The Inauguration

Wow! What an extrordinary day yesterday was. I'm a registered democrat so it comes as no surprise that I was hoping that Mr Obama would win the election. He brings intelligence and the ability to articulate clearly back to Washington. A breath of fresh air.

I wasn't going to watch many of the activities but turned on the t.v. and was totally hooked! For the first time I had both the time and interest to watch. The crowds were amazing - the paper today gave the number at 2 million. The picture of the crowd totally filling the mall blew my mind - keeping in mind that it was cold and windy and many of those people had to get there very early to have a space.

Watching the crowds and listening to the interviews I teared up. When I first came to the U.S. there were still segregated schools, drinking fountains, cafes, bars, ...... Once, when visiting in Oakland in the 60s we made the mistake of walking into a black bar. What did we know? Innocents from Canada. We weren't served and everyone in the place glared and stared. It took a bit of time before we figured out what was wrong. My takeaway was that blacks and whites had quite different cultures. I first got to know black people after I moved to LA. Seemed to me that they weren't that different than me so didn't get what all the fuss was about. Still, there were and are people who don't feel that way. Having a black man in the White House will not change their minds but clearly they are a minority in this country.

I admit to a bit of apprehension. Was someone going to make it through the security barriers and kill him? The only other president that touched so many people was Jack Kennedy. I remember the feeling of hope that he brought to the country even thought I was still in Canada. I also remember when he was assassinated. Yvonne was toddling around the living room and the tv was on. They announced that he had been shot and I started to tear up. For me a dream for a better world died with him.

Back to today. Such an amazing day it was and it is my sincere hope that Mr Obama will restore the rule of law to our nation.

Knit a Purse

A friend of mine was about to have a birthday so I asked what she wanted. She replied "Could you knit me a backpack purse?" I had a knitting book handy so she chose the pattern and I embarked on an adventure.

The pattern wasn't for a backpack purse but a messenger purse. I figured it was close enough. Then I went to the internet to order some yarn. Since the purse would be used bunches (I hope) I decided to use hemp yarn. I found some that was softened with a bit of cotton and ordered it in a nice warm fall color. I knit a few samples to figure out which needles to use then embarked on the the project. The front of the purse is a lacy pattern and the rest is a simple garter stitch. The lace was fun to learn and kept me interested. The garter stitch is so easy that I got some t.v. time in while knitting.

Once the knitting was done, I had to figure out how to finish my creation. I didn't want it to lose shape so got some interfacing and ironed it in. Next was the lining, then the straps. I must admit that I've never made a purse quite like this before but I'm pleased with the results and gave it to my friend at her birthday lunch.

If, as they say, you must challenge one's brain with new and different challenges, I've just finished mine for the month!

Scary Dairy

Wow, just when I'm about to whine about how cold it is, Mother Nature gives me pause. Yesterday was a fabulous day here. The temp was in the low 60s and it was crystal clear.

We took a couple of hours out of our day and went to the flying field and while Don did practice flights I took a walk. Since access to the park area is restricted I felt OK walking by myself. A quick 10 minutes got me to the "Scary Dairy". There used to be a mental hospital in Camarillo and the group The Eagles hit song "Hotel California" was about our hospital. The picture on the front of their vinyl album was taken there. The main part of the hospital has been renovated and is now the Channel Islands campus of the California State University system. What very few people know is that the hospital had their own dairy farm. The remains of the farm - a regular barn and a structure that might have been a milking barn are still there. A few years ago we had a competition at the field and I was talking to a couple of teens and they said that the dairy was on the net with the title "Scary Dairy". I looked it up and you can see some of the best pictures of what remains at this website:
http://www.valleyhaunts.net/showthread.php?tid=155&pid=932#pid932

The only haunts that I found were a covey of quail and a red-tailed hawk!

2009 At Last

It's been a busy time, this year-end. I haven't posted in quite a while - no reasonable excuse except that I just haven't had much to say.

The Christmas madness of gift shopping, wrapping, and mailing was done in time for gifts to arrive by the Big Day. I love to shop in the internet and whenever possible have the gifts wrapped and delivered to the recipient. While that isn't always possible it does ease the last minute rush to the UPS store....

We got the tree up a few days before Christmas and had fun watching the cats bat at the low hanging ornaments. Izzy, our shy longhair, loved hiding behind it and watching the living room activities from there. One of our Arizona animal cousins sent a package for the kitties that had Jenny ready to rip the box apart. As soon as I unpacked the box she grabbed the package and ran into another room to unwrap it. I did spoil her fun and hid it until Christmas. After Don and I had opened our packages I got the cat's packages out of hiding. I ripped them a bit to give them a start then left them alone. Sure enough, one of the toys had catnip inside them. Jenny grabbed it and ran off to get her "fix". The other toys were more interactive - I pulled a string and they ran across the floor. We all had a good time playing.

As is our tradition we went to the movies on New Year's Eve. We saw Valkyre and even thought I knew the ending, I was hoping the "good guys" would win! I really enjoyed it a lot - the characters were believable and the '40s era was faithfully reproduced. To ring in the New Year we watched Robbie Knievel jump the volcano in Vegas (of course we watched on t.v.). Maybe it was better to watch it in person......

The decorations are down, the new clothes have been washed and put away, and new toys have been put through their paces. Now we have only a few days of the Bush years left. Can hardly wait for the new president to begin tackling the problems our nation faces.

Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of the day that Don & I hopped on a plane to Vegas and tied the knot. It has been an incredible 24 years!!!

When I am in the middle of life, doing whatever is next on my plate, it seems that the years have just flown by. We have had the sickness and the health, the better and worse, and it seems that as the years have gone by whenever we have struggled through a difficulty our bond has become stronger. I don't welcome adversity with open arms but from experience I know that it has the potential to reveal more of each of us both to ourselves and our partners. I am a very fortunate woman to have Don at my side.

On to the minutia of daily life, it has been raining again today. We had snow on the mountain peaks last week along with a respectable 1.5" of rain but this storm is much warmer with less moisture. I was looking at the garden yesterday to see how our "winter" garden is faring. The broccoli are putting on flowers but the brussel sprouts are just putting on leaves. The onions seem to be getting bigger but the cabbages are still very small. The tomatoes that we have in pots are doing just fine, flowering and setting fruit!! Don has been covering them at night as the temps have dropped into the 30s and we are sure that they are tender. The few strawberry plants that I have in a pot are also flowering and putting on fruit! Looks like we might have an occasional broccoli for dinner, a tomato for lunch and a strawberry or 2 for our breakfast.

After seeing the pictures of snow that Lisa sent from Kenmore, I'm really glad to be living here! My bones tend to ache when the weather fronts go through and the cold makes my muscles even more tender. I'm glad that my grandkids get the chance to grow up there with only occasional snow so they will have stories to tell when they get to my age.

Trampoline

I've been looking at trampolines for a while now. I saw a smallish one in a house one day and thought it was a great idea for exercise so when our local Kmart had them on sale I used some leftover birthday bucks to get it.

What fun! At first I was afraid that I was not going to be able to keep my balance but after a few short sessions I began to feel comfortable. It is low impact so my arthritic knees don't mind the jogging or jumping and there are so many things I can do on it!

At first I went to the website that was on the box but that was only to sell DVDs showing how to use it to exercise. Thank goodness for the web! I found ample material on UTube so now am bouncing away while watching t.v. ... much better than sitting in my recliner. I also feel a bit like a kid again. Now I will never admit to jumping on the bed, it is one of the best things a kid can do - just a moment of weightlessness.

I've been going a little at a time but am finding that the more I do, the more I can do. I don't have to go to a gym or try to ride a bike. Just jump around in my living room. Of course it is a good thing that I'm short and I have to keep the jumping reasonably restrained as I don't want to make any holes in the ceiling!!

Christmas is coming!

Now that i'm feeling better I noticed that we are approaching mid-December! Since all our family lives so far away I've got to get presents wrapped and sent off. Oh the travails of dealing with the post-office/fedex/ups! My birth family lives in Canada and I was dismayed to discover that postal service packages tend to disappear if not insured! After a couple of instances I now will only send packages via UPS as they are extremely reliable and fast. Packages to Washington or Arizona aren't as time critical but the system does get overloaded so best to get them out earlier.

We are currently in the process of redecorating our living room and what a delightful mess it is! I'm so looking forward to the end result but getting there is a lot of work! New fixtures, paint and floor coverings are top priority but all take quite a bit of prep work so don't happen as quickly as I'd like. I must remember to enjoy the process.....

The cats are bewildered. Where is that carpet that they lovingly sharpened their claws on? Why has the order of the furniture changed and what happened to that lovely dark corner they could hide in... Scamp, being a bit older, was completely unaffected by any of the goings on until he couldn't get into "his" chair for his afternoon nap. It was covered with "stuff" and pushed aside. Scamp examined and prowled around for quite a while until he was satisfied that his usual nest was unavailable. Of course we have a bed, futon and rocking chair in other rooms for him to rest on but it really wasn't the same. After dinner, when some order had been established, he settled into his chair with immense relief and slept until bedtime.

The winds have died down and we have been left with clear skies and low humidity. The forecast for next week is extremely cold so I want to spend some time outside before it hits. No decorating left to do out there as we got the lights up after Thanksgiving. We drove around a bit last night and it seemed to me that there weren't quite as many big displays as we have had in the past. Perhaps there is belt-tightening going on in our neighborhood.