San Juan Bautista

Today we took a short ride

to the little town of

San Juan Bautista.

One of the 21 California missions

is there.

This mission is the 15th,

built in 1797 right over

the San Andreas fault.

We wandered through the mission itself,

then outside in the gardens.

We made friends with this guy:

He was crowing all the time,

and it was 1 in the afternoon!

Of course we had to find

a place to eat.

One of my favorite places is

Jardines..great Mexican food!

San Juan Bautista is a cute

little town, with several antique stores, 

and a great bakery.

My favorite thing, however,

is the fact that chickens and roosters

run around the streets!

A very nice day!

Flora & fauna, right in the backyard!

What a nice day in sunny Prunedale, CA!

We woke up to nice sunny skies.

Today we went to church where I used to attend

when living here. My parents still go there...

St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church.

Sound Danish? It is! 

Now you know where I got the Abelskiver recipe from.

It was nice to see some of my old friends there.

After my Mom & Dad took George, my son, Adam, and me

out to lunch to a place called 'Element'.

Oh boy, was it ever good! I forget how good

food in California is.

While everyone was dozing off,

I went out into the back yard to 

shoot some pictures.

They live on an acre, so there's a lot

of birds, deer, and other critters out there.

These black tail deers decided to feast

on the plants my parents have in barrels. 

Doesn't appear that the wire netting does any good!

They are so cute!

My Mom (Leanne) grows some nice lime trees in barrels.

Nice & peaceful :)

Let the decorating begin!

This morning my Mom treated us to homemade Abelskivers.

What's an Abelskiver, you ask?

It's a danish 'donut'..well

sorta..

You mix flour, buttermilk, egg, and

a stiffly beaten egg white.

Then the dough goes in a 

goofy looking Abelskiver pan.

The dough is put into the

little indentations of the pan.

As the dough cooks, it needs to be turned

in the pan carefully, until they are a golden brown.

They are served with powdered sugar,

and several jams or jellies to dip them in.

Yum!!

Afterwards, we put together the

tree, and decorated that. 

My Mom and Adam

put up the strings of silver beads.

I finished helping with that job,

and George put the star on top.

Afterwards, Adam caught up

on my blog. He thinks it is pretty cool!

The tree is ready for the season!

Thanksgiving in California...

Well we finally made it to

California!

No issues at the airports..

No groping, frisking, 

none of the stuff 

that made the news.

The airports weren't that

busy, I guess that most were already

to their destinations by then.

My son, Adam, and my Dad

picked us up at the airport

while my Mom stayed behind, 

getting things ready for the

big dinner.

Dad & Adam peeled potatoes..

My job is to mash them.

Everyone had a job to do!

George's was taking pictures :)

Table looked nice!

We had a nice time sharing

food, fun stories, 

and pictures from holidays past.

Hope everyone had a great 

Thanksgiving!

Pat down or full body scan. Decisions, decisions!

Thursday morning, at 6 am

we will be flying across the country

to be with Laurie's family

for the holiday.

This includes her Mother & Father, 

and oldest son, Adam.

On the way, we

 will be stopping in 

Chicago..

Denver..

then finally ending

in San Jose..

which is

and hour or so

from their house.

We are hoping for

an uneventful flight!

No pat downs,

nekkid body scans,

or sleeping over in

Chicago.

Stay tuned for further developments :)

What a way to wake up!

I think I am throwing in the towel.

Here's a bit of background..

I moved into my house in 1998. 

Since then, I've had a few vehicles.

A Toyota Rav, 3 Ford Escapes, 

and my current vehicle, my Honda Fit.

I have no off-street parking,

so I have to park on the one-way street 

in front of my house.

My house is the second house from a

5-way 'dogleg' intersection.

In front of my house the following

has happened:

My second Ford Escape

was rear-ended on

Palm Sunday eve 2004.

Hit & Run.

In 2006, my third Ford Escape had two

tires slashed. 

Shortly after that, a car t-boned another

car, which hit my Escape.

First car skipped, hit & run.

So now I have a Honda Fit.

Love it.

Had it barely one month

and on the way home from work, 

in June 2008 was rear-ended.

Not a hit & run, BUT

No insurance!

One morning, I got up

and much to my dismay..

someone had egged all

the cars on the street.

I only had one.

Overeasy.

Have you ever tried

to get dried on egg off 

a car? The shell scratches the paint.

So now to the subject of my blog today.

This morning I went to get into

my car..

to take my drive to work.

I put my belongings in the passenger seat,

walked around the back of

the car (looking for collision damage, as I always do!)

and...

the whole drivers side is smashed up.

Another hit & run!

He (or she I suppose) took out my car, 

and another car up the street.

George just missed it,

he leaves for work at 4 am.

How can someone cause so much damage in

a few hours?

Sigh....

This and that..

We've been busy this week..

all towards that light at the end of the tunnel.

• My house is the cover story in the local newspaper insert 'Homes'. Hit newstands yesterday, and will be in the Sunday paper. Hopefully it will generate more interest!

• Put some things on Craigslist - two unused cell phones, fishing poles, an elliptical, and slide projector & trays. One cell phone, and the fishing poles sold. Does anyone use slide projectors anymore? :)

• George removed the bed liner from his 'new' truck and washed out the bed. He's fanatical about his vehicles (good for him!). He applied armor-all to the whole liner. It shines! Nothing will stick to it now!

• Getting ready to plan our next vacation. We're flying out to California to be with my parents and older son Adam, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Yay! Sun and warmth for the holiday will be nice. Just keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have a nightmare flight and get stuck in Chicago again.

We're having a beautiful, sunny, warm Indian summer weekend. 

Good time to do some yard work.

Some even put up their Christmas lights when it's nice out like this. 

Ummm..not yet.

We usually put them up the weekend after Thanksgiving,

but since we'll be in California,

it'll have to wait a few weeks.

These dogs are tired!

Today was my church's 'sausage supper'.

This is done twice a year, and is a big fund raiser for the building fund.

On the menu is homemade sausage, boiled potatoes and gravy, green beans,

pancakes (yes- pancakes!) and syrup, 

homemade cole slaw, and applesauce. 

A lot of the ladies bring homemade cakes for dessert.

The food is delicious! George helps in the kitchen, 

serving out the potatoes, and I usually waitress a couple tables. 

The food is served family style, 10 people per table. 

We serve over 500 people from 3 pm to 7 pm, 

then all the help get to eat together. 

It's a great time of fellowship and good food. 

We got home, filled up the whirlpool tub, and soaked our tired dogs :)