Monday, August 17, 2009

Us 'n' Pickles


Today is our anniversary (#47!) This morning when I read one of the comics I follow, Pickles, I thought "Does Brian Cane, the cartoonist, know us? Has he been listening and following our life?"
Yes, caring (sure, we are,) long-term commitment(47 years,) integrity (yes, we both pride ourselves on our integrity) and togetherness (we have lived in a 36' fifth wheel for 15 years without killing each other!) are key to our long lasting marriage. BUT, for years I've always stated that when it all comes down to it the REAL key to our successful marriage is two TV's!

Pickles...do all of my posts contain a food word? umm.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Biscuit, Potato and Peanuts

Biscuit is Seabiscuit the famous longshot racehorse who won in the "Match of the Century" against War Admiral . He lived out his after racing retirement life at Ridgewood Ranch near Willits, CA and is buried there in a secret location known only to the family. We really enjoyed the movie a few years ago so it was fun to tour and see where he actually lived. We also "met" one of his descendents Sea Bronze.
That's the biscuit, now to the potato:

Next, home for a week was Bodega Bay. When we made a trip to Santa Rosa, (you already know, to buy the Target gift cards) we also did a tour of famed horticulturist Luther Burbank's home. We sorta knew about him, you know in school, but also learned that he was responsible for developing the russet potato so, if you like baked potatoes like I do, you are familiar with his work. A few of his most well-known achievements are the Shasta daisy, the Santa Rosa plum, Fire poppy, a spineless cactus for cattle feed and a white blackberry (not a success-people aren't fond of white blackberry pie!)

Like Seabiscuit, Burbank is also buried in unmarked grave on the grounds of his home.

Peanuts: Santa Rosa, CA was the home of cartoonist and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and is the home of his museum. From a distance this wall art is just that, art. Walk up closer and you see that it is an arrangement of his Peanuts strips!
On the grounds of the museum is a beautiful ice rink...Sparky, as he was called, did not forget his Minnesota roots. The U.S. Senior Ice Hockey Championships are held at the rink.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

My tale of woe...


We drove from Bodega Bay over to Target in Santa Rosa yesterday to buy back to school shopping gift cards for the "little ones" in Fresno. Well, I lost them! Must have been in the parking lot because when I called Target to see if I could cancel and have them re-issued, all three had already been totally spent. I purchased them at 3:54 and they were spent at 4:15! Boy, whoever found them knew to use them immediately didn't they? Just hope it was someone who really could be helped by finding $75!

Another time I had a tale of woe (three fairly expensive bottles of wine fell out of the truck at the corner of Del Monte Avenue and Alvarado Street in Monterey.) I was moaning and groaning to the guy at the wine shop where I went to replace them. (Was buying them for a gift basket for our niece.) He dispensed excellent advice: Get over it lady!

So, here we are getting over it: the lose of $75!