That's the main street of our little city of Hollister as it looked in Eliza Does-a-lot's driver's side-view mirror. I snapped it the other day while waiting for the Husband. As a kid, the festive garlands and bows above San Benito Street was one of my clues that the holiday season was upon us. With luck, I would be able to avoid any Santa Claus lurking in the downtown stores. Yup, Santa Claus was a scary figure to this kid. In 2008, the Husband played Santa Claus at the annual Christmas Ball, held by the Filipino American Community of San Benito. For the first time, I sat on Santa's lap. This was a Mister Claus who did not creep me out. Last year the Husband created a Holiday Spirit tree with lights in the living room, more specifically next to Molly the (wild) Cat's condo. She has no problem sleeping while the lights twinkle brightly. Here's a photo from last year of the sleeping (wild) beauty and our Twinkle Twinkle Tree. This year I have cooki

Missy Girl watched Midnight scurry along the fence and cross over to the next yard. "You want to go out, don't you?" "Miarrrr." "It's cold and wet." A few minutes later, I opened the sliding door. Molly stuck her head out for a few seconds before sashaying forward. She carefully maneuvered around and through puddles, then scoot between two geranium bushes. Was she really going to sit in that wind? I glanced back at my task of sorting Mama's seed collection. Only a second. Maybe two or three. Molly was out of sight.   She wouldn't have gone after Midnight. The chimes and hanging things from the dead apple tree were dancing wildly. More than likely, she was exploring the yard and making sure everything is fine. Still, it would be best to go get her, I thought. I had nothing to worry about. Like a sprinter, Missy Molly by Golly ran into the house. She looked quite pleased with herself. All Seasons and Mosaic Monday are

Will she or won't she follow the instructions? Molly the Cat investigates the facts about the orange thing, inferring that it: idles insinuates insults inflicts idolizes invents (as in makes up) impairs immobilizes ignores incites imposes intimidates impersonates  Missy Girl's conclusion: Impeach and incarcerate.  Time for some ABC Wednesday (the letter I ) and Thursday 13 . Take a look! Thank you sweet hosts.

"Will you be able to get by the vacuum cleaner?" the Husband asked, who hauled the vacuum cleaner upstairs and set it beside the bathroom door, as I pretty please asked (so I hope). "I'm sure you will." "I have a plan," I said, tippy-tapping on the keyboard, not realizing yet that he had headed down the stairs. "Bathroom, office, and bedroom. I'll vacuum in that order."  At least, vacuum the bathroom today. Over the next few days, I'll also dust and vacuum downstairs. No party, thanks for asking. (For those who are new to my quirks, I generally do heavy cleaning for an upcoming party.) Sometime soon, we'll be going on a short road trip to Northern California to visit the Husband's family as well as take in a bit of the coast and redwoods. Since Molly the Cat will be roaming indoors for a few days, I thought I'd clean the house. Maybe even give her a dry shampoo. By the way, the photo above of Missy and the Husband

Camembert! Buche de Chevre! Cacio di Fossa! Cheddar! Molly the Cat loves cheese. Unfortunately, her tummy doesn't. Missy Girl and I are heading over to Say Cheese , hosted by Jeanna of The Ched Curtain , and ABC Wednesday , lead by Melody and the ABCW team. Come join us.

A whispering of leaves. . . Plop! Sometimes, after the sound of trembling leaves, goes a ping! against a ladder, a bench, a table, or the shed, followed by a thud. Rustle . . . ping! . . . plop! I wonder how many times Molly the Cat has had a near miss with a fallen lemon or apple or avocado or apricot or Asian pear. The Husband says that Missy Girl knows precisely where to lay herself down in the backyard. He's right, Missus Lady.  Purrrrrrrrrrrr.  This has been a good year for Mama's fruit trees because of the winter and spring rains.  All the trees have been continually aborting themselves of immature seeds and fruits so that the fittest may live to full development. Plop! The lemon tree is a different story. We can't reach the top branches, thus when the fruit ripens, plop! The two apricot trees had branches heavily laden with fruit that they snapped. Giving baskets and box lids full of apricots to several friends didn't make a dent to the t

i That apricot tree grew from a seed that Mama ate and planted, which came from her Blenheim apricot tree. That makes this a second generation tree, but not necessarily a Blenheim according to some experts. The apricots are delicious, Blenheim or not. ii I can forget something I thought of minutes ago because I climbed upstairs to the office so I could plop it into the computer. Where are pen and paper when I need them? iii Two Sundays ago we stayed overnight in a faraway place and it wasn't because one of us had to have surgery. Hurrah! That's what our last few overnighters had been. Not two Sundays ago. We drove straight across the state to Shaver Lake in the Central Sierra Nevadas. A lot of driving that we weren't used to, but it was well worth it. iv How fun it was to zig and zag, to go down a road with matured abandon (mature abandonment? oxymoron phrases, both?). Left, right, right, right, left. . .too late. oh well,  turn right, this road runs paralle

I've been barefooting in crazy fun, hence the absence this time. :-) The Husband is continually rediscovering delights with his new lenses. For instance, whenever he comes back from throwing the garbage, he gleefully reports that he can see so many stars, bright ones, too. Wait until he sees the night sky in the Sierras. Oh my! I got brave and made an appointment with the ophthalmologist to get the process going for cataract surgery for me.  I want to see a lot of stars.   Molly the Cat seems to like the new changes we've been making both indoors and outside.  Look at her sitting on the throne, a makeshift bench in the backyard. She claimed that this evening. In May we decided to throw a party as a means to get us off our lazy derrieres. So, the past two weeks we've been cleaning, clearing boxes from rooms, moving things around, and putting up stuff on the walls. We had a wonderful superfun party last Saturday. And, now we have a clean house. As for me, I'

1. The outdoor work table is set up for the summer. Whooo-hooo! 2. I wore a bra all day yesterday because I had planned to work in the front yard (which didn't happen). Must not scare the citizens, you know. So different from the days of youth when I thought nothing of wearing nothing beneath a cotton ribbed tank top. 3. Flower seeds in my bra! I have no idea how long they've been wandering within that space between the cups' lace and backing. I can't get them out without cutting the lace, and that I'm not going to do until I buy another bra. The flat seeds look familiar, which I'm sure are of flowers I've grown, but what kind of flower eludes me. How did the seeds get in my bra? Probably when it got washed with a pair of shorts which pockets I didn't search. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.   I enjoy slapping paint on wood. These pieces of redwood were once part of a wooden barrel that I broke apart earlier this year. They'll look good in the yard somewher

1. I just turned on the computer so as to maybe write a post. How long has it been? 2. A City water department employee told me over the phone that the $150 credit on our utility bill was for the deposit we placed when we opened the account, which is returned after three years at an address. I don't remember forking over $150, nor does the Husband. 3. I called the car rental place for a pick-up. It's a free service, so why not? We've been renting cars the past few months to get to the Husband's eye appointments up in the crazy freeway world of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Husband's cataracts were destroyed and he can now see 20/30 in his right eye and 20/25 in his left eye without glasses. 4. Sudoku is my newest addiction. I did 5 or 6 puzzles this morning. Yesterday, lovely friend L dropped by with a Sudoku puzzle magazine in LARGE Print. Whoooo-hoooo! 5. Pride vs. Prejudice  by Joan Hess is what I'm currently reading. Today I learned that the woman accuse

Whooo-hoooo! Five books. Five books. Five books. A happy song for me. I bought five books, a buck a book, from the local Friends of the Library the other day. It took all of five minutes, a minute a book, to decide I wanted them. Hurrah, hurrah! Molly the Cat likes the titles, too.  So it seems. I'm still working on Anne Perry's latest Daniel Pitt novel, Triple Jeopardy , set in London in the early 1900s . If you read Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, which was based in the 19th century at the end of Queen Victoria's reign, you may like the Daniel Pitt series. Daniel is a 20-ish attorney who is Charlotte's and Thomas's son. So far, his parents play a minor, but still very important, role in the series. Once I'm done with Triple Jeopardy , I'll start on one of the five books. Which shall be first: Everything is Beautiful , by Mira T. Lee; Pride vs. Prejudice , by Joan Hess; Major Pettigrew's Last Stand , by Helen Simonson; I Fe

A few weeks ago Saturday Night Live featured a video about two women talking about their hobbies. Oh my gosh,  I recognized myself. When I was a young single thing living la dolce vita in San Francisco, a guy I met for coffee asked, "What are your hobbies?" "Hobbies?" "Interests. What do you like to do?" Totally stumped, I was. I liked to read and write, but I didn't consider those activities as hobbies. They were simply a part of what I did.  Without trying, in the last three years, I've embraced hobbies. Sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, and crafting are what have showed up at my door, thus far. That guy at the cafe 40 years ago? I never saw him again. SO, MOLLY DID The other day I didn't feel like folding the pieces of fabric I laid out on the bed in L Studio. It wasn't going to bother me if Molly the Cat felt like lying on top of the fabric. I told her so, too, before I sat down to contemplate how much of the vari