Summer pleasures

Although I did not travel to any exotic lands or experience any wild adventures, this summer has been pleasantly cool, and fairly relaxing. I had little adventures, visiting friends and family, as well as receiving visitors, all welcomed and enjoyed. There was the trip to Vashon Island to see my daughter, son-in-law and little spot of sunshine; the short jaunt to Chico/Paradise; the visit from my friends from So Cal, Wilda and her hubby, Jim:



Added bonus: We oohed and cooed over Wilda and Jim's gorgeously adorable granddaughter, Amelia, held in this photo by the equally beautiful new mom, Amanda:



A pleasure indeed.

Summer of Paradise

While I described the locale of Maeg's new home on Vashon Island, WA as a "paradise", I did actually visit Paradise, CA this summer, on a quick road trip with my friend, Bonnie. We drove up to her rental home in Paradise to "try on" some new colors for the trim of her stone house before she ordered up the professional painter(s).

It takes about four and a half hours to get there, so we stayed overnight with her mom, Doris, in Chico, a quaint little college town, and decided to have dinner at the Sierra Nevada (as in the brewery) Restaurant. When it was time to order our drinks, Doris and I each ordered a pint of beer. Rather than choose just one beer, Bonnie ordered the "sampler", and our eyes widened considerably when the "sampler" arrived. It turns out that the "sampler" included 16 small glasses of different types of beer. I was licking my lips, excited to think we would get sixteen different types of beer to taste; Doris was worried about who was going to drive home; Bonnie gave me a surprised look when I reassuringly explained to Doris that we (meaning Bonnie) would be just fine driving home. After all, we were going to have dinner, weren't we? Driving was hours away.

While I'm not sure I would describe the town of Paradise, California, as an actual paradise, it's really quite lovely. Woodsy, green, and certainly friendly. Doris was at her 'entertaining' best, we slapped some paint on the trim of the house and oohed and aahed over our choices, had a good dinner (I have no idea what I ate...all I can remember is all the wonderful beer I drank), and topped off our stay with a brisk walk with the walking group that Doris (who turned 92 this spring) meets each morning at a beautiful park, followed by a waffle breakfast with lots of coffee and conversation, and then we were back on the road.

Much to my surprise, Bonnie stopped at a casino on the way home for a pit stop. We managed to piss away not only the coffee from breakfast, but a few buckeroos on our way to and from the restroom. Lady Luck did not come along on this trip, but there's always next time.

The zen of kite flying

We were hot, sweaty, and trying to stick to a budget (of sorts). Little Johnny suggested we take his kites to Shoreline and try flying them at the kite flying park. Who knew we could have this much fun for free? (Well, almost for free. Flannery and I made a quick beer and chip run, but since she paid, it was free for us budget-conscious types.)

Shoreline in Mountain View is the perfect kite flying spot, as it tends to get quite breezy and often cool in the afternoons, with the winds coming in over the baylands...not that great for golfing (golf course on the left, kite flying area on the right), as I have taken golf lessons there and the lessons are usually offered in the morning...I suspect the breeze has something to do with the timing of said lessons. After trying to practice my short game one cold and windy afternoon in the winter, I can attest to the "breezy" conditions).

John has three kites. Two are the one-string type, and one has two strings (I guess it's a "trick" kite. Tricky is more like it). Within minutes the guys were flying the "trick" kite like pros. Unfortunately, I decided to have a very quick beer and then fly the trick kite, and the results were not as spectacular as I had hoped for. Actually, I really sucked at it the first time. The second time we went, armed with a picnic dinner, and plenty of beer to go around, there was almost no wind, but I actually did a little better. Not nearly as proficient as John, Taylor, and Ryan, but at least I got the damn thing up in the air, even if you would miss it if you blinked.

Both kite flying evenings were pleasant, relaxed, and just plain fun. Not the heart-racing kind of fun...more like a laid-back, kite and people-watching kind of fun.



Stay tuned. Next week, little Johnny and I will be taking sailing lessons at the lake at Shoreline.

Living in paradise

I just came back from visiting my little spot of sunshine, and of course, her mom and dad. They are living on an island, a most beautiful island, in a house with stunning views of the water. They have their own beach, incredible front and backyards, amazingly nice neighbors; but, most importantly, they have my little spot of sunshine.




Here's their front yard, and back:




And, of course, their own private beach, right here:



The very best part of the island, in my opinion, is my little spot of sunshine. Naturally. I suppose the obsession will fade eventually, and I am ever so grateful that my little spot of sunshine remembered me so quickly and readily. Such a giggly, wiggly, absolutely hands-down fun spot of sunshine. I am already counting the days until I can see her again (August 12th). Thanks to Taylor for the company on the incredibly long drive up and even longer drive back, and for the photos of the beach.

Tiny Dancer

Watch for the giggling and the raspberries (spitting). Priceless!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have been showered with Mother's Day wishes, fresh, cut flowers, flowers for the garden, a hand-painted mug, cards, and a gastronomical delight at the Tied House in Mountain View! I also received a video with my little spot of Sunshine as the star, of course! Note the background music (one of my all-time favorites, "Here Comes the Sun" a la Beatles) and the outfit on Sohna, which says "Little Sunshine" on it. She is sporting those adorable sunglasses, but manages to peek out over them at the very end of the video, so I can see those beautiful eyes of hers. Enjoy!

Firing up the garden

At long last, I am pleased as punch to be growing my own veggies. Granted, I started very small, planting only lettuce, snow peas, and carrots. The wait to begin just about killed me. I decided not to plant directly into the soil in the backyard, as this home was once owned by the owner of the local Chevrolet dealership, and you never really know what's been dumped into the ground, especially when back in the day, nobody really thought about it much. Hey, we thought we were doing really great by refraining from pitching our trash out of the 1968 VW while we were merrily driving along! So, raised garden it is.

The wait was due to many factors. Mostly I had to wait for little Johnny to help me build the frame for the raised veggie garden, as well as make repeated trips to the recycling yard, where the city gives away mulch. Ten Home Depot buckets, filled to the brim (kind of steamy and stinky, actually, but very good mulch) over and over and over and over again. Even Ryan pitched in and made a trip to get mulch. So, here's the progress, so far:





Of course, we can't leave well enough alone. Nope. Little Johnny thought it would be really fun to have a fire pit in the backyard also. After building it, he decided it would be really festive to light the Christmas tree on fire. He's been saving it in the backyard just for this occasion. Here's what Christmas looks like in April:


He does have a point, though. We'll be able to go from picking fresh veggies from our garden to roasting those veggies in only three steps and a turn.