Halloween At Shirlmar

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays.  The fun part is dressing up, and seeing what others are wearing.  As kids, Heather and Adam dressed up every year.  Here are just a few examples. 

Heather at 19 months.  She loves it, even though she probably didn't know the significance.

The following year in a costume her Grandmother made.  As you will see, it was recycled as Adam's costume later on.

Yep, there he is entranced by Kristie's hat.  Big sister, Heather usually wanted to be a princess, dancer or other fashionable lady.  In this picture is also another neighbor, Kenny.

Sure enough, here she is as a princess with little brother Smurf in attendance.

Then, along comes Madonna, and the Karate Kid, and my kids are transformed!

Oh Oh----then along comes future husband, Jason, and she's a princess once again.

I must end with a few words about Adam's artwork.  He constructed this haunted house on his own, and it had all of the elements, including bats that flew out the windows.  He always amazed me with his designs.

Praying Mantis

Finding a Praying Mantis in my garden is such a joy.  They are, by far, my favorite insect.  They are not only fun to watch, but are so beneficial to your plants.

This one is spectacular!  It is showing such joy and happiness.  I wish he was in my yard, but I only found him in an email.  I have, however, found many over the years in all different colors.  They blend in with their surroundings.  Many years ago, my son Adam bought some at a nursery and let them loose in the yard.  I like to believe that the ones I see are descendants of those original bugs.

Horsing Around

We have been having lovely Fall weather, and when it gets a little cooler, the horses in the neighborhood come out.  People enjoy riding when it isn't 100 degrees.  Brings back memories of my family and horses.

Here's my Dad, in Chicago, probably around 1930.  Men with horses would visit the neighborhoods and for a small fee, let the kids ride the ponies or horses.  I remember doing this myself once or twice.

I have always loved horses, and if real ones weren't available, any rocking horse or fence would do.

There was a place called Kiddieland, right outside of Chicago, and I think my parents would take me there every Sunday.  I would shun the other rides and ride dozens of times on the ponies.

Like I said, even a fence would do.

When Heather was about 2 years old, she took a ride with her Dad on old "Babe".  Babe was a sweet old horse who gave us many years of riding pleasure.  Right behind our house was a horse trail, and before the houses were built out back, there was an old avocado and lemon orchard that was lots of fun to ride through.

Adam was about 18 months old here, and seems to have gotten horse fever too.

Eventually, we got Heather a pony, but she never felt comfortable without Dad by her side.  Later on, when she was at Cal Poly, she actually took a P.E. class that taught her how to care for, saddle, and ride a horse.  They would have to catch the horse in a field, then saddle it, and walk, trot or gallop.  She met a girl in that class named Jennifer Moore, and that friendship lead to her meeting her future husband, Jason.

My favorite horse, or I should say, Welsh Pony, was Chipper, a spirited little pinto.  Heather, and her friend Kristie found out how spirited he was when they decided to give him a little hay and then get on his back without a saddle.  He threw them both, and Kristie ended up with a broken arm.

Adam never really took to horseback riding, but his preschool had a picture day where all the kids had their picture taken on a pony.  Brought back memories of the horses and ponies in Chicago.

Booyah!!!

The Booyah tasted sooooo good.  Worth the work.  It's really not hard, just a lot of prep work like browning the meats, removing fat, skin, bones, cutting up veggies etc.  The consistency is that of a thick soup or stew.  As Rachel Ray would say, "stoup".  We enjoyed it, along with corn bread, and a first rate football game!.  Didn't hurt that the Packers won.  And to think that I remember Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr.  Duane and I were comparing notes and each of us remembers the first Super Bowl like it was yesterday.  "Sigh...."  I believe the Bears play next week----another family favorite.  Wonder what I should fix for that dinner?  I know that because of the stockyards in Chicago, BEEF is BIG.

Go Packers!

NFL season opener is coming up on Thursday, featuring the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints.  Being from Wisconsin, my husband Duane is a dyed in the wool Packer fan.  He grew up near Green Bay in a quaint little town called Sheboygan Falls.  Duane is also known as the Bratwurst King at our house, and has his own special recipe.  Bratwurst are "THE" thing to eat at Wisconsin BBQ's.  He actually started grilling "brats" at age 8 when his father discovered his talent.

Here he is at Heather and Jason's house doing the Labor Day BBQ.  He's always requested as the go-to cook.

Yesterday, I was informed that there is another Wisconsin recipe that he loves, and I plan to make it the day of the game:

Yes, a good old fashioned beef, chicken and vegetable soup.  Yummmmm.  The recipe is quite involved and they use short ribs and chicken thighs, but you can add practically any vegetable you want.  If you want the recipe it is in the October/November 2011 issue of Cook's Country magazine.  Or just let me know and I'll send it to you.  I'll let you know how ours turns out.  Duane says the recipe sounds just right, and he knows his food.  Can't wait to try it!

My Kids

After writing about my grandchildren, I got to thinking of my own kids.  Like Maddie and Reese, they are 5 years apart.  Heather was born in March, Adam in June----Maddie was born in June and Reese in March.  Heather was born in 1974, Maddie in 2004.  Adam was born in 1979, and Reese in 2009.  I love coincidences like that.

Heather was really good with Adam, just like Maddie is with Reese.  I know Heather helped me a lot and Maddie helps her Mom too.

Little brother walked Heather down the aisle on August 19, 2000.  So proud of them both.

Let's Go to Grandma's House

Heather went back to work in mid August.  I take care of Maddie and Reese for her one or two days a week when she is at work.  Mostly, it is at their house (easier).  My house seems to have hazards of all kinds like pointy corners, glass table tops, knick knacks and the usual "Grandma" type things.  So, this week my tour of duty included Tuesday and Wednesday.  Went to their house on Tuesday and did the usual playing school and chasing balls.  But, we made up a new game using three bean bags, and we all played it together (a major feat.)  I would set up a box to throw the bean bags into, Maddie would stand behind a half wall in the entry way, then throw the bean bags (hopefully) into the box.  For a while, Reese wanted the bean bags all to himself, but then we showed him how much fun it would be to retrieve the bean bags and give them to Maddie.  Piece of cake for me who sat in a chair until it was time to move the box to a bigger distance from the half wall.  He raced around with a purpose, and it was a joy to see.

This picture isn't of the bean bag toss, but it gives you the idea of how determined each child is to get their way.  So, Tuesday turned out to be a "normal" day at the Garcias.

Not so, Wednesday.  I got up at my normal 5:00 am to get ready to drive to their house.  Being a Los Angeles travel veteran, I listened to the news to pick up on any potential traffic jams.  Sure enough, at about 5:20 am two big rigs collided at the juncture of the 60 and 57 freeways.  This juncture is never easy on any day, but guess what one of the trucks had in it?  Right!  Oil!!!  Made for quite a mess of the freeway, not to mention the parking lot of cars trying to get through on either the 60 or 57 freeways.  So, I called Heather and told her that since the freeways were closed, and any other routes were jammed, that I could not come to her house.  So, she popped the kids into her car and drove to her school, and I met her there at 8:00am.  The kids were transferred to my car and "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we went!"  During the first hour, Reese had pulled out all the toys and books he could find and then yelled, "eat eat eat."  That kid is always hungry.  Maddie set up her new little girl Legos on a tall table out of Reese's reach.

She's so adorable, and well mannered that it almost makes me cry.  Reese devoured any tidbits I put on his high chair tray, then announced "All Done"--- Another of his favorite phrases.  While Maddie played quietly, he proceeded to dismantle whatever he could----but I love him to pieces.  After a trip to McDonalds for lunch, I decided to brave the pool, so into our bathing suits we went, slathered on sun tan lotion galore, then out to the water.

Reese would have been in this bathing suit picture if he would have stood still for a second, but he was somewhere around the corner finding new things to get into.  The pool was fun for a while and took up some time.  I wonder why I'm always looking at the clock to see how close it is to Heather's arrival?  Needless to say, Reese did not take a nap this day since I didn't have the Pack and Play to put him in.  So, he got more and more wound up.

This is the capper----or should I say the hatter.  Duane and I roared when we saw him in my gardening hat.  Isn't he just adorable too?  By the way, he pointed to his shirt earlier and told Duane BITE!!!  At least he hasn't tried that yet.  Kisses and Hugs to my precious grandchildren.

Be Optomistic!

I have just offered my condolences to my sister on the loss of 3 of her friends recently.  It seems that all we get anymore is bad news.  But, I'm the eternal optomist, and always try to look on the bright side.  Someone always has it worse than you do.  Just as an example, I was reading an article by Charles Payne, a Wall Street analyst and regular on KFI640 am radio.  He wrote up this little blurb on Abraham Lincoln:

                                         Lincoln's Failures and Triumph

1832  Lost State Job
1833  Failed at Business
1835  Sweetheart Died
1836  Had a Nervous Breakdown
1838  Was Defeated for Speaker of the House
1843  He was Defeated for Congress
1844  He lost Re-Nomination
1849  He was Rejected as Land Officer
1856  He was Defeated as Vice President
1858  He was Defeated for Senate
1860  He WON the Presidency!

However, in 1865 he was Assassinated............such is life!

Playing

I had the pleasure of babysitting for Maddie and Reese for three days last week!  I am one tired puppy.  But seriously, I just love them to pieces.  When have I ever gotten to "play" all day long???  I play school with Maddie, and all of her dolls and stuffed animals are the students.  We have a flag, calendar, maps and a pointer with a hand on it.  This is a far cry from when I played school when I was her age.  I remember feeling lucky if we had some paper, pencils and crayons.

Here I am with my huge babydoll, along with my cousins MaryAnn (oldest), Carol (middle) and Geraldine at the celebration of her First Holy Communion.  We all spent a lot of time together, and playing school was at the top of the list.  We also loved paper doll cutouts.  Girls these days don't know what they are missing!

Here I am again, about age 6, with my friend Janie from next door when we lived in Chicago.  She was another school playing buddie.  How stylish I am in my bloomers.

Reese has his own favorite type of play with Grandma---From the stair landing, throw two or three balls down and watch Grandma run around trying to catch them.  He fakes me out too and will look one way and throw the other way.  I'm sure he's a star ball player in training.

What can I say?  I'm loving being a Grandma.

Ten Beach Road

My latest "beach read" is Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax.  This story is about three ladies who are fleeced by a Ponzi scheme.  They are strangers to one another, but become co-owners of an old beach mansion in Florida.  They accept the challenge of restoring the mansion in order to recoup some of their lost funds.  This one has similarities to the Ladybug Farm novels I introduced a while back.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Beware!

This is the time of year that the dreaded TOMATO HORN-WORMS come out!  They are those fat light green caterpillars about 2 inches long (or longer) that devour tomato leaves, and destroy the plants.  We had not seen any on our tomato plants this year, but curiously enough, we found one on one of our Jalapeno plants!  It was eating a jalapeno!!  I didn't think anything ate jalapenoes except humans.  Then, I googled tomato horn-worms and wallah------this one is on a jalapeno plant!

The tomato hornworm is the larval stage of the Five-Spotted Hawk Moth.  Both the worm and the moth are large, and I would advise you to remove either when you see them.

I have seen small red headed sparrow like birds diving in and out of my tomato plants, and I hope they are feasting on either the worm or the moth, but I will keep my eyes peeled for the dreaded predators.

The Fruits of Our Labor

Our raised beds have worked out well this year.  We have picked lots of veggies, with more still to come.  Now I'm planning to have a winter garden!

We have here Celebrity and Better Boy tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers.

This bed has zucchini, cucumbers, dill and carrots.

Just some of the "fruits" of our labor.

A New "Ride"

Well, after 231,000 miles it was time to trade in "Old Betsy".  Duane has had this truck longer than he has had me.  He loved the truck, and almost cried when we traded it in.  However, I think the new truck looks a lot like the old one, don't you?

This old truck was a real "work horse".  Not only did he use it every day for his inspection jobs, but it also pulled a 5th wheel and this Airstream trailer.

The new truck has a bigger Super Crew Cab.  Also, it is an F-150 rather than an F-250 like the old one, but just as rugged.  Ford made the body style of the F-150 more like the F-250.

The new truck is much quieter, not being a diesel, and just feels more comfortable---MY STYLE!

The engine is their new ECOBOOST Twin Turbo Charged V-6.  There is a video of just how powerful this engine is on U-Tube under the name of Ford F-150 ECOBOOST Torture Test.

"Psycho" Meets "The Birds"

We've just gotten back from  mini vacation up to a hotel in Mussel Shoals, CA, which is a little North of Ventura.  Before we went, I read some of the hotel reviews, and most were positive---"quaint, clean, relaxing...."  One of the reviews said it was a little like the movie "Psycho" as the rooms were "old, a little tacky, with lots of strange noises."  This review went on to say that they expected to see Norman Bates at the desk.  Since the hotel was right on a gorgeous beach, we decided to wing it.  As we approached the hotel we passed it on the left and went to the next off ramp.  The off ramp's name was "BATES"!  We went in, and at the front desk was a carbon copy of Anthony Perkins in his role as Norman Bates from Psycho!  Upon entering the room, we started giggling because the room had a back door which looked like it had been through the war.  You could actually see through some of the tiny holes in the door, and it was ill fitting----a building inspector's nightmare.  Duane could have written a book on all of the faults he found in this room.  However, we loved the beach which we could see through our very large picture window.  You could see the entire Rincon bay, complete with playful porpoises.

Our stay ended up being very pleasant, where luckily, we had an excellent restaurant right on the premises.  We had some memorable meals, and the most exciting was when a sea gull swooped down on a table near us and stole 3 pieces of bread right off the table.  It's amazing how big a seagull can look when it is next to you.  This seagull came back again and again during our stay and we named him Seacliff.  Part of the waiter's duty was to keep the seagulls at bay.

Here is Seacliff, eyeing our table.  We kept our bread, butter and any other food covered.  Perhaps he was unhappy, because the morning we left, he had covered our whole picture window with doo doo.

I loved this hanging pot of petunias, and plan to make my own one day soon.

Duane wanted to make a note of the pier behind him.  At the end of the pier, there appears to be an island.  It is actually a camouflaged oil derrick.  All in all, a very interesting vacation, with lots of fun things to report.

Silver Girl

I just finished a fabulous book, and it is definitely a "beach read".  Silver Girl, by Elin Hilderbrand takes place on Nantucket Island in the summer.  Even though I have never been there, I feel that I know it, because of the many novels I've read that take place either there or Martha's Vineyard.  This is a suspenseful story of a woman caught up in her husband's ponzi scheme.   The power of friendship, love and forgiveness are all explored in this fascinating tale.  There's a little something in it for everyone.

Vacations

We are planning a little trip up the coast (more about that later), so I thought about going back to vacations Duane and I have taken since we've been married.

One of our favorite places to go is Mountain Lakes Resort in Lytle Creek, CA.  Here's Duane beside our brand new Airstream!

A while back we discovered Ft. Bragg, CA in Northern California.  There are lots of things to discover there, but one of our favorites is Glass Beach.  Here I am standing on a pile of glass pieces that almost look like little stones.  Bottles from a trash dump long ago have broken and turned into these little gems.

Here we are on our way to Mazatlan, Mexico.  Duane and his friend Paul loved going there to do some serious duck hunting.  My style was laying on the beach soaking up some rays.

While in Mazatlan, you must visit Senor Frogs, a local cantina with lots of surprises.  Pablo and Duano are having a great time!

When we were first married, we visited Duane's home state of Wisconsin.  On our way to his home town of Sheboygan Falls, we stopped in Lake Geneva, one of my favorite places in the world.

When we got to Sheboygan Falls, Duane took me on a tour of his childhood haunts.  I wonder if Tom Sawyer encouraged boys to walk on the rails?

Here are the "Falls" in Sheboygan Falls, next to the old Woolen Mill where Duane used to play cops and robbers with his friends.

Back in sunny California, we visited Dana Point.  See the restaurant across the water?  That's where Heather and Jason had their wedding reception!  A beautiful spot for two beautiful people. 

Fun, Family and Friends

We had a fabulous day on the 4th of July.  Adam and Melissa came early to hang around the pool---and that was a great idea since the temp was up to 100.  Then came their friends and ours, Lindsey, Kevin and their baby Peyton.  The baby was a delight and provided much entertainment for the day.  She didn't fuss once and enjoyed the pool with everyone else.  What a doll!  Next came Scott and his family along with a friend for Valerie named Ali.  Those two jumped right into the pool, but Amanda, now all grown up, stayed out.  Since she now has her driving permit, she drove the family to our house.  When Heather and family got here, Maddie wanted to join in with Valerie and Ali.  Daddy, Jason, went along to provide fun and games for the girls.  Reese was content to throw any toys available into the pool, laughing all the while.  Paul and Jeannie brought appetizers----wonderful pizza cheese puffs with pepperoni on top.  Now a tradition for the 4th, Duane grilled bratwurst and chicken, and we had German potato salad, beans, and a wonderful rice salad from Melissa.  There were many more extras, plus strawberry shortcake from Kim for dessert.  Needless-to-say we were all stuffed.  To top it all off, in the end, it started to rain!  Very unusual for So. Cal.  It actually poured for a few minutes, but what a relief in that it cooled everything right down.  Unfortunately we were so busy, we didn't take pictures, but maybe a few will surface from Heather, Kim and Lindsey.  God Bless the U.S.A.!!!