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Monday, November 30, 2015

It's The Christmas Countdown (and Cyber Monday)

If we had any pumpkins left from Halloween, there'd be frost on them! It was in the 20s again last night. The heating system seems to have a mind of its own and goes a little berserk by getting warmer and warmer as the temperature outside gets colder and colder . . .

No matter, the holiday spirit truly begins now with the countdown and the pressure to finish (or start) Christmas shopping . . .


But what better way to start the process than by

cruising the Internet for ideas and deals . . .

I used to "cyber shop" while at work (on lunch break of

course) but now I can spend the entire day . . .

It is hard to know where to go first and what to purchase,

but I'll do some more preparation and then proceed with

caution.

So, it is Monday and that means MNF and that means

a bowl of chili some more turkey leftovers . . . we're still

okay with that.

See you all in a few!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Thanksgiving Weekend . . .



Enjoy the holiday weekend!  Saturday -- turkey dinner leftovers . . . See you all in a few!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

The Trees are Alive . . .

After a week or so of rainy weather, we are back to beautiful coolish days with bright sunlight and very cool nights (30s). It is strange weather everywhere it seems, storming and snowy with signs of a lot more to come.



It seems that overnight the trees in the back have turned to a "fire" red and soon each one of those leaves will find their way into the pool the yard waste container where they eventually will enrich the landfills in Sonoma County.

And because of the rains and the subsequent sun, the flower box is blooming again. Unbelievable.

The Searching This Week


Most of my searching time has been spent on researching the family of my daughter's fiance.

And to the left is The Baker Crown 11 brand symbol that was used by the Baker family.

I don't think that I have ever encountered a "brand" for a family that I was researching.

I hope to find out a great deal more about that.




To the right you can see a summary of the tree that I started in Ancestry for this family.

I began with less than ten names and currently there are over three hundred names with many more to come in time.

It is a lot of fun seeing the tree come alive populated with folks from all over the country.

And hopefully, many discoveries will be made
and maybe many "cousins" introduced.

No matter, it is rewarding and enlightening to do this kind of search. There is a lot of  "low-hanging" fruit to be had and when that is gone the intense search begins.

More to come in time about the "Baker Family".

What Else Took My Time This Week

After several months of procrastinating about it, I impulsively decided to migrate from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

I do like the brilliant new look and feel, but I did have some "bumps" in the process that I needed to take the time to work out.

I hope that I don't have any unpleasant surprises looming in the near future due to this upgrade.

I feel as though I have a new computer and I can say that overall I like Windows 10 -- and the beauty of it all, Microsoft offered it for no charge to eligible machines. Thank you!

So, I will keep you posted about the workings of the new operating system.

While this Was Going On


We received the shipment of the piano for Gail on Monday afternoon. While I thought about how I was going to set it up, Gail came up with the perfect solution -- call the local moving company (Redwood Moving) and enlist them in the process.

Wednesday afternoon that was accomplished and by the early evening Gail was learning the ins and outs of the features of the piano and brushing up on her skills.

Dino too practised his stance using both paws to cover the playing field . . .

In the photo, Gail is using an App for her iPad that plays along with the piano and can give instruction, amazing.

What will they think of next. Next for us is to convert the living and dining rooms into our music and reading rooms.

In the four plus years that we have lived here, we have only used the dining room maybe once for a dinner -- so why not convert it into something more useful for us to enjoy.

Coming Up Soon

Overall, the NFL has been a disappointment for
us this season. Many games that we have recorded we watch maybe just a quarter or so and then find something more entertaining to view.

But this Sunday there is a game between two teams that we like. I am not sure which team to root for . . . should I wear the new Russell Wilson shirt that my daughter just gave me and
root for the team that I used to attend their games
in the old "Kingdome" or do I stick with the Forty-Niners that have been a real let-down so far this season since a very capable head coach was replaced by someone not so capable . . .

I think we'll watch the game and see which team is playing a "good" game and root for that team.
Maybe the Niner's new quarterback will make a difference again this week.

Football, it is always one thing or another that happens, except for that one team . . .

On Our Nightstand

Several years ago we enjoyed watching the wacky character, Monk, solve criminal cases on TV.

We are taking a light reading break by reading the current selection to the left.

It is easy reading and enjoyable and brings back to life the wackiness of Monk and those around him.

There are a ton of "Monk" books out there and this one so far has kept our interest enough to help us drift off to sleep appropriately.

We have several books in queue and on our wish list and reading each night has been very enjoyable.

We love reading the actual physical book even though we also have several books on our Kindle App and Audible App.



Lastly . . .

It is amazing that our favorite holiday of the year is about to unfold in a few days. Since we have been invited out -- and we actually may do that -- Gail is busy getting ready to make a "side dish" that she has made many times before. Just not recently.

And because we like "leftovers" we will also make a traditional turkey dinner to enjoy at home as well. We usually only have a traditional turkey dinner a couple of times a year. We do use ground turkey frequently though it is not the same . . .



For now, it is Saturday and that might mean hot dogs for lunch, burgers for dinner.

See you all "in a few"!




























Saturday, November 14, 2015

Catchin' Up . . .

Okay, okay, so I missed a post last week -- the first time this year. It may not be the last miss that I have, but we'll try to catch up. No promises, though.

My excuse is that we, like Johnnie Carson had visitors from the North, and in this case, the Northwest. Lisa and her fiance Bob visited for nine days and we did some catching up. It had been five years since we got the chance to be together -- and it was a wonderful visit.



It was interesting that it was this very week too that we noticed a definite change in the weather. It seems that the rain is also trying to catch up. We had a few days of rain and several of sunshine for Lisa & Bob to enjoy.

I'll share more about the visit a bit later -- but they are my excuse for no post last week.

Old to New Upgrade

This week we caught up with one of our fun possessions and are upgrading that. The "old" mini baby grand piano was picked up on Thursday of this week and the new baby grand piano should arrive on Monday next.


Gail has always loved playing the piano and the "old" one was getting tired. The "new" one should take care of that issue and it has a feature also that allows for student/instructor roles -- so maybe even yours truly could resume lessons (from about 60 years ago).

More on all that in coming posts.

A Glimpse of the Visit

There were many fun dinners and get-togethers in the last nine days. As I write this, Lisa & Bob should be just arriving to pick up their kenneled dog, Buttercup in Washington. I know that feeling when a kenneled dog greets their owner after a lengthy separation -- pure joy for all.


Above is a collage of some of what went on. You should be able to click to enlarge it a bit. The pool water is quickly going back to it's 60-degree reading after being above 80 degrees for several days.
Dino keeps checking out the guest house to see when and if anyone will emerge.

And so we wrap up this week feeling pleased that we had such a nice visit and look forward to more in the future -- maybe Christmastime . . .

Speaking of Things to Come



Above you can quickly see "days till" for three upcoming events.

The first is the Presidential election is less than a year away. We watched the debates earlier this week and there is another one tonight. The time is rapidly closing in on "decisions".

Thanksgiving -- less that two weeks away AND it always seems that Christmas instantly follows. In this case, there is still 40 days till then but that will "fly by".


And so now you know . . . it is Saturday and that means burgers actually leftovers, and we love that!

See you all in a few!