Tuesday, October 15, 2024

GOOD MORNING and THANK YOU

 Good Morning and Thank You !


First I would like to thank all of you for your love and concern for Dave and I and our family.

Dave is doing so much better.  Antibiotics work wonders.

No more information on our step granddaughter.  Would appreciate continued prayers for her mental health.

Well ... I finally did it ... 

I swallowed my pride ... 

I got hearing aids.  I got so tired of missing conversations and annoying Dave with my "what" and "could you please repeat that."

There is a lot to get used to and I am still figuring out the whole thing.  Just getting used to something in my ear and getting them in right is the first process.  I am testing the different volumes and trying to not blast myself  (haha)



Not expensive but I think they will do the trick for me in these "sunset years".

We went to a parking lot sale last Saturday and I got a new chest for my "Office",

AKA   The end of the Dining room Table.

I am really excited to have this piece of furniture.

Now I can corral all of my Debris and actually know where it can be found.

Its a bit higher than I would have liked but the price was right and the whole thing is solid wood and heavy.  No particle board or cheap hardware.

Next on the agenda is deciding what goes where and filing papers in some semblance of order.


One day at a time..

Going Forward...


Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Saturday, October 12, 2024

EMOTIONAL LAST TWO WEEKS

 


This isn't the "Northern Lights" but our gorgeous sunset last night.

I needed the Peace of the sky to settle my mind.


The last 2 weeks have been full of ups and downs.  I have found my emotions all over the board.

First of all we lost a very close friend suddenly.  Sometimes it's difficult to work one's way through all of it.  He has such a wonderful testimony.  I think I will do a separate post about him sometime soon.

My Hubby Dave had a sever bout of Diverticulitis.  We were ready to go to the ER but the advice nurse said to go to our primary care dr. the following day, which we did.  He put Dave on an antibiotic and his "gut" is healing.  We both had little sleep that first night.  (that was after me bragging about getting the first full nights sleep in a very long time!)

I'm so glad he is better and we can just get on with our lives.

Lastly I'm asking for prayer.

I can't go into details but one of our Step Granddaughters is in a Mental Health Crisis.  Its really serious and a miracle would be such an answer to prayer.  My heart aches for the whole family and even though she isn't related by blood, she is part of our family.  God Knows and we leave it with Him.

Thank you for being our Blog Family.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Wednesday, October 09, 2024

AUTUMN HODGEPODGE

 I thought I would give it a try to giving my two cents worth on the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Here is my take on the Autumn questions.

I had no idea today was National Walk to a Park Day.

Do I walk to a park?  No but we have several close by that we walk around on occasion.

Quarry Park


Taylor Creek trail, Lake Tahoe


The question was asked about Central Park in NYC.

Yes, we have been there.  It is a fantastic oasis in the middle of Manhattan.

It's hard to imagine there would be greenery in the midst of this concrete jungle.


A lot of things definitely are NOT A WALK IN THE PARK.  

Taxes, and the state of the USA and the entire world at this time.

I am definitely a FALL on the color wheel.


I love the warm colors and my home is pretty much decorated in them too.



The photo I took and had transferred to canvas on our fireplace mantle.


Our galley kitchen has warm wood tones.


Our dining room area is in tones of brown and warm yellow.


My view from "my office" aka end of the dining room table.


Part of our living room area.
Yes, you can see we live in a Fall house too.


This time of year just makes my heart sing.



Gotta get me some apple cider donuts hot out of the maker.
Oh the fragrance ... oh the flavor ...
Let's just not talk about the calories ... okay? 


Yes ...

And my random comment for today.

Today would be my folks 91 wedding anniversary.  They were married in 1933.

Amazing parents and I still miss them after so many years.

This photo was taken in 1942.


Whew..this turned into a long post, but sometimes it is good to think about happier times.

BE sure to enlarge all of my photos.  They look so much better when you can see all the detail.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind.



Monday, October 07, 2024

A NEW WEEK ... WHAT'S ON YOUR AGENDA?

 First of all, I'm thinking about all of the people in the path of Hurricane Milton.

Prayers for safety and peace in the time of need.  I am thinking especially of my blogging friends.  (((Hugs)))


Love you all.

I was going to chat about the coming week 

But 

I think I will just leave this post where it is..

Its More Than Enough

But God ... 

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Thursday, October 03, 2024

LET'S MAKE A DEAL TV SHOW

 Yesterday something came up on my FaceBook Memories.

It was photos from the early 1980's.  Dave and I and our boys went to the TV show, Let's Make a Deal with Monte Hall.

We were picked to be on the show.  Dave and I had scrounged some things to wear as costumes.  We had been at Disneyland and bought things from Pirates of the Carribean in hopes of getting on the show.

We made it through to the final round of picking a door for the prize behind it, and we really needed a car.  It turned out the the top prize was a floor length white mink coat plus other things.  I would have looked like a fat polar bear in it and never would have worn it anyway!

We did win the 2nd best prize, which was an all expense paid trip to Cancun, Mexico, luggage, a fancy pen set, and cash.  My boys were so excited.  They thought they were going to Cancun too.  Sadly it was only for 2.

Dave and I had never even heard of Cancun.  The resorts were in the very early stages of development.  It really was a fun trip but I wish our kids could have been there too.

Monte Hall with Pirate Dave to his right.


Our boys are in the first row of the audience just to the right of Monte's head.


We had to guess the price of certain items within a certain amount of money.


Waiting for our turn



Trying to figure out the final cost of the item.



all of these photos were taken from our friends television.  She was just cruising through the channels to find something to watch and was shocked to see us on the screen.  So thankful she was able to take these shots so we have the memories from so many years ago.

There is a small video that's some where in my files.  If I can find it I will add it to this post.

Since I have quite a few new blogger friends now I thought you might enjoy seeing something from our past.


Wednesday, October 02, 2024

CRAZY GOURDS and OTHER THOUGHTS

 I SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Its been such a long time since I did that.  I feel like a different person today.



Maybe not quite like these Crazy Gourds 

But I do feel better.. (haha)

We accomplished some heavy duty financial business yesterday and its all in the mail.

The feeling is so good to be done with that part of things.  We are still getting our life back on track after being fraud victims.

Dave and I went on a "Double Date" with our son Steve and Sigrid a few nights ago.

Dinner and fun conversation is a real battery charger.

We were not in San Francisco for our dinner but I just love this photo of the 4 of us.


Its going to be 101F today ...  AGAIN ... 

Cooler days Really are going to come AGAIN .

Happy sliding towards the weekend.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind



Monday, September 30, 2024

FALL IS FALLING

 Even though the temperature has been so hot lately, I just had to get out and begin raking the leaves from our sweet gum tree.

It seems that the leaves are falling before turning their usual pretty colors of orange and gold.  Too much heat doesn't produce pretty photo ops.

Those still on the tree are pale and sort of dull.  I am trying to keep up with the leaves so it isn't such a huge job.

No "jumping" in them this year...


Now, back to raking ...  it's only 91F now...destined for 93F today and tomorrow 101F.  

So much for cool and crisp days! 

This is our fickle time of year where the temperatures are all over the place.



Saturday, September 28, 2024

HAPPY SONS AND DAUGHTERS DAYS

 I missed posting for Daughters Day so I will do that and then I found out that today is Sons Day..

so here you go ... 2 for the price of 1.

I don't have any biological daughters but I have the Best Daughters in Love.

To me they are my Daughters and I love them dearly.

This is Kellie, our younger son's wife.  They will be celebrating their 7th anniversary next month.  My heart is filled with love that they found each other.


This is Sigrid, our son Steve's wife.  Its hard to believe that they have celebrated 33 years of marriage.
Sigrid is so beautiful, both inside and out.


Happy Sons Day


Love these two with all of my heart.

They love the Lord.  They have such tender hearts, are so creative, and have the best senses of humor.

Mark and Steve are wonderful giving sons, husbands and fathers.

P.S. they are both fantastic photographers too.

Sure wish Mark and Kellie lived closer so we could see them more often.

Dave and I are truly Blessed.


Thursday, September 26, 2024

BUCKET LIST FALL LEAVES

 I was reading Shug's blog post about fun jumping in Fall leaves and thought I might repost about our leaves again.

In 2009 we had just been in our home a couple of years.  The Sweet Gum tree was doing its thing and Dave said, oh wouldn't it be fun to jump in all of those leaves.

Our 2 granddaughters were over for the day so Papa raked the leaves into a big pile and let the girls go at it.  In all of our time living in Pacifica, CA right on the Pacific Coast, we had never had anything close to a "real" Fall.  

So living in the greater Sacramento Valley provided more changes in temperature and trees began show their colors. It has always thrilled us to see a change of season.

Of course the raking of all the leaves and disposing of them isn't my favorite thing.




Akkk...I double posted this photo and can't seem to delete it.  So there you go , 2 for the price of one!!


Love my granddaughter among the leaves.


Now Dave can check off Playing in the Leaves from his Bucket List.

Making Memories

That's what its all about.




Wednesday, September 25, 2024

WEDNESDAY WISDOM

 I may have posted this before, if so, it bears repeating.

To me this is so amazing.

God's creation is beyond my understanding.


Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Monday, September 23, 2024

FALL DECOR

 Well, this is all I've got for this morning.

Just not in the mood to be creative.

I was just looking at Ginny's blog post today.  She always has the cutest seasonal decorations .

SO

I thought I would show you mine.


This is it folks...

Candy Corn on the side table.

Sad , huh?

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Thursday, September 19, 2024

MORE SAN FRANCISCO MEMORIES

 Sorry I have been AWOL for a few days.  The coughing has been a pain but now we are feeling a whole lot better.

I thought I would share a few more photos from our trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago.  I finally got them off my phone and on to Picasa.

This first photo is of the Casting Ponds in Golden Gate Park.  There has been extensive work done in the Park and it looks amazing.

There are 3 cement ponds that anyone can practice their casting in.  Beautiful setting and a great place to learn how to Fly Fish.


Many new trails have been constructed and lovely burbling creeks are running through the old growth.  Its the perfect way to get one's "steps" in while enjoying the great outdoors.


And of course...

There have to be California Golden Poppies brightening up the area.


Thankful Thursday

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind


Sunday, September 15, 2024

FINAL POSTINGS ABOUT MEXICALI, MEXICO

 Happy Sunday to you.

I think this will be my final posting about my 11 years of being a part of the Kitchen Crew in Mexicali, Mexico.  I could go on and on but I hope these photos will give you just a glimpse into some very fulfilling things I was able to be a part of.

Everyone brings their own folding chairs.  These become multi use seats.  they are for devotions, eating, evening programs and just trying to take a load off now and then.


Fortunately we had electricity so there was sound .


Thankful for the most important beginning to the day.... coffee ...hot chocolate ... and tea.

First crew begins the day preparing thousands of pancakes at 3AM.
EVERY DAY!
They have to go into the warmers so the first construction teams can begin eating, and be on their way.


As you can see its dark for the morning prep time.  A little chilly and that first cup of coffee really gives us a boost.



The local women from several churches made thousands of handmade tortillas for our taco night dinner.  They were so GOOD.



Carol was our Salsa Queen.  Gallons and Gallons of that goodness was made everyday.  I loved putting it on my scrambled eggs.  Yummm



Everything is done assembly line style.  When one is making that many meals its the only way to have everything come out at the same time.


So many hearty and delicious meals were made.  Stews, tacos, spaghetti, chicken and rice and the list goes on.

Prepping for the Hawaiian Chicken with pineapple sauce.



Huli Huli chicken Hawaiian style.  All meals were served by us.  We could serve 1200 people in just under an hour.  Many hands make light work.


Pans and pans of noodles.


Sheets and sheets of brownies baked on those tiny smokers.  Everyone was well fed.




Believe it or not one night we had ice cream sundaes.  Our giant freezer was a life saver.  This was a fun way to talk to the campers as they came through the line.  That's me 3rd from the left.


The kids were so hungry and thirsty after being out and about all day that a simple thing like peach halves was like "gold" to them.  They gobbled them up as fast as we could serve it.
That's me in the foreground.


Ok, enough of those shots.
Here's what my main job was for the week.  Every day scrambled eggs with sausage bits and cheese was on the menu.  Of course there were plain eggs for eating too. We always gave them a hearty start to their long hard working day.  they had oatmeal with berries, eggs, and pancakes.  Every Day!  We called the oatmeal "CRACK"  those who didn't like oatmeal loved this stuff.  It was sweet and creamy and stuck to the ribs.

At O'Dark Thirty our day began..4:30 am. 
Ruben began stirring the eggs we had cracked the day before.  that's a lot of gallons of eggs. A paint stirrer was the best way to get things mixed.


These little propane stoves can do up the eggs in no time at all.  Huge heavy pans and us stirring like crazy.




Chopping the sausage to add to the eggs


Me getting the pans ready to go into the warmers.





All food cooked and in warmers, tables ready with all the condiments servers ready behind the long tables and ready to feed them by 7AM.  No later.  We really were busy bees.  Each person had their job to do and it all worked.

The last night we had a fancy meal and we all tried to look like Real Chefs.
Gotta have some fun too.


Some of my Besties and partners in crime.



Then Covid hit and leadership changed .  Some friends moved and its just different.
I hung up my apron and now I am saying "what's next Lord?"
So
I guess you could say To Be Continued...
Who knows.  I don't have a clue except to be with my wonderful husband and family.
Thanks for looking. Some photos are best seen enlarged.

Remember

Always be grateful
Always be Kind