Lest we forget

… not that I have in four years. People much more involved are still struggling with this but I will never forget that Friday afternoon. Train wreck

Things I've never tried before

When we, a friend and I, were planning our trip to the Southern part of the US I thought I'd be eating all the typical local fare. My grandmother was a fantastic cook and make fried chicken, chicken fried steak, biscuits, and all smothered with gravy. Yeah, we got that and it was all terrific.

Here are two items I'd never had, boiled peanuts and Brunswick Stew. The peanuts look wet and soggy and had the texture of a cooked bean but were salty and a bit addictive.

The Brunswick Stew was an odd concoction of ground pork and chicken cooked with tomatoes and some corn kernels thrown in. Not a huge amount of flavor but not as horrible as it looked.

We tried both in a tiny old BBQ place in Macon, GA; Satterfield's. They were quite nice to us Yankees and when we said we'd never tried either brought a sample to the table. That was what stands out in my mind, how nice most people were in the South.

Not finding anything interesting in Macon we headed to Savannah.

Ten pounds of kisses

No dog could replace our Buddy but this one will fit in here just fine. Meet Sadie. She's a 3 1/2 year old, ten pound terrier mix and she's stolen our hearts.

A rescue of a rescue, her last owner had her for only three months. He was not physically able to handle a young dog. I'm not sure she ever had a walk but here she will get lots of leash time. We need to work on some easy commands like sit and stay.

She is very good in the car and that was a "must-have" as Dan will take her everywhere. Sadie has almost mastered the doggie door by herself. So many new things here. She's not such a good eater but we will give that some time. She's very friendly with humans and we'll work on the problems with other dog.

Dan is very taken with her and we hope she'll enjoy a long life with us. All our dogs lived into their old age here.

RIP, Steve Jobs

So many tributes, every blogger, every graphic artist, every geek is feeling the loss today. The whole of humanity feels the loss.

My entire adult life was driven by Apple. My career was possible because of my MAC skills. Thanks Steve.

My darling husband would be one of the last people to use a computer. Just never was very interested but when I got my iPad he took to it right away. It was so easy, so intuitive he learned to navigate the Internet and use e-mail. Now he does his banking, reads and listens to news stories and communicates with family and friends online. Thanks Steve.

Did you know Steve how many success stories there were about your creations? Did it give you a swelling sense of pride? I hope so. I hope you knew before your time was up how many lives you improved but as clever as you were, I'm sure you did.

We are all made of recycled star parts but Steve seemed to have had more than most.

It's just time I'm wasting

I sat down at my computer to Google something. Something I wanted to know the answer to. It was important enough to sit down and turn on my computer. You see, I usually just pick up the iPad but my darling companion is hogging it right now.

So I sit down and go right to Google, oh but first maybe I'll read my Twitter. Who knows what important information will be there. Nope, nothing today. Back to Google, but wait, I should look at my list of feeds, you know, those important sites. Love to read Pioneer Woman wonder what she's cooking for dinner. Oh, the Getty Blog has something interesting so I spend ten minutes reading.

Yes, now back to Google. Gee, look what the market did today, sheesh, depressing but if I'm looking at that then maybe I should look at my checking account balance. Good, all bills paid and not overdrawn. That makes me feel good.

Back on the Google search page but for the life of me I can't remember what I originally wanted to know. Do you suppose it was important? Yesterday I thought it was important to look up the lyrics for Cielito Lindo. Oh, I'm sure it will come to me.

What a find

While looking for something I was rummaging through some storage boxes. You know, those boxes you stick the things you just don't know what to do with. Things that have sentimental value but you don't need to see them all the time. I have one entire bedroom, albeit small, dedicated to this type of stuff. I optimistically call it my studio but it's become the dumping ground for junk.

When my mother-in-law passed we sorted through her personal items, boxed up things we thought we wanted to keep, and donated the rest. I'd never get rid of photos though I've ended up with some of people we don't have a clue as to their names. And, to make it worse when her mother-in-law passed she did the same so there are more pictures of strangers.

I love old table cloths, napkins, handkerchiefs and the like so it was a pleasure to find a large box of these items. Table cloths were from the 50s and most in quite good shape. A few of the hankies were embroidered with "Anna Barrett Jones" I thought that was my mother-in-law's maiden name and since she was married once before these had to be from about 1930. My husband reminded me her middle name was Maria and Barrett was his Grandmother's maiden name and these must have been hers. They are in good shape but still think they are 50s era handkerchiefs by some of the designs but fun to have the history on.

I also found a lovely hand painted fan that most likely was my father-in-law's mothers. She was originally from Spain and it is in very good condition. Not sure if it's much older than the 60s but a nice piece to keep. Our lil bird may remember her as she was young when her great-grandmother passed. She was in a nursing home the last few years of her life.

I found lots to keep me wondering about but I still didn't find the original item I went searching for. Ah, the search continues. Wonder what else will turn up?

Love posting from a bouncing truck

Heading home. Great time, met some very nice folks and two dopes. Jeeze, smoky fires are for a reason, you have wet or green wood, get a clue.

The great group was a man, his two sons and his three grandsons. All boys trip, kids get to be as dirty as they can. They were trying their best. Grandpa could nt have cared how dirty the trailer got as long as they were happy. Lots of giggles heard there last night.

We gave up our space to a couple from Bakersfield and she said she thought she'd seen us at a car show. Yep, lived there two years. After chatting Dan found a common friend. They promised to stop by the Sept show, Dan will be inspecting cars at the Museum.

All in all it was a great trip, thanks to my darling companion for taking me.

Yesterday at Faria Beach

Last night I went to sleep with moonlight on the water and this morning awoke to a sparkling blue Pacific ocean. I feel I'm so very lucky to be able to get to the ocean from time to time.

Years ago I gave up on the notion of owning a beach house and unless the lotto favors me this is as close to beach living as I'll ever get. I've made friends with this reality which is a lot easier on the psyche.

It is Friday and the families with children are starting to arrive which means we'll be leaving tomorrow. Having nothing against children still doesn't make me enjoy screaming kids.