563476982

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Christmas Eve in Fremont




This is the second creche I've found while shopping with Kathy near the burrito place in Oakland. It's beautiful. I have it on a chair my first Christmas as its new owner.

 Chad and Ava.
 Chad and Jack.
 Duane and Claire.
 Judy and Becca.
 Paul and Joy.
 Grant playing basketball out front.
Erin and a friend.


Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Emma and Joseph

I finished this book yesterday. It's one of my last finds at GW before it closed after shopping there 17 years. I'm even in touch with the author about typos I've found in case it goes to paperback. I have so enjoyed reading this book. The author is a great, great granddaughter of Emma and Joseph.

Gracia N. Jones


Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Five Days Until Christmas

My younger sister and I grew up with an adventurous mother, to say the least. Our childhood consisted of puppies, cats, travel, swimming, baseball, board games, walking in parades as clowns, drive-in movies and sunning in the front yard on a shag rug. Mother made her living as a single parent by selling boxes of all-occasion cards, printed Christmas cards (with your name), and selling gifts. She had a list of customers. I can't help but remember her and my short 15 years with her as Christmas nears. Her oldest son took my sister and me into their home and lives. I'm so glad I grew up with a sister. I thank my mother and Don and Bev for their help and love.
 

Monday, December 11, 2017

Happy Anniversary to Me



Days of Christmas on Temple Hill with A and J. A picked me up and we drove to J's where she then drove us to Oakland. We arrived early for the live nativity, now in the V.C. against inclement weather. We heard a piano quartet after and I again saw the glorious paintings of Rose Datoc Dall. During the Handel's Messiah intermission we enjoyed handbells in the chapel. What a great evening. And the day before I saw the Diablo Ballet in W.C. including The Nutcracker. So much fun! Today I celebrate my wedding anniversary.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Monday, December 4, 2017

Rose Datoc Dall, artist extraordinaire


This fireside with the artist was the culmination of a wonderful weekend and two days on Temple Hill. We hugged. I told her I felt like I was standing in the presence of greatness, that she is such a talented artist. Her work is ethereal. I love Temple Hill and my entire weekend was centered around being a member of the Church. It is grand. The paintings below were in a shipping container that went missing but thankfully have arrived and are part of the exhibit with the original four I saw Sunday! I can't wait to see them.









Friday, November 24, 2017

Nite was 16-1/2. She died on Thanksgiving Day.

My heart was broken Thanksgiving night when I found our Nite girl dead on her brown bed in the garage. Our son Paul found her downtown and walked home with her. This was some 15-1/2 years ago. We tried to find an owner and finally had her spayed and got her shots. Nite liked hymns and if you sang she'd come and sit on your lap and snuggle your face. When Paul's brother brought home a rescue dog Nite, being an indoor-outdoor cat then, ran away. Paul and I finally took a can of tuna to the patio and started singing hymns. She appeared and he hopped the fence to bring her home. One day I saw Nite cross the street and I told him she'll either be an indoor cat or a dead one. Paul allowed Nite to sleep with him. When he was using the trundle bed it got pushed in while she was on the floor and she got squished against the wall but was unhurt. When Paul returns home and leaves Nite would pine outside his door in anticipation of being allowed in. She could be released outside in the net tunnel. I had a couple of them over her lifetime. Nite was a watchcat and her post was the patio window. She had a different sound for cats, birds, squirrels and raccoons. When she was allowed outside she'd often hunt and find salamanders. She could climb a tree in an instant and was so talented. One day she got a wound from a branch and Paul insisted on a vet visit. When I was told the amount I asked for my cat and brought her home. Michael put Neosporin on it, wrapped her in blue masking tape and she healed on her own just fine. I had many names for Nite: Nite girl, baby girl, bunny rabbit, little Nitey girl, "you miniature black panther." Paul named her Nite and it suited her. We were often asked if she was pregnant because she became a sizeable cat. If you got a phone call she was just like a kid and would come and bug you and try to get in your lap or just sit as close on top of the couch as possible. Nite could be found under the Christmas tree. One time in her crazy moments she was found on the top ledge of the back fireplace in the family room. That was a surprise. She had a habit of coming over and waiting for an invitation to jump up and snuggle on your lap. Nite did not like competition from any other animals and was very territorial. She didn't like being around children either and would wait patiently at the backdoor to be let into the garage. When the coast was clear she'd scratch to be let back in. When she warmed up to someone it was very touching to see her come up to them and show affection. One time in the garage there was a misunderstanding. Her food was on the washer away from the dog and she was eating. The dog was out and I was about to put the food down on the floor for her but she thought I was taking it away and lashed out. I got a scratch on my cheek. Sometimes she'd walk by and hiss for no reason. It's true that I gave her a bath annually in June for a time until it got to be too much to be near-clawed and besides, she was an indoor cat by then. When she did escape Paul has an uncanny ability to lure her to him. Some of her spots to hide were in my closet, behind the TV lamp, under the end table by the computer, or just sit on the stuffed rocker. Nite has been such a good cat and such a comfort through surgery, death and more health issues. She used up her nine lives and then some. She lost her fur, weight and got a growth on her neck, twice in the last couple years. Her fur grew back and she gained weight and both times the growth sloughed off. I have had a picture of her at my desk for years. We have some nice close-ups of her under the tree. Nite's appetite had been off lately. Last week one night while we were squeezed together on the couch by the fireplace heater she suddenly meowed very strangely and I put her in the garage. She stopped eating and drinking. I was able to rub her head and talk to her, then the next morning on Thanksgiving I stooped down and she left her bed and walked away from me a couple yards and started in with the strange meow. That was the last time I saw her alive. I checked her at bedtime Thanksgiving night and she didn't move. I ran inside for a flashlight and found her dead with her eyes open. I've been crying ever since. I called Paul. At 7:30 a.m. the following morning I dug a grave under Paul's window in the patio. I sang We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet and after the burial I said a prayer for her. Paul called and suggested heavy stones over the grave which I thought was a great idea and I found three in the backyard. I have printed on them in permanent marker. I thank God for the decade and half she was our sweet, good cat. My last words to her were, "Happy Thanksgiving Nite. I love you."







Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Perfectly diagonal game

I bought this awesome game on the sidewalk for $3.50 recently and have been playing with coworkers. An interesting game happened yesterday that in all my four decades of playing I've never seen--perfectly diagonal. Granted, there's a misspelled word. She looked up a dictionary that turned out is not in the Scrabble dictionary. We're not finished playing this game but this is too good not to capture.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Me and the Lopezes


Old and New Scrabble Buddies!

November 18, 2017, my place for dinner and a game of Scrabble. JK, me, JR and AGH.

Friday, November 17, 2017

My new concert buddy


AGH and me on Temple Hill, October 29?
On November 19 we arrived early for the Tongan jazz concert and walked around the temple.

HAPPY Birthday!


Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween Day 2017

 Mother was a professional clown and saleswoman. I can't help but think of her every day.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Belvedere Street and DMM look-alike!

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-best-trick-or-treating-neighborhoods-12292403.php

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Three nights and three days

I had the pleasure of being gramma with my twins. My plans for each day worked out great. Their little legs walked, ran and swam non-stop. No naps and 7 p.m. bedtime. They sat in high chairs on the kitchen chairs up against the table this time.



Day 1: Walk to pond with bread, tortillas and snacks for the ducks, geese and us. Play at pool park. Come home to get ready to swim and walk back to pool. I swam laps then they had their turn in the baby pool. Push cars, basketball and plastic eggs in the backyard. Weather was stunning. Breakfast, lunch and dinner together. Read Halloween books in the morning after My Turn on Earth. M calls the heavy musical balls "doorbells."

Day 2: Brand new Civic Center playground and two story times in the library. Their mama, T and M met us there for the second one, we all played together and then walked to Todos for Mexican and met them there. Then walked home stopping at Baldwin Park for more fun on the SS Concord and got ready to swim again. Breakfast, lunch and dinner together. Read books in the morning and finished My Turn on Earth.

Day 3: Several hours in the library reading books together and playing at the new playground. Home at 2 p.m. for lunch and got ready to swim. We were there two hours. Their mama came by as we were walking back home and packed them up to leave by 6:30 so we had breakfast and lunch together. Weather has been stunning and I told them to look for the full moon. Read The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night in the morning while J slept in to 9:30 a.m.!

J loves to walk around with a saber light in his diaper carrying the black stuffed dog and a toy. M will get on the indoor car and scoot himself around. The cat made tracks to the garage and wasn't seen for the duration. I especially loved it when both would hold my hands as we walked. J almost always did. M, not so much. We smelled the flowers and walked up to cats before they ran, petted dogs.

 Holding ZP, JD on bike, MM on right at story time.
 MM on left, JD on right, MB in middle.
 Holding ZP, JD on left, MM on right.
Goodbye for now my darlings.