Shakes & Bakes and a bit of Nostalgistrivia

What a gorgeous week in terms of weather -- one day of rain to begin the week and then every day that followed so far has been bright, sunny and in the 80s and near 90s . . . we in our home are in sort of limbo waiting for certain (garage) remodeling projects to come to a conclusion. Gail has been stymied as to what to do since we can not "move" things until the construction is done -- so fortunately for me and a few lucky others she has chosen to bake muffins -- this week Applesauce Oatmeal muffins:

They were outstanding. The process was interesting -- first the apples had to be picked from our tree and then home made applesauce was made. Later a batch of home grown oats oatmeal was added along with several other tasty ingredients and then placed into our top-notch oven -- which is on the list of to be upgraded -- and the aroma came wafting throughout the house promising a wonderful mid-morning break.

Needless to say the muffins were great -- and I believe she has even found another recipe for next week -- we anticipate more decadent eating pleasure in the coming days -- and if the garage is delayed, even more . . .

In the category of "Where Were You When  . . ."

This coming Monday I happen to remember where I was exactly 22 years prior. And maybe some of you do as well. There was an event that many will recall -- it occurred on a Tuesday evening actually during the playing of a World Series game.in California. I was not in a place that was broadcasting the Series -- as a matter of fact I was on a "Sound of Music Tour" when I heard  notice of the event in Saltzburg, Austria. I could not believe my eyes as I saw pictures of what looked like "total destruction" of San Francisco and I remarked to my son that I might as well not even go home as it looked like there was no home . . .

Loma Prieta turned out to be about a 6.9 quake and we still see some of the aftermath of it -- but since it has been 22 years already there is always the question of the next one. For me I do not mind that I missed out on "being there" for the experience -- I have been in other quakes like the 7+ in Los Angeles in 1972.

If you click on the above you will see some pictures of San Francisco destruction and a picture of Saltzburg, Austria (for the Sound of Music Tour) and also one of Dachau near Munich, Germany -- for we spent the afternoon touring that destruction as well.

Our Garage Update


It is hard to believe that our garage is influencing so much of our daily life at the moment. I think back to the many garages that I have had over the years and this one is playing a seemingly larger role. We are stopped from moving forward with "unpacking" and finalizing our move because of the garage. The worker bees were active this week and we now have painted walls and ceilings. We now have light where for the last several days there has been none AND we have the actual cabinets inside the garage -- not all in place but some are:

This is how the progress looks as of the 14th of October. So next week -- if the creek . . . we are looking forward to having the cabinets in place and a new door and opener installed -- THEN -- and I have been instructed to not start alone -- we will begin the careful process of sorting and placing items for storage onto the shelves. It could happen.

Other Activities


Baking the muffins was not enough -- clearing out the raised garden beds was another attraction that called us -- mostly Gail -- to action. It is certainly slick how one is "caught - up" in the process. The brief  check on progress brought about a lot more than originally planned -- meaning I got more involved than I thought I would be -- but I do feel better for it.  The other attraction is from a visiting kitty that is apparently making the rounds and has added us to her daily routine -- notice the treats. We do like this kind of cat right now -- an outside cat that is "just visiting" and one that knows to not overstay her welcome.

So we make time to garden and feed the visiting kitty and all the while wait with anticipation for the coming week so that we can "unbox" things. More things. Actually I have come upon a collection of things from one of -- actually two of the boxes that I have started "doing something with". It is a collection of memorabilia items that I have accumulated for over 40 years -- and I just might do something with the collection.  I'll report on that collection in future posts.

Thinking Way Back . . .


I have always loved being around food, preparation of, purchasing of, shopping for and from my earliest memories I actually remember shopping in the local "supermarket" with my Mother. I remember with fondness the aroma of the store and the activities going on throughout the store. So mush so that I can remember saying "when I grow up I want to be the manager of the A&P". That was the store that I can recall shopping in for the "big food shopping" of the week. We had small local stores for the daily needs of milk or bread for supplementing the weekly shopping.

I did not reach the goal of being the manager of an A&P store, but in my earlier career I certainly spent a lot of time in food stores and around them. To this day I am still very much at home in super markets of all kinds. Some days I look for "just one more store" to check out, so to speak. So it is a sad story in a way that one of the biggest food chains filed for bankruptcy last year. At one time A&P had over 16,000 stores and at this point have regressed to "just a few" regional stores . . .

 This is a current book out about the subject and one that if I can get the time I'd like to read.


From a Recent Outing . . .


We like to walk and drive throughout our town. The other day we were reminded of the time of the year and of the next "holiday" . . . we will make some more forays looking for evidence of Halloween, but this was a curious one to start with:

Click on the above to see the appropriate decorations for the coming "big-day"  . . . bigger for some than others . . . we have put out a pumpkin (home grown). The above is on a beautiful older home in the state of being remodeled but currently being guarded by what we call a "black cat on a hot tin roof".


And so goes our week -- we in a few minutes will end our day with the Saturday Night Sliders as has been our routine for several months now.

See you in a few!