Today was my Birthday

We don't make a big deal out of them around here. Usually when we can & want to treat ourselves, we do just that, rather than waiting for a special day.

I took the day off work, like I have done for the past 30+ years, never work (at my job) on this day. That is my present to myself.

I stayed home & weeded the garden beds, early. Harvested a couple of tomatoes & peppers. Then I saw some plants that I had started that needed to be repotted & got that done. By then, it was in the upper 90's & I decided to call it a day.

Husband came home & asked what was that thing in the garage. I thought I had left my potting stuff in the way & went out to look. Lo & behold here's what I saw!

I have been wanting one of these for forever - a two wheel wheelbarrow!

In the past, I have received nice gifts like a boy's axe, a Kitchen Aide mixer, etc. I love practical gifts!

Who needs flowers & jewelry?

Through Fresh Eyes - San Francisco

I'm back from California. My 16 year old niece & I had a great time. She is beautiful, sweet, caring & very spiritual. She has not been north the Mason Dixon Line or west of the Mississippi, so she was very excited about this trip.

She loved the city & everything about it. She was amazed at the landscapes, the sounds, the people & the architecture. Especially the architecture. I think she took a picture of every single Victorian that she saw. We did the usual tourist things & it felt good to just let go for 4 days.

We walked, talked, gawked & ate. Boy, did we eat ... Seafood, Chinese, French, Italian & sushi (she loves sushi). She's an adventurous eater & will try anything (well, maybe not the alligator toes we saw in Chinatown). Actually she loved everything. I think her favorites were the lamb stew at  Absinthe & escargot at North Beach. We both agreed that every single salad we had was just wonderful. Not a french fry was had the whole time.

I get teased in my family about my fresh/organic eating habits. As we were walking back to the hotel the 1st day, my niece pointed out an organic sign hanging over a restaurant. We ate breakfast there almost every day & it was wonderful! She tried my Eggs Benedict & ordered her own the next time we ate there. If you are ever in the Wharf area I highly recommend this place Beach Street Grill.



We went on a Hike in the Muir Woods. Our guide was great, he only takes small groups (up to 7) & goes very early in the morning well before any crowds. We hiked about 3 miles & it was absolutely gorgeous & very peaceful. http://www.muirwoodstour.com/

We shopped Union Square & wandered through Chinatown, saw the Sea Lions & strolled through the Ferry Plaza farmer's market (talk about Organic!). http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.php/farmers_market.php.

We also saw Les Miserables, had lunch in the Haight & took a Segway Tour of Golden Gate State Park  http://www.electrictourcompany.com/?gclid=CLiP4rn-srECFc2a7QodAw8Agw.

Overall, I think we had about 2 hours of down time. Otherwise, we were on the go the whole time.

I enjoyed myself & so did she, which was the whole point. Everything was new & exciting to her. It was great to see her eyes light up & to hear her exclaim "Oh WOW" at everything. Then, "I've GOT to get a picture of that!". Very refreshing.

Although, I AM glad to be home, those hills were hell on my shins.

San Francisco Bound!

We have actually gotten a couple of things checked off our list. One was the patio table & chairs finished 2 weekends ago. I wrote a (long) post but lost it & have been too disgruntled to rewrite at this time.

I have been very busy these past 2 months. One niece got married a couple of weeks ago & another one (her sister) turns 16 tomorrow. Plus, all the gardening & preserving stuff.

But on to the 'project' at hand.....

I used to travel a LOT w/my job. When the nieces were little, the older one that just got married, asked if  I would take her to NY when she turned 16. She was just 6 at the time & I of course, said sure thing!

Not another word was spoken about it until about 6 months before her 16th birthday (4 years ago). She asked if I remembered my promise & was it still on? Sure, was my reply & we agreed on a date. I told her I would take care of air & hotel & it was up to her to find things to do & restaurants to go to. She lived up to the promise & we had a wonderful time.

Well, since that was promised to the 1st niece, I felt I needed to do the same for the rest of them. Thank goodness there are only 3 of them!

The 2nd one has selected San Francisco as her city of choice to visit. We leave on Wednesday & will have until Sunday to enjoy ourselves in that wonderful city. While I haven't had as much time to plan as I would like, I still think we will find enough to do to fill our days. Unfortunately Alcatraz is sold out but that city offers a whole lot more.

So far, we are headed to the Muir Woods, Sausalito & going to see Les Miserables on Thursday. Other than that, we are wide open. I have visited many times but not as fresh eyes & a tourist, which we will be this weekend. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

I will post on the trip & our projects when I return.

Lazy 4th of July - Update

We have done just about the square root of nothing today.

Last Sunday our plan for today was to finish the paint job on the patio table & chairs. But, as the husband left for work yesterday he asked, out of the blue, what time we were going to the beach tomorrow.

I said "we really should finish that blasted table". As I made my way through the day, my thoughts started wandering to the beach ..... sand, wind, water, seagulls, relaxing, relaxing, relaxing. Oh my, relaxing started to sound really good.

So, we went to the beach today, early. Way earlier than most, by the looks of the lines waiting to get into the State Park as we were leaving. The State Park we go to has several parking & picnic areas to choose from. Our favorite, the very last one is no longer open so we stopped at the next to last one. We didn't need a picnic table as we expected to eat our lunch on the beach while watching the dolphin roll by. So, we took out our chairs, small cooler & small bag & started making our way down the walkway. We noticed an unusual amount of mosquitos while in the parking lot but knew they wouldn't be bad on the beach. As we were traversing the walkway the mosquitos seemed to be getting worse. About half way to the beach, we came upon the reason for the mosquitos. The walkway dips down between the dunes to sand level & then back up again before arriving ON the beach. That area was completely covered in standing water. Apparently, Debby left a lot of water that had yet to evaporate.

So, we headed back to one of the other parking areas, having only lost about 15 min. The lot was still fairly empty & we made our way to the waters edge. We walked away from the crowd at the end of the walkway & spent a lovely morning at the beach. We left around 12:30  & as mentioned before, the line to get in was really long. Glad we went early. This picture was obviously taken last year but it's the same beach. Lots more driftwood this year, wish I had taken my camera.

Stephen explained our beach day much more eloquently than I ever could. But that is exactly what we did, plus a nap to boot. Yes, that shower does feel so very good!

It's fried shrimp & fish, broccoli slaw & sliced tomatoes for dinner.

Happy Birthday America!

p.s. A  small rain shower to cool things off, plus I forgot to mention that husband also made hushpuppies, yum.

Hot,Tired, I'm a Loser & other Misc things

We worked outside all morning, & into the aftenoon until around 2:00p. We're working on painting a deck table & chairs (I don't like painting chairs). Will post about them later.

Around noon today the temps started rising & the humidity kept rising as well. We lasted as long as we could. With the humidity, the paint just wouldn't dry enough to be able to add another coat so we decided to stop. We'll finish up on the 4th.

Husband suggested a chicken quesadilla casserole for dinner. We cheated. Bought a grocery store roasted bird. Sauted onions, refried beans (sorry, canned), store bought queso cheese & quesadilla cheese & store bought flour tortillas. And, to top it all off - store bought enchilada sauce. Not homesteading at all but we are tired! I really want to make my own enchilada sauce & I will! (someday).

Garden is suffering but I do have eggplant & peppers that are actually doing pretty well. Have a few more small tomatoes to harvest. Didn't get to the onions  or carrots (all four plants of them) but I think there are a few that I'll get.

My loser item of the week is that I didn't check Craig's List for 3 days. Checking CL is one of the 1st things I usually do when I get to work (lol). It takes me about 3 minutes to see if any of the 15 or so items I am looking for are for sale anywhere near where I live.

With all the storms last week I was thrown off schedule. When I finally got around to checking on Wed., I found the holy grail of items that I look for.....

A 930 All American Pressure Canner (only used a few times) for sale for $150!!!!!! It had been posted the previous Sunday but was still listed so I immediately emailed the seller. He wrote me back that he was showing it to someone on Thur. - dammit!

For those that don't know, this is the 30 qt. canner that usually sells for around $300+.

Of course, he emailed me early Fri. morning to let me know that the other person bought it. Duh, who wouldn't.

That's the 2nd time I've not gotten an item recently, due to lax checking. The other one was for 2 (yes 2) Excaliber dehydrators for $95!

In the future, you bet I'll be bring up CL before I even get my morning coffee.....