A tale of shoes. . .

Last Saturday Gary and I went up to the Gilroy Skechers outlet store and bought each of us a pair of Skechers (he needed them, I wanted them.)  We happened to see Jorden’s favorite, a Van’s shoe store, and, since his were looking really sorry Gary went in and bought two pair, one on sale and the second pair at half price!  Such a deal!

Jorden was visiting the Fresno Five (that’s what we call Russ & Denise and their three) and when Russ heard about the shoe purchase he said, Hey, there’s another grandson who really needs shoes!  Jorden said Will’s pinky toe is sticking out of his shoe.

So Papa and I headed over to Famous Footwear to buy some shoes for Will . . .something neon was the request.  Oh my, there were a lot to choose from! Which would he like?  We narrowed it down to three and sent IPhone pictures:

Did Will chose this one OR. . .

This one OR. . .

This one?

He chose the first one.  In his words he loved the first one!  (Interesting ‘cause that’s the one we were going to buy if we couldn’t reach him for a decision!)

Mission accomplished but wait---we can’t send a box to Will and not include Stanley and Mary even if they don’t need shoes!  So, it’s over to Old Navy where we pick a cute pink ruffled top for Mary and a cool T-shirt for Stanley.

Box in the mail yesterday!  Mission now accomplished!

The four best grandchildren fresh out of the pool:

And that is the tale of how the purchase of a pair of shoes turned into the purchase of five pairs of shoes, one ruffled top and one T-shirt!

Life is good!!

To everything there is a season. . .

and a time to every purpose under heaven;

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to get, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

I have always liked these eight verses from Ecclesiastes;  have no clue why I relate them to Spring and Easter but I do.  Recently I was reminded of them when the monk Athelstan recited them during a battle scene on History Channel’s The Vikings series.  He seemed to be praying the verses as spears, swords and axes were flying around his head in a very violent conflict. That sure doesn’t relate to Spring and Easter does it?

Some Spring indications around here:

Narcissus from my yard.

Not sure, but these may be orchids!  Vivian plopped this pot in my yard about a year or so ago, no blooms until last week when these beauty’s emerged!

Wild flowers from here at Laguna Seca.  They are very tiny and only bloom for a few weeks in Spring.

 Buttercups. (I only know this because of a newspaper article in our Herald newspaper last week.)

Aren’t these little violet wildflowers cute?

 

 A field of yellow wildflowers with Coast Oaks in the background.

Again, as I reread the “For everything there is a season. . .” verse I still wonder why I associate it with the Spring season but I do, so I guess that’s that!

Happy Spring to you.

NOTE:  The big mower here at Laguna Seca just came by and mowed down all of the pretty wild flowers (and the weeds that were overpowering them!) Good thing I took these pics a few days ago!

Let’s eat some thistles!

Time for fresh artichokes. . .actually we have access to fresh artichokes year-round since Monterey County grows pretty much all of those grown in the United States but they do seem to taste better during the peak season of March to May.

Can you spot the artichokes in this field?

On Tuesday we stopped by our favorite place, Pezzini Farms, and bought one for each of us.  They were so good and fresh!

In fact they were so tasty and tender that yesterday we took a side trip while running errands and bought a bag of six---$8.00 for what they call baby artichokes.

There are many methods for cooking these thistles but I’m a purist:  Cut the stem off, then slice off the top, rinse in cold water, place in a covered container and microwave about 8 minutes (for two.) They’re ready when the leaves easily pull off.  We eat ours with melted butter. And, the heart is absolutely wonderful!

In the event I don’t have fresh artichokes, there is always a jar of marinated in my refrigerator!

Artichokes. . .a sign of Spring!

Another sign of Spring:  I’ve never seen a Hooded Oriole here at Laguna Seca but yesterday one flew in and had a drink of water from my fountain! (I’m sure glad our cat Inky wasn’t here!  He is the great bird hunter!)

HAPPY WEEKEND. . .

Blogging Tips from the Pioneer Woman

I have become a fan of The Pioneer Woman on Food Network.  (No, I really don’t cook that much but I love her program.)  Ree Drummond is pretty much a super woman: has a TV show, blogs, writes cookbooks plus two books about her dog Charlie, is married to a cowboy she calls Marlboro Man, has four cute kids that she homeschools, does photography, helps run a cattle ranch just to name a few!

SO, to move on to the subject of my blog today:  her post Ten Important Things I’ve Learned about Blogging.  Her ten points are good but number two is what I struggle with most:

2. Blog often.

Whether you write a sixteen-paragraph essay about the cosmic implications of a free market system, a one-paragraph description of what happens to your soul when you walk into your godforsaken laundry room, or a simple photo and caption, consider your blog a precious bloom that requires daily nurturing.

And watering.

If you water a plant once every two weeks, it will shrivel.

So true so I have resolved to work on blogging often!  If Ree, with her show, kids, cowboy husband, ranch etc. then I, with my full-time RVer traveling, my Raider fan husband, and my fun retirement position at Laguna Seca raceway should be able to do better.

 

I’m blogging as I monitor the decibel levels of the cars on the racetrack!

 

I will nurture my precious bloom!

Which brother?

A daily feature on my Nook E Reader is Steve King’s Daybook.  Professor King’s topic today was Counting Kerouac.  He references Jack Kerouac’s The Town and City which was published in 1950, several years prior to On The Road.   

While I haven’t read The Town and the City I was struck by the paths referred to by Professor King and think that these three pretty much categorize the paths of almost everyone.

One brother chooses town (to be a farmer near home),

one brother chooses city (to be a Sorbonne student)

and one brother…was on the road again, traveling the continent westward, going off to further and further years, alone by the waters of life, alone, looking towards the lights of the river’s cape, toward tapers burning warmly in the towns, looking down along the shore in remembrance of the dearness of his father and of all life…he put up the collar of his jacket, and bowed his head, and hurried along.

I have friends and family who have chosen to live their lives very close to where they were born.  I have friends and family who chose to leave (many as soon as possible after high school) to the city and/or university and, then there are those who take to the road like the third brother. 

I grew up in one house, attended grade school, junior high and high school on the same block, went across town to college in my home town. . . so I must be the “chooses town” sibling, right?

Then, I married a California guy, moved to the Los Angeles area in California,  had a family, career, finished my Bachelor’s degree. . .so, I must be the “chooses city” sibling, right?

Don’t think so. . .even before we went on the road as full-time RVers we were off traveling every chance we got.  One of my three, maybe Russ, once said that we “dragged them all over this country when we were growing up.”  Since going on the road full time nineteen years ago we have “traveled the continent” to all 50 states, Canada and even a bit into Mexico.

My 5th wheel home at home on the Mississippi River.

I love to “put up the collar of my jacket, bow my head, and hurry along”. . .the third sibling I am!

Which are you?

Cutting edge technology in our home. . .surprise surprise!

By any stretch of the imagination I did not grow up in an upscale part of Minot.  Our house was not a traditional one-family home;  but rather a rooming house consisting of six rental rooms in the basement and a main floor divided into four two-room apartments.  The apartment we lived in consisted of two apartments which had been joined. The tenants of this rooming house were often questionable characters as was the neighborhood.  Behind and beside our house was another large unpainted gray rooming house which rented to even more questionable tenants and where there were often drunken brawls and gunshots!  At one end of our 1st Avenue there was a neighborhood bar, the Corner Bar and down cross-street 6th Street were two more neighborhood bars, the Eagles Tavern and the Liberty Tavern all of which were frequented by pretty rough customers.  All in all it was a dubiously colorful neighborhood.

Not surprisingly our home was most definitely not equipped with the latest of modern conveniences. So several months ago when I read in Real Simple magazine that Frigidaire was the first to come out with a two door refrigerator/freezer in the early 1950’s I was pretty excited.  Hey, that’s our refrigerator! We had cutting edge technology!

1950’s era magazine advertisements for the new Frigidaire. Aluminum must have been a big deal at the time.  The ad boasts of aluminum shelves, aluminum ice trays, aluminum butter conditioner (I wonder what that was?), aluminum utility basket and dessert tray, aluminum section liner.

 The aluminum ice cube tray.

My Dad was a truck driver for Dakota Transfer and jumped at the chance to buy the Frigidaire which it had been damaged at the yard. Mom and Dad didn’t think anything of the damage which was a small not readily visible dent at the right rear.  My older brother tells me that he paid about $250 which, even at half price, was a whopping amount of money in those days. Before the Frigidaire we had an ice box so this modern marvel was also our family’s first electric refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom, looking very stylish and ready for a Saturday night out, posing in front of the prized Frigidaire.  Hey, I think that’s a Toastmaster toaster on the little table beside the Frigidaire, pretty modern!  (I’m guessing that it was “purchased” with either Gold Bond or Green Stamps)

Do you remember Gold Bond and S&H Green stamps? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a young married in the 60’s I remember saving stamps to buy lamps for our first home. I think the lamp “cost” one book of stamps.  That’s Gary with our new son Gary.

While I’m time traveling in technology I just have to share this picture of the Sylvania Halolight television which my Aunt Genevieve and Uncle Tony had in their home.  I was not only in awe of the TV since we didn’t have a television but oh so fascinated by that white light.  I wonder what the thought Sylvania had when they produced a TV with a bright fluorescent white light surrounding the TV screen? 

OK, back to 2013. . .and my four door refrigerator and HD TV.

I forgot what I did!

I forgot for awhile that I had a Hotmail e mail account!  When I remembered and checked it a couple of days ago I found a bunch of E mails dating back to May of last year.  UMM, I thought “Why are my Blogger friends E mailing me on this account?”   “I’d better figure this out.  Oh, its right here in my account settings!”  I’m thinking that I was leery of privacy, spamming, hacking etc. when I jumped into this new fangled blogging thing in 2003 and thought I’d better use my “junk mail” E mail address just in case.

I had nice notes from several bloggers.  No, Chatty we’re not presently on the road but sure get itchy hitch quite often.  Yes, Michael, I’ll send you some of my photos of Carnegie Library fireplaces.  Martha, in May I actually won the yellow California pottery tea cup set and you saved it and are sending it to me!Thank you!

Oh yes, there was also a lot of junk mail.  I’ll let that continue but have definitely changed my contact E mail so I will receive your nice notes.

I’ve been working with computers a very long time but does learning ever stop?  Not for me!!!

(Yes, I really have frizzy hair like that.)

Amaryllis and Orchids

My Christmas Amaryllis has finally bloomed, a little late but better than never.  I started it on December 6th which is about when I start them every year but I’m thinking it was delayed because we were away on our trip to Washington for 12 days and the room was cooler than normal.  One stem has four brilliant red blooms and the other has three.  One year I had one which had five blooms on one stem!

While checking to make sure I had the correct spelling, I found this definition of amaryllis on EHow.com.  Makes them sound pretty special doesn’t it?

"Amaryllis" means sparkling in Greek. Referring to its large star shape, "Hippeastrum," or horse star, is the scientific name for this blossom. The brilliant red amaryllis flower symbolizes radiant beauty.

I took it outside to get the best light for a picture. Notice my first narcissus of this year at the bottom of the photo?  REALLY early even for California!

Close-up of one bloom.

My son and daughter-in-law Gary and Vivian gave me an orchid plant for Christmas.  I think it is a Cattleya coccinea or Sophronitis coccinea  (had to look that up too.) It has small blossoms. I was drinking my tea the other morning and noticed the sun shining on them.  Grabbed my camera to catch that light and this is what I got. 

As you can see the background wasn’t so great so grabbed a piece of paper and held it behind the orchid to get my shot. I’m waiting for the orchid in the background to bloom again.  I tried leaving it outside and it didn’t like it!

Enjoy your day!

Anyone for tea?

I LOVE TEA.  Almost everyone else loves their morning coffee. . .but for me it is tea. I brew and drink a pot every morning. 

As little girls, our brother Don introduced my sister Micki and I to tea drinking.  When he babysat for us one of our special treats was making tea sweetened with lots of sugar.  We thought it was so fun to watch the water turn to a dark rich mahogany color as we bobbed the tea bags in our cups.  The funny part of this story is he is a huge coffee drinker and I don’t think he ever drank tea and both of us are still tea drinkers.

I love my electric Cuisinart tea maker.

In the past I have owned several Mrs. Tea, a simple, very adequate (and cute) tea maker which was introduced in 1995 by Mr. Coffee but has been discontinued.

I liked this Russell Hobbs tea maker but it took too much of the limited counter space in my 5th wheel home.)

My daughter Kelle, also a tea lover, has the Cadillac of tea makers, a Breville One Touch maker but, at $249, its a little rich for my blood!

I dig out my old stainless tea kettle when we don’t have electricity. (In RV lingo it’s known as boondocking)

Somehow I have managed to assemble this collection (isn’t it funny how collections just happen – one minute you have a couple of “something” and then suddenly that “couple of somethings” are a collection!) of  infusers which I really do use for brewing one cup of tea.  I particularly like the art deco diamond-shaped infuser that Don found when he and Lee moved into their  home.

A present from grandson Jorden is this Martha Stewart stack set of cup and teapot.

Found this art deco cup and saucer in a thrift store.  I use it to store sweeteners. I also have a large collection of old tea cup and saucer sets in storage. (No room in the 5th wheel)

My favorite everyday tea mugs. This morning I chose the Café du Monde mug.

My tea tools:  sea star tea bag/infuser drip dish, tea-theme measuring spoon, little blue container for my bulk sweetener (and gift from Zella a long time ago.)  The vintage salt spoon is perfect for measuring an exact amount of sweetener.

Of most importance is the tea!  I order loose tea from Upton Tea Imports.  My preference is for Earl Grey blends: Earl Grey Blue Flower, Earl Grey Supreme, and Season’s Pick Earl Grey Crème Vanilla.  I also really like Vanilla and sometimes order English or Irish Breakfast.

Cuppa tea anyone?

Dads in Briefs

I laughed so hard when I saw this on the Today Show this morning!  Reason?  My husband is a "Dad in Briefs!"  But, no I will not share a photo!