From Thursday to Sunday (Today)

On Wednesday, Mom and I went to a group birthday party (for any December babies from the Breathers' Club and the Fit after 50 Club). We looked very sparkly in our Christmas red -- I even bought two hair thingies that glittered. I must admit that Mom and I look good in Christmas red! (Tina L on the Left and Ruthie on the Right) That was a really nice happy hour at Antigua. The restaurant was very festive with little white light clusters interspersed with small golden reindeer. I don't think they were serving venison ...

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Friday we had free tickets to a concert with Williams and Ree (opening act) and the Desert City Ramblers at the Agua Caliente Casino. We had to pick up the tickets before 6 p.m. and the show didn't start until 8 p.m. Oh, what could we do for two hours???

I found my favorite game!! It's invaders from the Planet Moolah (above). If you get some matches, the cow says, "Moo." If you get three matches, three cows say, "MOO!!!" It's pretty silly. Mom introduced me to the machine where if you get a bonus, koi come up and you have to smack the fish. After doing that a couple of times, I was exhausted and it was all for about $8.25 which is better than a kick in the pants, but I was hoping for $30. No, I didn't win. Well, I did, sort of. At one point, I had $80, but by the end of the time I ended with perhaps $2 ahead. Or maybe $1 ...

So then we trotted off to the Show Room. We got orchestra seats which was amazing to us and we were happy. They put Mom on the end which also made us happy.

They didn't say anything about not taking pictures before the concert. Williams and Ree were FUNNY. We laughed and laughed. They call themselves the Indian (Ree) and the White Man. (I don't know why I capped that; I guess the title part threw me.) They told us first off that they were not politically correct and they had been partners for 51 years. It turns out, they graduated high school one year after me. Boy, was that a sobering thought because they looked like they had graduated in 1968. Ree played an electric guitar and Williams played an electric base. Their songs were funny too. We wished they could have been on stage more.

After some fiddling around with mics, the drummer for the Desert City Ramblers took the stage and began the opening. If the volume control on their speakers went up to 10, this drumming was at 16. The incredible thumping hit you right in the chest and whipped around to jangle your vertebra. The whole room was vibrating; it was like being next to a syncopated jet engine.

Mercifully, I had ear plugs in my purse. I was never so glad to have those babies! I offered them to Mom and she declined but she did remove her hearing aids fairly quickly. After an eternity of continuous drumming, the rest of the band took the stage. But the bass player (who looked like he was 12) couldn't get his speaker right. I thought, "who could tell?" The drummer was still at it. A roadie comes out and they fiddle for 10 minutes (really), including getting feedback. Thanks to my supersonic hearing, even with the ear plugs, I could hear feedback in amongst the cacophony. Finally, they began to play and sing.  You couldn't hear the vocals at all due to -- everyone's volume was up at 16! I wanted to scream, "Get a mixer! Get a sound engineer!" but I knew it would be like blowing bubbles into the wind. (I cleaned that up for you because I thought nobody needs to hear that urine analogy.)

Did I say it was awful? I asked Mom if she wanted to go and she said she needed her walker. I didn't care, right at the beginning of the next audio onslaught, I walked right up to the front and retrieved that sucker and we beat feet. Another older couple was leaving as well. It sounded o.k. behind the closed auditorium doors ... I guess it's true: you get what you pay for.

But I highly recommend Williams and Ree.

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Knowing that we are going to hear the Gay Men's Chorus holiday performance, I decided to do some cooking ahead.

Yes, that's eggplant parm, cheesey cauliflower, and blueberry muffins. I also cooked spinach and prepped green beans. That way I don't have to cook a zillion times during the week.

Deb texted us, wishing us a happy Sunday and I told her I was cooking a lot. The damn autocorrect told her I was cocking a lot. Sigh. Now I can't make fun of Carole who sent an early morning email to her son that began with, 'Hi Horney,' This is how mothers get a bad rap. We are being sweet and this technology makes us look bad. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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I am so thankful for our new hot tub mugs! Farah, Jon, Sofia, and Brownie sent them. Somebody put my name on the Naughty one and Mom's on the Nice one. I don't know how or why that happened but I'm happy to have an adult beverage container!

Merry Christmas to you all! And especially Happy Chanukkah which begins tonight. I'll have to make my latkes out of zucchini this year.

Peace.

Keep Moving or You Will Rust

Yes, that has always been one of my mottos -- keep moving or you will rust!

Yesterday afternoon, Lee Anne and I decided that the hot tub would be good medicine for gym-sore muscles. It was about 70 degrees. 

Lee Anne (my faithful driver because I get lost in my own backyard) and I went to Shields, the Date Farm in Indio. I didn't know until then that they have a long (as in possibly 3/4 mile) path in the back which is a meditative garden. There are lots of statues depicting Jesus' life, but it is also a very relaxing stroll with ponds, trees, benches, and peace.

I really should have lightened up this picture, but when I was downloading these pictures, I was hogging Mom's computer so all of these photos are "raw."

I loved these birdbaths! The wrought iron base is hanging on the sides of the display. I may buy one next year at home because I am still mourning my amethyst glass bird bath which cracked last year.

This is one of many fruit trees interspersed in the meditative garden.

View from the car on the way home to Palm Springs

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Elaine, Lorne, and their son, Robert, graciously asked me to accompany them to the Wild Lights at The Living Desert. It was a wonderful night, not too cool although Robert never put his jacket on once. (They are Canadian, you know.) I didn't take as many pictures as last year but I enjoyed it immensely. (You could look at last December's blogs if you really want to see more pictures of the lights.)

The butterflies in this tree were animated, flapping their wings. I think this was a new installation this year.

I was so happy to get pictures of the live giraffes. They were quite a distance away and they were walking around. When we were about to leave, two of the babies folded up to lay on the ground and sleep. It was a graceful ballet.

Ooops! This is out of order. This is one of the date trees at Shields. See the ladders for picking and pollinating?

Sunset

Yes, I'm one of those lunatics who loves the full moon (and sunsets).

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Last Friday the 13th, Mom and I went to the Mizell Senior Center to pack holiday gifts for people who would be all alone on Christmas and Chanukah. The Meals on Wheels people will deliver the bags with their meal.

Below is the line of volunteers who were handing out the items as we circled around the tables with the bags to be filled. What is not shown here is the other row of volunteers who are back to back with these people. The gifts in my opinion are really necessities: tp, tooth paste and brushes, socks, deoderant, etc. 

The photo below was taken during the break. This is the first 200 bags for women. The next 200 bags are for men. Volunteers whisked away these bags to another room so that we would have room for more. Unfortunately, we ran out of bags, so the staff were going to have to deal with it the next day. We think they had already scheduled volunteers for the next day.

Did I mention it was the day after the full moon when we went to Wild Nights?

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Mom and I went to the last tutu making session. This is how the magic is accomplished. You put the elastic waistband around a chair and you tie on the strips of tulle.

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Today we're going on a jaunt to the Augustine casino in Coachella because I am told that's where my favorite game is -- Cows in Space! We're meeting Carole and Cricket and I have to watch it so I can afford lunch, lol!

And while you may have to go to work and/or deal with snow, just keep moving! If breathing is the only moving you can do, that's o.k. too. Enjoy! Be nice to yourself and it will shine through to others. Cheers!

'Tis the Season!

On Thursday, we went to the Mizell Senior Center to create tutus. The other ladies have been making tutus for weeks using Molly's wonderful system. She had bundles of separate colors of tulle strips that we knotted around an elastic waistband secured on the back of a chair. We used two separate colors, but for the second one I made, I used three colors (using up leftovers from bundles.

The goal is to make 200 for the Red Carpet Road Race in January which is part of the Palm Springs Film Festival.

Tutu Ladies at Work

 Tutu

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Friday was the Christmas Tree Lighting in Palm Springs and it was Deb and Paul's last day here. We were really glad that they could be here. We had lots of fun with them and they managed to work part time online (they were done by 2 p.m. California time).

We got there early for the hot chocolate and cookies!

It was sprinkling rain which made it a bit chilly.

New stars this year; the street light stands have shooting stars with tails. See the kinetic sculpture pouring water? We were sitting around the pool at the left that the water pours into through a trough.

Our celebrity Santa's Assistant this year is Mary Hart. She is a very gracious lady who insisted she take a picture with Mom. Mary had stepped undercover to avoid some of the rain. It was a fine mist that wreaks havoc on hairdos (and makes me look like a poodle).

And then Santa arrived.

He did a fine job of lighting the tree.

The next day, Saturday, we went to Whole Foods to get almond flour and, later, to see the reprise of The Magic Flute from the Metropolitan Opera at the local cinema. I loved it because it was performed in English and the singer who played Papageno was very funny. This was the second time of seeing The Magic Flute for me but I was still awed by the magnificent costumes. 

As we left the opera, Mary Hart was getting her star on the Walk of Stars in Palm Springs. That was at 3:00 p.m. and, unfortunately, it was raining. (It never rains in the desert, right?)

When we got home, Mom and I had a few lively games of Mexican Train Dominoes. As Mom gets better, I am considering changing the rules in mid-stream -- which is what she accuses me of constantly!

We did not go to the new star ceremony, but we did make sure we were set for the 6:00 p.m. Parade of Lights on TV -- with Mary Hart as Grand Marshal!

Since the rainy weather calls for a cup of tea, I made (keto) peanut butter cookies to go with.

Today, Sunday, is a lazy day. So far I have made keto bread rolls and keto blueberry muffins. (When I say keto, I mean very low carbohydrate.)  I am considering going to the gym. Actually, I should do that because I want to taste a muffin. To be sure that they are good, you know ...

Life is good! Have a great week! 

Rainy Wednesday

Before the rain today, there was quite a bit of snow in the mountains.

Leeanne and I have been going to the gym every day. I may have overdone it a bit ...

I have been knitting a blanket for Mom with really fat yarn. I'm using a size 19 needle and can only fit 8 stitches on a needle!

Three panels here equals 3 full balls of yarn. One to go.


After taking the above picture, I got busy and finished the last panel. Mom sewed them together. The color above is closer to real. Below is under lights and the energy saving lights are yellowish. I don't think I'll ever use such fat yarn. It was difficult to wrangle. It's certainly nice and warm and a bit heavy.

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Palm Springs got about 0.40 inch of rain today. That's not much for the northeast, but it's a lot for the desert. It seems to have stopped with only minor flooding. 

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Last night Deb, Mom, and I played Mexican Train Dominoes and we had lots of laughs. Of course, my consuming copious amounts of tequila added to the merriment but I had to compensate for the two of them claiming that I was making up the rules. I only won a couple of games, they each won some too! It was a fun time especially since Paul bartended and ordered food in for us. I wasn't up to cooking.

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Tomorrow Mom and I will be making adult sized tutus at the Mizell Senior Center. They are for some road race. I'll have to find out which one.

I thought you might like to see a dawn breaking here. This is from another day. Today it was all clouds and mist.

I hope you all have relief from shoveling snow for a while. Stay warm and happy!

After Thanksgiving Greetings

The clouds you see below greeted me when I arrived tired, but happy, in Palm Springs the week before Thanksgiving. This was taken at the airport while I waited for Mom to pick me up.

More clouds.

While waiting for Thanksgiving, Mom and I went to see The Irishman. It was way too long at three and a half hours. It was great to see DeNiro, Pesci, and Pacino in a movie together, but... after a while there were too many executions and I didn't really care about the characters. We saw the movie at the Mary Pickford Theatre and next door was the balloon festival and food truck fair. They had painted a balloon on the wall of the theatre for photo ops. (The balloon was right near the fountain of the spitting turtles.)

Did I mention that those clouds provided buckets of rain? It seemed to rain for days, sometimes with very heavy rain overnight. In fact our neighbor's giant bouganvilla that normally sits on his roof is down on the ground. On Mom's patio (outside her bedroom), the bouganvilla has been beaten off the wall. We hope the gardeners can put it back tomorrow.

Needess to say, the picture below was taken before the rains although only some of the blossoms came off; it wasn't really damaged.

Our friend, Elaine, brought the most wonderful lemon tarts and butter tarts to our Thanksgiving dinner. She picked the lemons from her own tree! I have often wanted to try a Canadian butter tart because I listen to Brittlestar from Canada on Friday mornings and he's always talking about them. They are delicious and I wanted to devour them, but restrained myself to one bite. They are almost like little pecan pies with no pecans. Maple flavored.

Above is Mom and Elaine before dinner.  I'm really happy that we had cocktails at 4 p.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. I didn't have to get up early to put the turkey in! I had cooked most of the sides the day before (whipped potatoes, squash, stuffing to go in the bird, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade cocktail sauce for the shrimp). Deb and Paul brought green bean casserole and Paul made cornbread-sausage stuffing. So everything was very relaxed on Thanksgiving Day!

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Mom's early Christmas present was a set of Mexican Train Dominoes. We had invited Elaine over last week (or the week before??) and we had fun playing it. It's a really easy game and it goes fast. We had a lot of laughs because you never know who is going to win until right at the end.

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Today is Sunday, December 1 and the day is nice and sunny and warm -- it's 69 F. They are predicting cooler weather and more rain. There is more snow on San Jacinto and El Gorgonio mountains than we have ever seen and the new rain will add more snow. At the Palm Springs Tram summit, there is at least two and a half feet of snow. It's interesting that it's listed as 2596 meters high. You'll have to google it yourself to see what that is in feet.

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Today we're going to hear Handel's Messiah at the 7th Day Adventist Church. We went last year and I was blown away by the musicianship. It was a very nice program. Their organist only has one arm, which is a major feat playing classical music and most of the musicians are volunteers with other careers.

The music was fabulous again this year. I really enjoyed it. I liked the tenor best but Mom liked the baritone. The collatura wasn't bad and the soprano had the best enunciation.

Today, Big Bear got four feet of snow! It's the most snow they have had in 50 years on December 1. We're hearing about all kinds of awful weather and car crashes on the TV news tonight. I hope you all have safe travels -- or better yet -- you stayed home safe.

Cheers!