Slippers dangereuse

Boxing day! I have nice memories of this day back home in Canada. Many people would hold Open Houses. These "parties" were very casual and usually included left-overs from the Christmas celebrations - pickled eggs, stuffed eggs, boxed chocolates, nuts, Christmas cookies, Christmas cake (yuck) and booze. Presents would be on display - clothing in the boxes with the wrapping paper still partially on. You'd look at the presents and ooh and aaahh and then eat a little bit, have a drink and go on to the next Open House.

Richard gave me a pair of Beatrix Ong slippers - they are beautiful, hand made and expensive, but don't fit at all. He is hoping I can get inserts that will make them fit but I fear the gap is too large in every sense. If they were just a pair of regular slippers, I'd fake it to make him happy, but these are tres chere and he ordered them from a boutique in London. I'd love to wear them, but they fall off my feet with every step and I can walk out of them. With my wobbliness, they are actually dangerous. But they would be perfect for an Open House display.

I checked the Winnipeg weather and found out it's -8 centigrade but feels like -14 centigrade. According to the Free Press people actually stayed up all night, waiting for retail stores to open with their fantastic Boxing Day sales. So, this is a different kind of day than I remember. Boxing day was definitely a holiday; nothing was open and that is probably why people had the parties. It's likely another lost tradition.

Here, the day after Christmas is the day many people, who I believe are crazy, go to the stores to return gifts. The lines are endless, it's frustrating and totally ridiculous - if you don't have to go on this particular day, why would you do it? Most of the stores give you a month at least for returns. Penney's gives you six months. Nevertheless, you can be sure the return counters have long lines snaking out the door. Particularly at places like Coles. Ugh.

I on the other hand will be scraping floors today. What a joy! After the floor scraping, I'll move back on the window cleaning which is half finished (a specialty of mine). The carpeting people looked at the closet floor and said that every bump on the floor would be perceptible under the carpet. I pointed out the bumps because I hoped they would offer to scrape them off with some kind of fancy scraping device. No such luck.

Merry Christmas

Jim and Paula came for dinner. We had the usual: roast turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts. Made a new stuffing
recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine which incorporated wild rice, squash, bread, cranberries, cream and eggs. For desserts we had rosemary lemon cookies and a nut bar, both from Sunset magazine and both very good.

Now we flop on the bed to watch "A Christmas Story", one of my all-time favorites.

Merry Christmas!

Courtyard finished

One more task completed. The courtyard has been covered with pavers. They are working on the walkway. It's cool today but
sunny - a good day for hard work. Here are the pavers.

The paving contractor Mr. Rochas is a funny guy. Every time I show up, he seems to be selling me yet again. The contract is signed and he's getting paid, so I don't why he continues to sell. Probably a translation problem - maybe he's selling future work..I'm not sure. He certainly is getting the job done and is clean and fast.

They were playing Mexican music loud yesterday when I got there. I did a dance for Mr. Rochas on the new pavers. He laughed uncomfortably. I sure he thinks I'm a little crazy. I'm just so happy to get rid of all the dirt and chaos that's been out there for the past months.

Major Visit

Today, Jennifer and her kids came out to visit for the afternoon. We had a good time walking through the grove picking up avocados and filling a couple of bags. They enjoyed running around in the leaves, picking up sticks, walking across the stream..all the little things that kids do outdoors. We picked three bags full. Everyone brought a toy truck along and they enjoyed letting the trucks roll down the hills and of course, crashing into fences, flipping over and other exciting mishaps.

After a couple of hours everyone was cold and we went back to the Fallbrook house to warm up. Another couple of hours was spent chatting - the kids wanted to see the cats who went into deep hiding mode. I had no idea where they were and they wouldn't respond to calls.

Jennifer put Brad in my arms for a while and he felt really good to hold...such a warm little bundle. He's very sweet and didn't cry once. She carries him around strapped to her front with a kind of bandeaux thing that reminds me of what the Guatemalan women use. Very practical and simple.

It was a great day.

Our neighbor is a donkey

The only news we seem to have relates to the construction at the moment. Yesterday I did take an hour or so to walk through the grove, gathering up some of the avocados that fell during the wind and rain 10 days ago. The leaves are building up on the road so it's noisy when you prowl around. Pinkie accompanied me - he enjoys running a little ahead and then waiting for me to catch up. They love it when you root around in the leaves for avocados because the occasional critter gets stirred up.

They had an exciting day last week when the donkey from next door decided to come close to the fence. I confess that I've been feeding him bits of my energy bar (lunch) and he really, really likes the treat. The cats seem fascinated by him even though he's so big. Sometimes I think the cats don't really have any sense of size - only assessing whether they can jump on something and eat it or not.

Still cleaning - it took me a day to do the avocado door and a day yesterday on the bedroom slider where the concrete was splashed on the window. It will take another day's work to get it finished because the only thing that removes that stuff is elbow grease.

Tomorrow we take our friend Fran over to Quail Gardens to see the lights and to have dinner right on the ocean. She enjoys getting out and we enjoy it because it forces us to get away from the rancho.

Work Day at the Rancho

Rancho day. I'm hanging up cupboard doors and doing some measuring. I'm going to try to get Marie to come up for help with the carpeting color and cabinet tops in office..plus some furniture ideas. Tomorrow Brad comes to drill the bathtub and hopefully the plumbers can follow and install the toilet and tub upstairs and the water softener. Richard is busy with gas connections and getting line up for our final inspections. We have to bundle up because it's pretty cold out there in the mornings.

Meanwhile Rochase should start installing the pavers this afternoon.

I will work on cleanup of the house in the areas that I can.

Higinio gave us a $3200 bid on the railing. It's dropping like a rock. I will design precisely what the railing should be today to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

Patty passed on

Today around 3:30 Patty passed on. We have all said our goodbyes many times over the past month or so, thinking at each visit that we'd never see her again. She fooled us and kept on fooling everyone. On an IV drip for three weeks, she seemed to be doing fine. Under advisement from the hospice care team, we took her off the drip earlier this week which hastened her demise. For the last four days she was semi-conscious and wasn't responsive. I saw her on Thursday and didn't think she'd last very long.

Richard is busy now sending emails to the family members and he's planning to go up to Solheim tomorrow to take care of the disposition of her few belongings. Everything Solheim will take, they are welcome to. Jim will likely keep all the family photos.

The picture is of Brini (2007)during her brief stay here. She had a tough life and at the end she had to share with Buster and Pink. I would put her food on the dining room table because if it was on the ground she'd have to fight for it with the boys. They loved her and would purr when she was near but she couldn't stand them. She got out and probably got eaten by a coyote. I don't know if it was suicide but I hope not. We never told Patty about Brini and she didn't ask.

We'll miss Patty.

Strange Deat

Have I been living under a rock? I read an article in one of the food magazines excoriating the general public for buying wines based on critics ratings. Guilty as charged. Most of my wine is purchased from Costco and I concentrate on wines rated 90 and above which are reasonably priced. What other than these ratings are we supposed to use? To update myself on the current status of wine marketing (outside Costco and Trader Joe's) I walked around the wine section of Major Market looking for clues on bottles as to the quality and value of the wine inside. Have I been missing something? Apparently so...sometimes in the past couple of years, wine makers have taken to extreme measures to get attention in the clutter and clamor of the typical wine retail display.

Label art appears to be the big deal in selling wine. Either you have a big, established name which sells a lot of wine, or you get clever. I noticed that many of the wineries have taken to using unexpected names. "Bitch" is one of these that leaped off the shelf - bright pink label. Now I thought - would I ever buy this? Can't think of one reason why. Do I expect that this wine would be particularly good? No, I'd think it was a mediocre wine that some marketing person thought they could foist off with a unique label or name. I wouldn't buy it for the same reasons I wouldn't buy a wine called "Get Fat" or "You're Fat", although I wouldn't be surprised to see such a thing. Could you give "Bitch" to someone, anyone, as a Christmas present? Or would you just want to keep it for yourself to affirm your self-loathing every time you open the refrigerator. I had very negative feelings about another wine with artful graphics called Plungerhead. Call me a stick in the mud, but references to plungers or plumbing accessories do not belong on the same label as something you are going to consume.

There was a whole array of wines with names reminiscent of state of mind or mood. Permutations, Temptation, Earthquake, Horseplay, Layer Cake.

Another label-marketing technique appears to be the writing of a back story on the reverse side. One such bottle with eye-catching graphics was called "hey mambo". Copy on the back label was musing by an imaginary someone sitting in a cafe listening to a singer and sipping presumably, this wine. With 5 lines of copy they are attempting to be so entrancing that you will overcome with the desire to duplicate the mood and buying the wine. Tall order. Probably the most honest name was "Educated Guess". They admit on the reverse label they have no idea what label graphic elements translate into purchases and that they've made an educated guess and hope they are right.

An aside: If I ever worked for a big company again, I'd encourage them to beta test all labels because I've seen odd mistakes in food labeling - some just as peculiar as wine labels. When I worked at Lawry's we produced for foodservice a spaghetti sauce with mushrooms. For school foodservice customers, they began making the same sauce without mushrooms. Guess what they called it? Spaghetti sauce without mushrooms! What? If it's going to be called "without" something, why not make it more interesting than mushrooms. Another product had been packaged with a baking bag. When Lawry's removed the bag (the cooking fad passed), they added a button bug to the front saying, "Use your own pot or pan!" Big deal. And while I was at Denny's and we devised the Grand Slam Special, the ad guys insisted on putting in copy referring to using a pan "just the right size". Again I ask, does the consumer care? Crazy mistakes made by insiders who know the whole story and do not see how ridiculous this appears to the outsider.

After I finished walking down the aisles I was no more enlightened than when I began. Reviewing the labels gave me little or no insight into the quality of the wine inside. If they bore detailed descriptions of anything about their process: the grapes, the climate, the method of production, the personality quirks of the wine maker - that information would convey some facts related to price - hand picked versus machine harvested for example. That said, would any of this information really tell me whether I would like the flavor of the wine or not? No. I don't have the expertise to relate one method of crushing versus another to a finished flavor. In the final analysis, the cuter the name, the fancier the label and the wittier the copy, the more suspicious I became of the contents.

Bottom line is that I'm sticking with the ratings for making choices and to hell with the critics.

Another aside: on one of the little flaps hanging on the wine shelf, someone had written that a wine was "Taylor made" for fish and salads. Can you get more insider than that. Who's Taylor...why should I care? Later that night on the news broadcast about a "strange death" the background graphics read "strange deat". Once you start picking nits, goodbye happiness. 

Patios Tiled

Our patios are almost tiled. The largest one is complete except for the wash off of the grout. The front step stoop and the front small dining room patio have yet to be grouted. Perhaps Mannie will finish this week.

The blue glass sink and tap are into the guest bedroom and cabinets up on the walls. Tomorrow I'll attach the cabinets, do a big cleaning inside them and call it a day for now. Mannie will have to do the back splash, we hang a mirror and have the glass guys come next week to finish it off.

We are going to be crowded into the rancho and it'll take a bit of time to get used to the smaller space. Office wise we are OK but everyplace else is tight. We have much more outdoor space of course and I'm looking forward to that. Particularly to sitting outside with coffee. I have the spot picked out that gets morning sun pretty well all winter and it's cool in the summer.

I decided on a little diamond shape for the two front pillars and am ordering extra tiles so that Mannie can do this next time he's up.

Patty's Hospice Care

Richard was notified Saturday night that his mother was increasingly uncomfortable with the hydration IV. Once again Patty has beaten the odds and she lives on. The hospice nurse suggested that the hydration should be stopped and assured Richard that she wouldn't be uncomfortable and it would hasten her demise. Sadly, Richard told them today to remove the IV. "Pulling the plug" was hard on him; he choked up on the phone with me today.

Even though you know when this kind of thing is coming, it's still hard at the end. The realization that everyone dies alone is a cruel one and can be very distressing. No matter how many time you think it, with the death of your mother, the only human who loves you in that particular way, you feel the lonliness acutely.

The Christmas tree got lugged out of it's resting place in the garage. Both cats participated in the decorating. I hate to complain about early darkness and cooler temperatures because we are so lucky to be living where the winter is mild. Nevertheless, the Christmas tree lit up for a month really helps add a dimension to the season.

Rain started early this morning and we woke up to a leak in the piano room. The usual leaky space in the garage didn't leak this time. I can never figure that out.

I had a tooth cleaning this morning and they checked gum pockets. Mine are fine, hooray. No gum disease on the horizon. I remember when my Mom had to have her teeth out. She made sure nothing was happening that would require her to leave the house for a week until she got her dentures. As luck would have it, an uncle died - throwing Mom into a tizzy. I came home from school and she was trying to pull the teeth out of a pair of dentures Dad had discarded. I guess she thought the dentists implanted the teeth in artificial gums. Fortunately she abandoned all notions of "doing it herself" and just stayed home for the uncle's ceremony.

Near a celebrity

On a red eye coming back from New York, decades ago, I sat across the aisle from Rudolph Nureyev's masseur. The man had just resigned the job and was leaving New York in his rear view mirror - ready to start anew on the left coast. For a couple of hours he told me horror stories about Nureyev. Apparently he was a monster to work for. Horribly demanding and totally inconsiderate of people's time and schedule. If he wanted a massage in the middle of the night, his masseur had to come running or risk being fired on the spot. In the presence of others, he'd order the masseur around like a dog, speak to him disrepectfully and jerk his chain. The poor man poured out all these complaints in half-whisper in the dark, while most of our fellow passengers were sleeping.

Every time I saw Nureyev after that encounter, I couldn't enjoy his dancing nearly as much as formerly, when I saw him sans personality as a blank page with fantastic jumps.

My expensive sink redux

I was at the wholesale appliance store yesterday talking to the plumbing guy. I told him about my sink - paying so much to have plumbing and electrical to the island and feeling I should invest in a fancy sink. When I told him about the $1200 job I was considering he was sort of smirking. So I asked - "what's funny?" And he said - "you wanna see expensive sinks?" And he handed me a catalog full of incredible sinks. They were pieces of art and surely people don't really use them to wash dishes and such ordinary tasks. Some were beautifully etched, unusual shapes, some with precious stones. $1200 would be "entry level", as they put it, in the sink game.

I visited William at the cabinet shop yet again. We are drawing closer to the finish line.

Another celebrity encounter

It was a cold, clear night at Mammoth Mountain. Several days prior, we'd seen hand bills posted around town that Gordon Lightfoot , the Canadian folk singer was going to perform. We snapped up 8 or 9 tickets and were really excited to be able see him in such an unlikely place. The venue was a large pizzeria that they'd cleared out of tables and arranged several hundred chairs to accommodate as large a crowd as possible. We arrived about 1/2 hour before concert time to be polite and also to secure our seats. The room quickly filled up, concert time came and went and although there was plenty of action on-stage - tuning, arranging and testing speakers, tuning the piano endlessly, concert time didn't seem close. After about an hour, Eilleen and I went outside for a breath of air and were standing there admiring the night sky when a man I'd seen moving things around on stage comes out for a cigarette. We chat about snow conditions, skiing etc and I ask him, "What's with all the tuning and re-tuning and on and on when the audience has been sitting waiting around for so long". He replies, "Lightfoot is kind of an asshole about that stuff. He's a perfectionist and won't get started until everythings the way he likes it." Hmmm. I said...the audience will probably walk out pretty soon if he doesn't get his act together". He stomps out his cigarette and says, "See you later". I walk back in and about 15 minutes later, guess who takes the microphone in hand to start his show, but the guy from the parking lot. The picture posted of Lightfoot looked nothing like the man on stage.

Gordon gave a great performance and we enjoyed it immensely though I felt really embarrassed about the complaining I'd done. The next morning, we're having breakfast in a coffee shop and he walks in, sees me and comes straight over for a laugh. He thought it was pretty funny and admitted to doing that same scene more than once.

I just googled Gordon and found out that we share the same Nov. 17th birthday. He's four years older than me and still alive!!

Majority Whip

Yesterday on a long boring ride up to LA, I had one of those flashbacks to another time. The year was 1972 and Vern won a trip to New Orleans for the Super Bowl game to be played there. A gang from Xerox went and an all-out week of drunkeness and parties ensued. We had brunches with Bloody Maries and Mimosa's at places like Brennans and The Court of Two Sisters. Group dinners were held at the many revered dining spots in the city but the dinner at Antoines sticks out most clearly in my memory.At the next table were members of Nixon's staff and cabinet. John Mitchell, Romney, Jeb McGruder, John Dean and Erlichman were faces most of us recognized. They were being hosted by military equipment manufacturers and huge construction companies. The wine and food were flowing heavily and their dinner put ours (which was amazing to me) to shame.

Later that night, we were all at Pat O'Brians still drinking and by this time singing Irish songs. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to look into the beefy red face and watery blue eyes of Tip O"Niell, the democratic majority whip. He said, "Baby, baby - wanna go to an orgy?" and shoved one of his cards into my hand. I stammered for an answer and finally said something like - no my husband wouldn't be interested. He turned back to his companions, singing and swilling.

It was the only orgy I was ever invited to and I was "chosen" for the invitation because of the seating. I happened to be in the chair directly behind the man who I doubt was very discriminating at that time of night/morning. Too much beer and partying! In one of my many moves, I lost the card. Too bad.

It's hard for me to imagine even surviving a week like that one again in my life.

My expensive sink

The cabinet maker talked me into putting a sink in the island. At this point, it's an expensive correction involving plumbing, jackhammering through concrete, electrical circuits. However, we decided he was right and went forward. Now that we've invested in all the infrastructure I decided to splurge on a fancy sink. We chose a Swiss stainless steel sink which comes with a lot of accessories. I hope we will like it after all the hassle getting it in.

Finally we have someone to do our pavers. Sal Rochas will start in 2 weeks; unfortunately it's supposed to start raining next week so they will be working in a mud bath. Our sprinkler system is also complete at last and we can get our inspection. I'm busy selecting carpet for the office and ordering the appliances. The end is in sight.

I've ordered a touch sensitive kitchen faucet. It turns on and off when you touch the thing either on the spigot or the handle. When your hands are gunky you don't have to get the handle all gunky too.

Pictures are of the Swiss sink for the island, the touch sensitive faucet and my tool chest.

Richard's mother was conscious when we visited and she was fairly responsive - tried to laugh, and rolled her eyes at some remark one of us made. They are keeping her comfortable with morphine and the attendants are in and out of there keeping an eye on her. The minister dropped by to say hello while we were there. I didn't think she would live over the long weekend but she did and we visited again on the way back. Once again she was conscious...asleep when we walked in but woke up to the sound of our voices. She moved one finger to point as she has done before. She seems to be pointing at the TV which we have adjusted and tried to figure out what she wants us to do with it.

Driving up to Benicia was uneventful other than the usual maniacs on the road cutting in and out. At one point, I looked at the speedometer and noticed that Richard was driving at 90. Gulp. He pulled back some after that but he is a very fast driver - I can't watch and instead try to read and just leave it to him. Everything came to a halt over the grapevine because of CalTrans. Watching the side of the road, I spotted the usual array of junkola which has fallen from cars: a plaid shirt and a pair of running shoes, large sheets of plywood, blue tyvek, tons of fast food packaging and car parts - bumpers, headlights, tires. They must pick up tons of stuff when they clean it up.

Everyone was fine at the Thursday night gathering. I particularly enjoyed the company of Colette, now 4 and clearly in charge of her family. We played house and she showed me how good she was at writing words. She grasps her little pencil in her fist and writes out: Colette, Khalil, Joey, Karim. She's very bright and does the letters well. Not a bit shy, she looks you right in the eyes and says clearly what she wants.

Bill and Shell were full of news about their respective work, GoCharmz their business and the new home. They acquired a new computer and a new big flat screen TV which Bill was setting up. He got a Blu Ray player in the thing which I guess is the latest thing. Luke demonstrated his skill at playing a hand held football game. The little guy is bright, curious and loves guns, the military and every kind of conflict you can imagine.

The turkey was near perfect, roasted on a high rack according to Mike Roy's low temp formula. Doug and Jan purchased a pre-brined turkey from Trader Joe's and it delivered on every level. Kimo made Brussels Sprouts chiffonaded and flavored with pancetta. There was mashed potatoes and Jans special sherbet. An apple pie, pumpkin pie and a sweet potato cheesecake finished us all off. Jan, the energy bundle was working all day and all night but still found time to sit with Shell for a bit and give her advice about her dinner which she was preparing on Friday for her Philippino family.

Friday we drove to Sacramento to meet Meg. She had sandwiches and 5 kinds of pie!! What a terrific woman. Rand is lucky to have found her. After we got back to Benicia, we left immediately for San Ramon and the Phillipino celebration. Had a good time and left just as they were getting out the mah jong tiles. Bill said they would play until 2 or 3 in the morning. We drove
on to Chowchilla where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express which was quite comfortable. In the morning we hit the road and drove without slowing down to Richard's Mom and then on to Fallbrook without incident. Cats were glad to see us.

One of those days

Another one of those days yesterday. Plumbing is wrong, welder didn't show up and on my 4th trip to the cabinet shop for the finishes, he still doesn't have it right. Last time there I gave him something to match and he seems to have ignored it and come up with something entirely different. My computer had to go into the shop and the sprinklers at the rancho are all screwed up. Yikes.

Today we leave for Benecia in Northern California for Thanksgiving. Hopefully we'll be ahead of the crowds and we're staying in Fresno. Tomorrow we can take a more leisurely ride to complete the trip. On the way up we'll visit with Pat. She is mostly unconcious now and it simply waiting for her last breath. I'm surprised that they are not giving her drugs. For all the time she was in the nursing home, they gave her anti-depressants and morphine. Now when you'd think she'd need it most, they are giving her nothing.

I will read all day in the car with my ear mufflers on which is the only way I can stand the road noise for the long run.

The Bateman Building

Is this building cursed? I wonder. The first bar owner murdered his wife. A series of strange incidents happened over the years. Since we owned it, the bar owner was convicted of manslaughter and served time in jail. His wife, suffering from advanced MS "fell down" the stairs in their home and died, I guess, under suspicious circumstances. Copious amounts of alcohol were involved.


About the building:

Bateman Building (1949) 303-311 W. Kennewick Ave. This picture is pretty old and the building looks much better now.

Bateman building, July 2000 The Bateman building was built upon the site of the old Hotel Kennewick (built 1906) that burned down the year before, in 1948. The following article appeared about the building a 1949 issue of the Kennewick Courier-Reporter newspaper:

A new departure in architecture in the Northwest has been employed in the construction of the new Bateman Building at Kennewick Avenue and Cascade. This is the front of the building facing Kennewick Avenue which is known as a "splayed" front.

Designed by Robert H. Goss, Kennewick designer, the front serves a useful function. When the building is completed a second floor "corridor" shop will be included in that section of the building. The indented front affords an opportunity through the use of windows that reach to the floor to provide display space. In addition, the front makes possible a unique and effective lighting for the front of the building.

"The building is of functional design," Goss said, "planned for the fullest use of all space."

He added that there is "nothing fancy" about it. Plenty of strength has been provided though the use of masonry and reinforced concrete walls with mill construction.

Roman brick, an old and popular material, has been employed in the east wing. This brick will be combined with limestone in the front of the building.

When completed, the building will provide 28,000 square feet of space to make it the largest commercial structure in Kennewick. Throughout, the building has been designed for the greatest possible fire safety. A fire hose system is being installed in all parts of the structure.

Meeting Eisenhower

Fran told us a story today as we were pulling into Palm Springs. Years ago a friend of her mother-in-law went to school with Mamie Eisenhower. Dwight and Mamie wintered in Palm Springs and on one occasion Fran and Nick got invited along with her mother-in-law to a lunch they attended. Fran described them as the most down to earth people you could imagine and said that Dwight particularly liked Nick - no surprise. Eisenhower told them a few stories and they had a lunch - Fran remembered the lunch consisted of two items out of cans...she couldn't remember what they were, but they were canned things! One of them was some kind of pasta. Oh the food thrills of the 50's.

At some later date, Mamie asked Nick's mother for a recipe (I hope it wasn't for the canned pasta) and Nick drove over to the Eisenhowers to deliver it. As soon as he got out of the car a swarm of secret service people were all over them. Nick, terrified kept saying over and over, "My mother sent me over with this recipe!".

Palm Desert

We had a great day with Fran visiting Ed and Diana at their new home in PGA West. The home is gorgeous with a beautiful view and they have tastefully decorated with unique furniture and art. After visiting a while we had lunch at The Stuft Pizza. I had mahi mahi, Fran - a Cobb Salad, Richard had Poke with a slice of pizza and Ed and Diana had the calamari salad and greek pizza. Everything was very good.

The drive over on highway 79 was so much more interesting than the freeway. Traffic was light and we made very good time there and back.

The Palm Springs area looks pretty good despite the recession. Ed and Diana report that many of the golf courses are suffering although the PGA course that they see through their large view windows is still pretty crowded. I'd forgotten how lush and beautiful the PS golf courses are.

Fran told us her new mantra is that she was born in the depression and she's probably going to die in a recession. An interesting thought.

My birthday and Patty's hospice

Five therapy sessions are completed as of today. The "girls" shook my head until it felt like it would fly off my neck. They are forcing me to focus on letters while my head is spinning. There are immediate benefits from this and once the shaking stops, the world is more stable for me. Even though our session was only 45 minutes, it was exhausting.

At the pharmacy when I stopped to pick up a prescription, they ask for your birthdate. When I told her the date, she burst into a big smile and said, "It's your birthday!". As I was leaving she shouted out - "Have a great birthday." We are going to the Elephant Bar in Vista for dinner.

As a treat for myself, I bought Margaret Atwood's new book and started to read it. Another piece of fascinating science fiction, Margaret weaves a tale which immediately pulls you into its web. A post-apocolyptic tale, this time earth has been stuck with a "waterless flood". The first character we are introduced to is alone, a survivor assessing her resources and remembering times past.

Sadly Richard was notified today that his mother has been sent back to Solheim the nursing home and is in hospice. She has her intravenous tube set-up but they will be only giving her liquids. At the longest she will live 2 weeks, but considering her age and condition I don't expect that she will live past the weekend. We will go up tomorrow and basically say our goodbyes. Oddly they are not medicating her now - you would think this would be the time to give her plenty of morphine and ativan. Patty will be happy that she is finally slipping the surly bonds of earth...she has felt that she's being punished for her sins by staying alive for so long.

LIttle Mexican Tiles

Today I ordered little Mexican tiles or "dots" as the tile guys call them. Eight designs, 10 of each will be incorporated into the outdoor patios. First I looked through all the available 2" tiles and chose a dozen designs which I printed from the web site. I cut them into 2" x 2" squares and took them up to the rancho, laying them out on the large 17" x 17" slate-like tiles at the back. Once we picked the designs, I calculated how many we would need for the pattern and placed the order. Two day turn around will get them here for Friday, when Mannie will start laying them in.

I could only post 4 designs so I guess they limit the amount you can put on your blog.

Richard and I love this type of colorful Mexican tile. Once the house is complete, I hope to mosaic the risers on our outdoor concrete stairs and maybe do a couple of pots. I enjoy piecing together the broken parts into some sort of eye-pleasing arrangement. Hard on the knees, everything seems to ache and you have to crouch over the work so it's back-breaking but rather satisfying once done.

Now when I recall Pompeii and other ancient sites when mosaic artists were commissioned to coat so many surfaces, I can better appreciate the artistic effort and the physical effort this craft requires.

The tiles are "Talevera". The designs originated in Talevera Spain, but have been copied in Mexico for so many years that they are now known world-wide as Mexican tiles.

Book Club meeting

Woman in White: Everyone liked the book and the discussion was lively. Most were impressed with Wilkie Collins' life and his experiences and how he incorporated some of them in the book. There's a Wilkie Collins web site loaded with interesting information about the man...pdf files of most of his works including commentaries he wrote on various subjects - marriage, friends etc. I can't believe how much he wrote considering that they were using nib pens, ink and writing by candlelight in tiny script to save on paper. Think of what he could have done with a word processor?

Barbara had some documents from the same era, 1860, which she purchased in England.. one of them was a probate document for a spinster's will. It's written on sheepskin and in that beautiful penmanship that most educated people used - it was so interesting to see it and imagine the clerks in a law office on high stools scratching away creating public records. The advent of the typewriter must have thrown tons of people out of work. The documents added to the discussion of that time in history.

Women's rights issues were discussed and the fact that women were thrown into insane asylums when they caused "problems" - well I guess they are still doing that in India. Wilkie apparently was particularly sensitive to this and of course, incorporated many interesting and unusual (for the times) women into this story. He modeled Marion, after his good friend George Sands.

The menu: Stuffed shells, short ribs, crackers and cheese, pumpkin cakes and Halloween cupcakes. Kathy brought an interesting wine named, Pee no Evil.

The girls told another one of their hilarious stories. They were talking about being drunk in Mexico city and how someone fell out of the car onto the median in the road. They were trying to remember who it was, when one of them remembered that it was their mother!!! Apparently she was having some sort of mid-life crisis...and ended up going off that evening with an architect. I've got to hear more about her.

Vickie picked for January and besides the book we chose, Half Broke Horses - Jeanette Walls new effort, she had four others she'd picked- two of which I thought I might read: Baking Cakes in Kilangali (Rwanda) and The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver's new book.

We are going to donate collectively to a charity (Susan has been collecting information) for Christmas and the meeting will be at Roxanne's house again - this will be her third year as hostess.

Busy week ahead of us. Tiling, plumbing, cabinets are all demanding attention. It's taking both of us to supervise, run for "parts", return calls and try to keep moving. Finally we seem to have gotten rolling again after a few set backs that made us grind to a halt.

Richard's mom had another stroke on Saturday and was taken to the emergency room and then to a neuro ward for observation and further treatment if necessary. At 97, there's not much anyone could or should do. She can no longer swallow or even stick her tongue out so no food or liquid can go down the throat. They were starting an IV feed for her yesterday when we left. She was really exhausted as they'd been testing her or poking and prodding all night long. We're on call and on hold, waiting to see if they will return her to the nursing home in Glendale or what the alternatives are.

Our closet "guts" will be in the works this week and probably ready next week.

TJ's Meatloaf

Thank God for Trader Joes. One Italian meatloaf served as dinner for the last two nights. It's pretty good - very moist with a flavorful Italian tomato sauce topping.

This morning we are having pomelo for breakfast. While in Asia, we ate salads with pomelo and seafood - an excellent combination. Whenever we buy pomelos at home they are disappointing. Richard picked up a few at Costco, and they are - once again disappointing. In Asia, they are juicy and delicious with very large pieces. Here they are almost taste less, sort of tough and chewy without the nice indivicual pieces. I think it must be the variety that is being grown here.

We have a new estimate from another plumber which looks good. We'll go ahead with him and hope he will stay with us til the end. Yikes, we are tired of plumbers coming and going.

The handyman can start next week on the miscellaneous odds and ends that have accumulated. And the electrician can hang the next-to-the-last lamp. The lamp came with a fancy chain that was too short. I tried to order an extra length and this required that LampsRUs add the item to their inventory list. One month passed by until they were able to institute a system so I could buy the chain. Argggh....this is why everything takes so long!

Parking Lot Thrills

More therapy today. This will be my third session. Last time we worked on my walking and turning my head. Exercises accompany each session and of course, like anything else, you have to work at it to get the benefit. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have enough time to devote to it. Some of the exercises I can do while driving, er...while sitting at stop lights. They did conclude that I am in danger of falling, so I'm making sure I take my calcium tablets. If I do have some falling incidents, I'm hoping nothing breaks.

Yesterday was one of those days, you'd like to erase, starting in the morning with the refrigerator on the blink. Water was running out of the freezer compartment - a mess. Cleaned everything up and moved things downstairs, tripped the circuit breaker and it all started up again. Went to the cabinet makers and Will didn't have my samples ready and I spent an hour getting over there due to detours. From the cabinet maker I went to see the furniture store where some built-in units were well priced and a possible for our office. Turned out all the marked prices were wrong and I wasted time there. More detours on the way home.

I went to the bank and Richard came in after me..he had been in the parking lot and saw me walking along. Apparently he honked and honked and then came in. I didn't hear him approach of course and jumped about a foot. He stood talking to me while I was searching for my bank card. Because of the noise in the bank lobby, I couldn't hear a word he was saying so he finally left. The inability to hear in public building's is very inconvenient - usually I just nod and smile...but in the bank I have to hear what they are saying so I cup my ear and lean in. Usually people are very cooperative.

In parking lots, my greatest danger lingers. It feels like one close call after another - both in the car and on foot, because I cannot figure out where engine noise is coming from. I park in the farthest away spot so I don't have to back out too much but then as I walk between cars, I don't hear them getting ready to pull out. Eventually I'll figure out a coping strategy but for now, it's a thrill going to the market!

Nagasaki

The bombing of Nagasaki is what you think of first about Nagasaki and indeed, the biggest tourist attraction is the Atomic Bomb museum. There's far more to see here than just the remnants of that sad event. The museum, by the way, is excellent - well laid out and the information is organized in a logical way. Information cards are easy to read and in both English and Japanese. A Japanese man about our age approached us and spoke to Richard at length. He is a school teacher and brings his kids to the museum so they never forget what Japan did and why the bombing saved so many lives by stopping the war. It was an interesting exchange between the two.

From the top of the park where there's an observation tower, the view is terrific. To me, the bay reminded me of Rio. The ride into the bay is long and green rolling hills unfold on either side. The city is big but not unmanageable with readily accessible trams running through the main parts and cabs everywhere. The cab drivers wore suits and white gloves. I noted with interest that all the drivers pull the emergency brake at every stop.. I wondered if it was the law. Cabs were expensive. Everything was expensive.

Cabinets

I spent an hour today at the cabinet shop picking out finishes. The saws and drills are buzzing and the designer has a very soft voice. My head felt like it would explode from the vibrations. I'm still struggling with blues...trying to find the right shade for the island.

On the way home I stopped at a furniture store which had a big "last chance clearance" sign hanging on the front. A very nice woman shadowed me as I was looking around. A few minutes into the conversation and I found she was a Canadian from Vancouver and so another hour flew by as we talked about her career and how she ended up in California.

Patio tiles were delivered today and Higinio the Guatemalan welder was up working on the gates. Richard unloaded all the patio tile and will probably have a back ache tonight. He's amazing for a 70 year old...the lady who delivered the tiles kept referring to him being in his 50's. If she only knew!

I'm working on closet configurations. I had everything figured about before we left on vacation and should have placed the order. During our three weeks away, my head totally emptied and now I am having to start from scratch again.

Richard bought swordfish for dinner. I can hardly wait.

Tea at Huntington

I had a wonderful day today. Tea at the Huntington Gardens and Museum with Shari, Robin and Laurie - three November birthday partners. The tea was great. First they served a basket of scones and you could eat as many as you wanted. One was citrusy with currants; another was fragrant with rosemary and had hazelnuts kneaded into the dough. They were light and fluffy and served with clotted cream and butter. You could help yourself at the buffet which featured cucumber and mint sandwiches; smoked salmon and cream cheese; spicy egg salad. There were several salads including broccoli with nuts and sprout salad. A big bowl of caviar along with hummus and a few other dips were at the ready for spreading on a variety of crackers. Several kinds of cheese were cubed up and on display - unfortunately, they didn't have name plates. For dessert, there was mousse in dark chocolate cups, several delicious small cakes, maple leaf cookies and Mexican wedding cookies. There was actually much more, but I reached my capacity and couldn't squeeze in anything else.

After tea, we walked through part of the rose garden, inhaling the incredible fragrance and enjoying the hundreds of roses on display. As if that wasn't enough sensory stimulation, the grand finale was a walk through the new Chinese garden - a subtle and beautiful, calming space with weeping willows, fountains, birds, koi fish, very unique rocks and pathways. A stunning space.

We couldn't do the venue justice and visit with each other at the same time, so we decided another trip was necessary just for garden gawking.

I drove home IN THE DARK on busy freeways and did just fine. The vestibular therapy is working!

Rose Garden Tea Room Menu

A pot of brewed tea and a basket of freshly baked scones are served at each table. From a central buffet, guests may choose from an array of savory finger sandwiches, imported and domestic cheeses, fresh fruits, chilled seasonal salads, and specialty petite desserts. Return to the buffet as often as you like; limitless refills of tea and scones are served upon request.


Sandwiches
White albacore salad on white bread
Spring watermelon radish and sun-dried tomato cream cheese on egg bread garnished with chives
Prosciutto and fig puree with roasted shallot cream cheese on marble rye and white bread
Spicy egg salad with cayenne pepper on egg bread
Cucumber and mint with cream cheese spread on egg bread
Chopped watercress and cream cheese spread on white bread
Curried chicken salad with walnuts on whole wheat bread

Salads
Bacon and feta cheese on baby greens with marinated onions and feta vinaigrette
Asian broccoli and turkey salad
Rice noodle salad

Toppings and Spreads
Hummus
Olive provençal tapenade

Imported and domestic cheeses

Desserts and Pastries
Freshly baked scones
Fruit tartlets
Coeur de crème
Assorted petite pastries

Fresh fruit
Beverages
Hot brewed tea or coffee

Buttermilk Pancakes

This morning for breakfast we had some particularly good buttermilk pancakes.

The recipe:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Makes 8 large pancakes

Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine oil, egg and buttermilk. Mix dry and wet ingredients together well. Cook on a 350 degree griddle. Serve hot with maple syrup, the Canadian kind, if you can get it.

These pancakes are tender, puffy and have a distinct buttermilk flavor. We finished the whole batch ourselves and were savoring them to the last crumbs.

What removes masking tape goo?

Cleaning the masking tape off the pool tiles today. It was gorgeous, about 75 degrees. I was too hot with a long sleeved shirt and no hat; the hat kept falling off in the pool. I made it halfway around before my knees were screaming. The pool water color turned out to be aqua and very inviting. After the pool is cleaned we
can complete the acid wash of the patio and then seal everything.

Honorato was working hard in the grove doing some pruning. Happily he found one of the saws we thought had been stolen. A little at a time, the tools seem to finding their way back into the tool chest. The whole place was so disorganized that I'm not surprised that many of the lost items were simply buried.

I wore a "nose and glasses" to the rancho today and Richard didn't notice. I guess that reveals how bad I've been looking.

We'll have a quiet Halloween..no ghosts or goblins on the agends. All we have planned is a plate of pasta with shrimp, a spinach salad and early to bed.

Filling the pool

The pool is filling right now. They started the water running about 9:00. Two hoses full blast. I cut it to one hose at about 1:00 when I left for San Marcos and the cabinet people. The pool water color looked aqua and I hope it will stay that beautiful color when it is filled to the brim. We have a big job ahead removing the goop from the masking tape that stayed so long on the tile. I can start that project tomorrow.

Richard went up to Solheim to visit his mother today. She had an incident the final week of our vacation - they described it as choking but Richard thinks, after seeing her that she probably had a stroke. She cannot speak any longer and is only making noises. She showed no sign of recognition at first but later he said she looked at him and squeezed his arm, so apparently she knew he was there. Poor Pat has been hanging on for so long but it looks now like she's on the final turn. For her sake, we all hope so as life at 98 years is not very much fun. Everything hurts, nothing interests her much and she's just been waiting, surprised every morning that she's still here, wondering if God has it in for her.

The cabinet people are progressing well with the cabinets - most have been built and today we finalized one of the stain colors. The blue shade they used for the island is too green and they'll have to try again with that. William cannot move around yet and so he's confined to his chair in the shop. Saws are buzzing most of the time and it's very difficult to hear him. He has a soft voice that is drowned out in the shop noise. He explained more to me about adding the extra drain and line for a sink in the island. He convinced me that this addition will make a big difference to the kitchen efficiency and so I agreed, but now there's another big challenge to getting a channel cut and the changes made.

Pebble tech in the pool

Exciting day today. The pool which has been pretty much a black swamp for year and 1/2 got coated with pebble tech today. It looks beautiful. Tomorrow it will be filled but the fun isn't over yet. Unfortunately the masking tape was on for too long and much of it is stuck on the tiles. They will clean the whole thing with muriatic acid and a power washer tomorrow before filling, but they don't think they'll get all the goo off. This means we will have to clean after the pool is filled, using goof off and Q-tips. This seems to be the story of my life. Today I worked on the splashes of concrete on the stucco, scraping and wiping. I figure it will take at least 4 or 5 days of work to clean it up.

Two flooring guys came by to give us a bid and did a thorough job of estimating and figuring out what to do with each of the trouble spots. Unfortunately they will have to grind down some of the high spots on the floor. The expensive vapor barrier that we applied has not done an adequate job. Overall, we are so glad we made the move to fire our former contractor. Given what we know now, he would likely have botched the flooring job too.

The big winds knocked some fruit off the trees but not as much as expected...there are advantages to living in the "holler". The higher up you are, the more fruit loss. Gail and Sharon have quite a bit of fruit in the driveway that appears to have rolled down the hill. Our big blue tarp blew up onto the barbed wire and is impaled in many places. It's quite a job to pick it off a little at a time. The farmer's life is never easy.

Settling in at home

Roaring winds here today. Last night the palms were blowing against the side of the house making a scratching sound that woke us up a couple of times. The air is crystal clear and the temperature about 60 degrees. We hope the avocados will hang onto the trees but it's inevitable that some of the crop will end up on the ground because of this blowing.

Both cats seemed happy to see us. They wouldn't leave us alone last night, purring, rubbing, jumping on us. Buster kept banging his head into Richards over and over and "making biscuits" on his chest. Pinkie purred and rubbed, jumping on and off the bed about a hundred times. They are at the rancho today with Richard and no doubt happy to be able to roam free after three weeks in captivity.

I'm slow and foggy in the head from jet lag. Even foggier and wonkier than usual.

Cruising in Asia

After 3 1/2 weeks of travel in Asia we are happily home. It was wonderful to get time away from the building project and we are eager now to get the last quarter finished.

Shanghai amazed us. Even though you read about the growth, there's nothing like actually being immersed in the energy and the throngs of people for a thrilling experience. The city skyline is breathtaking, particularly at night. Construction is underway everywhere, some of it the regular growth but on top of that, they are preparing for Expo 2010 and the riverfront area is under construction. What a change from a decade ago when I visited with Eilleen! I remember her commenting to me that she felt like we were in a global race and we didn't even have our feet in the starting blocks. How right she was. Fallbrook has hardly changed in that decade...even Temecula which was the fastest growing city in the US circa 2002, has constructed little in comparison to the growth in even the smaller cities in China. Real estate values have sky-rocketed predictably although how one owns property there is a mystery to me.

The cruise was an interesting experience - better than the Princess cruise around South America last year. The ship was older and well worn - not as dazzling as the Princess, but the atmosphere was far more interesting because there were people on board from all over the globe. We had expected most of the passengers to be Asian, but surprisingly they were mostly European, with a good smattering of South Americans and a handful of Americans. Luckily we were assigned a dinner table with a delightful couple from Minneapolis and another nice pair of Cubans from Florida. The Cubans didn't speak much English - you can survive quite nicely in Miami speaking only Spanish and the husband spoke literally no English after 30 years of residence in the US. Bill and Judy the Minnesotans had great stories to tell and regaled us nightly with hilarious tales of adventure growing up on dairy farms, vacationing near Kenora and of their part-time lives in a mobile home park in Fort Meyers, Florida. We met several other nice people and toured extensively with a British couple, Karen and Maurice. The food was pretty average but beautifully served. They offered a very nice high tea two or three times during the cruise - this was nicely done. There was plenty of entertainment in the lounges, for dancing and the big show every night in the theatre. As usual, the lectures were weak, but one on the Samurai was very good. I participated in two craft classes that were just plain fun because of the Italian craft master who spoke only Italian and conducted the classes in sign language and universal sounds of appreciation - sighs, oooohs and aaaaahs. He brazenly elicited these reactions to everything he did, no matter how small or silly. The result was generally hilarious and all attendees - Asian, European and America enjoyed the experience together.

The ports were all interesting - we enjoyed Nagasaki and Kobe the most. The cruise was supposed to be restful but it was so activity filled that we rested little. In port most days, we'd bolt off the ship as early as possible and either walk or chase around all day. Highlights were the Atom Bomb museum in Nagasaki, Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, H Castle near Kobe (and the ride on the trains), ERA performance in Shanghai and the laser show in Hong Kong.

Tokyo

It's gray and rainy in Tokyo where we are laying over for a couple of hours between flights. Our scheduled flight to Shanghai has been delayed half hour. Our flight from LA was delayed for one hour. Today is the day of delays.

Now that Northwest has merged with Delta, chaos reigns at LAX. You check in at Delta but they are not really coordinated yet and have incessant computer problems. At the boarding gate there's a sign for almost everyone so you don't know if you're boarding United, Southwest, Northwest or Delta. As usual, LAX is worse than a third world country with speakers babbling full of undecipherable announcements. Everyone strains to hear and after one of these static filled, heavily accented rants, the passengers look blankly at each other. Even Richard with perfect hearing has no idea what they are saying, even if they are speaking English or a foreign language. The airport is dirty, disorganized and still falling apart. Bathrooms are out of order and stay that way for years (or so it seems to us). Passing through security is difficult with confusing signs and insufficient personnel. As usual they don't notice that my name on the passport is different from my ticket. This basic fact is missed by 9 out of 10 security checkpoint people.

Once on the plane everything was fine. Our first class seats in the upper deck were comfortable and the meals were good. Personnel charming and fellow passengers congenial.

Now in Tokyo at the former Northwest, now Delta lounge which has been re-decorated and is uber Modern Asian. Very sleek. The apple computers are all free and absolutely up to date - a pleasure to use. The Narita airport is very well organized and the personnel seem totally engaged with their jobs and would probably catch an irregularity.

Richard is prowling, looking for something to do for 15 minutes. He's finished his New Yorker and doesn't want to start something new. I am wonky, dizzy and more than a little tired. This next flight will be a snoozer for me

Off to Shanghai

I woke up at 5:00 with the usual list of worries before departure. Who have I forgotten to tell that we are traveling? Did I get the ant stakes out in the front of the house? Will the cats be OK? The usual things we all agonize about when leaving home for a while.

We're all packed up, loaded with books and too much clothing. Richard inventoried his watches last night preparatory to his usual
watch shopping expedition in Hong Kong. Eyeglasses will be purchased in Shanghai at the store under the main railroad station. In Shanghai we are prepared for plenty of walking which we love. Living in the sticks, we experience little of urban life on an everyday basis. We love a shot of the city once in a while for shopping and people watching. After a few days of it, we are usually sick of it and looking forward to the peace and quiet of home.

No more posts until we are back.

Am I an old fogie?

Today marked the transition in my life from aging to old fogie. I bought a folding cane...albeit a bright red cane, it's symbolic, like first bra, drivers license, aarp card, first social security check - of a new stage of life. In my everyday life at home and around Fallbrook and Temecula, I don't need walking assistance. However, the crowds on the streets in Asia scare me a little as I can recall being in mobs in various places. Our plans include a lot of walking in Shanghai and I thought the extra aid to balance would be a good idea.

I tried it out yesterday in the Target store. First, I noticed that people seemed more friendly which could be entirely my imagination. Second and most important, they tend to give you a wider berth - this is important in crowds because when my tinnitus gets very loud and I'm disoriented and then jostled, I become very dizzy. If I get a little clearance I should be OK.

James told me that his doctor told him to wear a sling in public to keep people from banging him in the shoulder while he was recovering from surgery. It worked for him.

Richard was surprised that I did this. He thinks I might get dependent on it which would be a bad deal. My intention is to only use it on this trip if I need it.

We had a almost perfect day here yesterday - warm but not hot, air as clear as a bell and a full moon last night.

Left-over macaroni and cheese

At Barnes and Noble today buying a book on Shanghai, I noticed an entire cookbook dedicated to macaroni and cheese - about 200 recipes which are really just variations on a theme. The book was on the bargain table so I doubt it was ever a best seller.

Macaroni and cheese will be center stage today up at Doug and Jan's. Their grand daughter is having a tea party with one of their friends grand daughters and mac and cheese is the main dish. The girls will likely have a wonderful time.

Eilleen loved Kraft mac and cheese and whenever Jim was away, she'd make a box for herself. Richard and I tried it not long ago and thought it was horrible. I seem to remember it being much better than it is now. I also tried the microwave version which is downright vile.

My mac and cheese from yesterday is quite good today. A little dry, but with excellent flavor and a nice crunch developing from heated and reheated cheese plus once-crispy bread crumbs. It's much better fresh, unlike most comfort foods which seem to benefit from a reheat, but has a flavor profile all it's own - one I like.

We're not sure if we'll get over loaded with pasta on a Italian cruise ship. I sort of think so - but the Asian ports will allow us to intersperse some yummy noodles, dim sum and dumplings - the good street food we both enjoy.

Hearing preserved

Had a hearing evaluation today - the official post CK test and the results are....that my hearing has remained the same. I thought that I was hearing better than before which would have been very unusual. As it is, my results are good - that is, no change.

On the AN forum someone wrote in about feeling foolish sitting in a dark booth yelling out "card shark", "oblivion" and other words they ask you to repeat during the speech recognition test. The most interesting part for me is when they measure the tympanometry bit. My left ear has a lazy drum and so it is very hard to achieve the pressure necessary for the test. Most of our time is spent trying to get the ear to respond.

My audiologist doesn't really think even the BAHA is worth going through for my lifestyle. If you're not working and can handle the social aspect of hearing loss, he feels you are better off to just adjust rather than deal with all the hardware and maintenance of that kind of aid. He doesn't sell them, fit them or maintain them so I guess he doesn't care about them.

I'm finding that objective information about many medical procedures, devices etc. is almost impossible because people have money invested in certain things that they want to promote. They have no objectivity left and just blatantly push their own thing. All the AN patients complain about this. It's very frustrating.

Dr. Singh was Barbaras doctor here in Fallbrook. She told me a story about seeing him when she broke a bone in her shoulder. Dr. Singh (complete with turban) ordered an X-ray. Barbara thought she would be sent to one of the X-ray facilities in the area but instead Dr. Singh opened an old closet and revealed his ancient machine. Before he took the X-ray he called someone whom he used on a free lance basis to operate the machine and read the film. Barbara said that some old hippie showed up.

Later in the year at the Fallbrook Christmas parade, Dr. Singh participate with all his office workers. That did it for Barbara...she said you don't want your doctor in a parade.

Hilarity with the Banar girls

I had one of the best lunches company-wise of my life this week with the Banar girls. These two sisters are the nexus of my book club. Last year I worked with them on a serialized cook book they produced and sold. They have run out of projects and are looking for something to do. We brainstormed about internet newsletters, creating on-line presence for companies and other subjects. It is amazing how much we have in common...they have traveled to most places I've been, our careers criss-crossed from time to time (Van de Kamps, Franks nurseries) and we were all hanging around in LA over the same years so we can remember nostalgically many restaurants, local characters etc, that are now gone. Our lifestyles were also similar..Barbara didn't have children, Nancy squeezed one in at 34.

We laughed and laughed and laughed. They told some of the funniest stories I've heard in years. I'll try to recount one on this blog although, like many funny anecdotes, they are best when told in the original voice.

Macaroni and Cheese ala Sunset Magazine

Tonight we are having Sunset Magazine's Utlimate Mac and Cheese. I made it this morning because we are having high heat later in the day and we won't want the oven on. You make a sauce out of gruyere and cheddar, white wine, shallots, dijon mustard, nutmeg and chile powder. Stir this into the macaroni and top with fresh bread crumbs. Just out of the oven, it is delicious. I added ham and it tastes like a rarebit to me.

We've been on a nostalgia food thing for a while and find ourselves longing not for the exotic but for simple foods we ate at our respective homes. Mac and Cheese is part of this harkening back to our youth.

I can also blame our sister-in-law Jan for this. She makes macaroni and cheese for the grandchildren fairly often and we hear about it via emails. The idea of it never fails to make my mouth water. It also reminds me of our high home ec classes where we learned to make a basic white sauce. I never dreamed that this knowledge could be so useful and I've applied it many, many times in my career in commercial foods as well as in my life as a home cook.

Concrete redux

Once the dust cleared, we found out the dust hadn't cleared from our concrete pour. We had the concrete stamped and a colored release agent used to add antiquing. Much to our chagrin, the stone turned out charcoal grey. They applied too much release and left it on too long. We washed it off, we used a pressure hose on it and finally we used a dilute solution of muriatic acid and got it an acceptable point. There will be one more washing at least before we are ready to seal it. Yesterday I spent all day trying out different dilutions and scrubbing with a brush. We got home at 6:30 after working from 8:30 non-stop. I was exhausted and sore, Richard was also wiped out.

Meanwhile Gail the electrician has been working like mad. He's gotten almost everything done and is totally caught up. We have lights, a steam shower, security lights outside, and power to all our outlets. Richard had to really light a fire under him to get him going...he's been installing a well on his own property and we have really lagged behind.

We're very busy now getting ready to go away. Richard has too much to do in the grove.