The Women's Desert Show

First, we begin with sunrise. If I'm up at sunrise, I have to photograph it. The grass here is a lush green carpet after the rain. As Emily once said about spring grass, "It looks good enough to eat!"

 This is at 6:55 a.m.

 

Isn't it amazing how the palm tree trunks look as if they are gold?

 

Mom's bouganvilla is doing well after some TLC.

This is a neighbor's orange tree. These are the only fruit. Apparently, high winds knocked the blossoms of the fruit trees so everyone here got very little fruit. I wonder what the professional orchardists did.

And then it was off to the Women's Desert Show.

 The tickets were free, paid for the Desert Vein and Vascular Institute and all of the other sponsors you can see on the sign. The Taste tickets were $10 for the food and beer and wine. You could visit each restaurant or brewery table as many times as you wished. I ended up ferrying lots of little plates of goodies to Mom!

We began by sitting outdoors and I was partly in the sun. Hoo boy! It was 80 degrees and I felt it. Later on, we went inside to a room where some of Mom's friends were at a table.

 

This is a quick shot of some of the food booths.

 The endive tuna boats here were delicious! I didn't have any of the "health" juice here. I think it was mango with spices, the first spice being tumeric. Apparently keto eating and tumeric are the "in" things for 2018 because I have heard both mentioned at least 3 times in the past week.

 

This is a huge bundt cake. I'm not sure if this one is real or 'for display purposes only,' but it gave birth to the mini bundt cakes below. I'm told the lemon and red velvet bundt minis were delicious. Somebody got a chocolate one but I didn't see them.

 Daniel, the chef above, made the most delicious lamb meatballs. A couple were served on a bed of yellow rice. When I asked him was the yellow sauce on the meatballs was, he said, "It's my own blend of spices and I don't give out the recipe." So I backed off and he said, "Tumeric and other things."  See?

 
 Live music was provided and the female singer was wonderful. Unfortunately, she had left so only get to see her roadies packing up.

 

Strawberry salsa on a cracker

 I was very pleased to meet MJ Sanchez-Fulton who is a newly elected trustee to the College of the Desert Board of Trustees. She's in the throes of creating what seems to be a huge fundraiser with a sit down dinner. She seemed to be still sane ... She will bring in $50,000 after only three months. I think MJ is Wonder Woman.

It's a Whole Different World

I'm settling into 2018 nicely, thank you, and I hope you are too. Although I could have done without this horrible cold that I am nursing but it has provided some relief to Mom in that I cannot speak today due to laryngitis.

January 8th is the date -- the first snow has fallen at the top of the Palm Springs Tram. So if you bet on that date, you won.

It is raining quite steadily which is a joyous phenomenon in the desert. Up to one inch of rain has been predicted and the street flooding warnings have gone out with barriers on the ready to deflect unwise motorists. 

The same rains have been viewed with horror in the Thomas and La Tuna fire areas in the greater Los Angeles area because mud slides and flooding are imminent. People are deploying sand bags around the homes spared from fire. One canyon neighborhood has decided they will hunker down, knowing that access may be closed due to mud slides. This does not sound like a fun time. I wish them well.

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Watching TV in California is truly an education. I have learned that people go for stem cell treatments. One elderly actor, formerly of soap opera fame, is promoting it as a cure for pain after hip revision. The ads promote this therapy as a cure for everything ... and the same office can provide botox.

After an ad for stem cell therapy, there might be an ad for mini dental implants which might only need one visit, another two ads for weight loss with "Dr.H." I thought it was interesting that Dr. H. stands for Hashimoto which is the name of Hashimoto Disease (thyroiditis). This disease, more prevalent in women than men, causes an underactive thyroid -- causing you to gain weight.

I'm sure you can see a trend indicating that appearances are everything here. However, some of these ads provide a public service. I had no idea that there is a business called Venus de Fido. It's a gym where you can bring your dog. (Cats don't want to go, so don't feel sorry for them.) There is also a restaurant there so that people who don't have dogs can go too ... I was thinking it might be a way to get in some friendly dog pats if I went there.  At the bottom of the TV ad, they listed a "2 for 1" special. Is that two people or one person with one dog? I suppose it could be one person and the second dog is "free." 

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 Hummingbird photo by Dorothy Swift-Grant (through the kitchen window)



Today will be 'cold' in that it will only be in the 60s. By the weekend, we will be back to 80 F. I have stopped lording the wonderful temperatures over my east coast (and Canadian) friends. It's just wonderful here, although I have to admit that 83 F. for pool water really is too cold for me. The Home Owners' Assn. here voted to heat it to 87 F. but I guess the equipment can't make the change. Or something. The hot tub is great!

 Edmonton, Canada Sunset by Lorne Huston

Have you read The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir? You should! It's edited by Gary Phillips and my favorite short story is by Kate Flora. It's called Michelle in Hot Water and it details Michelle Obama as the super hero she could be in a graphic novel world. The stories are all fiction and a hoot. Try it, I think you'll like it.
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If you have FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/bangormainepolice/posts/?ref=page_internal. If you don't "do" FaceBook, go to the Bangor, Maine Police Department web site and see if you can find "posts." TC writes some of the funniest columns I've seen lately and he (and his merry band of police professionals) embody the neighborliness and kind hearts that we look for. He provides a darn good read.

Also a fabulous read: Jim Wright. His web site is Stonekettle Station and he often puts his posts on FB, where I usually read him. He's also a master craftsman/sculptor in wood, but I don't think he has his workshop fully up and working after a move from Alaska to Florida. He's currently mastering drone photos, although I think his photos are pretty perfect anyway.  

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This coming Saturday is the 11th annual Desert Women's Show. I hope I'm well enough to go. They will have the Taste of the Valley food and wine tasting along with other booths.

And on Sunday, there will be polo! I'll let you know if I get to any of these. I'm skipping Thunder Down Under on Saturday night, but I'm sure I can get an accurate report ...

Cheers. I'm going to get a hot liquid and see if I can actually produce a sound other than a croaking whisper. 

11:15 a.m. Update: Topanga Canyon has been closed. Only one car was trapped (midway up the tires) in the mud. An 18 year old was returning from his security guard job, went around a curve and was caught in a mud slide. It may be two days before the canyon is reopened. 

A Fedex big rig went off the highway in Colton and the storms are heaviest now in the Santa Barbara area (where the Thomas fire was).

Merry Christmas and Welcome to the Whirlwind

Let me begin by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you are having a wonderful time doing whatever you are doing.
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No, I did not get a picture of a hummingbird. But Lorne did.

 Lorne calls the bird Herbie. I do think Herbie is a girl due to her lack of colors. But I'm sure she doesn't mind the moniker. 

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Speaking of wild life, Mom and I have been battling Attila the Cricket tonight. Since I was barefoot, I needed something to squash him. I dropped the three ring binder that contains Mom's 8,053 computer passwords on him. Three times. Each time he gleefully leapt free. Finally resorting to Raid, I squirted him and Mom said, 'That's all you need.' I went back to the comfy chair and settled in to watch more Doc Martin. Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle and out comes Attilla from the closet. He ran around yelling, "neener, neener, neener" at me and sat glaring at me next to the TV.  Mom comes back into the room.

Me:      'That's all you need,' she said.
Mom:   Well, he's dead.
Me:      He's not! He's not dead. He's sleeping.
Mom:   He's not hopping.
   Cricket: Hop, hop, hop.

Mom squirted him again. I think he drown. 

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 It all began on Thanksgiving -- we got together and celebrated Christmas. We did have a lovely meal at a Mexican restaurant at one point.

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Last night, we got back from Santa Cruz. We left at 9:30 a.m. and arrived back at 8 p.m. Yes, we made a couple of stops which included a leisurely hamburger al fresco. Of course, the line for the food was over 20 people long. Everyone and their brother were on the freeways. A couple of times we were going 20 m.p.h. in a posted 70 m.p.h. zone. 

We had been to visit my Uncle Bob who is in an assisted living facility in Santa Cruz. The place is gorgeous, even nicer than Applewood (that's in Amherst). And the care givers seem really invested in their residents. We had a couple of lovely lunches with my uncle and his daughter, Susan.

On the way back, Mom had fun taking pictures with her phone. We both found the rolling hills to be gorgeous.

The hills are very dry and some patches were burned. We saw a large plume of smoke in the Santa Barbara area. That's why we didn't Route 101 (the scenic route): we didn't want to drive through a lot of smoke.

While we were on the stretch of freeway that they call The Grapevine, the sun began to set. Mom got a lovely bunch of photos. The sunset show began at 6,000 feet and was still going when we hit 2,000 feet. I did not retouch these photos at all, so the colors really were that vivid.

Doesn't Mom take a great selfie?


And for contrast, here is a sunset in PS that Mom had on her phone's camera.

Again, Merry Christmas!

Is It Saturday?

Yes, indeedy, it's Saturday. One day is much like the rest when you're retired! Well, not really, the gardeners come on Fridays ...

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Those aren't red lights, but rather the color from the bouganvilla colors them outside of Mom's garage.

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Lorne took 5 of us to dinner at Spencer's tonight. Thank you! Elaine was in charge of desserts and they were wonderful, including sugar free for me. Thank you both! Oh, yes, and thank you to Robert for making the tea. 

 

Tree in the entryway at Spencer's

 

Tree on the patio where we ate

Above is the patio where we ate. It was about 61 F., but do you see how many heaters there were? I was nice and toasty.

 As you leave the restaurant, they have wrapped some palms in the Palm Springs tradition.

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It's Sunday now -- about 9:30 p.m. and we just got back from the Agua Caliente Casino (same Indians, different casino from The Spa which is in downtown Palm Springs). We drove out Bob Hope Highway and crossed Dinah Shore passing by Gene Autry. (Ask your mother, Sharon, she will know these people.)

I lost my shirt. And then they threw me out -- because me without a shirt is not a pretty sight! Actually, we ate dinner at the buffet and on the way out we saw this:

It's a hotel ginger bread cake. The palm trees are made out of sugar bordered with gum drops. You are looking at balconies that project outward. I'm only in the picture to show you how freakin' big it is! There's some kind of contest about pictures and going online, but I couldn't be bothered to read all of the directions.

Meanwhile, before heading to the casino, we heard the Palm Springs Gay Men's Chorus. There are 110 members but only 75 were on stage. They are great singers! And they had a guest harpist, violinist and horn player come on stage for some of the pieces. The did everything from Christma carols to Chanukkah songs and Kwanza songs. The end number was a knock out.

About 20 guys in shorts and Christmas socks that made them look like elves sat in straight backed chairs facing the audience. Then they began a "dance" while seated which began with slapping their thighs but then got really really complicated with waving their hands and doing 'high kicks' . This routine was amazing and we did not see one mistake for about 10 minutes. The rest of the chorus was singing behind them. It was very clever.

Mom was seated next to a chorus member who had not tried out for this show (they do two different ones a year) and he said that one man had knit all of the hats and scarves which all 75 were wearing onstage. Wow. Some scarves were all red, some green, and some gold. The hats were typical round knit hats and matched the scarves.

At one point, the director said, 'We are going to sing a song that actually has a connection to Palm Springs' and he was speaking of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer because apparently Gene Autry sang it. I used to love watching him on TV but I didn't remember his singing that song.

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The Thomas fire is still raging in the Los Angeles area. Thousands of acres have burned and one firefighter lost his life. He leaves a wife and a 3 year old daughter with another child on the way. Even though the drought has technically broken, all of the underbrush under new growth is tinder dry.

They are ascribing these fires to illegal camp fires. It reminds me of finding remnants of a camp fire in the garden behind the Jones Library. 

 

 

It Wasn't Me

'Breaking news: Palm Springs police discovered 1200 marijuana plants in a house. The owner had left before police got there.' I think somebody was ticked off and dropped a dime ...

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 It's the bees' knees.

We went to the Spa Casino.

 

View from the Spa Casino garage

 

 

Entering the casino from the garage connector

 

 

I love the 'river.' There were tables made of this 'water' and they looked like ice.

Yes, I lost all of my $60 but I did have fun playing for a while. 
 
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Part of Mom's decorations.

 There are more lights but I'm too lazy to snap them.

 These palms reminded me of arrows ...

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I remembered three things today! The last was 'turn on the dishwaher after 9 p.m.' (because that's when the electric rate is lower). I can't remember the other two ...

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Happy Chanukah! 

I remember the year I explained it all to the girls and put a tiny menorah from my mother in law in the front window (facing the street). It fell over. It didn't burn the house down because, luckily, I had put it on a cookie sheet. 

I don't think I have had a real candle flame since. I use the battery operated 'candles.' 

Free Friday

After our morning walk, Mom and I decided to take it easy. We have been a bit over-scheduled. And we needed to do laundry ...

It quickly became too warm to be quilting, but I kept at it for a decent amount.

Then Netflix -- I was thrilled to see the new season of Broadchurch. 

Then it was out to the pool around 4 p.m. It had cooled down to 77 degrees from 80 degrees but it was fine. Unfortunately, I had to share the pool.

There was a fellow doing laps. We coexisted nicely.

 
 The hot tub was divine. (I know it's a long shot, but I didn't want that guy to see me taking pictures.)

 

Pre sunset

 

A Palm Tree Meeting

Above are some of the palms which housed a murder of crows who were bedding down for the night. They are much quieter at night than in the morning!

 

Pretty view

 So while it's not true that we spend every day by the pool sipping martinis, we do not have to worry about an impending snow storm!

It's back to party time tomorrow. Cheers!
 

I Am Now a Full Fledged Mizell Sr. Ctr. Member

Today I had my first lunch at the Mizell. (They are considering dropping "senior" from the title -- I have no idea why.) It was yummy! I especially liked the fact that I had to prove that I was over 60 to get the $3 price vs. $5. I whipped my driver's license on out!

This is after I said no thank you to the roll, butter and chocolate cake! People who arrived later didn't get chocolate cake with chocolate frosting -- they got a fruit cup. There was either water or lemonade to drink.

Then I went to a new members' orientation. (It costs $25 to join.) It was an hour too long. I left after an hour and 15 minutes and he was still talking. Of course, everything was in a folder with printed flyers that they gave us. There were 18 "newbies."
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Yesterday, the Desert Regional Medical Center Auxiliary (of volunteers) let me attend their luncheon at the Hilton. Their chicken breast was tough and overcooked. Mom and I were impressed with the salad: each one had one slice of cucumber, one cherry tomato, and one black olive. Their dessert looked impressive: it was cheesecake with strawberries in syrup on the side. 

A fellow joined us at our lunch table and he said he had been retired for a year and a half. He had been an academic librarian for USoCal. I was not impressed. Apparently, he thought I should be impressed because he was an academic librarian. Hmpf.

There is a small fee to join the hospital Auxiliary (I think $20) and all of that money goes to scholarships for two years of college for the lucky recipients. They never said what the individual grants were, but this year they gave away over $58,000! 

And the president read off the names of this year's Stars. Those are people who gave $250. Sounds like a good way to encourage people to donate. 

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Mom, Elaine, and I went for a walk this a.m. So now I'm committed to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning walks. And Tuesday and Thursday afternoon stretching class. I'm either going to get into better shape or die.

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Tonight is a tribute to Jerry Vale and Italian singers at the Rancho Mirage Library. 

Next day: well, I pooped out. Couldn't make it to the Italian singers last night. Today is Thursday (I think!) which means exercise class at 4 p.m. and the Villagefest starts at 6 p.m. The Villagefest is every Thursday during "the season" and the city closes off about three blocks downtown and they fill it with vendors selling everything from art to fresh fruits and vegetables. The art museum is free and the Spa Casino is nearby. It's always a difficult decision to decide what to do. I have learned that all three are TOO much!  

It's a balmy 72 degrees and sunny. The weather guy on TV last night said they get 345 days of sun here in a year. That wouldn't be too tough to take ... 

I have got to see if I can find my leather thimble. It is partly fabric too, but it covers a lot of my finger. I thought I had packed it. It has become quite a nuisance that the back of the sewing needle is chopping up the inside of my middle finger. I still have a lot more hand quilting to do. I'm going to change needles because I think this one is blunt, but I've got to finish this quilt! I wonder if I dare go into a Joann's Fabrics? Nooooooooo ... Stay tuned. (Going into a fabric store for me is like a drug addict going into a drug dealer's den to 'just look.' Not a good thing.)