Thanks for Thanksgiving

Hoping everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We certainly did. We spent the day in Paradise, even Geraldine. No, really, we did. Paradise, California. My daughter, MsM decided that we should all gather at her parents'* place for the holiday. Six people came in from Utah and we came up from the Bay Area so it ended up as 14 for dinner. MsM took care of much of the food by enlisting Marie Callender's to do all the prep work. We picked up a big box of frozen goodies at the restaurant in Chico, then made a sharp right turn and headed up the hill to Paradise. There we were welcomed by our gracious host and hostess and made to feel right at home.

Geraldine was so excited to arrive that she rushed right in the house without making a pee stop first. As soon as the greetings slowed down that omission needed an immediate remedy - right on the living room rug. Such a nice first impression. Fortunately, she was soon able to charm her way out of exile in the back yard and rejoin the festivities. No more accidents.

All the activity; patrolling for dropped morsels, monitoring everybody's movements, playing king of the mountain in a recliner with CJ, getting chased out of the kitchen, getting underfoot (you know, standard dog duties) left her exhausted as you can see. It's a dogs life.

Dinner was delightful. There were so many of us that we needed two tables. Excellent food, lively conversation, delightful company. After we were able to stagger away from the table, we convened to watch Kung Fu Panda. During the movie almost everyone slipped off to bed. By 10pm not a creature was stirring, not even the dog.

The next morning started with a huge bowl of sausages, a prelude to the day-after eating. A quick run to a local beanery for coffee to get the heart started and I was ready to take on the day. After breakfast part 1 (I didn't realize there would be a part 2, silly me) a walk was suggested. Upon discovering that CJ makes his spending money walking dogs I handed over control of Geraldine to him and away they went. It was a glorious morning - cool, crisp, clear. Quiet streets, beautiful trees, stunning views - we had lovely stroll around the neighborhood.

After breakfast part 2, DBFA and I accepted an invitation to tour the neighbors' home and shop. In addition to a charming and roomy home, the large wooded lot also concealed a pool, a garage/kennel/workshop, and around a corner hidden from view is an amazing workshop. I walked in and my first words to DBFA were "Ooohh, I want one of these." All of the woodworking tools a reasonable person could wish for, and maybe a few more. And all of the room needed to use them. If DBFA and I lived there, we'd probably never go in the house.


Lunch was next on the schedule. After all, I hadn't eaten in almost an hour! Leftovers are the best part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Cold white meat turkey, stuffing, cranberries and mayo sandwiches - yum! Because all of the ingredients were out on the kitchen counter,I was able to introduce our host and hostess to one of my favorite snacks - peanut butter and barbecue potato chips on sour dough bread. In my opinion its best with all natural peanut butter but if all you have is Jif or the like, go with it. The chips must be barbecue flavor. Smear the bread with a generous coating of peanut butter. Cover with a solid layer of chips. Smash chips with your hand just enough to crush them. Eat open faced. Repeat as necessary. This is the main reason why I don't keep potato chips in the house. An alternative: substitute crisp fried bacon for the chips.

After lunch we decided another walk would be a good idea. This time around we detoured into Bille Park. Next time back in Paradise I want to spend more time exploring there. It was almost time to start home so that was going to have to wait.

We were packed up and on our way by a little after 3pm and home before 6pm. A whole vacation crammed into 36 hours. It was great.

* It's a complicated extended family, so just take my word for it.

Yes, I'm still around

It's been a long time and enough people have commented on my absence that I finally guilted myself into abandoning (temporarily) my idle pastimes; like reading the lawn greeting forum and 3 sign forums, painting signs, hustling work, flocking yards and occasionally sleeping, to check in here. Who knew I had so many readers? (I think that's 5 now.) All the pictures have been added to the album. Check them out over in the sidebar.

Overall the flocking has been pretty good this summer, although for awhile in July I was checking to make sure the phones were still working. They were, but I wasn't. Everyone was on vacation I suppose. Since things were slow, DBFA and I decided to drive to San Diego for a weekend to visit his son for son's 45th birthday. Within moments of committing to the trip, orders started pouring in. I took 3 orders while sitting in the chair getting a haircut. My substitute flockers went from a single order and an easy couple of nights to 5 orders and 3 nights of marathon driving.

San Diego was amazingly humid. My menopausal, hot flashing system was not happy about that. The boys did not play well together - that Father-Son thing. I'm not inclined to play referee in these things but I came very close to going out to buy a striped shirt, whistle and yellow flag. Perhaps a baseball bat or sap would have been a better choice. Eventually a truce was declared and we did manage to treat ourselves to some excellent food. If you find yourself in Ocean Beach, check out the Portuguese restaurant on Newport Ave. I'd be willing to put up with the scrapping just to lick the plate that came with the scallop skewer. Warning - garlic lovers only. We squeezed in a nice visit with DBFA's San Diego daughter and her husband (the other girls live in other states).

We headed for home early on Sunday. One detour to check out a new (to me) vinyl cutter. My original one is acting up and a sign company in Fountain Valley was selling a very good machine to make room for their new one. We dragged the poor guy out of his bed at a too-early hour to meet us at his shop to make the deal. I am a very happy girl - this machine ROCKS! Here's the first sign to come from it.

I got to see almost the whole lunar eclipse Tuesday morning. we started out on the flocking run at about 2:30 am and there was already a bite out of the lower limb of the moon. By craning my neck, I could watch the progress out of the van window (I wasn't driving). It was all over before we got home. There were some amazing color transitions, deep reds and rust colors and just before totality and again as the moon started to emerge from the Earth's shadow, a faint blue. This is from the sunlight passing through the Earth's ozone layer. I'm so glad I was able to see it, even if I do have a stiff neck now.

Well, I better sign off and get some sleep. There are a couple of flocks awaiting delivery and we mustn't keep them cooped up in the van any longer than necessary. Don't want to get the ASPCF on our case.

Happy Holidays

Seasons Greetings or perhaps I should say, Aloha;

You can consider this a combination Christmas Card and obnoxious Holiday Letter. It's Christmas Day and I am sitting here in my recliner, elegantly garbed in a "Sleepy" ( you know, one of the 7 dwarves) shirt, fleece sweatpants and sheep skin slippers with my laptop on my lap. Armand has just started March of the Penguins on the DVD player. Outside it is gray, hazy and cold. Inside, the wood stove has driven the temperature to a level that has me reconsidering my garb. So far today, the major activities have been unpacking and scratching my multitude of bug bites.

You may be wondering (and if you aren't you might as well hit "delete" now); unpacking from what, where did you get bug bites? We just got back from Hawai'i. Yes - from 12/17 through yesterday morning we have been in paradise (except for the bug bites). Clear sunny days, clear warm nights; temperatures from the mid-70's to the high 80's, relatively low humidity, light breezes in the day and beautiful stillness at night. As for the bug bites, while I could have done very nicely without them, at least the mosquitoes are small and didn't annoy me with the obnoxious "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" that the local blood suckers emit.

We were able to make this trip due to the generosity of a dear friend. I made the reservation at the Kona Coast Resort II (time share exchange) almost 2 years ago while still getting a steady paycheck. As trip time approached I realized that the cash outlay for airfare, car rental, etc., was going to be incompatible with my self-employed cash inflow. An alcohol inspired impulse caused me to offer the week to any of our guests at Thanksgiving dinner. Two already had plans to spend Christmas week in Puerto Vallarta. The other said she would think about it. A few days later she called and offered to lend us the air fare. We countered with an OK, but only as long as she came along (condo sleeps 4 and has 2 bathrooms).

Thus DBFA, HJM and the Flamingess just got back from Kona where we had to put up with evenings like this.



It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

It wasn't all perfection (but close). There were the aforementioned bugs, actually the bites. Airline seats are too small. The bed was like a rock slab. The couch, sleeper bed was like a hammock. The easy chair must have been carved from lava, and the pineapple ornamentation on the dining chairs was guaranteed to grab at delicate parts of anyone passing. No one slept well, but who goes on vacation to sleep anyway? We couldn't find pineapple juice (except canned) in any of the supermarkets. And - I caught a cold (someone had to do it). We are all ready to do it again.

We only made one excursion this trip, a drive to the volcano. It took about 3 hours to get there, with only one stop at the view point near the south point and just above the green sand beach. A vendor had wares spread out on the wall and some displayed in bowls of the green sand. For those who aren't conversant on Hawaiian sand, the green is olivine which is a prominent component of the lava at this one spot on the island. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring at the volcano since DBFA wasn't up to doing a lot of walking on the uneven ground and Heidi and I didn't want to just leave him sitting in the car. There is no escaping the reality of just how new and alive this land is.

On the way back I made the executive decision to check out the black sand beach. A little background here will help - HJM has been to the Big Island 5 times prior to this trip and visited several others. On every one of these trips she has hoped to see a sea turtle. Special trips to areas guaranteed to have turtles have proven fruitless. We are standing on the black sand beach at the edge of the water gazing at the view. I turn and notice the rock I am standing beside has flippers, and a head! There is HJM's turtle. A woman standing nearby points out about 4 others in the surf nearby. (notice the rounded "rock" on the beach)



The rest of our time in paradise was spent shopping in Kona. I love it - the quintessential beach town. If you get there, you must check out the Wal-Mart (I'm serious). Lounging at the pool, sipping Mai Tais, dining, reading and working hard at relaxing consumed the rest of our days and evenings.

I hope your holidays are as pleasant and enjoyable in their own way as ours were. Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.

I will close with an image the sums up our trip