Ahhh, Wednesday, We Hardly Knew Ya! 10-16-13

It's waaaay fun to hang out in my jammies here.  I'm so freakin' relaxed that I forgot to put the salsa on my eggs.  Sheesh. 

And I get to watch the guy spraying the fruit trees.  [I attended the HOA -- a.k.a. the Home Owners' Association -- meeting yesterday.  That is why I know the spray is only detergent to get rid of the white citrus flies.  So now we'll have clean bugs.  But we have to wash the fruit because it will taste soapy.  Who washes an orange? These people do.]  I noticed that he had a mask on.  Good man! Then I looked closer and saw that the mask only covered his mouth and not his nose.  Apparently, he's a mouth breather.

After him, I got to watch the guy seeding the grass.  He was using a tiny seed spreader that he pushed.  Mom said she couldn't figure out how he knew what area he had done.  I don't think it really mattered since there was at least a half inch of seeds on the sidewalk, so I think the area is pretty well saturated.  (They had already raked the last bit of cuttings.)

After that, the pool man was cleaning the pool tiles.  A bit of work on my virtual farm and it was time to put my suit on for the pool. 

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After the pool, Mom and I dressed for dinner at the Europa in Palm Springs.  I thought we made a good effort.

Spiro, one of the older gentlemen in the group took the picture.  We were out in the patio near the pool at Europa.  Being senior citizens, we got there before the bar was open.  Boy, some of these folk want their Stoli martini and they want it NOW. Here are some more shots of that area.

 

The Europa is the restaurant part of the Villa Royale, a lovely inn with bungalows.  Someone said it used to be Sonia Heinie's house (the ice skater, remember?)

 

Below, through the doors, is the bar of the Europa.

 

 

And here's the bar (below).

 

 

Flowers on the patio.

 

So we had our drinks on the patio (they have a good margarita!) and went into the dining room for dinner.  Below is a private dining room, but we had 20 people and had to go into the main room.

 

 

Then we had a nice salad, hot rolls and ... short ribs for my neighbor.  Mom had salmon.

 

 

I had coq au vin.

 

 

It was yummy.  We had cheesecake for dessert, but I didn't get a picture of it.  By then I was intoxicated with food and the wine après margarita ...

 

But the real highlight of the evening was a brand new member: Colleen.  She is Richard Conte's widow.  Her stories are amazing! And he was one of my favorite actors.  I Googled her and she's also Shirlee Colleen Warner Conte.  She was stunning in a red and cream suit with a red fedora.  Her "crowd" included Donald O'Connor (another favorite of mine) and when she was just 16, she joined Jimmy Durante's tour.  She is still very beautiful but very thin.  It was a very nice evening.

 

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Now it's off to watch Homeland.  Mom and I are totally addicted, but we don't like it when they kiss because that always leads to pretty graphic sex.  Not something you want to watch with your mother, if you know what I mean.  Cheers!