Blogging Before TV

Our broiled lamb chops and peas have been consumed. The trash has been put out on the curb. (Yes, I have become one of those old ladies who freezes bones so they won't smell up the trash can and/or attract critters.) 

 

Tonight's Moon in Cloudy Sky



Now Mom is doing her games -- mah jong and solitare. They are different daily puzzles/games from Microsoft. I do them too on a different computer. It's addicting really. When she's done, we'll find a movie to watch on TV.

Yesterday (Sunday) we went for a walk around the Sunrise Villa complex.

 I just love these splashes of color!!

It kind of looks like the mountain is blowing its top, doesn't it? That's not snow, it's a lighter color of rock.

When I remarked that I had never seen a sign like this before, Mom said there were some near her house but they keep disappearing. (I figure the way to get them to stay is to add a line on the bottom that says, "Smile for the camera!)

 Speaking of No Nos, when we got home Mom saw a guy sitting on her little patio right outside of her bedroom. He said he was tired and asked for water. She gave him water and told him to leave. Meanwhile we called the security company ("Armed response."). They did not answer the phone. They should amend their sign to "If we come, we are armed."  Of course, that doesn't say what they are armed with -- piercing nasty words? A super soaker? How about ring toss hoops that they throw at your head?

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My new cookbook -- you remember, the ring binder with the plastic page protectors is working really well. This morning I made Kristie Honeycutt Sullivan's cream cheese blueberry muffins after I made a quiche lorraine.

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On Saturday Mom and I went to the 10 a.m. showing of Tosca at the Regal Cinemas. It was streamed live from the Met in NYC. I think I saw Sue in her box. She seemed to be waking Frank up but maybe those were the people next to them.

I loved the opera! The singing and music was great and the sets were amazing. I especially loved seeing the stage hands back stage creating the new sets from the ground up. I told Mom, "Those are my peeps -- they are union stage hands." 

At that 50s party, I had a discussion with a man who put forth the idea that all union people are standing around leaning on their shovels. I told him that as a former state union official and local chapter chair, I believe that a union contract means two things: I owe management the very best days of work that I can give and management needs to treat me fairly and decently.

"Oh, that's old school," he said. No, that's now. Let's examine union workers and ferret out some facts.

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And a couple of days ago I made my first Fathead Pizza.

 That's hamburg and sweet red pepper and onions on top. Yum!

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It was in the 80s today but (all together now), it's a dry heat. I didn't mind it a bit. I sat out at the pool reading and chatting -- in the shade. On our way back to Mom's I had to take a picture for you of the neighbor's roses. The wooden stake with a sign on the right is about 4 feet high. That should give you a frame of reference for the height of these roses. I think they are feeding them dinosaurs.

I can see these beauties all the way from Mom's house.

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They are painting the outside of the complex. So now I get to watch the painters, the gardeners, the grass cutters, and the pool/hot tub guys. It's just a bevy of activity here in the morning. I'm really grateful that the guys with the giant hair dryers that they use to blow leaves away cannot start their blowing until after 8 a.m. Those suckers are loud.

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Tomorrow, lucky me, I get to have my teeth cleaned. I really hate going to a new hygienest. But I would really hate to have my teeth fall out. The office is right near Sherman's Deli. Maybe I'll use my newly cleaned choppers at Sherman's for lunch!

Ciao for now. I hope your week is going smashingly well.

No Plans Day

Me:  What's your plan for today?
Mom: Nothing.
Me: Want to go to a movie?
Mom: No! I want one day where I don't have to do anything!

I was definitely in for a no-plans day!

I began sewing my brains out and I don't know what Mom was doing but she was busy at her own thing. I think the sewing frenzy was prompted by the email I got from JoAnn's Fabrics. Now, one of those emails to me is like a Siren's call ... I cannot enter that store because ... Hi, my name is Tina and I'm a Fabricholic. It has been two years since I have bought any quilting fabric.

I thought, "It can't hurt to read the email. I haven't even seen any fabric stores around here." The Title/headline blared "70% off all regular priced items except fabric and notions!"

What exactly does that leave? It's a fabric store!! I remembered they sell chocolate buttons for making candy -- why that's in a fabric store, I cannot fathom. Oh, and they have "seasonal decorations" that you either put together or buy pre-made.

As all of this was swirling around in my head, it brought up the Monty Python Cheese Shop routine. (I say, do you have any cheese? Of course we do, it's a cheese shop!) 

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Mom and I decided to go for Chinese food. To be honest, I didn't want to make lunch. The food was delicious and I got to meet the restaurant owner. When I told him I was from Massachusetts, he said, "They have snow up to here!" and he indicated nose height. (He wasn't very tall, but I'm sure there is not that much snow there.) Anyway, people here treat me like someone lucky to have escaped. I'm beginning to feel guilty because we all know it's not really that bad -- especially when I'm in sunny Palm Springs!

After lunch, Mom indulged me in taking pictures of the mountains. I really wanted to get a shot of San Gorgonio with the snow on top, but I couldn't do it. We even went up to the PS Tram and I still couldn't see it.  Much of the snow has already melted, but it's still visible.

Here are the pictures from the Tram trip. No, I didn't go on the Tram. In fact, Mom waited in the car because she has been there many times and it was chilly (68 degrees or so).

 Palm Springs Windmills on the Right

 

 

Parking lot at top 

 

 

 Tram beginning its ascent

Tram further away

Wash behind Tram (from near parking lot)

Going Down the Mountain

Here's Looking at Palm Springs

The preceding pictures were taken as we hurtled down the mountain. At one point Mom remarked, "Gee, I'm in second gear ..." and we were still going really fast. It was pretty exciting.

As you can see, I'm still obsessed with textures. 

I have just discovered that the pictures I took of Johnson Falls with the ram's sculpture have disappeared. Did I only think I took pictures??

Categories

You probably have figured out by now that I love to take pictures. I take a LOT of pictures. For the purposes of today's blog, I have decided to group the photos into categories. So, these are not necessarily in chronological order. Besides, you don't care when I snapped these, do you?

Dawn

I don't know if I hear the crack of dawn in my sleep, but I still wake up at dawn every so often. I looked out and saw the very dark sky and went outside (bare feet) to see if it was the end of the world. No it wasn't, but the rainbow sure was a surprise!

Textures

 Yup, it's a plain old palm tree trunk.

Yes, there is water in this wash. The other one was bone dry.

 I love the flat paddle shaped cactus!

 You can't tell from here, but this is a fire ants home.

 

All of these photos are from my phone camera. The most editing I do is cropping out unwanted stuff. I do, however, often change the gamma (I have no idea what that means but it corrects overexposure and comes free, courtesy of Irfanview.). 

Nice Shapes 

 

My Mountains

  
The mountains were hazy on Wednesday. These and most of the other pictures are from a walk that Mom and I took. We ended up at the senior center where some very nice people explained ma jong to me.

Mizell Senior Center

 Main entrance from the parking lot.

 Entrance is right and then left.

 

They  also have fund raising bricks on the walkway outside.

Party, Party, Party! 

We went to a gathering/party for Mom's gym buddies and it was at The Purple Room.

 They had an excellent singer and pianist. I don't know why this is so blurry because I was only drinking seltzer ...

 These are lemon filled napoleons that Eleanor made for the group (28 people). From the moans of ecstasy coming from people as they bit into one, I concluded they were beyond delicious. You are now figuring out why it's called The Purple Room, right?

 Yes, I know it's an inconvenience to have to tilt your head, but I forgot to reorient this shot. It's the seared ahi tuna appetizer that I had and it was delicious!

And yesterday, we went to a birthday party with a 1950s theme. What an amazing job of decorating our hostess did!

 Cupcakes made to look like ice cream sodas!

 Have some popcorn and a Coke!

 A good time was had by all! We even had Elvis attend. The burgers and hot dogs from the grill were very tasty.

 

 I sat outside most of the time outside (in the shade) because it was too warm in the house for me. It was a covered patio overlooking this gorgeous pool and jacuzzi. We were instructed to bring swim suits for the jacuzzi, but nobody went in. The wind came up and it got fairly chilly.

I know there's not a lot to read. But I'm busy! I have started making my own cookbook. It's not with my own recipes but I am razoring out (shiver) my favorite keto recipes and putting them into a 3 ring binder -- in plastic protector sheets, of course. I finally figured out that there are some recipes I will not make in a million years, so why not just put my favorites into a binder? When I make the recipe, I can take out that one page and put it back when I'm done. And if I hand write a recipe that I copied from the Internet, I can add that too! And ... I should be sewing!!

Ta ta for now.

Late Arrival

We arrived a bit late at Wembly's (not their real name) for the happy hour birthday party. It was unexpectedly crowded for the event so Mom and I wedged in at a banquette with five people that were new to us.

They obviously knew each other and they happily chatted while we ordered drinks and supper. They had just finished supper as we arrived so there was plenty of space for drinks on the table after clearing.

As we began chatting, we learned that four of them had  hiked 140 miles in northern California ("That's 142 miles actually," corrected Mary.) I blanched and said the incredibly erudite phrase of, "Wow." 

"Well, it was over a few days -- we did about 10 miles per day," Mel explained. (None of these names is real, btw.) "We had a great time."

Noting that the other couple appeared to be in their 80s, I wished such robust trips on myself. I turned back to Mary who was saying that she feels great as a vegan and Doris (the 80 year old) said, "Yes, me too. I have lost all taste for meat. Just don't want to eat it."

You guessed it, that's when my medium rare hamburger was delivered. I had ordered it without the bun so, mercifully, it was wrapped in lettuce in a cute paper holder. I took the burger out of the paper and covered it carefully with the butter lettuce hoping nobody had noticed.

At that point, Lisa, their other friend, was instructing them to get dried sour cherries at the store because she was going to make them a curry. This curry would have chick peas, cherries, curry spices and kale. Many of you may know my views on kale. I really only like it surrounded with Portuguese sausage in soup.

Luckily, they left soon after and I could eat without feeling like ... guilty. And I was very glad that I didn't have to taste that curry.

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The first time it happened, I was in college. It was Harlan Ellison. It was all his fault. I had read, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream," and I fell into lust over him.  Yes, his writing is that good. But mainly, his incredible intelligence grabbed me and turned me on.

And that's why when a guy emailed me, "Smart is sexy," I knew exactly what he meant. 

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I had dashed off the above thinking that it would give those of you who have had a snow day something to read, but ... we had to get out of the house so the cleaning lady could do her thing. (We had already spent a couple of hours getting ready for her arrival.)

So we trooped off to the Social Security office in Palm Springs. They keep sending me conflicting email. Each one says a smaller benefit than the last. So far, I will owe them money every month.

We were happy to get a parking spot near the door. We got to the door and found it locked. They close at 12 Noon on Wednesday. It was 1 p.m. Then we noticed we were the only car in the lot.

 

Even the decorative plants are huge in California

After that it was off to another errand. Let me put it this way: I should have stuck with the computer rather than asking for help in person.

Our frustrating errand (where I ended up on the phone learning how to get to their web site) was on the second floor in Palm Desert. This is a shot of their landscaping at the Garden Plaza.

 

Big Quilt-like Planting

 

 

Big Art Too

By then we realized that we should really stop in and see Mom's friend, Hector, who happens to be a great chef with a new restaurant. I was glad we did because the sole piccata was fabulous. They gave Mom so much wiener schnitzel that she'll probably get two more meals out of the leftovers.

Then it was on to two (count 'em) Revivals. People donate furnture, clothing, household goods, etc. and the proceeds go to a local AIDS charity.

I was looking for a small table for Mom's sewing machine. I just don't want to take over her bedroom and that's where she usually puts it. Her desk has a pull out table that is great for the sewing machine. 

Much of the furniture was gorgeous, but the little tables were often over $100 which was too steep for something I would have to give back. Finally, I found the perfect little metal and fake wood table for $40.95. I figured I'd splurge and lugged it to the counter. *
 
There was a woman in front of me who was taking forever to check out and they had to call in another cashier. He looked at the tag and said, "We have one of these in a box in the back." Believe me, Mom does not want any boxes! So I said, "No, I don't want the box. I'll take this one, thanks."

He said, "Well, there's an assembly fee for this one. It's assembled." No shit. I know it's assembled, I'm trying to buy it.

"How much is the assembly fee?" 

"$15."

"No,thanks, I don't want either."

Can you believe it? I get to the car and Mom says, "How much assembly could it be?" And I'm thinking  that it didn't look that great but I thought that was because it was used. Noooo ... it's because it doesn't assemble well.  Sheesh.

* This is the actual table from the Wayfair site and they are selling it for $62. I wonder if that's assembled ...






Stay warm.