A Really Full Day

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I meant to write this post last night, but by the time we got home I was so beat I just went to bed.

Then I was going to write it this morning, but a friend asked me to go Christmas shopping with her. So finally, here it is, 7pm on a Saturday night, and I'm finally getting around to it.

Such is the life of us retired folk.

Yesterday was a really interesting day. For a while now, we've been somewhat lax in keeping up with our medical tests. We've had the meds we needed, and except for Terry's short brush with gout in Santa Fe, we've been healthy.

Now that we're back in California and taking care of business, this was something we needed to take care of. I made us back to back appointments for 10am , so yesterday we got ourselves over to Kaiser.

We talked with our Doctor, and both of us received good news in that she took me off of two of my meds and Terry off one of his. We had several questions, and as always, she was really helpful. Terry asked her about some yuck on his face, and she made us an appointment with dermatology. She also gave us a slip for our flu shots.

Then, we went to my mammogram appointment. All I can say about this is that this procedure had to be invented by a man. You can bet if they had to put their private parts in this modern device of torture, they'd discover another method pretty darn quick!

Next I needed to see my opthamologist, so we went to see when I could get an appointment (I have glaucoma, but that's another story). Luckily, there was a cancellation, and if we were willing to wait an hour, I could get in to see him the same day. At this time, they also told me I would need a Humphey test and the soonest appointment was the end of January! Oh well, what could we do? With my appointment ninety minutes away, we went for coffee.

By the time we got back, my Doctor said he really wanted a Humphey test, so he called, and again, there had been a cancellation, so I got the test! Then came the eye appointment, where he decided that I also needed to have pictures taken of my optic nerve, This probably isn't of interest to anyone but me, but I snapped a photo of the computer screen.

They also took pictures
of the inside of my eyeballs.

While I was in talking with my Opthamologist, there was a phone call, and it turned out that our regular Doctor had contacted a dermatologist and since she saw we were still in the building, could Terry come for his appointment right now? He went for that appointment, and while there, our regular Doctor also got Terry in for eye scans (he has mild diabetes and they wanted a baseline).

Is this service or what? We got two physicals, two flu shots, an opthamology exam, a Humphey test, pictures of my optic nerve, photos of the insides of both of our eyeballs, a dermatology consult and a mammogram. Is that very cool or what?

But boy were we tired, we were there for a full eight hours.

When we got out, there we were in San Jose at 5:30pm on the Friday night before Christmas in the pouring rain. As you can see, the weather and the traffic were just atrocious.


With that kind of weather, we decided we should go to Harry's Hofbrau, one of the few places in California we've missed.


Harry's is a great place to eat. They feature fresh cooked turkey, roast beef, ham, and just about everything else you could wish for. Everything is fresh, and only cut when you order it (cafeteria style).

We love it.


Plus,
they have great Christmas decorations.

Finally, we had no choice but to make the drive over the hill. We saw a few Christmas lights, but nothing really notable, photo wise.

If the weather ever lets up, we'll go out and try to get some shots of lights and decorations.

More Collections

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I've been posting small collections that I've accrued over the years (and will continue to do so for a while). I'm unsure as to whether I'll be keeping these things or possibly selling them, so I'm using the blog as a sort of memory keeper.

Today I went through my vintage purses. Boy, have I managed to collect a lot of these over the years. I find it kind of interesting that Terry and I took up beading last summer when we were in Santa Fe, then I come home and look at the gorgeous vintage beaded bags I've collected. I had completely forgotten about these!

This is just a small part of the collection, but I think they're the best of the lot.

This piece is quite large.
It's not in the best of shape,
the lining is gone,
as is the strap that would go through
the mother of pearl rings,
but the beading itself is intact and tight.

And quite beautiful.
(As always, click to see a larger picture).

Another intricate pattern,
this one is in fine condition.

I'm not incredibly fond
of this shade of yellow,
but I love the pattern.
There are also two small blue stones
on the clasp.

This is the jewel of the whole collection.
I found this at an estate sale
that will live in my memory forever.
The jewels at the top are real,
hand set and still bright and clear.
I also love the beaded pattern.

This isn't a beaded bag,
but a vintage hand woven tapestry.
I believe the clasp is celluloid,
and the strap is leather.

Another one of my favorites,
I carry this one more than any other.
At least I used to,
when we used to go out "fancy".
I think the cherubs are sublime,
especially the little boy on the right . . .
Today, they would all be neutered.

These next two are tiny coin purses,

or perhaps doll's bags.
This one is about the size of a half dollar,
leather with a soft kid lining.

This one is alligator

or maybe crocodile.

This last picture really doesn't belong with this collection at all, but I'm including it anyway! It’s a set of three hand inlaid mother of pearl lacquered trays. Each is a bit larger than the last, so they nest inside of each other.

The detail on these
is so intricate and beautiful.
I couldn't resist.
I wrapped them up
and put them in the bottom
of one of my keeper boxes.

That's it for today. I've been busy packing keepers, making trips to the thrift store, assigning things to friends, basically making small steps towards cleaning out the house.

While there's a ton left to do, I feel like we're making progress.

I really do want to get back on the road, and that's the goal that keeps us moving forward.

You Can't Go Home Again

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But you can visit the place where you used to live.

Today we spent the day having long delayed medical tests, which meant we were in San Jose. In order to stay off the freeway, we decided on surface streets, and found ourselves near the house where I spent a lot of my formative years.


Terry convinced me that I should knock on the door, so I timidly went up to the porch and rang the doorbell.

Only to hear the sound so familiar from my youth.
I remember how pleased my dad was with this clock
and the sonorous tones of the door chimes

A lovely woman named Blanche answered the door. I told her I had grown up in the house and she graciously let me come in and take a few pictures.

This house was my parents dream house. I remember them poring over the plans, making so many decisions, then changing them, then changing them again.

Finally, the plans complete, the ground was broken, we monitored the progress and finally moved in and lived there till I graduated from high school.

It turns out that Blanche and her husband were the couple who had bought this home from my parents. Short of some upgrades, they have left the house pretty much as built.

The memories flow . . .

My Mother looked for months for these draperies. She wanted something scenic and beautiful, and I can't begin to tell you how I felt to see them once again. They cover a huge plate glass wall that I remember so well . . .


My Dad added so many touches to this house. I was so pleased to see that Blanche has left so many of them intact. He was so proud of this built in clock.

We also had an intercom,
with speakers in every room.
That was pretty cool for 1960.

He also had a small room, soundproofed, just for his stereo equipment. I remember a huge reel to reel tape deck. He'd spend hours in there, mixing music and making tapes.

Here's one thing I had completely forgotten. For some reason, my Father had chosen western themed light fixtures in all the bedrooms. Three daughters and we all went to sleep with these over our heads,


Wow, this was the bathroom I shared with my middle sister. When my older sister got married, she moved down the hall and this was all mine.

What a trip, the turquoise sinks,
toilet and tub were still there!

And I remember
that I got to pick out this tile myself.
For a young girl,
this was quite a decision.
I still like it.

Finally, here's the slide
that goes down to the swimming pool.
LOTS of good times in that swimming pool.
Notice the brick planter.
This was also my Dad's design.
We all thought it was pretty cool
to have a swimming pool
built around a giant brick planter.

This was a wonderful, nostalgic afternoon,
I'd like to thank Blanche
and her Grandson Tristan
for allowing me to take
this trip down memory lane.

the Housecar

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Today's find.

The Spring 1963 issue of "Clues to Successful Truck Operation" (along with about fifteen other editions).

But this one, what a treasure.

The reason? Because the lead article is about a gentleman who got the opportunity to test out a new Ford Condor. Huh? I've never heard of a Condor. It was manufactured by Kelson Engineering of El Monte, California (just a hop skip and a jump from Lazy Daze).

Here's a photo.

But what's such a hoot is the writing.

This was from a period when motorhomes had yet to enter the American psyche, so throughout the article, the vehicle is referred to as a housecar!

Is that a riot? From now on, I'm going to call Cholula Red a housecar.

And here's a few quotes from the article.

"This sleek looking housecar is BIG-26 feet from stem to stern"

"With all its equipment built in, overloading a housecar is never a problem"

". . . Sudden storms hold no terror for the Condor operator. He merely gets out of bed, dons a robe and drives away."

Huh? I would think he'd much rather stay warm in his bed till the storm passes, but that's just me. Maybe that's the difference between travel in a housecar and a motorhome?

Here's some other pictures from the article (and I apologize, they're not as clear as they could be, but hey, they're informational, not art).

Look how big they make the front look!
This thing must be fifteen feet wide.

And that sink looks like it belongs
in a stick house.
(I want one).

And forget about lack of power,
just bring along the toaster,
and the electric coffee pot.
I can't tell whether that's a refrigerator
or an electric dishwasher below he counter.

I must admit, I like their dishes a lot.
(Sorry this one is so blurry).

Well, it looks kind of cute,
but I think I like Cholula better!

While I was digging through a bunch of my paper, I must have come across at least fifteen old postcard folders. Remember those? Some were artist's renderings, some old photos, but there would be anywhere from ten to fifteen images of a single attraction, all folded up into the size of one postcard.

I love these, have for years and now I'm finding them all over the house. That’s sort of my process here, trying to put everything that's similar in one place (a huge job). Anyhow, when I saw how many I had, it got me to thinking.

Some are from New Mexico, Colorado, Indiana, Florida, New York, Iowa . . .

And I told Terry "You know what? Maybe we should plan an RV trip around these postcards, taking current pictures of all these sites?"

He likes the idea, so maybe that's what we'll do.

If we ever finish here.

Yum . . .

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I went out to the fresh fruit and veggie stand today. I still haven't gotten used to the abundance of fresh produce here in California.

The colors and assortment
just cries out for me
to take out my camera.

And I love
how everything glistens right after
they spray it with the fine mister.

But then, I'm easily amused.

I came home with a bunch of Brussels Sprouts. I've written about them before because we love to bake them, which is a wonderful way to eat them.

But lately, rather than heating up the oven, I've been doing something similar on the stove top, and they come out just as good.

I start out by removing the stem and then cutting them in half.

Then melt a bit of olive oil and butter in the bottom of a frying pan and place each sprout half, cut side down, in the pan.

The heat should be medium low.

Now plop a loose cover on the pan and let them go for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. Once there's a nice color on them, toss them around in the pan,
add a good amount of salt, and continue to cook (tossing every 5 minutes or so) until they look like this.

They should be a bit al dente. These are slightly crunchy on the outside and sweet and buttery on the inside. You can even serve them to people who don't usually like Brussels Sprouts, they'll be surprised. You may never steam them again.

While I'm talking cooking, I'd like to make a comment on salt, Lately, I've been using a variety of salts, and are they ever a treat.

Here's a photo of the shelf above my stove.

The big box on the left rear is Kosher salt. We keep it in this bamboo box and just grab it by the pinch for cooking. The multi-colored grinder has a combination of dehydrated garlic and kosher salt. The yellow salt is a lemon salt that has a wonderful flavor. The white container on the right has Anglesey Sea Salt. It's a finishing salt from Great Britain. I like to put just a dusting of this on my veggies right before serving.

Since I've been playing with different salts, I'm kind of amazed at the difference they make, so I thought I'd share.

Lots of Pictures . . .

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Interesting day.

We needed more fish (we're trying to put more fish into our diets) so that meant a trip into Santa Cruz to visit Trader Joe's.

So there we were, driving on the short stretch of freeway, when we saw a motorhome with a camouflage paint scheme. I thought it looked kind of cool, so Terry got up to it, when we saw this.

I love the old Lazy Daze logo and always have wished we had it on Cholula Red , but alas, we have the newer one.

And because I'm always interested in every Lazy Daze we see, we followed them. Shortly they pulled into a parking lot. I jumped out and introduced myself, only to discover Michelle and Cathy.


Michelle is a member of the Lazy Daze board on Yahoo, making her one of those cyber friends it's always so nice to meet. Their rig is a 1982 Twin King, and they are just now in the process of the new paint job.

I think it's very cool.


Once again, it's rainy and kind of dreary,
but it made for some interesting skies.
There's a large pasture on our route home,
and Terry stopped so I could take a picture

We decided to stop at the local stable
and take a look at the horses.
When we got there, I met an old friend
and took a few shots of her horses.

I particularly liked this shot,

in fact, I liked it so much
I tried it in black and white
with a sepia filter.

As we left,
the clouds were sitting in the tress.

The sky was pretty near perfect,

so, like always
I took way too many pictures.

It was just that kind of evening.

Even though I prefer
the wide open skies of New Mexico,
this was pretty impressive.

It only lasted for s few minutes,
but it was something.

My favorite shot of the day.