7/28 / Anderson

Very nice summer week end - - lots of sun, clear sky and very calm.  We hovered around the 90s this week end and it looks like they will get the century mark back next week.  The evenings are getting pretty cool - party due to the reduction in sunshine, shorter days that is not a good thing!!

Kathy was busy with one of her old projects, she has three very old chairs that she wanted to refinish.  She worked on them and has changed her mind on what she wants to do with them several  times.  I am sure her final decision will be a good one!!  She has moved her computer ( laptop) into her studio and she is getting settled in for sure.  Most of the work this week end was done on the back patio - very nice, shaded and we get a nice breeze from the South which keeps it a little cooler. 

I was busy with chores lawn yesterday and today I changed the oil on the boat - well sort of!?  I had to pump the oil out of the crank - not sure but all I could get was about 2 quarts?  For some reason my pump would not pick up any more.  It is a manual pump and I don't have a very good deal in the hose?  I need to find a better pump - they have a adapter on the end of the oil stick so that is the way to do it - just had the wrong tool.  I ended up putting the two quarts back and will refinish the job when I get the right tools.  Talk about tight quarters, the oil filter sit in the back at the right of the engine.  Not very much space to get to it - - not looking forward to that activity either. Several times I had the notion to take it in to have the oil changed - still might do that?  We got the boat with 24 hours on it and it now has 48.  I have not changed the oil so thought it was about time to do that?  With the right tools it should be a snap?

Today, I went out to pick blackberries - it is the season, they are ripe and ready to go!!  Two weeks ago they had a new berries that were ready - those at the end of the cluster seemed to ripen up first.  Today almost all the berries on a cluster were ripe - deep purple ( blackish).  I got about a gallon and a half - popped them in the freezer and they will be ready to go.  I am going to take lst year's berries down South and use them - not sure for what yet.  We still have a blackberry pie in the freezer here that I made a couple of months ago - it turned out great and did not put much of a damper on the inventory?  I see blackberries and ice cream in our future - Kathy will have to manage that with her calorie counting, she will adjust accordingly.  I am totally amazed on the health benefits of blackberries - powerful critters?!!

Kathy had a very busy week and work -  they have pressing issues with the budget like everyone else and puts her right in the middle of the action?  It is sure nice that she is able to get away from that stuff, it would be much harder if she did not a chance to unwind a little and do something else!!?? 

Golf was great as usual, averaged 30 holes each day and played with lots of interesting people.  I also was able to average about 50 balls for my collection.  No sales this week - ball sales have slowed down considerably. 

Not much else for news - - hope you all enjoy the Olympics and have a great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie

7/21 Tracy

We had a very nice week - the temperature climbed all week to the century mark today it will last until Monday then cool down a little.  The heat is sure increasing the fire hazard throughout the nation - not much relief in sight?!!  We all look forward to the Summer then when the heat climbs we have second thoughts - for us the Spring and Fall are perfect.  We can take the heat and cold in paradise.

We had a very nice day today - met with some dear friends from the bay area to celebrate our collective birthdays.  We had a very nice time, great food and plenty of catching up.  Their daughter has created drawings for us in the past - she loves to draw and has sure matured over time.  Kathy has captured her creativity with the pictures inserted.  Kathy has also added her own shot at drawing, she stated with the eyes then  moved to the nose and next we will get the mouth and more.  They are both doing great with their artistic expression.

Another project I'm working on are fabric transfers using citri-solv.  You take a xerox image face down on the fabric.  Blot the back of the paper using a cotton ball with citri-solv.  Burnish with the back of a spoon or the edge of a credit card and voila.  Heat set with an iron.  Search Citri-Solv Transfers on YouTube for video instructions.  Here is a picture of one I did as a practice run...

Last week end we had a interesting experience at 2:30  the morning.  The fire alarms throughout the house went off.  We investigated and found no smoke or other odors.  I pulled some of the alarms off line and it finally cleared.  I changed out the batteries and that seemed to correct the problem.  I had the batteries to-do list but never got them changed out.  The house has 10 or more smoke alarms - some of them are very high at 20 feet or so.  In the future we need to do a better job in managing the battery back ups.

Lots of exercise this week for both of us.  Kathy, her sister, Rosemary and Pete (Rosemary's husband) have taken on life style change with extra emphasis on healthy behaviors.  They are tracking such things as exercise, food, vitamins, stress management, and being kind to their friends and family, etc.  I am the judge and have given them the challenge metrics and will award the points accordingly based on their efforts.  The focus of this challenge is really targeted at a healthy life style and it does not place much emphasis on the pesky scale.  I am sure that each of them will have a great experience over the next few months as they reap the benefits of the new and different way of life.

Great golf this week  as usual - some bad news however as several of the regulars at the course have sustained some sort of heart problem.  One of the marshals had a mild heart attack several weeks ago.  They did some tests did not not find any major blockage.  He is recovering nicely, taking it easy.  I have talked with him several time - he seemed to be getting cabin fever so I volunteered to take him to the mall to walk in that cool environment.  He liked that and the exercise was very good for him and he enjoyed the opportunity to get out.  I need to keep an eye on him in the future.

Enough babble - - hope you all have a great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie

7/14 Anderson

It was  a very hot week for us and most everyone else according to the weather forecasters.  Looks like we might get a little break this week and get away from the century mark.  We are having a fair share of fires like everyone else.  Those fire fighters have their hands full once again this year and we are just entering the dry hot season.  I will stay busy trying to keep the yards from burning up.  We got irrigation water last week and that helps but it won't last.  That water is supposed to last 14 days but we are lucky to have it last for 7.  I deep water the trees along the driveway - 18 of them.

Mountain or Mole Hill?

Is it a mountain for a mole hill.  If you guessed a mole hill, you're right - - one of several that appear as soon as I break them down.   I mowed yesterday and got all the little mounds cleared off.  Overnight those critters came back and created yet another tunnel for themselves.  I have been researching ways to get rid of them - looks like trapping is the most efficient.  Tessie found one several weeks ago - I don't think she killed it?  Tessie the terrier is supposed to dig up and catch critters like that, she does pokes and digs around in the yard after them but looses interest pretty quickly.  Originally, I thought they might just move on but looks like they like their home and are hear for the duration?  I will soon be a home wrecker. 

Kathy has a big project this week end, she has tackled her studio.  She has lots of stuff and the inventory keeps increasing.  This room is not big enough for all her inventory so she now has a studio and as staging area (dining room).  Oh and yes she has show tables in the master bedroom.  I can't complain, I have the garage and it is full of stuff of which most of it is mine.  We share our spaces pretty evenly.  I forgot - then we have Tracy and the same kind of arrangement has taken place there as well.  One of these days we will have to consolidate - that will not be a fun project!!??

Kathy's studio re-vamp
{click here to see more pics}

I (Kathy here) have decided I want to learn how to draw.  Great lessons on YouTube.  Here are my "eye" sketches this week:

Next week I'll move on to noses.


We arrived on Thursday and I checked the drinking water for the horses.  All three containers were half empty and full of nasty algae and bacteria.  They all have red cast which as I recall from my biology is Serratia marcescens?  I think this is the same bacteria/algae that is in the Red Sea - - that is where it got the name.  I have mentioned this to the owners of the horses but they seem not to worried about the water condition.  We provide the water they provide the containers and I guess I provide the cleaning.  I am OK with that sure don't want those horses to get sick on my watch?  I feel much better now that they are clean.  After I mowed, I picked up the trimmings and gave it to the horses.  They had two really nice piles to eat from - not really interested, they still have over half of  it still sitting on the ground.  When we had cows - I did the same thing and the piles were gone immediately. 

Clean water trough

Have to close out on  a negative note - - caught a news item this week that really irked me.  The new medical treatment program that was enacted and upheld by the supreme court was once again attached by the House of Representatives (Republican Majority).  For the 33rd time they have tried write a bill that will kill the program.  It takes two to Tango - the bills were then sent to the Senate and rejected by them ( Democratic Majority). They have spent over 800 hours debating the issue at a cost of over 50 million of our precious national budget.  There is something wrong with this whole situation - - we put these folks into office to manage our country, I do not think they are doing a very good job?  We all need to watch this space!!??

Hope you all have a great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy Tessie and Sammie

7/6 Tracy

We are headed straight in to the heart of Summer - temperatures seem to be climbing higher and higher each day!!  We are headed for a long string of century temps for the coming week.  We usually get a nice cool breeze from the bay, which is very nice during the evening hours as it cools us down quickly.  We are very fortunate as we don't have to use a A/C much, we have a single story and we have a large canopy of trees.  Most of the houses in the hood are 2 story and their A/Cs are running all the time.

One of my weekly chores is to do the grocery shopping at Costco of course.  I usually go on Monday at noon after my golf in the morning.  This week I had a run in with the Costco Pirates.  My first experience  - - same old routine, grab a cart, this week I took a pizza from the cooler at the entrance and placed it on the bottom of the cart then I went to the front to ditch the cart so I could get my lunch at the food court prior to shopping.  I placed a shirt in the basket so the cart would not be nabbed.  After my lunch, I came back to my cart  - for some reason my pizza was gone but the shirt and cart were still there.  I put the shirt up and went back for another pizza then finish my shopping.  My second experience -  got all the items and was headed down the main isle, had to get some milk, left the cart which was very full, got the milk then returned to the cart, it was gone!!  I looked in the immediate area while carrying the milk - the cart was not to be found.  The milk was getting heavy so I put it back to look harder for the cart.  I spent the next 10 to 15 minutes walking up and down all the aisles.  No luck - I was not excited about starting over - - but ran out of options so headed back to the entrance to get a new cart.  I got almost back to the entrance and there was my full cart in the middle of the isle.  I was thankful to find it but a bit perplexed about the whole experience(s).  The lesson learned for me was keep your cart with you at all times!!

Kathy has taken on another project for the week end.  She is taking a craft class online the students complete  various projects then post the results of the work.  The students are international and she enjoys the cultural variations.  She is almost half way through the class - should be done by the end of the summer.  She always seems to reflect on how fast the week ends pass.  Her time is already committed to these projects.  She is having great fun with the projects and is learning allot from the teacher and other students.  My week end was filled with lots of yard work.  All the trees and bushes are growing so fast.  I filled both of my 2 yard waist cans with trimming from 1 pepper tree and 4 orange tress that are in the court yard.  Last week, I heard that it is OK to start trimming back the fruit trees in the Summer.  I have always waited for the Fall.  Next week I will work on them, my yard waste cans get emptied on Tuesday.  This yard work sure keeps my busy - I don't need any other projects.

Trim a tree:

So like I get up at half past 8 this morning and Ron already has the trees trimmed.  Next, he goes out for a run....

...and I stay at home and do art!
Mixed Media:

Paper Crafts:

Golf was fun as usual, got to play 3 times, had a great time.  On Thursday, I had a golf ball sale.  The fellow from Modesto wanted 100 balls and was a little fussy initially as he was concerned that he might be getting some garbage balls.  I assured him that would not happen.  I met him and after he looked at the balls he asked if I had another 100?  I usually don't carry extra balls but I did manage to find 6 dozen balls in the car.  He took them as well and went on his way as a happy camper.   I did pretty good on balls found as well, got my avearge of  250 or more.  On Wednesday  - 4th of July, I came home with 92.  I went out early to beat the heat and the crowd - played the back 9  first so that the  4 sums could get in front on me on the front 9.  That was a great move as I had the course to myself, even doubled back to play the back 9 again before I headed to the front 9.  Overall it was a great week on the course.

We did not do much for the 4th - got some minor chores done.  It was sure noisy, the hood was busy with fireworks during the evening.  Tessie did not like all the noise, I took Tessie on  walk later in the evening and there was lots of folks in the streets with their fire works.  We missed the fire works in Redding once again - maybe we can see it next year.  They have a great show - paper said they had 10 K people watching the fire.  It ran for about 25 minutes and costs about $25K.   They sure had a quick show in San Diego, theirs went up in one show - less than 30 seconds and that one cost of  $80K.  That computer error will cost someone lots of money?

Hope you all have a great week end!! 

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie