Now that the Husband's eyes have healed from his cataract surgeries, he can drive again. And, that means I can be a passenger again . Last Wednesday was his first time back at highway driving. Yippieeee! I took out my pocket camera and clicked away at the passing scenery. These first two photos are of hardworking men and women harvesting greens, possibly romaine, in San Juan Valley, outside of San Juan Bautista.     You're looking at drivers heading north on Highway 101, just pass the exit to San Juan Bautista. Yup, I click away at nearly everything and anything. So is the advantage and luxury of shooting pictures with a digital camera. We were heading south on Highway 101. Did you ever see Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo ? He shot a driving scene through this grove of eucalyptus trees. Part of the movie was set in the old mission city of San Juan Bautista. FYI: Hitchcock built his own mission tower for the movie. There's usually congestion around

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

Dear Blogging Friends, I appreciate your concern to what Jeanna nicely asks, ". . .where the hells are ya?" Time flew. Words stuttered. Thoughts blocked. Fog erased sentences. I shrugged it off by becoming a mad demon downsizing the stuff in the garage and house so that all the stuff that has been in storage for 15 years may get shoved into the garage.  Of course, the decision to make this happen was three weeks before the Husband had his first cataract surgery. Once that happened, he won't be able to lift, carry, and manipulate heavy objects until June. (He has his second cataract surgery in May.) Success! Everything got moved and fit in the garage. Success! The Husband was able to read 20/25 on the eye chart with his new left lens less than 24 hours after his procedure. Pretty good from 20/800. "Keep busy" is the advice some people like to give those who recently lose someone. I didn't understand that when the First Husband died in 1995 nor

1. "Caramel corn would taste good right now?" I said to the Husband. "Yeah," said he. "I wonder where we could get some." "Bertuccio's has some," I replied. "Or we can learn to make caramel corn." 2. The Husband and I have been moving and switching furniture in the house. 3. The old bureau now sits in the front yard waiting to be stained and turned into a big happy planter. 4. Our clothes now rest in the Husband's more narrow dresser that his parents gave him over 50 years ago. 5. The late 1800s parlor organ sits in the foyer waiting to be dusted, photographed, and sold to someone who would enjoy owning it next. 6. The TV, modems, and such now rest on a 1950s dresser rather than the organ. The dresser's name is Roy Rogers because of its cowboy look. At least in my mind. 7. The creamy leather recliner now sits in the living room. The Husband took his first nap on it last night. 8. I love coming home to s

Sewing machines, bicycles, and vehicles are the things that I like to push pedal to the metal. Here are 13 of my favorite ones from today to long ago. Kenmore portable sewing machine. About a decade ago, good friend BB gave me her 1970s portable sewing machine when I was having a sewing fix and she was in a down-sizing mood. After a thorough tune-up, the machine was good to go. Vrrrroom, vrrrooom. I'm going through another spurt (and probably last) of sewing. This morning I started sewing curtains for the upstairs hallway. Yup, that's them in "draft mode" in the above photo. Eliza Do-a-lot. Some of you know about dear 25-year old Eliza.  She's a no-nonsense old lady's white sedan with hardly any blind spots. Eliza was Mama's last car. When Mama broke her hip in 1997, I started driving Eliza back and forth from El Cerrito where the Husband and I lived. By the time Mama felt confident to drive again, she needed to renew her license. She couldn'

All of a sudden I was hearing cowbells. No moooo. None at all. It had to be one of the chimes on the other side of the backyard. I looked over to see what may be swaying in the wind. Ha! The Husband stood outside the patio door, clanging on the triangle. "Come and get it," he called. "Coffee and pancakes." Whooo-hooo! We've had some tasty breakfasts the last several mornings because, one, we finally went to the grocery store and, two, we were without peanut butter, our breakfast staple. The other day I made strawberry brie biscuits, which looked more like scones. Biscuits or scones, they were delicious. You can't go wrong with brie or strawberries.  We happened to have frozen organic strawberries from last summer. Very flavorful, they were. My concoction began with a mixture of 2 cups of flour and about 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a couple of dashes of baking soda. (I added the latter because I ran out of the former.) To that, I cut in

Day's End.  That was how it looked yesterday at sunset.  Disaster Rose.  What do you think of that for a protagonist's nickname? David.  I've always liked that name. Solid, cheerful, thoughtful. Dave. Davey.  The Husband's surname means son of David.  Debonair.  Cary Grant. George Clooney. The Husband. Humor is part of my definition of debonair. Dig it.   Can you dig it? Hands, please, who said this once upon a time, with a straight face. I do like to dig in the yard, and I do a decent job of digging, I like to think. Meet John Doe.   Recently the Husband and I watched Meet John Doe , a 1941 Frank Capra film starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck with Walter Brennan. Good trembles into arms of Evil so it may survive, but eventually Good realizes it is not Evil and scrambles back onto the path of light. The name John Doe doesn't make sense to me. I understand that it refers to a male with an unknown identity. Shouldn't it be John Bu

coffee.   This morning the Husband and I shared a chocolate old-fashioned doughnut to enjoy with our cups of black coffee. Happy smiles all around. Cable.  I want us to get rid of our cable subscription. The Husband agrees it's too expensive for the few channels we watch. Will we? you ask. We will, I'm sure we will. The bigger question: When will we? Procrastinators are us. ceramics.  When I was 19, my big dream was to own a bookstore with a ceramics workshop in the back.  Cute.  The Husband says I'm cute. I tell him it's because he loves me. He says, "It's because you are cute." chicken.  There are times when I think our representatives at the local, state, or national level of government are too chicken to make a stand one way or the other. Bwak, bwak cooking.   I do that once a day, at least, most days. I like when it's a some day. Coast-co.  "We're going to Costco," I would say to Mama. "Where?" she w

  The Husband says I am predictable with my choice of music, which is why he made a bet with me yesterday afternoon. "What do you think I'm going to play?" asked I, as I headed towards the Bose player with a CD in my hand. "Da da dah da da dah....." The Husband sang the first notes of "Baroque and Blue" performed by Claude Bolling and Jean-Pierre Rampal.  Our small music collection consists of CDs of our favorite albums of yore, and I do like to play one of two Bolling CDs on a sunny afternoon. "Want to bet ten bucks on that?" The Husband doesn't bet unless it's a sure thing that he is right. "Sure." he said to my surprise. But, then, according to him, I am predictable. "OK!" I inserted the CD. Santana! Ha! "You owe me $10!" "What?" "You lost the bet." The Husband groaned. "I'll put it on your tab." It isn't often that I catch the Husband of

"Joy, joy, joy." is one of the things that Cu'Pie, our once-upon-a-time dear yellow parakeet, liked to say. Frequently. A wonderful thing to say, I say. And, I wish much joy, joy, joy to you all! I first saw the above joyful sight of a hillside on Thanksgiving Day. It caught my breath in such a way that I made Eliza Does-alot do a wicked swerve onto the road to which I turned that nearly all of the fried lumpia fell from the back seat onto the floor. Fortunately, most fell onto folders and envelopes so none of Filipino eggrolls were tainted. Thank goodness. They were our contribution to a dinner. A couple of weeks later I took the above shot that I painted today with Photoshop art filters. That day I made a somewhat gentle right turn, but came to a halting stop, in the grey rental car, which the Husband and I named Sedgwick. No lumpia sat on the back seat, but Good Friends J & T were. They, the Husband, and I quickly unbuckled our seat belts and tumbled out of

Hey, ya. Hi, ya. How ya? Imagine a Lilo smile (Lilo, as in Lilo and Stitch , a 2002 Disney movie).  That is how I'm feeling. Also a bit foggy brained and weary boned from all the week-long fun of turning 65! years old. That, dear blogging friends, is why I have been quiet in my corner of the world. For my birthday gift, the Husband and I rented a car to travel beyond 25-year-old Eliza Does-alot's comfort radius, as well as drive after sunset, if need be. Eliza's headlights do not compete with today's head beams, which blind me into a panic. The Husband doesn't even try driving at night, thank goodness. We drove the rental, a silver 2019 (oh my!) Nissan Sentra we called Sedgwick, on narrow mountain roads, unpaved back roads, smooth freeways, and bumpy highways. And, I was able to drive home at night, without using my high beams. I felt like a younger self. Spontaneity. Go with the flow. I discovered that I can still do both. Hurrah! We spent my birthday