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"!