Cool & Rainy . . . What's That?

It's hard to believe in this first week of autumn that we have weather in the high 90s and then today it will be about 70° and it is supposed to maybe rain . . . I actually can not remember the last time that it rained here. I know that is hard to believe for other parts of the country, but maybe, just maybe it will actually rain some here today.

And that's not all -- it is supposed to maybe rain in a couple of other days this coming week. Maybe the vineyards will appear as above and we'll see umbrellas out not just shielding us from the sun.

It did feel colder this morning and the newspaper was delivered in a rubber-banded bag -- so that pretty much ensures it . . . we'll see.

So, how to warm up?

This past week I received a great DIY kit (thank you, Lisa/Bob). It reminded me of a chemistry set from my younger days. But this set included everything that I needed to make my own "hot sauce". And I did.

It took about an hour to complete the mildest of the offered chiles and recipes yielding the two bottles above -- about a cup's worth -- and a small amount I put into a dish. The two chiles in this recipe were some chipotles and some pasillas.

The process includes soaking the dried chiles and then adding a spice blend that smelled like cumin and then adding vinegar and cooking for a bit. After all was softened up and warm, I blended it with my hand-held blender.

It turned out very tasty and not too hot for me. For Gail, that was a different matter, she tasted it on the end of a spoon and liked the taste and then the kick arrived . . .

I have grown to like hot sauce a lot. Growing up we never experienced hot sauce. The kit has what I would describe as dangerously hot chiles -- I'll be conservative with those. I remember several years ago using a small bit of a "scotch bonnet" in something and when I tasted it, I could not stop the burn.

So, if it gets cooler and rainier, the hot sauce will play nicely into keeping warm -- just thinking about it warms me up.

While I was preparing the hot sauce, Gail was working on her latest needlepoint.

This pic shows her just after she tasted the hot sauce and before the kick arrived . . .

Gail has enjoyed working on her needlepoint when she feels up to it. She has two pieces finished so far this year and a few more planned.


*** Breaking News *** As I am writing this a fine watery mist is coming down, so the predictions are true -- we are getting some precipitation -- I hope it keeps up. If only last year at this time we had received some precip . . .

The other activity this week included the puzzle to the right.

Both of us enjoyed working this for the last several days and yesterday evening, just before dinner, we completed it.

It was challenging at times but always engaging. There is a sense of accomplishment coupled with completing it. Gail now thinks she wants to leave it up for a while to just admire it.

But, eventually, we will pack it back up to work another time. After all, we have more puzzles to complete that are enticing us as they sit in their sealed boxes. What a nice pass time.

Something else I received this week appears to the left. It is a small device with which I can scan various types of film -- such as slides, super 8 movies and/or other negatives.

Then I can produce picture prints from those. In my early trials I see that there is a huge learning curve to get things done correctly.

Partly the learning curve comes from very poor instructions included with the kit and just my inability to grasp some of the instructions -- but I'm getting there.

So far I have succeeded in making prints of two slides and a print from one Super 8 film. I have a ton of Super 8 movies to work with as long as they hold out enough quality.

And Gail has a ton of 35 mm slides to use. The interesting fact about the two slides that I was able to actually print is that Gail is not sure if the girl in the pic is her or not -- and since I did not know her when the pictures were taken -- I'm not sure either -- maybe yes, maybe not, we'll hopefully find out.

The tricky thing is to be able to squeeze in the time needed to do this activity as it does take time. And I would really like to do it. So many things to do, so little time . . .

And another activity that I need to squeeze more time into is -- researching my DNA matches.

Just this week, I poured over 125 pages (each containing 50 names) of DNA matches -- that is over 6000 just from AncestryDNA.

Then there are the matches from FTDNA, 23& Me and MyHeritage . . . I need to employ help . . .

And again, speaking of DNA, our friends at "Pickles":

I'm sure a lot of families -- including this one -- can identify with the above sentiment . . .

And that is a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"! 👨👩

Autumn Leaves (Actually Arrives)

It is Day 265 of this year. The weather here in Northern California in our town of Healdsburg has been mostly in the 90s again this week, with some more of the same next.

The days do seem shorter though and the mornings and evenings cooler. The sounds of "Fall" are around us if that makes sense. We don't actually hear the leaves falling, but yet they do. Soon the trees in the back will be bare.

Somewhere close to us this is how "fall" will look again soon -- that is if we do not have a repeat of the events of last fall. The nearly 7000 homes that burnt to the ground near here are slowly being rebuilt. In today's paper, there was a report that many of the homes being rebuilt are being constructed using concrete instead of wood -- seems to make sense.

The second full day of Autumn brings another event close to us -- Dino:

Dino turns seven years old on Monday -- amazing. Only two of the above pictures are actually of Dino the middle two are very similar appearing dogs that could pass for him at first glance.

Dino is still like a puppy to us in that he is such a good dog -- never barks never chews up anything that is not his, always eats his breakfast and dinner and stays by our side throughout the day.

So we celebrate Dino's big day with maybe a few extra kibbles and other special attention.

Then also, on the first official day of "Fall" are the "76" Trombones that led the big parade . . . a big day for someone (me) who actually fake-played a Cornet during all the parades -- but who would ever have known that.

It was hard marching and playing the horn at the same time -- I can explain in more detail if anyone wants to know . . .

Wow! 76! Who would have ever thought . . .

Did someone speak of "DNA"?

Just a couple of days ago, another major cold case was hopefully solved via the use of DNA.

A serial rapist who committed his crimes for many years and has gone undetected for years and years was identified.

This man was hiding in plain sight and worked for a major university in some capacity for many years. He was unmasked and identified this week.

And in the article listed above, CeCe Moore predicts a huge number of crimes will be "solved" using this technique -- it must be a very nervous time for those that know they are guilty and have not been id'd as yet -- but soon may be. It is very encouraging.

And lastly, again speaking of DNA:

Our favorite comic strip -- "Pickles" presents their thoughts on DNA -- again. I might have to recheck our DNA results given the activities of Dino . . .

That is a tiny bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"!  👨👩

Ides of September

It is the "ides" so-to-speak and whatever the official definition is, that is the feeling that I get. The west coast is still hampered with wildfire threats and the east coast is inundated with water, wind and amidst the hurricane Florence -- even tornadoes are possible . . .

It is easy to see why September is named "Disaster Preparedness Month". I never really thought of it that way preferring to think of September in much more glowing terms.

But the news says differently and constantly. Almost every news hour contains a high percentage of storm and fire coverage. The only bright side to that is the fact that we see less of "other" news but even that has hints of "ides" to it as well.

I do have to say though that right now -- finally -- our weather here in Healdsburg is pleasant in terms of the temperature. It is in the low 80s to high 70s recently and that is pleasing. We do not need the a/c on for a change.

One more week of summer and then the "fall" (certainly not good to mention fall to seniors). But what few leaves that we have will start to land on the deck soon and in the gutters.

What is on our nightstand these days -- well, Bob Woodward's new book is in our iPad in "Audible" on the nightstand.

We started listening as soon as the book was released (on the 17th anniversary of 9/11).

The first several chapters are so far about the pre-election happenings and doings.

A lot of that information has been shared over and over before now and what I really look forward to hearing about is what Woodward's premise is for the book -- i.e. "what's going on behind the scenes in today's White House.

Of course, the book is being touted as "fake" and all that, but let us make our own decisions and reactions. So far we haven't heard anything new -- but, maybe soon.

To take our mind's off the news events, we turn to work on our current puzzle "Napa Valley Wine Train" and stuff. It is truly the most difficult puzzle that we have worked on -- and both of us have threatened to quit more than once.

But we are sticking with it and are about 70% finished. What makes this puzzle so difficult is that almost every piece is a variation of the same shape and it allows for individual pieces to be placed wrongly and appear to be correctly placed . . .

This puzzle has taken us longer than any other one in recent times. We will have a true sense of accomplishment when and if we finish.

Still looking into the "old newspapers": look at how at least one model of the Chevrolet has evolved both in appearance and price in 80 some years.

The ad for a 1933 or 1934 Chevy was $445 back in 1933. It is hard to believe that for that amount of money you got a full car with all the features of the day.

With the 2018 version of one model of the Chevy Camaro, there is a price tag that is almost 140 times the 1933 price.  Granted there are other versions of the Camaro that are not as expensive -- only about 50 times as expensive ($25,000) as the 1933 model . . .

Then again, if we located a fully-restored 1934 Chevy -- what would that sell for today?

That's a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"!  👨👩

Back 2 School (It's an Op-Ed)

Last week was the first full week (excluding the Labor Day Holiday) in our area. The youngsters seem to be having a great time in the school behind our house as we here the sounds of playground fun along with the electronic bells announcing the start of classes.

Along with school, we've noticed that the days are beginning to be shorter in terms of sunlight as well. And it definitely is cooler in the mornings and the evenings which we are thankful for . . .

The yearly cycle of events changes rapidly and it seems as though school just "got out" for the year. And it will soon be the holiday breaks and thereafter another ending of the season and on it goes.

The rhythm somehow stays with me as I sense the yearly events as if they still impacted my daily life which they don't really other than remembering.

 It seems like everything these days is in reference to an "op-ed". This week especially is filled with articles reflecting all aspects of what is "going-on" in Washington, D.C.

There are so many new books to read that it is hard to keep up with them. I have ordered the new book "Fear" by Bob Woodward that is supposed to be released next week. (I've ordered it on Audible)

Currently, we are reading the "A Higher Loyalty" by James Comey and finding that very interesting AND we are listening to "Elon Musk", his book on Audible -- and after watching last night's news showing Musk taking a "hit" of a pot loaded cigar, we can understand a bit why that stock is reacting.

It is seemingly a world of extremes right now and with the coming mid-term elections, it is certainly going to capture most if not all of the reportable news. What will the next op-ed be?

I have spent part of my week going through "Newspapers.com" and "GenealogyBank.com" searching for "op-eds" re our family -- a lot of fun:

 This first "find" is not about family (no it is NOT Dayton). But I found the story interesting. The young truck driver shown in the picture was featured in a Washington Post article, September 6, 2018.

He has worked for a trucking company in Wisconsin and just recently found out that one of his "buddies" in the company is actually his father.

They have worked together for about two years and did not know that they were father and son.

This time it was not DNA that revealed who they were -- it was good timing and just plain luck.

It'll be interesting to read follow-ups. A lesson to be "nice" to those around you, you just never know.

Then I stumbled upon the obituary of Vivian Hiles, who is my Uncle Lloyd's daughter (so a first cousin).

I knew of her passing but what I found interesting was the picture.

I never would have recognized her if the picture was all that was shown to me. My memory of how Vivian looked was so different from her photo.

I did get the opportunity to speak to Vivian (by telephone) shortly before her death and I'm so glad that I did.

I actually was looking for articles about her brother, Leslie, when this popped up. I do not know at this point if Leslie is still living.

I will continue my search . . .

Still "noodling" around I came across an interesting article about another cousin of mine, Bruce Bumgardner -- he is the son of my mother's brother.

This apparently happened in 1965, but I do not recall any family mention of this event.

According to the article, Bruce received a less than acceptable report card and took off into hiding.

His parents, mostly his father, Stewart, believed that he surely was hiding out in town and could have been with relatives as well.

After eight days though, his parents appealed to the public for assistance in finding their twelve-year-old son.

The article does not reveal the outcome of this "missing boy" case and as far as I know -- he could still be missing as I have not seen him since that time . . .

I'm being facetious for sure as we would have heard if he had never returned home to "talk" about his report card or NOT to talk about it as the case may be.

Still, I'll be checking to see if the newspapers have a follow up to the story.


And lastly a peek into the life of my older brother -- hard to believe some forty-eight years ago as it seems "just like yesterday" probably to him as well:

I was living in Southern California at the time (Arcadia) and our family made frequent trips to the San Diego area to visit.

It is strange how my mind reacts to some of these articles that I find in the old newspapers. But thank goodness we have them to research into and bring back some of the memories -- even some that we are having for the first time . . .

That is a bit of our week -- see you all "in a few"!  👨👩

September Mourn

Little did I realize that the front of our house features a large display of the rose named "September Mourn". And the fact that earlier today we spent watching the coverage of events in the Capitol just all tied together.

Until today I just thought of these as some white roses but they are in fact named "September Mourn" and it is so fitting.

This week started out with cooler days and cooler nights but has transformed into more heatness, not as much as the East coast and not as humid -- but again in the 90s . . .

We have now reactivated the a/c and are appreciative that it is working enough to keep us somewhat comfortable and somewhat able to enjoy daily activities.

The last couple of days we have watched the services being held for John McCain.

We have been reminded of so much of what he stood for and what hopefully his legacy will bring.

His voice and sentiments came out loud and clear by not only what was said, but by how it was said and by whom.

He spoke volumes through his children as they spoke and through the many colleagues as they spoke. His message came through by not only who was in attendance but by who was absent.

It was amazing to see his mother in attendance and looking much younger than her 106 years of age.
That is approximately how old my mother would be right now if she had lived.

We sat in awe as the services went forward and were surprised that we did not once think about "not watching" until the network stopped broadcasting. We will carry the messages and the warm spirit for a long time through reflections in the coming times.

We did do our regular activities throughout the week including working on "The Dream Garden" (by Maxfield Parrish) presented to us by Liberty Puzzles.

This is an absolute quality puzzle and who knows maybe worthy of framing if we can complete it and there are no missing pieces. Though missing pieces can be supplied by Liberty.

We are about two-thirds of the way done and it has been challenging -- but oh so rewarding when we find that elusive piece that we swore must be missing . . .

We do have another puzzle or two waiting in the wings, but this one is special.

Now, some local Healdsburg news:

Almost unheard of -- a high school with NO varsity football program. Apparently, there were only 18 players that qualified for the varsity squad and then after losing the first two games -- both shutouts, six players quit the squad and the remaining players voted to disband . . .

What happens to "Friday Night Lights" and "Homecoming" and other events associated with the varsity sport. Growing up, varsity football was THE activity that seemed to tie students together.

The Junior Varsity is still playing and the hope is that by next year, there will be enough players to restart the program . . . we'll see.

And then if there is no football, what happens to Starbucks "pumpkin spice lattes"?

We haven't actually had one but they are being offered again starting a few days ago which really signals that "fall" is almost here.

We feel the crispness in the morning and evening air and the urge to sleep in more -- even Dino is doing that.

We actually look so forward to the official start of fall and would welcome the weather that comes with that.

And lastly -- I can see clearly now:

Even though the photo is not totally clear -- the new pair that I picked up yesterday is the one on the bottom.

So far it is working nicely -- and I have a fairly good back up pair if I need them.

Gail's current prescription was still working well for her and she likes her current frames anyway.


So, that's a bit of our week. Hope to see you all "in a few"! 👨👩