Milestone

Yesterday was Hal's birthday! We had sandwiches from Saca's, Greek Salad and Cheery Pie. My folks arrived from Colorado in time to share with us.

p.s. yes, the cherry pie WAS cheery! (thanks, Rosemary... ; ) )

When the Weather is News

I was surprised to look at my blog just now and see that it reports a temperature of 38. It is not that cold! Weather.com says that it's 65, and I can believe that. But the exciting thing is that we may actually get rain tomorrow night!

Thanksgiving Sunday

Today is a busy, fun day. We had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at church after the service which was delicious, as usual.

This afternoon Hal and I put in some sweat equity into the yard. I was designated "wood nymph" (which meant that I raked leaves), and Hal was the "planter guy" who moved some of the manzanita plants from the parkway across to the front yard, and replaced them with tall grasses.  With the new gutters, we are all ready for the rain which may come this week.

We also had a lovely 90-minute skype with Claire. She loves London and is having a marvelous time. Today she went to one of the Tate Museums.

Now we are getting ready to go to book club to discuss Ann Patchett's Run. Since it is set in Boston, we are bringing clam chowder. Now that the weather is cooler, soup is good.

Peppernuts, Part 2

This afternoon I was ready for the second stage of peppernut production. I took the dough out of the frig (to make room for Thanksgiving....) and rolled spoonfuls on a floured countertop, placing the "snakes" onto waxed paper in layers. Now they are resting and freezing in the freezer, waiting for baking day.

Gutters

We are now ready for the rainy season (should it decide to come) with our snazzy new green gutters!

Genealogy Find

My friend, Kathy, is big into genealogy, and today she came over to show me some stuff on the internet. With her help, I was able to dig up the WW I draft registration card of my mother's grandfather. Here it is!

My childhood hero

Here I am with Peter Yarrow. That's right, from Peter, Paul and Mary. He was in Claremont singing and signing books. All I have to say is that he is as warm and wonderful in person as you might expect him to be. After this photo I got a big kiss on my cheek!

Fall Harvest

These are probably all the persimmons we'll get this year from our tree. There are a few more on the branches, but they're being used as bird food.

Good news

I received a package of information today about Claire's spring semester in Arezzo, Italy at the Accademia dell'Arte. Amidst all the forms (health, roommates, etc) are the dates of her spring break. The great news is that her break will coincide with the week we plan on visiting her in mid-March! That makes our plans to visit her about 100 times more exciting!

Also, you MUST see the video of my cousin's 6-year-old daughter on her blog.  Drama Queen!

Summer Weekend in November

Temps are in the upper 80s and low 90s this weekend, and the fires are burning all around, but it's pretty calm and clear here in Claremont. We are in desperate need of rain here.

I have been trying to imagine a tile backsplash in our kitchen, not quite sure what I wanted. Until yesterday. Hal and I went to see Bill and Sandy's new tile work in their kitchen, and I love their backsplash (seen here). I think this is what we want in ours!