Happy Halloween!

from Sophia the Kitty Kat (although she told everyone she was a ghost),

Odin the Scarecrow,

Kellen the Pirate,

and me.

Family get-together in Palo Alto

Dick and I are beginning a driving trip to the boat in Mexico. First stop: a visit with family in the Bay Area. L-R: Dick, Greg, Nicole, Dave, Mark, Leta, Carolyn.

I might not have included the following pictures except that the last time we saw this kitchen (June 22, 2011) the kitchen had been totally deconstructed.  Only the refrigerator (in the background behind Nicole) is not in its permanent location.  Quartz countertop, new sink and fixtures.

Carolyn making creamy scrambled eggs on new ceramic cooktop:

The scarecrow and the pirate

Whew! I'm done as of this afternoon! And 4 days early, no less. There have been times in the past when I was still hemming the prom dress as the date was pulling into the driveway. I worked on this project for the past 2 1/2 weeks. For Odin:

For Kellen:

Dick is back in California!

Yay! Dick is here for a short while. He arrived Friday night via a 31-hour bus ride.

October 22 in E Nicolaus

Some of my favorite pictures from last week's walks or bike rides.

 If there was a contest for Halloween decorations, this house would win the Quantity Award:

Taken at close to sunset from the Cornelius overpass & Hwy 70.  The Sutter Buttes are in the background.

Walnut Gathering: week 2

I already mentioned that picking up walnuts from the ground is back-breaking work.

This week, I decided to pick them from the tree in addition to bending over to pick them up from the ground. So much easier. (Experienced nut-gatherers are probably rolling their eyes right now.)

On one of my bike rides I spotted this at the far end of an orchard:

Even easier nut-gathering.

The first 33 lbs are now drying on a chicken-wire rack Justin made.

Hello, Avery Conrad

As I was picking Dick up at the bus station, Thais was delivering Avery Conrad by C-section.

7 lbs 11 oz, 19 in long

Sophia is introduced to her new brother.

Sophia's response, "No, it's a sister."

Everyone is doing great! This is Grandchild #4 for me.

Gem Faire

This would turn out to be a busy day, but so much fun. First off, a new experience,

at Scottish Rite Temple in Sacramento.

An amazing array of beads and gems of all sizes and colors, for sale, one strand at a time:

We got there early, so the crowds were light, no need to elbow your way up to a popular vendor.

Maria doing a little bargaining.

We thought we might be able to visit Thais and her brand new baby.  She was at a hospital nearby and in labor, but no baby by Maria's going-home time.

Sewing Day with Phyl

Today was actually our third Sewing Day. Phyl used to sew when she was in 4-H, a VERY long time ago and wanted to renew her skills, I was there as her mentor. First project - the bag in the upper right:

Maybe this project was a bit ambitious, but after three get-togethers,

Phyl got it done.

Hydroplanes

Lake Minden Resort is located in Nicolaus, it's surrounded by walnut orchards.  This weekend was especially crowded because of 

Brunch with Ade

I met Ade at Applebee's for brunch. We had so much catching up to do

and we got to watch the 49ers beat the previously undefeated Detroit Lions. For several years, Ade and I shared season tickets for the San Francisco 49ers, we're both big fans.

Salto, Sophia

Jump, Sophia. Sophia wanted to show me how she can jump off the bed. She's learning some Spanish at preschool so she would count "Uno, dos, tres . . . diez" and jump.

I was taking lots of pictures trying to get an action shot, so I was encouraging her to jump again.  At one point she said, "Espera!" Spanish for "Wait."

Oct 15 in E Nicolaus

These are some of my favorite pictures from several bike rides this past week.  It's a 16-mile route figure 8 which takes me from E Nicolaus, to Nicolaus to Rio Oso - a community hall, a post office, and a few residences - and back to E Nic.  This week, one local family name and barns seemed to stand out.  One of the more prominent headstones in the Nicolaus Cemetery, a local family (pronounced SHY-ber).

A left turn onto Scheiber Rd:

The big white S on the barn roof stands for Scheiber:

I cross Hwy 70 twice, each time on a overpass that has no entrances or exits.  There's basically very little traffic on these roads, just the local people.  Much of the rice has been harvested and now some fields have been flooded to become wetlands for birds.  This is from the over of the Cornelius Rd overpass: