WOW - where did the days go! Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

2009 has been a busy year full of fun and adventure - it sure went fast.

2010 will be a better year for all of us!!

Spencer is soon headed off to a four year college having completed her AA degree at the local JC.

She is going to have a lot of fun and learning ahead of her.

Her new MacBook with MSOffice should help.

As well as the warm and cozy sweat pants, earrings and all the other terrific gifts she has received.

Felted - shown above with her fancy knitting bowl - (yes I've found that there is nothing out there that can not be encompassed by yarn or knitting - I even recently saw soap that had "felting" around it to give it that extra scrubability - nuts!!!) She also received from Santa a new needle kit from knit picks - and one gift that shall still remain hidden as it has not yet arrived (darn international shipping!). She also received a cook book - but - given all the knitting related activities I'm afraid Julia Child is going to have to take a back seat.

And Santa was good to me as well - I received the gift of something not having to do with work. A few days in SF at "Cheese School" - which should be wonderfully fun - as I will be there with my own cheese squeeze - Kate. The clothes and other gifts - including the Wii game console from "Money Bags Spencer" to Cathie and I - are all very wonderful. (We were both in total shock - although I plan on still kicking her butt in bowling - and getting in some better Yoga shape with Cathie.)

But the best gift is the same one that I hope each of you had - time with family and friends - time to reflect on how blessed we all are to be happy and healthy - time to think about all the blessings that are yet to come.

Merry Christmas!

It was a wonderful Turkey day !!!

Here is the chef!

S Made a wonderful lunch/dinner.

The menu was:

Sage butter roasted turkey w/ cider gravy

Sourdough stuffing w/sausage,apples,and golden raisins

Potato and autumn vegetable hash

It was all very YUMMY!

Oh and I made popovers.... I know it was a stretch for me! I think I will be passing the apron on to S for the rest of the Holidays!

We all hope that you all had a "Thankful" Day... And you were not one of the people at Toys R Us at midnight!

Will post soon with info on our trip down to Santa Barbara.... I know some of you are T's friends on Facebook so you know about some of it! I went down and took a class from Jared Flood of Brooklyntweed infamy... I have followed his blog for a couple years. He is an amazing knitter and photographer. To say the least I had a GREAT time!

Guess who is the big 19!!!!

It is S's Big day!!!

Here she is at the San Diego Zoo last Friday... Her B-day gift from us! She and D flew down for the day and had a great time!

Well it has been awhile!!

Here is S. with her book bag that we talked about a few posts ago! We found the "car" fabric while we were on vacation. In Ashland Oregon... good times!

PHEOBE LOOK AT MAMA!!
PHEOBE LOOK AT MAMA!! I WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!
PHEOBE ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK......
I am thinking that answer is NO! We still love her though! She seems to be doing well even with her Cushings disease.

GAME WAS ON IN THE BIG HOUSE!!!!!
Cleaning was done!
And much CHEATING!!!
YES I am talking to you!! This is suppose to be an individual competion!! NO helping out the "GIRLFRIEND" D.!
OH and also T. got into the cheating with his use of the Halloween costume he wore to work!!
The power tools were also taken out.... S had quite a lot of help on her pumpkin!
OH! Carmen how I thought for sure we would win this year!! But it was not to be!
Even your gourd nose did not help!
D's masterpiece!
S's in all of its glory!
How cute are they??
This is the aftermath! Pumpkin guts everywhere!

Last Sunday was much better and I have gotten over my loss on the pumpkin front! T. received the most compliments on his so he won.... (CHEATER! with the use of costume) Here he is with his precious taking photo's of the vineyards in Napa. We had a great time the weather was a perfect 75! Ice cream and coffee were had at Oxbow marketplace in downtown Napa. It is right by were Copia used to be. Too bad it closed because they would have been a perfect mix! Rumor has it though that the Food Network might take over the locale and film shows there! What fun that would be!
A Vineyard... Love the Fall colors... Can I live there T????
Oh and here is Precious #2.. Yes that is me waiting while he is photo taking with #1
I say we cannot compete with this guy's Halloween decorations!! So I am not even going to try. Maybe we will have to cruise by around the holidays to see if he goes all out then! This was in St. Helena of all places.
Well that is it folks.. This weekend had nothing to write about.. We did finish putting up the crown molding in the den and kitchen. T did a great job! Especially around the radius corners! What a great guy to have around the house! Even though he cheats with the pumpkin carving! I swear I am not bitter.....

Butter Sunday

The morning started off with Fritatas - these were Halloween Fritatas with some purple potatoes. Okay - Fritatas is really Spanish for kitchen sink so they just happened to be in the fridge with all the other needed ingredients - butter, onion, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers from the garden, cheese, as well as some carnitas al pastor (mildly spicy pork).

Going with the halloween theme - there happened to be a potato that ended up looking like a heart. I gave that slice of the final product to Cathie with a kiss - which I guess is better than a vampire neck hickey. At least it didn't look like Nixon - I would not have known what to do with that!

We ended up going out on a bike ride at around noon, off to Whole Foods for some grocery items. (Having ended my 30 day protest against Whole Foods for the stupid comments from their president about health care. It never ceases to amaze me how the biggest asses seem to run companies - he had been investigated earlier by the SEC for making disparaging posts about a competitor (Wild Oats) under an assumed name while trying to drive a bargain with them. You have so much potential to do good - and instead - you choose to be a jerk. Rant Rant Rant - I'm done now - okay - just for now.)

While there we picked up some plantains for an afternoon snack - a little more butter, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla - to be combined with ice cream.

With all the wet weather the ponds and streams in the area had filled up bringing back the ducks. They are right along the bike path and seem to be very used to people riding or walking by. Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that they get feed regularly through out the day by "concerned citizens". I believe they shout "Let them eat bread" - as it gets closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm certain it will be replaced with the more frequent "Off with their heads". (Hey it's better than the "Let them eat Quackers" joke I was going to tell.)

One of them tried to stare me down!

(Okay - he did win - he was big - and then he puffed up - I ran away screaming like a little girl. Or that's what C said - I thought it was more like a mature woman than a little girl. And not so much screaming.... okay - it was like a little girl - but he was puffy....)

Oddest moment of the day - when riding away from the pond C and I saw something in the corner. It was moving kind of funny and we couldn't tell what exactly it was - ended up being a little gardner snake swimming in the pond.

Well that's about all the excitement for this week.

Felted Fridays??? This thing seems to only be updated on Sunday!

What's up with that?!

Had a very nice weekend. Went out to Sutter Creek on Saturday to see Robin and Ardis. It was the annual Street Organ Rally with several unique organs from newly made to antique. We had lunch with them at the Twisted Fork. It was very nice.

Seemed everyone had some kind of stuffed or automated monkey at the Rally. Maybe next year they will do a Monkey and Organ Rally Extravaganza - or MORE. Hopefully people enjoy the music - wouldn't want it to become MORE Grinding. Just so long as they don't combine it with a debate festival - it might be called the Blow Harder Festival. Which would be better than DAMN MORE (Debate and Annual Musical Notes and Monkey Organ Rally Extravaganza).

All right - enough with the humor.

While there we visited the local glass blowing (there we go again with blowing - what is it with Sutter Creek) store. (Okay - honestly that was the last one.) We had purchased some glass flowers there several years prior. It was good to see that he was still at it - and that he had a very nice selection.

We also stopped at Amador City - where wonder of wonders - Yarn was discovered. Not only was the yarn appropriately nappy and crazy colored - but it was cheap! SSSSHHHHH!!!! Don't tell!! The store owner was the one that spun the yarn - but had no idea of how to knit. She showed us some very fun and colorful wool that she was going to spin up later in the week.

Spencer will be very excited that her handbag is now complete! But more on that next week.

Hopefully before Sunday!

T & C (T did the jokes)

Sunday - Sunday - Sunday

It's been several Sundays of not getting much done - despite the endless lists of things that need to get done.

Cathie and I had a bike ride to breakfast this morning. Rode up to Panera for Pink Ribbon Bagels (Cherry and Cranberry). Besides the fact that Cathie loves the bagels - the purchase does go toward a good cause of funding breast cancer research.

We actually did get a number of things done. I medicated the mouth of my koi with what the vet call "Neosporum for fish" - The antibiotic food wasn't there Saturday. They will get a shipment Wednesday. Cathie will have to pick it up.

Cathie and Spencer are trying to one up me and Devin on the pumpkin "contest" - which consisted of them getting two very large pumpkins last week - and then - waiting a few days until all the big ones were gone - and then announcing that "Game On" - we were in a contest.

Well - little do they know that I have a plan. And that plan is ... uhh.. cough... cough... I can't.... ugggghhhhhh....

T here -

Spent Saturday with Kate in Davis at the Farmers Market. She was a little pouty last week when she found that I had gone there with Spencer - LOL.

Kate picked up Sunday breakfast (the cinnamon rolls) as well as some fresh fruits and local honey. (She of course is "my local honey").

What day with Cathie would not include a little yarn.

Finished up our morning in Davis with a stop at BlackBear diner. Its a small chain that has started to open up in Northern California. Pancakes, Waffles - and of course the elixir of life coffee.

It was a pretty lazy day - Farmers Market, Antique shopping, some time at the mall (very sad that Red Mango yogurt came and went so fast - I don't even think it lasted a year in the mall). Spencer cooked dinner - marinated grilled chicken with a salad, very nice.

Very nice weekend - the way a weekend should be.