her sling, she had rotator cuff surgery 2 weeks prior and was/is still in a sling. It was also nice for me to be able to do a few things for her while we were there, so I felt a little better about not being able to just pop over when she needs a hand, (which doesn't happen very often!)
Don't know what they are but we got the picture on one of our walks downtown Exeter to see the new mural, just so unusual looking.
This bird of paradise was at the coast, we appreciated the flowers in California, knowing we were going to come home to fall/winter and pretty leaves but no flowers!
We went to the coast at Pismo/Avila for two days and one night. Our first day there we had beautiful weather, warm but not hot and the ocean breeze. These birds were waiting for the fishermen cleaning their catch to throw them the 'yucky bits'. They seemed to eat pretty well
There were several seals playing and swimming along the pier.
Just a perfect day!!!
We also went to see the 'Great American Melodrama' and laughed a lot! What a fun evening!
On the way home we stopped at the 'Jack Ranch Cafe' and saw the memorial
to James Dean who's car accident happened just up the road. (and of
course we used the bathrooms - it was, after all, 3 women traveling
together!)
This is the quintessential California to me - live oaks and dead grass! Californians will tell you it is the 'golden hills'!
We took a side road through Parkfield which bills itself as the earthquake capitol of the world. It is on the San Andreas fault line and the sign on the bridge says "you are now entering the North American Plate" from the Pacific Plate. They have a 6 or greater earthquake every 22 years and it is the most observed seismic area in the world. The piers on the bridge have moved 5 feet apart since it was built in 1936 due to the creep of the plates! We decided to take the road north to Coalinga and ended up on a winding, turning, single lane, dirt/rock road that had phenomenal views and made us doubt now and then that we were on a regular road! We kind of thought maybe we missed a turn!
On the way to California and the way home we spent the night in Reno Nevada and made small contributions to the state in the form of penny and nickel slot machines! We had a very good time, we are already planning the trip next year!
Need to get busy now - Christmas is 50 days away!!!
After our trip to California for the wedding and our visit with son and daughter in law, my friend Anita and I had planned a trip to CA for over a year (son and wedding were a late addition to our calendar this year!) she had a family reunion to attend and one of her long time friend's daughter's wedding. She doesn't like to drive the whole way alone and I do like to drive and she stays at my moms house with me, uses it as a base of operations and a good time is had by all!
You can see my mother in the back ground with her sling, she had rotator cuff surgery 2 weeks prior and was/is still in a sling. It was also nice for me to be able to do a few things for her while we were there, so I felt a little better about not being able to just pop over when she needs a hand, (which doesn't happen very often!)
Don't know what they are but we got the picture on one of our walks downtown Exeter to see the new mural, just so unusual looking.
 |
| This was the new mural - fruit packing labels! |
This bird of paradise was at the coast, we appreciated the flowers in California, knowing we were going to come home to fall/winter and pretty leaves but no flowers!
We went to the coast at Pismo/Avila for two days and one night. Our first day there we had beautiful weather, warm but not hot and the ocean breeze. These birds were waiting for the fishermen cleaning their catch to throw them the 'yucky bits'. They seemed to eat pretty well
There were several seals playing and swimming along the pier.
Just a perfect day!!!
On the way home we stopped at the 'Jack Ranch Cafe' and saw the memorial
to James Dean who's car accident happened just up the road. (and of
course we used the bathrooms - it was, after all, 3 women traveling
together!)
This is the quintessential California to me - live oaks and dead grass! Californians will tell you it is the 'golden hills'!
 |
| You are looking west at the Coastal range |
 | ||||
| This was the top of the pass!! |
Need to get busy now - Christmas is 50 days away!!!
Monday, October 26, 2015
Yikes! Time does fly!
It doesn't seem that long since I posted but it is almost 2 months! While we have been busy there really is no excuse, I just lost track of time....oh well.
At last post Mom and Aunt Evelyn were headed off
into the wild and Hubby and I had two weeks to get ready for the trip to California for the wedding ceremony of our middle son. We were a week away from leaving and I was walking very purposefully across the living room and got my slipper tangled in the rug and fell full force on my right knee. After some rolling on the floor and moaning, I got up and it seemed that nothing was broken - just sore. A couple of days later it looked like this! The doctor took x-rays and nothing is broken but I apparently broke a blood vessel or two! Good thing I was making a mid-calf length dress for the wedding - yes? Even now after all this time I still have sore spots, I think I used to heal faster!
The wedding was beautiful and Niel and Esperanza are a lovely couple. We got to meet her family at the rehearsal dinner at my mothers house and the girls did their makeup and got dressed in Moms extra bedroom the morning of the ceremony. They took pictures in one of the many mural parks in Exeter, and had the ceremony in the church her family attends.
Esperanza did a lovely job decorating the tables with old canning jars, burlap, lace, mismatched teacups with faux pearls and fresh flowers! It was just beautiful!
They had paid for the wedding and didn't have a lot of money left over for a honeymoon trip - so we brought them home with us for nine days. We went to the local Octoberfest celebration, complete with cheesy hats!.....
We took them to the mountains for hiking fun......
(They hiked - hubby and I went to the local mountain cafe, ate lunch and watched the scenery! Remember the knee injury!)
We let them pitch a tent in the back yard so they could 'camp' and still have indoor plumbing. (it was so cold - think they had several layers of blankets!)
Ahh...to be young and in love!!!
(this did not even look inviting to us but they thought it was grand fun!)
Niel helped his dad trim the huge old apple tree that was hanging over the fence into the neighbors yard .....
Esperanza helped with trying to finish up the gardening season. (we ate some beans and froze some, and made homemade noodles and chicken noodle soup from scratch)
And we did several short sightseeing trips to see things like the state capitol building, and of course some of our favorite restaurants!
We think they had a good time and we enjoyed getting to know our newest daughter in law. We paid for bus fare home - and they were gone. The house was empty and quiet and we were only a little lonely. My mother used to say "glad to see you get here, glad to see you leave!" and now I know what she meant!
Of course I haven't written anything about seeing Miss Lily or the second trip to California with my friend. That will have to wait till the next post (hopefully not as long as the wait for this one!)
At last post Mom and Aunt Evelyn were headed off
The wedding was beautiful and Niel and Esperanza are a lovely couple. We got to meet her family at the rehearsal dinner at my mothers house and the girls did their makeup and got dressed in Moms extra bedroom the morning of the ceremony. They took pictures in one of the many mural parks in Exeter, and had the ceremony in the church her family attends.
Esperanza did a lovely job decorating the tables with old canning jars, burlap, lace, mismatched teacups with faux pearls and fresh flowers! It was just beautiful!
They had paid for the wedding and didn't have a lot of money left over for a honeymoon trip - so we brought them home with us for nine days. We went to the local Octoberfest celebration, complete with cheesy hats!.....
We took them to the mountains for hiking fun......
(They hiked - hubby and I went to the local mountain cafe, ate lunch and watched the scenery! Remember the knee injury!)
We let them pitch a tent in the back yard so they could 'camp' and still have indoor plumbing. (it was so cold - think they had several layers of blankets!)
Ahh...to be young and in love!!!
(this did not even look inviting to us but they thought it was grand fun!)
Niel helped his dad trim the huge old apple tree that was hanging over the fence into the neighbors yard .....
Esperanza helped with trying to finish up the gardening season. (we ate some beans and froze some, and made homemade noodles and chicken noodle soup from scratch)
And we did several short sightseeing trips to see things like the state capitol building, and of course some of our favorite restaurants!
We think they had a good time and we enjoyed getting to know our newest daughter in law. We paid for bus fare home - and they were gone. The house was empty and quiet and we were only a little lonely. My mother used to say "glad to see you get here, glad to see you leave!" and now I know what she meant!
Of course I haven't written anything about seeing Miss Lily or the second trip to California with my friend. That will have to wait till the next post (hopefully not as long as the wait for this one!)
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