Monday Thoughts and Pictures

I don't usually post personal pictures on this blog, but since it's a very old picture, and my cousin already posted it on Facebook, I figured I would post it here. Clockwise from the back row, that's my grandfather, my Aunt Mary (for whom this blog is named, who is almost 93 now so you can see how old the picture is), my Uncle Sol (Aunt Mary's husband), my dad in the Navy uniform, and my Uncle Eddie in the Army uniform. Only Aunt Mare and my Dad are still with us today.

Speaking of Facebook, I'm amazed at some of the things people post. I should say I'm still amazed, since I think I've said it here before. It's my blog and I can say what I want to, but Facebook reaches more people in a more public way. Some of the things people post on Facebook tell me a lot more about the poster than I think they want me (and all their "friends") to know, especially those smart enough to think about it, which may not be that many so maybe that's why it's so popular and people post stupid, mean, dumb, illiterate, and/or revealing things. It's bad enough people do/say/gossip about, etc. these things, but to post them?

Can I ask why it's okay for everyone to comment and complain, but if I do (and my comment was about it being too hot when it was 95 degrees) people call me on it? It's been that way my whole life, and I should be used to it. It's okay for others to complain, just not me. One person actually posted to Facebook "Joan, you'd complain about anything". Nice, huh? So I realized then that I am above all that crap, and will limit my posting because I have better things to do. I saw the picture my cousin posted this morning on Facebook, and that is one of the good things about it, but I am going to be more selective about what I spend my time on.

The more I encounter people, the more I want to be with my cats (and Will). Even one of the cats, who shall go nameless, and who is not pictured below, who pooped somewhere today that wasn't his box. I do, however, think it may be because the cat who IS pictured below, or possibly Alex (oops, now you can narrow it down as to which one I'm talking about), who either chases him or makes it scary (his perception) to get to his box.

Is this cute of Mowry sleeping with his head up? It's beautiful today - only a high of 80, vs 95 at 6:00 pm on Saturday night, which was why I said it was too hot, but I'm done with that, so never mind. I guess it's still a little hot if you're a cat. Mow is in what I call his "hot place". Whenever it's a little bit hot he lies next to my side of the bed under the curtain, which makes sense if the window is open, but it wasn't when I first saw him there this afternoon, but go figure!

Lilly-Dan (as I call her since her real name is Lilly, but she was introduced to me as Danny) from next door leaves her kittens every few days to come hang out in our backyard. It's been a few days since we saw the new kittens.

Gotta love cats.

Things on Friday

Last night Will had band practice, and I had a lovely professional association board meeting dinner in SF. Will picked me up at BART on his way home from band, but it was later than usual. Uh oh, that means his routine was disrupted.

At 4:00 am we had a very affectionate purring cat walking around on our bed, and at one point, completely out of character he was walking between the headboard and my head. Alex was trying to tell us that Will forgot to feed him last night. This is when I expect them to be bad cats - scratching and chasing, but they didn't. When I got up, all three bowls were empty. Sometimes they knock food on the side of the bowl, but as you can see, there was no food! As soon as I realized this at 7:30 this morning, I fed them. Everyone was in their places...Ziggy

and Mowry and Alex. Since they are friends, they can eat side by side, although Mowry did first go to Zig's bowl because that was the last one I poured and he saw me doing it. I picked him up and deposited him at his own bowl.Saturday night our neighbor is having a 40th birthday party and we are invited. This is going to be one helluva party!Sometimes I check out the train station webcam. Someone asked why - here's why. I love watching the trains go by!

Happy Birthday to my sister.

RIP Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon.

They say celebrity deaths come in threes. I also notice that whenever there is a birth, a death closely follows. It's the cycle of life. Last Friday my cousin had a baby boy. Life goes on.

The East Bay is the Best Side of the Bay

This was the view coming into our town - the Niles Sign (with the "S" hidden by trees), the train trestle with graffiti covered over, and the front of the Henkel building.

Closer...And here is the view after the Henkel building was demolished. I couldn't get the picture without the van in front of us, but here it is without the building. What a nice, open feeling!
Just as we turned the corner on Walnut, a train was going by.

Isn't this tacky with the abandoned shopping cart next to the railroad tracks? If you're going to steal a cart for your convenience, at least take it back on your next trip. Don't just abandon it.

Sadly Joe's Corner, formerly a bar in the 1920s and most recently a Clean and Sober "bar" that served coffee, sodas, and sandwiches, has closed again. I'll miss seeing the neon sign lit when it was open for business.
Yesterday Will had a prospective client meeting in Mountain View, so I took an audit project I'm working on and went with him. I looked for a Peet's Coffee or an indpendent coffee house, but the closest was Starbucks. I hate to even give them a mention here. While I am completely against graffiti, no matter what, this was the only "NO STARBUCKS" picture I could find.


I wanted to find out about a gift card for someone since there are more SBs than Peet's around. Perhaps I wasn't clear when I asked "what does the card come in?" because she held up an envelope. OK, so I clarified, "what demonimations?" and after getting a confused look, I further clarified..."$100, $35, $50? Whatever I want?" Obviously not much of a salesperson, the young gal replied, "yes, the lowest is $5."

She looked further confused when I told her I would deal with that later, but wanted to order a decaf iced coffee now. Imagine a coffee place not having decaf iced coffee. They have every fru-fru drink with and without coffee, hot or cold that you can imagine, but no decaf iced coffee. She started to say something about an American coffee but I was tuned out by then. I mumbled something about Peet's Coffee and walked out. I would have been happy with a hot decaf and a cup of ice.

I didn't really fit in anyway. I didn't have a laptop or an IPOD. It was a beautiful day, so I found a chair outside under a small tree. I had to hope a Silicon Valley bird didn't fly into the tree and poop on me. Luckily that did not happen.

I got tired of loud cars, loud people, smoking (I was outside), and just being near SB, so I went next door to 7-11 and bought a two-pack of baked cookies. Then I decided I'd had enough of this scene, so I started walking toward where Will was meeting. It was 1.8 miles away, and he'd been gone a half hour, so the worst that could happen was that I'd walk 1.8 miles. He called me about 10 minutes into the walk and picked me up on the way, so I probably walked about 3/4 of a mile. We were very glad, as always, to cross the Dumbarton Bridge and get back to the right side of the bay.

Ziggy or Alex

You've heard it before, but this is how we tell Ziggy and Alex apart on first glance:

Alex: white in ears, white "eyebrow whisker" on his left, our right, more white on front paws.
Ziggy: black in ears, white "eyebrow whisker" on his right, our left, more black on front paws (nose a little squished in like a Persian cat, and front legs a little bowed).

This morning when Alex came on the bed to greet me, I noticed he still has his "eyebrow whisker" and I wondered about Zig since we've had him over 7 months and it hasn't fallen out yet. Then Ziggy jumped onto the cat window perch in the office and I noticed it's gone! So now it's - Ziggy - no white "eyebrow whisker" and Alex - white "eyebrow whisker on his left, our right". I thought Zig's former owners (I mean former humans) said his whisker was sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other .... I think they just didn't remember which side it was on. I would never notice if I didn't have to use it to identify my 'twins'.

Here's Zig without his whisker.

This is a funny pose of Alex on his hind legs standing by my chair. Notice his white whisker. You can see it as he licks himself! Both Al and Zig have magnificent, long white whiskers!

I can barely see the white here, but I had to have the obligatory Mowry picture in this post!

Knitting and Plants and Cats, of course!

It's Monday and I picked my friend up from the BART station. She was in SF for the weekend for a wedding, and she left her car at her friends' house in Fremont, and I live close to two BART stations, so no biggie for me. These flowers were in her hotel room, and so she gave them to me! I offered to share, but she insisted. I've warned the cats - these are NOT for you, stay away. One rose bent from the car ride, so it's in its own little vase. Alex was in the sunroom and for some reason he was rolling all over the carpet sweeper. What a goofball!

Meanwhile, Mowry was hiding under the glider. If he can't see us, we can't see him. That must be the cat logic.I started this blue sweater with some yarn I had. My cousin had a baby boy on Friday, but they live in Southern California so I'm making it larger because he may not be able to wear it until November or December.

It's the same sweater as the pink one I made a few months ago, but since the blue yarn is so busy and it's for a boy, I'm not making the fancy little twisty things that are on the pink sweater.

I've gotten almost to the sleeves. This just goes to show that close ups aren't attractive for any of us! Ziggy is really cute, but his fur looks like he needs a good brushing (which he probably does) in this close-up.

We're getting apples on our tree.

I have no idea what this plant out back is, but it looks like corn, and I noticed a few days ago that it had flowers.

And the blog readers' favorite - Mowry. Is this a cute pose? He was comfortably hanging out with his favorite human in the sunroom. That would be Will, of course!

Fathers' Day Train pictures

I volunteered for a few hours today for Golden Spikers for the Niles Canyon Railway. I had the best post - near the bus stop by the station. Is this bus cool? 1958 - a little before I took a bus to junior high school, but it reminds me of that. Nice backdrop against our golden hills.
Here's the interior of the bus.
And my favorite picture, the dashboard and steering wheel!
Here comes the train.
And closer.
We had a nice visit and dinner with Kathryn. I have an early phone call tomorrow (8 am, maybe that's not early to some) so it's wind down Joan and Will time now.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the fathers and grandfathers out there.

Random Saturday

We went to a few estate and garage sales. I bought this shoe rack for a buck, and while it's cheap, it will work perfectly. I can't have my shoes flat because I don't trust my cats. In fact, today I found some old cat poop in the way back of the closet that I suspect and am sure was from Ziggy back when he was hiding in the closet to do his business. I'll spare my readers the visual and not post the picture. The closet doors are shut now, and I'm hoping Mowry won't be scratching at them to get in as he does, which is why they were open.

I love the white milk glass dishes, although the large one will probably be for a friend who loves white milk glass dishes and loves garage and estate sales. I am keeping the small white milk glass bowls - 4 for 75 cents! I thought the sticker meant 75 cents each, which still would have been good. The yellow soap dish was thrown in with another purchase.

Not pictured - a shovel for $2 and several tools for Will, the price of which I don't remember, is unimportant, and I was assured was far less than had he bought them new.

I found jeans, but they are just a little wide, darn it, but I only paid a buck for them, so I'll wash them in hot water next time I have a hot water wash, and we'll see.

Will is napping, though I don't know how - our neighbor is using his loud weed wacker. It WAS a quiet Saturday but now it's a noisy Saturday. Just a reminder that I don't live on a desert island, which is actually a good thing. Hmmm, ideas for another blog post - why I wouldn't want to live on a desert island.

I just snuck a few Trader Joe's UFOs from the fridge. They are back!!! Sort of. They are darker chocolate (which I like and Will does not), stronger mint flavor (the hint of mint was a little better) and they cost twice as much. A bag this size used to be $1.79 and this bag was $3.99, so I won't be buying these as often as I bought the others.

Congratulations to Amee and Dave on their new baby boy!

Aunt Mary sounded really good when I spoke to her yesterday.

It's all good *

*It's mostly all good. The bad - Why does my computer decide to freeze up when I'm updating this blog? And why does a stock go up five minutes after I sell it? OK, it's back to where I sold it now, but it was up earlier.

All good -
1. Aunt Mare is doing well! She walked about 12 steps and will be going into rehab in the next few days to get that hip working again.

2. Amee is having her baby at 3:00 pm today! We don't know if "Paprika" (the working name) is a boy or a girl, so it's very exciting. Good luck to Amee and Dave.

3. I have two clients keeping me busy this week, but one may not make the cut. I have a call this afternoon with a prospective client, so we'll see how that goes. That may make the decision above.

4. It's Friday!

Random things -

Living with Ziggy has been interesting. We've experienced things we've not experienced before. He's so sweet - he likes our laps, he waits for us in the bathroom (so we can turn on the faucet for him), and then some unusual things like the time he pooped in Will's pants that were left for the night on the floor fireman's style, and today when Will was drying off from the shower and Ziggy was on the bathroom counter and he started licking Will's buttock! Ha ha ha ha!

Mowry is waiting for someone to play with him!
I put a fresh geranium in the planter out front. I hope this one does well. The others have flowered, but as you can see, they look pretty pathetic.
The plant out front is growing!

It's hard to photograph, but the new fuzzy part uncurls to open.

Good news and pictures

Good news! Aunt Mary had a pin placed in her hip, and she's doing well!

I found some cute cat pictures to post - Alex on top of the scratching post that came with Ziggy, and Mow in the middle looking up!

This picture of Ziggy in his scratching post was taken by his previous owners.
This is the curve coming into town. Under the Niles sign and beyond and below the railroad trestle, you can see the UGLY Henkel building. This is one and the same Henkel building that recently got demolished! Love the boarded up windows. Doesn't look like a keeper to me, but there were some who thought it was old and should be preserved. It was ugly and not historic. Old in a building isn't good enough to keep in my, and thankfully others' opinions!
I left around lunch hour to go to Michael's in Union City. They used to have a better yarn selection than the one in Fremont, unless I'm thinking of the one in Milpitas. I couldn't find anything I liked better for a baby blanket I will be starting soon. I really wanted to buy yarn for this project at our local yarn store, but it's a baby blanket and I didn't want to spend a lot of money, I wanted it washable, and I needed colors that weren't blue or pink since the sex of the as yet unborn baby is as yet unknown.

Actually, I think I have two baby blankets or ??? to make. I better get cooking on at least one of them.

And now no more stalling. I have work to do. I have a call in a half hour, so I'm finishing up my post!

Knit Mare Knit.... and pictures

Aunt Mary, for whom this blog is named, is in the hospital, so I want to wish her all the best. She doesn't read this, but that doesn't mean I can't send good thoughts. She's 92.5 years old! Her hip fractured, and she is having surgery today. Good luck Aunt Mare. And best wishes to Aunt Dot, and Reba, who are in the same hospital as Aunt Mare, all for different things.

Yesterday was a Flag Day celebration in town. It was also the 5-year anniversary of the restored flag pole. They color guard took down the old worn flag...
and put up the new flag.

The Mayor spoke (think Fitzy, and if you don't know what I mean, you don't watch "Corner Gas" on WGN), and immediately after he mentioned how our country is diverse and the one thing that connects us is our flag, they had a Pastor do a very religious prayer, which we thought was completely inappropriate. Not everyone practices the same religion, and this is a public, patriotic event, not her own church. Some people don't get that we are a nation based on freedom of religion, and not everyone believes the same thing. They either should have had EVERY denomination, which would have been ridiculous, or non-denominational, which would have been more appropriate for a patriotic event.

Below are quilts on display that will go to injured soldiers. They are handmade and beautiful. What a nice thing to do for those who are serving our country.Does Ziggy look happy on Will's lap? Those are the socks Diann made for Ken, but Ken didn't want them, so Will has them. They are the same color - it's the lighting that makes the right one look lighter.
Apparently this isn't new for Ziggy, but it's new since he moved here. He loves the trash in general, and plastic specifically.

He's looking for a piece of plastic I put into the trash! As I was typing this, he went into the trash again and pulled out a piece of plastic wrapper.After Mow did kitty barf on his cat bed (ick, but that's what cats do, especially when they have hairballs, which they do), I had to put it in the laundry. The cat bed usually sits on the seat of this chair. Maybe because there wasn't a cat bed, or maybe just because he could, Mowry moved the blanket the protects the chair and went to sleep on the chair.

Mowry is in his usually position - sleeping, but check out how the tail loops around his hind leg! While Morris the cat WAS cute, he had nothing on Mowry, except maybe that they could get him to pose on purpose! My pictures are not posed. They are captured.This lovely rose is in my neighbor's garden. She is the same age as Aunt Mare, and she broke her hip about 3 years ago dancing! She gets out there with her 3-pronged cane and clips her roses. I told Aunt Mary the story - I hope it serves as an inspiration for her.

It's a little hard to see because this lovely rose is white, but it rained here Saturday morning and the rose is covered with water droplets.
My Lamb's Ear is growing! I got this free from someone on my local Yahoo group. I hope I can find her email address and send her this picture! She was clearing out some extras and posted this. It was sparse when I planted it.