Monday-UPDATED with new pictures 3:10 pm

Will's mother and her new husband were visiting this weekend. We had a great weekend with them and Kathryn and others during the weekend. We went to Silent Movies at the Edison Theater in town on Saturday afternoon, then to Mission Coffee to see two guitarists (Will played bongos with one of them) and then on the Niles Canyon Railway on Sunday. This reminds me of a MINI version of the view when we took the Silverton-Durango narrow gauge railroad two years ago in Colorado. It's a little blurry because the train was moving when I took it. V E R Y slowly, but moving!

We stayed on the train at the Sunol stop and came back to have lunch in Niles. This was an old car display at the Sunol station.
We had a delightful time with all, and after dropping them off at the airport this morning, we're back to work!

Alex hid under the sofabed the whole time. We left it open in the extra bedroom because that is where we slept. This morning he was walking around in the kitchen when they emerged from their bedroom. He didn't run like he was being chased, so maybe after a few days he was a little less afraid they might eat him (or whatever it is he was afraid of). The guests are gone, but he went back to his "happy place". Yes, that is a huge piece of fur on the back cushion, and yes, that is Alex underneath. We didn't know if he could get out, but he got in, so he can probably get out. We later found out he CAN get out because he came into our office to say hello and let us know he's out. And now he went back in. Silly cat.

The skies were still pretty smokey Friday morning, but they gradually cleared so it wasn't a problem. This picture was taken in the morning as the sun rose on Thursday. You can see the red sun and the smokey sky.

I still can't get rid of those blotches on my camera lens, but you get the picture, pun intended.

If anyone is wondering where the pictures of the people are, I don't usually post pictures of people on this blog!

So - was it the sofabed that was so interesting, or the fact that it smells to the cats like us, and the bedroom smells like our guests. The guests are long gone, but Mowry is sleeping on the opened sofabed that is piled with the couch pillows because we haven't put it all back together yet. He's cute anywhere!

Things on Thursday - UPDATED at 4:45 pm

I'm working from home today, and I left for an hour to go to the farm near our old residence, and to Costco, and of course there was a client crisis, but they figured it out without my help. I'm not sure if that's the good news or the bad news, but it is what it is.

Costco wasn't bad, but then it was just 11:00 am when they open for the regular folk. We have a business card, and can get there an hour before it opens for regular card holders, but we didn't get there early. We got what we needed, and got out. No long lines - what a bonus!

We got home and had lunch - a special salad with strawberries, a half ear of fresh corn each (from the farmers' market), and delicious Vidalia Onion dressing.
Mowry LOVES his toys! He's sitting on the string that he watches and doesn't play with, and he's looking at the mouse. I am not sure, but I think this toy came from a picnic a client was having. If it is the one I'm thinking of, it was supposed to be a toy for a kid. The cats seem to like this toy - tboth Alex and Mowry have been seen with it in their mouth carrying it around the house. We find it in different places all the time, or we find a cat lying right next to it.
I am trying on the "red" sock before binding off. I finished it, and started casting on stitches for red sock #2.
This weekend we're having Will's mother and her new husband visiting us. I have so many things to do, but mostly they need to be done tomorrow (change sheets on bed, final clean of bathroom, set out clean towels, clean the front door and step, finish putting away clean clothes, etc. etc. etc.).

It seems that every time I post a blog, I think of more pictures to post when I'm done! UPDATE: At 4:45 pm I have more pictures!!!!!

We stopped at the local grocery store to get homemade yummy tamales for dinner. That's not my camera, it's the haze from the fires that is making the air bad.


I waited in the car and got bored.



Oh no, not again! I spotted what I think was "the bad plant" in my front yard yesterday, and even though I was wearing gloves and a sweatshirt, I think it got me again. Luckily I found the last prescription from the dermatologist (the one that worked) and started using that again.It's hazy everywhere. Our hills are summer gold, but that is usually very clear and beautiful.You can even see the haze by the farm where we used to live.The only cat I know of that has his own street sign. Could that be because we got the name from from the street, and the fact that it sounds like he can say his own name when me "meows"?

Smokey on Tuesday - revised with 2 new pics

If I could do a scratch and sniff, you'd smell the smokey air from the hundreds of fires burning in Northern California, some a result of lightning strikes on Saturday, and some from unknown origins, hopefully not careless people. There's no excuse for that. This photo is the smokey haze. There isn't any fire that I know of that is that close to us.



I was reading someone's blog and they were talking about recycling and doing our part to be "green". While it's yet another bandwagon that people are jumping on, at least it's a good cause. I must admit, I've been green since way before it was a cool thing to do. It's just not that hard.

Here's what we do:

1. Recycle - we have very little trash. Most of what we discard goes in the gray paper/plastic/glass recycle bin. We recycle green waste and food scraps.



2. We are conservative with our water and electricity use. Years ago a friend's mother taught me that these are natural resources that we must respect and conserve. This is true whether it's a drought year or not.


3. We use Freecycle - almost every city has a Yahoo Group called Freecycle. We first go to our neighborhood Yahoo group, and when that doesn't work, use FremontFreecycle. You can post things you want to give away, or respond to posts of things you need that others are giving away. There's also http://www.craigslist.com/ and in the "for sale" section is a "free" section, although Craigslisters are not usually as reliable as the other two.
We use the cat litter jugs to catch rainwater that drips off our awning, and then we use that to water plants.


4. We are garage and estate sale groupies - we go every Saturday morning (which you know if you've been reading this) and we've found amazing things, although when we had a garage sale on last year's neighborhood garage sale day, we determined it wasn't worth it.


Kathryn is moving out from a house shared with roommates to a studio unit, so we are trying to find things for her. Yesterday someone who was combining two households posted a microwave, and we were fortunate to get it. I cleaned it up since it was used, but I see from this photo that I missed some fingerprints. Those could very well be mine, actually.

Today someone posted a TV stand, and while I haven't seen a picture of it, the dimensions sound good, so we were again fortunate to be first responders and we'll pick it up today. I'll probably photograph and add to this post later, or post another day. Ken and Diann have offered a dresser they no longer use. The only thing we need to be on the lookout for is hanging clothes racks.

UPDATE: here is the TV stand. It has two doors and the shelves will be good for storage. It's a little dusty, but it's in good shape. The spots are from the light in the garage, not on the TV stand.
I know people (whose names shall go unmentioned, and while they don't read this blog, if they did, I expect they'd recognize themselves - or not) who think it's too much work to recycle, or that the little they do is enough. I never feel like I've recycled enough, but I feel good about it every time I do it. We have a small plastic trash can in our home office, and one in the kitchen area, and that's where we put our gray bin recyclables. They are small, so we have to empty them often, but it's just not that hard. Our recycle bin is usually 3/4 to more filled each week. The green bin is either 3/4 or FULL (with full being my goal). The trash bin is usually 1/2 full, and it's the smaller bin.

And for the token cat post - we found the white plastic piece on the floor and weren't sure what it was. Then I figured out it was the top part of a badge from one of my client's offices. And then I found the badge, under the reclining loveseat while looking for a knitting needle I had dropped. Apparently a cat got onto the counter, took down the badge and ripped apart the retracting holder. I emailed this picture to the client, and she thought it was hilarious! They weren't interested in the badge, just the dangly parts.

ADDED picture: Alex sometimes sleeps on his back. He was sleeping until he heard me come in to snap this picture!

Monday

What a difference a day makes. Or two days, to be exact. The weather is back to normal. the heat wave is over. This is good news where I live, but I'm not sure about South San Francisco where I am today, and where it was actually COLD this morning. I am very glad I carry a knitted scarf in my "bag of tricks" because I needed it.

BART was annoying this morning. Actually, it wasn't BART that was annoying, it was the passengers on BART, who think they are alone. I'm not sure how you can think that in a crowded car. This is the station I use, although it looks nothing like this because they are doing major construction to make it a transit hub. Right now it's just a mess. In fact, I want to send an email to BART because it is one of the scummier stations with trash overflowing, etc. The construction is one thing, but the pigs that use it and leave their messes are quite another. One station I used to use in a part of town not known for being good was MUCH better than this station. They even had a BART station worker cleaning up the trash.
The reason the people on BART were annoying was because many of them were conversing on their cell phones. Maybe they don't think they have phones in their hands because most them think they have to talk loud (loudly?). One guy was yammering in a language I didn't understand for most of the ride to the Lake Merritt Station. I knew he'd have to shut up then, because there's no reception, but better than that, he got off there! I'm betting whatever he was saying could have waited until he got to his office. The problem is that even with my headphones and music on, I could still hear him. If I wasn't plugged in, that would be another story.
Someone was giving away this stove on Craigslist (www.craigslist.com). It is exactly like our stove, except ours is Avocado Green. At least our green is on the top by the burners, and on backsplash area! This looks yellow, which we both like better, but I am certain it's Harvest Gold. Oh the 70s and 80s and their lovely colors.
It's time for lunch!

Cooler on Sunday

My weather program says it's 76 degrees outside. It's 2:30 pm and I'm glad it's not hotter, as it was yesterday and the day before. We went to the Farmers' Market this morning. I used to be anti-farmers' markets. All I saw were crowds of people speaking languages I didn't understand touching food I might buy. But this one is at the mall in the parking lot, with tons of parking, and it's spread out, so it's less crowded. We went to the mall because that Mervyn's is having a special sale because the store is moving across the street away from the mall to a larger store. We also went to Target.

Yesterday it was hot, and sometimes there were clouds. There was lightning in parts of the bay area, but not where we live. It was very clear.


What a difference a day makes! There are fires all around the bay area, and the haze is bad. It looks like a smoggy day in Los Angeles, but it smells like smoke, so it's definitely from the fires. My mom's favorite flower - a peach gladiola - is growing in our yard! Things still pop up that surprise me since I didn't plant them!

The plums are back. I wish I loved plums, because....
there are MANY of them. Too many. I like peaches, nectarines, cherries, and grapes, but plums are not my favorite. If only we had had as many avocadoes this year as we have plums. I think we had 6 good avocadoes, and maybe as many that the critters got to first. The problem with these plums is that they are barely good until they fall off, and then you have to catch them almost immediately or else the split.

Alex is checking out my "red" sock.

The color isn't good on the picture below, but you can see how much I've knitted. I started it Friday night! The color in yesterday's post is the most accurate.
Alex wanted to be with us in the sunroom, but under the table where he is "safe".
We keep telling him we don't eat cats, we haven't hurt any (unless you count us taking them to the vet) and we feed them, clean their box, give them love and affection, and only invite people over who wouldn't hurt them. Alex is afraid of his own shadow, so even after 8.5 years, he's very cautious around us, and just doesn't come out when others are here. Occasionally (and rarely) his curiousity outweighs his fears, and he may peek out from behind something to see who's here, but it's rare.

And I almost forgot - Colorado niece, thanks for the picture of the Eisenhower Tunnel on your blog!

Too Hot on Saturday

(SCROLL DOWN for PICTURES!)

It's noon and it's 95 degrees. This is not working for me because my perfect temperature is 72 degrees. We managee to go to a few estate and garage sales this morning before it got hot, but all I found was a kids' electric toothbrush (new in the box) with all kinds of extra brushes, and daffy duck on it for $2. I think it's time I start using an ETB.


We watered out back before 8 am. Some of my lobelia flowers are dying because even though I'm watering them, it's too hot. (See above).


What does my family do when it's hot?


Formerly black Alex, who is now very gray, is sleeping on the bed, but not in the hot sheepskin cat bed. He's even lightly snoring. (Only his face and paws are still very black). It's very strange, and we haven't asked the vet, but I wonder if it has to do with him going into kidney failure briefly last year when he had crystals in his urethra? Poor Alex, but he seems to be doing quite well with his food change and we're happy about that.



Old, matted Cinders is sleeping on the chest at the end of the bed that was purchased 17 years ago to hold things, and to help my old cat Murphy get up on the bed. It must be cooler than being on the bed.

Even Will took a snooze with the Cubs/White Sox game on. Go Cubs! OK, I admit, I was nodding off too, but then I got a second wind, got up to grab the camera, and thus the pictures.
My socks in progress - the blue is the mate to the one I started last Saturday at the band gig and finished during the week. I'm getting tired of this type of yarn, although I will finish it and love wearing them (some day when it gets cold, which I'm told it will, some day). I started the "red" sock last night at open mic. This is XXL Trekking Yarn on my new bamboo DPNs. Last night Diann showed me how to do a different cast on that is good for socks, so I did it on the "red" sock. It's not actually "red" but for lack of another name, it's the "red sock" here. Yes, knitting wool socks in this heat may sound crazy, but it's a small, fast, portable project, so it works. I am NOT working on my brown sweater until it gets a little cooler.
Two summers ago I was working on a blanket for Aunt Mary for her big 90th birthday during a very hot spell. I like to knit. I can't help if it's hot! And it's hot. Have I mentioned that it's really very hot? This is "Weatherbug" from my computer. It's blurry and hard to read, except you can see it was approximately 4:15 pm on Fri., June 20th and it was 104 degrees outside.

This is our atomic clock INSIDE the office where is was 100.6 degrees at 4:15 pm.

HOT FRIDAY!

It's HOT. Way too hot. How hot is it? How too hot is it? Since I think 72 is ideal, and it's 98 (and ONLY 12:25 pm, and the hottest part of the day is a few hours away, unlike Southern California where the hottest part of the day is between 12 and 2 pm) it's at least 26 degrees TOO HOT!

A few nights ago we took a walk, and this is what we saw:

Pretty tree with many yellow blossoms. I didn't photograph the mess on the sidewalk from the tree!




Pretty flowers. We saw MANY of these along the way.
Here is the view of the magnolia and avocado trees from the house that backs up to ours.And of course there's the token cat who thinks he or she is hiding. This time the cat meowed at us!When my former neighbor gave us this beautiful tablecloth, there was one with mostly blues, and this one. At the time, I had no green in our house, so I put it away and rarely used it. I saw it for sale at the local Art and Wine Festival and it was very expensive.I think this may be like the blue one that she kept - we found it today at an estate sale for $2. And I find my best dish towels at estate and/or garage sales. This estate sale was put on by a private party who happens to live two blocks away from us, though the sale was in the next city. She is the person who is close in size to me, so I've bought several items of clothing from her - including the denim dress I was wearing!!!!Then we went to a professionally run estate sale near the first one that was put on by the people with estate sales we've frequented before. We've never gotten there close to opening on Fridays, so we were surprised there was a line to get inside, and a number system that didn't quite work. Instead of having two people go in when two people came out, the gal at the door was waiting, and then she went in to check, and it was so hot and annoying but I finally got in while Will sat on a bench outside under a tree. The worst part was, there wasn't anything I cared about inside.

When we got home, Mow was on another level of his "crow's nest". He doesn't usually sit here. The top level is his domain!I finally ordered yarn and accessories to use up the gift certificate given to me by a colleague. It arrived at our PO Box yesterday, but I had a seminar all day, and didn't get to pick it up until today. Yarn isn't as exciting when it's 98 degrees outside as it is in winter, but it's always good. And I just checked the "weatherbug" program on my computer, and you can make that 100 - it's 100 degrees outside. I can barely bare to look at the temp reading inside - it's "only 94" in our office with two window fans and a big regular fan. Here's the yarn in the box.Her's the yarn "outside of the box" to use a cliche I've heard too many times! I think it's funny when used literally!
And finally, yarn outside of the bag - Mowry couldn't help himself. The black yarn is for socks (I can never find matching store-bought black socks when I need them), trekking yarn for socks (I love the pair Diann is knitting, and this is similar, but more "Joan" colors, a couple of fuzzies for scarves (gifts?), bamboo double-pointed knitting needles (I've been using aluminum DPNs that my mom used to use, and I like them, but I'm told I'd love bamboo), cable holders (I may experiment on the scarves) and DPN holders so yarn doesn't fall off the DPNs while in use (and I don't have to attach the big blue rubber bands that come on broccoli bunches, though that works, too, most of the time).
Alex found something interesting that got him on his hind legs. Look at things around him to judge his size. He is long, wide, long-haired furry, and TALL! That's Cinders peering at me behind him. I swear that if he ever got out, we'd hear alerts of a "bear sighting" in Fremont! He's really that big.

It's too hot in this office. I'm going to try to find a cool spot. I bet there aren't many when it's 100 degrees outside!!!!