A Ray of Sunshine

It's so nice to see the sun (even if it's just for a short period of time) after several days of clouds and rain. I'm not complaining about the rain - we've had precious little this winter, but gray days are depressing.

We've made the best of it - Sunday we went to the wonderful brunch at Nines. We had not done anything with Rose and LeRoy for awhile and it was good to get together and catch up. After brunch we went to the BX at Travis. I'm always impressed by the prices. A Cuisinart soft serve ice cream maker that was on sale at Penney's for $99 was only $37 at the BX - and there's no sales tax! We'll definitely go there when I am ready to buy my next computer.

Today we're going into Fairfield for a doctor consultation for Jim. He's not ill, just getting a checkup. Our primary care physician is very thorough and anytime there's any question about anything, it's off to the specialist. Thanks goodness we have excellent medical coverage. We'll probably go to The Great Wall for a yummy Chinese lunch. We usually go there when we're in Fairfield.

Jen gave me Jason's web page info and I'm going to attempt to link it here. In the event it doesn't work, the web address is www.jasondryg.com. It's worth checking out - he has some cool art on there and links to some other cool artists pages. It's good to see his talent developing in such a mature way. Looking good, Jason!

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Here are some pictures from our wedding reception -

I can't believe everyone was sitting outside when the temperature that day was 116 degrees - no kidding, it actually was! Everyone was outside to listen to the bagpiper. We were miserable, but that poor guy was suffering.

Here's a good picture of Michael.

Here's me showing off our cake. Those roses were just about the prettiest pink I have seen.

Love to all,

Corrie and Jim

MzCorrie@comcast.net

jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Hail

We haven't had much of a winter in Rio Vista. We had about a week or two when the nightly temperatures dropped to 20 degrees, but mostly, the lows stayed in the 30s. We haven't had much rain, or even much in the way of foggy days. Yesterday, however, was the exception...we had real hail - enough to frost the sidewalk. It didn't last very long, but it scared the cats. By the time I got the camera, most of it had melted. Here's a picture of what was still there. I took this through the window screen so it looks a little strange.

Today it's mostly sunny, perfect sweater weather...one day hail, next day spring - go figure.

Today, the Bay Area had an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter. Apparently it was centered on the Hayward fault. One of the things that appealed to us about Rio Vista is that is not near a fault line nor in a flood zone...even though we are near the river.

Jim's devised a method to hang our flower baskets, so that has become tomorrow's project, unless it rains. Even though it was a little chilly today, he managed to get to the driving range for a little while. Molly Maids are here cleaning so I think he really wanted to escape. The cleaning will be a once a month process. We manage to keep the place picked up and fairly clean, but the deep cleaning is a little tough on us old birds...hips and knees don't cooperate all that much.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

Today I went through some of our old photos from our wedding reception and from our cruise last year to Mexico. Looking back, I think it's time to plan another cruise. Every time we go we have a great time and meet some neat people. As soon as I get the pictures scanned in, I'll share. These were from the cruise - Dessert Night - and the desserts were just as awesome as they look here. Can you imagine being talented enough to create these amazing concoctions.!

The person in the tan sweater is Jim walking away with a loaded plate and the chef's expression is "are you really going to eat all that" ! and he did!

Love to all,

Corrie and Jim

MzCorrie@comcast.net

jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Karaoke

Last night we decided we would go out to an early dinner, and since we had not had Mexican food for some time, we decided that Maria's in town would be the spot...well, best laid plans, etc...Maria's was closed.



The Nines restaurant here in Trilogy serves dinner and does a terrific early bird special (excellent prices, good food and service) so we decided that would be a satisfactory substitute. As it turns out, it was an excellent choice - it was Karaoke night. We ran into some old friends there (old meaning not quite a year yet:>)) and got to hear them sing. As with any fair sized group, some singers are good, some singers should maybe see a throat doctor, but all in all, it was a very fun evening. The Nines does this once or twice a month, so we need to check the calendar for the next one. After all the singers were finished, the DJ played a few songs for those who wanted to dance.



Jim's off playing golf today even though it's getting cloudy and looks like rain. It's a little chilly outside as well. It's not a good gardening day, but it is a good day to start sorting through stuff to do taxes. As much as I hate that process, procrastination doesn't make it get easier.



We have two grandchildren birthdays to celebrate this week - Becky (25) and Marcus (22). There's nothing like having grandchildren who are drinking age to make you feel like an antique. We love them even when they make us feel old. :>)


PICTURE OF THE DAY


Although this picture has nothing to do with our family, it's one that touched me. It made me think how much gentler the world would be if every parent, everywhere, took the time to teach their children to pray. This picture says so much.


Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Delta Breeze or Rio Vista Hurricane

Gusts to 25 miles per hour. That'll mess up your hair pretty quick...even blow your hat away.


Annabelle was outside, begging to get in. Usually she can't wait for the door to open and she's out like a shot, but today she wants no part of it....too windy. We had planned to finish our hanging baskets and get them hung, but that will have to wait...too windy. We had also planned to go to the driving range this afternoon, and unless the wind dies down, we probably won't go.


It's not like there's nothing to do...we can go swimming at the indoor pool, walk the indoor track, work out on the equipment we have in our garage, go to the Trilogy library and bring home some interesting books...have lunch at the club. There's a long list of things to do if we choose. Doing nothing is a choice also, which I may choose to do today. Most days we have some kind of commitment - today, none. We have 3 Netflix movies - maybe I'll watch all three today. . . I have a painting I started weeks before Christmas... maybe I'll work on that. Maybe not. If I sit here long enough, I will have made a choice.


Picture(s) of the Day

These are pictures taken from our garden last year. We get some very interesting insects visiting our plants...this dragonfly was the most beautiful green with very lacy wings. She was on the cucumber plant that we grew on the trellis...check out the cucumber just behind her.:>)



The colors on the petunias were rich and vibrant and the plants lasted all summer, into the fall. We trimmed them back twice and they kept producing these gorgeous flowers.



We moved the rose trees from Modesto (with the help of Mike and Bev) in large pots and were concerned that they may not survivie - here's one of the beautiful blooms. During the winter the roses took something of a beating from the sub-freezing temperatures we had, but we think they've survived. We had the gardner plant them in the ground a few weeks ago and so far they look ok.


Marigolds are one of Jim's favorites. These did well last year. We've planted some seeds this year and are hoping for this much success.

Maybe tomorrow the wind will have died down and we can work outside.





Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Fosters

Not the Fosters that has hamburgers and soft serve ice cream cones, but the Fosters that has BIG horns. In Rio Vista there's a restaurant/bar called Fosters Bighorn which is a local landmark and unusual attraction. From the outside it didn't look much like a place that Jim and I would go, but we had heard about it from other folks and decided to go.

Fosters Bighorn was established in Rio Vista in 1931 by a bootlegger and great white hunter called Bill Foster (actually, he was Bill Frates who changed his name to Foster to evade the law). He was living in Alameda and Earl Warren was after him, so he came up river to Rio Vista to hide out. Bill was actually from Hayward and became interested in big game by working with Henry Snow, the first African hunter to show movies of African wildlife in the US in 1918 (in addition to his bootlegging). Bill was so fascinated by African wildlife that he decided to go on a safari, which was the first of many.

Today there are over 300 wildlife trophy heads in Fosters - one of the most amazing collections and some of the most unusual - giraffe, elephant, rhino, hippo, monkey - The elephant head is the largest mammal trophy in any collection in existence. The giraffe trophy is one of less than a dozen in the world. Supposedly, Bill shot 95% of the animals himself. He travelled with a taxidermist to make sure all the game was meticulously preserved.

The restaurant has a decent, but limited menu if you can get yourself past being watched :>). Sitting there it seems all eyes are on you - all 600 of them. Having dinner was definitely an interesting experience. Animal rights activists probably shouldn't go.

Jim and Marc are playing golf . They've been planning this for some time, and thankfully, the rain has held back. While they're gone I'll do a little house tidying and laundry. We have a cleaning service coming in on Friday. Since Jim's been ignoring his share of the chores - he'll be buying :>).

Yesterday we bought more potting soil and a trellis for some snap peas I want to plant. We grew them a couple of years ago and the pods were great in salads. We also figured out how we're going to hang the flower baskets so we'll probably get that done Monday if it doesn't rain.

Not much else is going on today - just another lazy Sunday in paradise.

PICTURE(S) OF THE DAY

Here's some pictures from Fosters. These don't come close to showing the whole collection of animal heads in the place. I was torn between being fascinated by the enormity of the collection and horrified at the number of animals who were killed to create this.

These are just a few pictures as you enter the bar. The dining room has the elephant, giraffe, rhino, hippo and so, so many others.

Love to all,

Corrie and Jim

MzCorrie@comcast.net

jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Got a lot done

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day in Rio Vista...temperature got up to around 68. Jim played golf and I got to work in the garden to my heart's content. At the end of the day Jim and I even relaxed in our patio room for the first time. As the evening turned shadowy the tree frogs became vocal - we heard lots of "ribbets" so we probably have a pretty hearty population of the little critters. Both cats were out looking around for frogs and bugs and chewing on the shrubbery. Better the shrubbery than my houseplants! In the winter the patio room was a sheltered spot for visiting smokers, but this is the first time we actually sat out there....pretty nice!


Can't believe the lettuce seeds that I planted a few days ago have already begun to sprout. We'll be eating salads in no time. Last year we grew a cucumber plant on a trellis and had some great cucumbers, so I planted some seeds again this year. Also planted scallions, radishes, and marigolds and transplanted the sweetpea plant we bought. The hanging baskets are ready to plant. They've been soaked in fertilizer water so the soil is soft and moist. We bought purple vinca for the baskets, but haven't planted them yet. First we need to decide on how we're going to hang them. The garden should be in full production by mid-April when Jessica and kids visit.

Yesterday when I was turning over the soil in the planter boxes, I was pleased and surprised to see as many earthworms as I saw. The plants will love that.

Today we're going to see if we can figure out the best way to hang our baskets, taking into consideration the "delta breeze" that howls through here during the summer. We have a sweet little hummingbird feeder that Phyllis and Jack gave us for Christmas that we haven't hung yet because we need to put it in a protected spot, yet accessible to the hummers. The feeder is glass and will shatter if it gets blown down.

We should have the yard in pretty good shape in a couple or three more weeks if the weather holds. We need to sell one table and chairs before we can move our loveseat and chairs to the back. Right now they're in the living room, and while they look ok there, they're really patio furniture.

PICTURE(S) OF THE DAY

In keeping with sharing pictures that we have enjoyed, here are some more...These were scanned from Christmas cards we received.




Here's Jeremy (age 9), Makenzie (age 7) and Elizabeth (2-1/2) Autumn in New Hampshire is really beautiful and makes a great setting for a photo.








Mike, Mikey, and Bev. Cool uniform! I wonder how the team did.











Emily, Jim Jr., Terri, and Molly - looking very festive!





Pretty soon we'll be caught up with the holiday pictures and will move on to more seasonal stuff.

Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net

New plants, sprouting seeds

Spring is definitely announcing her early arrival. We have new growth everywhere...the lemon tree is blooming vigorously, the Japanese maple trees are budding, daffodils are poking their heads up and the peonies corms are nudging through the soil. Every day is an adventure of burdgeoning life.

Yesterday we drove Kathy to Stockton for a check on her new dentures and then took her on home to Modesto. The dentist adjusted the dentures so they're a little more comfortable - one of several adjustments over the next few weeks - until they fit as perfectly to her mouth as possible. It's good to see her smiling and talking a little better.

We then drove on to my favorite nursery, Hischier's, and bought a few things. We bought some vinca to begin planting our hanging baskets and a bushy sweetpea plant that is about a foot tall and should begin producing long before the seeds I planted. We also bought some seeds -cucumber, radish, marigold, scallions. If all goes well, we'll have salad makings all summer long. In Modesto our container salad garden did so well we didn't buy lettuce or spinach for several months. Last year we moved in here too late to get the garden going. By the time we had managed to get the house unpacked and ready to think about the yard, we were near the end of spring and almost into summer :>) - besides, we had a lot of exploring to do!

Jim's playing golf today with LeRoy and again on Sunday with Marc. Even though the winter has been relatively mild, it's still been a little cold and damp for golf...at least for Jim who doesn't do cold and damp.

I have a lot of pictures I would like to share, so until I run out, I'll run "Pictures of the Day."

PICTURE(S) OF THE DAY

Even though Christmas is long past, here are some pictures that are special to me...Samantha, Justin, Nicole and Nick building our Christmas tree. That was a real project - and here is a picture of the finished product. They did a terrific job - can't wait til Christmas this year! Here's also a picture of our Christmas Village - we plan to add to and expand it each year. It was fun to build.

This picture is special because it was Jim's birthday and the first time in awhile that we've had both Becky and Mandy here with us at the same time. I think it's the only photo I have of the four of us together, which in itself makes this photo special.

Love to all,

Corrie and Jim

MzCorrie@comcast.net

jmcrhoads@comcast.net

The sun is out and life is good

It's a gorgeous day outside - the kind of day that says "come on out and play," and I think I will do just that a little later when it gets just a little warmer.



We had a fun Valentines Day - Jim, Kathy, and I went to lunch at Gold Chopsticks, and then off to do a little shopping. We ended up just buying some essentials - nothing especially fun. Jim and I went to dinner at The Point with Leroy and Rose. We always enjoy them and the food at The Point is generally good. The view overlooking the Sacramento River is really pretty at night.

Today Kathy goes back to the dentist for a recheck, and if all is well, then on home to Modesto. She's doing quite well with the dentures, but they will need a little adjustment, as will she in getting accustomed to wearing them. Already she's talking a lot better and getting better control of them.

Haven't heard from Jessica and David. I hope they were able to get out of New Hampshire. What horrible timing for a snow storm to come through - can you imagine, getting snow shoes for Christmas, and having no snow, and then hours before you're about to leave town for Hawaii, a darned blizzard descends! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them - They've had subzero weather for weeks and could use some serious thawing out.

I think I'll go with Jim and Kathy to the dentist follow-up appointment today. If we take her home to Modesto, I would like to go to my favorite nursery there - Hischier's - it's one of the best nurseries I've found and one of the things I did enjoy about Modesto. I want to get some petunias and marigolds and get them started early. They'll flower until fall if we keep trimming them back a little. I want to get our hanging baskets planted as well. Can you tell I get spring fever bad! A little ray of sun and I go nuts. I feel like I'm crawling out of winter hibernation. I know we'll have some rainey, cold days, but more and more now, we'll have sun. I can't wait to use our new patio room.

Next rainey day I have to start doing our taxes, but not today. :>)

Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Ain't Love Grand

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE

This seems an appropriate picture to wish everyone a happy valentine's day.

Go have a good snuggle with someone you love. Some roses and chocolates will make the snuggling even sweeter. (Bustopher and Annabelle prefer eating the roses).

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and we have some snuggling of our own to do, we won't be posting.

Much love to all of you - remember it's bad karma to take pot shots at cupid :>) even if he does seem like a little freak.

Corrie and Jim
MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net

Take a look at her now!

Doesn't she look wonderful! What a long haul this has been. We began the dental project in August of last year, and actually thought at that time that everything would be finished before Thanksgiving...well, best laid plans often go awry. A lot of the work was more intense and painful than expected and as such, the dentist chose to go a little slower. We had hoped to have the work completed by December so it would be done for Christmas.... again, complications. We had thought it would be finished two weeks ago, but yet another complication.

All the discomfort and delays that Kathy has experienced have been handled with maturity and grace. The reward for her commitment is a beautiful end result. I hope everyone will take a moment to share her success.

Happy Valentine's Day

It has been two months since my last post. Wow - before Christmas. It's been a busy time, especially as we got closer to Christmas and the Christmas Eve party. This was one of our better Christmas Eves. More and more as our two families get to visit at various functions, they seem to relax and enjoy each other's company. I think having the great room contributes a lot to that since there's really no place to go. :>)

We had an enjoyable New Year's Eve - Rose and LeRoy came for dinner. After dinner we watched a movie and at midnight fired off a bunch of party crackers - what a mess we had to clean up the next day.

We had to postpone the birthday party on the 21st for Jim because of his heart incident. He's taking different medication now, so hopefully we won't have any more scares like that one. The party we finally had on the 28th was a lot of fun. We missed Jen and Jason and Anita and Marc's kids, but it was good that Marc came. Jim had a great time and loved getting all the neat gifts. I video taped a lot of the party and am still putting the finishing touches on the edit.

We've been busy with so many things - every day seems to have some project going on. Kathy's dental work is about to be completed, hopefully tomorrow. This has been a long, long haul for all. Looking back, her first appointment was in August of last year. Initially we thought it would only take a couple of months. Tomorrow she should get her dentures and I promise to post a picture on the blog.

It's beginning to feel a lot like spring, so true to form, I planted some stuff... spinach, lettuce, nasturciums, zinnias, sweetpeas, morning glories. I started some tomatoes and peppers in peat pots. It's the first time I've used peat pots, so it will be interesting to see how this works. I want to plant some marigolds and petunias and some kind of pretty hanging flowers for our hanging baskets. We had the gardner transplant the rose trees into the ground, so hopefully, they will do well. They struggled last year in the pots and really need a place to let their roots wander.

We'll be having dinner at The Point with Rose and LeRoy for Valentine's Day, then home to share a bottle of champagne. Every year since Jim and I have been together he has given me roses on Valentines Day and every year Bustopher attempts to eat them. I usually end up giving him a rose of his own. This year we have Annabelle as well and she's a BIG house plant muncher - If I get roses this year I may have to lock them away from the kitties.

I've not been very good about maintaining the blog lately, and I won't make any sweeping promises for the future, but check back now and then - perhaps there will be an update.

Love to all,
Corrie and Jim

MzCorrie@comcast.net
jmcrhoads@comcast.net