We ushered in the New Year with Mom's Christmas Cactus in full bloom.
Needless to say, we had a wonderful month with Deb, Paul, and Pork Chop. Here we are taking Pork Chop to the large dog park in my car. (They call his sling a taco and he rides comfortably in it.)
Deb and Paul were telecommuting and keeping on Boston (and NH) time so their lunch time coincided with when Mom and I were up and receiving visitors. Often Deb would stop by to say hi as she took Pork Chop for a walk. That was fun. PC loves Mom and I can hear him yell GRAMMY! in his head as he makes a dash for Mom.
The New Year also brought snow to the mountains and rain to Palm Springs. (Ed. note: so far, Bear Mountain in northern CA has had 157 inches of snow since January 1.)
Above is the view from the Planet Fitness parking lot in Cathedral City. (Yes, I'm trying to go three times a week to the gym.)
Mom took me to an out of the way street trying to get better shots of the snow on the mountains. If she had let me go on my own, I would still be driving around!
January 11 Sunset in Palm Springs
On January 19, Mom and I drove to Ontario, CA to see the Road to California Quilt Show. It was amazing and a tad overwhelming with the artistry. There were many many vendors selling all things quilting and sewing from notions to machines, including many different long arm quilting machines. Here is a smattering of what we saw. We walked (and walked) for two and a half hours. Ontario is about 65 miles away so I got in some freeway driving.
The quilting on Malaki is exquisite! Those radiating lines you see are some of the quilting.
I don't think you can read the story with the title of Sharing the Moment. They had just voted and that was the moment that the good friends were sharing. It was 1965 before African American women could vote in every state.
For you francophiles out there ... here are a couple of the French entries.
Here is part of the hedge next to Mom's garage. I quickly took a picture once the bouganvilla was in bloom because the landscapers keep cutting it so far back that they cut off all of the flowers. We like the flowers! The hummingbirds like the flowers!
January 31 The hyacinth is in bloom!
I got this bulb for Mom at Aldi and it was really fragrant. It finally bit the dust yesterday (February 6).
Which brings us to February 4th and the tree is in bloom. It's lovely to look at but I'm really feeling an increase in allergy symptoms. This is opposite Mom's large patio in the common area.
Today, February 7, we and three others went to see 80 for Brady which is a nice piece of fluff. It focuses on 4 women who were Tom Brady's biggest fans and they watched all of the Patriots' games on TV. Of course, the stars, Fonda, Tomlin, Fields, and Moreno were super. After the movie, we trotted off to the Waters Cafe at the Agua Caliente Casino in time for happy hour. The bar bites were delish. Yes, Mom and I did a bit of gambling ... I ended up winning $27 after starting with $20. At one point, I had won $130 over my $20, but you know how that goes. I'm very happy with my $27!
If you're wondering why avocados are so expensive (beside the fact that the demand is high for munchies during the Super Bowl), Mom read an article in the Desert Sun today which explained it all. Most if not all of our avocados come from Mexico and some from one state which is rife with banditos. If they steal the truckload of avocados, it can be worth $80,000 or more. And if they take the truck too, that's a lot more. So in order to protect the avocados, there are now civil patrols guarding and escorting the avocados. There is no word on the status of the avocados' passports ...
We are all eagerly looking forward to Carole's Super Bowl party. She has already spoiled us with Mexican Train Dominoes parties (she feeds us too much food), so we know this one will be good.
Last time at Carole's I collected the empty Corona bottles, wine bottles, and my seltzer cans and brought them back here. We have an unhoused fellow who goes through the recycling buckets looking for bottles and cans he can sell. He and his very friendly dog both have orange vests and he totes one of the big blue recycling buckets. At least he's trying to keep body and soul together without begging. I couldn't believe one guy at the HOA meeting who called him a "trespasser." He who steals my trash, steals ... trash.
I've been doing a bit of quilt making, but it's still in too many pieces to show you. I have been procrastinating because I've hit a design flaw which I have created and have to unravel. I'm pretty sure I can work it out, I'm just being lazy. Meanwhile, I bought a beginner's sashiko kit and I can't wait to dive into that. But I have to look up the technique on you tube first and do some research.
I hope you are having a wonderful time in your life and enjoying every minute of every day. I know I am.
Ciao, Tina
P. S. Anybody want to buy a quilt?
