Road trip

Mr. Gadget and I will be leaving on a road trip bright and early tomorrow morning. The drive will take about 8 hours, and we are hoping to get out of town before the worst of the rush hour. But from what I hear, the rush hour is pretty much all the time here in L.A.

Mr. Gadget has two totes full of tools in the car--for any possible car problems we might encounter--so, of course, we won't have any. Isn't that always the way?

I plan to take some car knitting: a blue garter stitch scarf that I'm close to finishing, and some red yarn for another one. Knitting is a good car project, and garter stitch is the most mindless stitch I know. I'll be in the passenger seat keeping Mr. G. company, and hopefully the knitting will deter me from back-seat driving. And maybe it will distract me from those little things Mr. G does that make it necessary for me to back-seat drive....

We'll be traveling north on I-5--The Tomato Highway. During the summer there are lots of trucks hauling tomatoes along this route. It's easy to assume the big red stains on the road are from multi-car pile-ups, but thankfully they're just the result of tumbling tomatoes.

Our relatives, who have a nice little place at the lake and have graciously agreed to let us free-load, have promised us a tasty dinner of tri-tip roast after we arrive. I've never prepared a tri-tip myself, but I've heard they are excellent. I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into one and discovering just what all the hoopla is about.

There isn't much to see along the The Tomato Highway but there is plenty to smell. About 3 hours up the road we'll pass the feed lots. These are vast fields packed fence-to-fence and nose-to-tail with cattle destined for grocery stores. So I must remember to pack these:

Otherwise, I won't enjoy my tri-tip.

I'll be back soon with a trip report, but don't hold your nose, uh, I mean breath.

Best friends

Dinner and stuff

I've shared here before about how I don't much like to cook. Every once in a while is fine, but I don't like to cook everyday. I have no end of sewing and knitting ideas, but when it comes to preparing menu plans I'm pretty much out to lunch...

One of the things I do cook on occasion is chicken enchiladas. I just throw things in a skillet, cook it a while, wrap it in some corn tortillas, cover it with some stuff and after 45 minutes in the oven it's fiesta time at our house. It lasts for a couple of dinners at least. It's funny how I'm getting just like my late mother-in-law. If someone were to ask for my recipe, I wouldn't have a clue.

So I just glued-up a pair of bunny slippers. That's a woodworking term I learned from Mr. Gadget. Sometimes it translates well to sewing. I had planned to sew the pompom bunny noses to the slippers, but it just seemed like glue might work better. And while I'm waiting for the glue to dry, I've been browsing some crafty websites. I love these cloth baskets. They look fairly simple to make. I have plenty of fun fabric on hand.....Lord knows. But I may have to make another trip to the fabric store for some interfacing--the stuff that makes the baskets stand upright. Maybe I'll make a couple of these for Big City Girl. She'll be moving into a new apartment soon. They might be handy for some of her stuff. She's like me; she collects stuff.

Then there's this neat little zipper bag that a friend told me about. This would hold even more stuff.....maybe stuff you want to keep secret--what with the zipper and all. Looks like a good place to hide a few See's Candies coffee walnut caramels if you ask me.....

Outsmarting the opposition

Mr. Gadget, bless his heart, knows that I'm working sort-of-diligently on my WW program, but he occasionally decides to be charming and buy me a little something sweet.

"If you'd rather not be tempted," he said, "I'll give it to Ernestine upstairs."

"No, don't do that yet," I said, already starting to salivate. "Just leave it there on the table and I'll think about it."

After a few minutes of careful thought, I made my decision. I'd eat all 6 pieces before the end of the day with the intention of just getting it off the radar scope...so to speak. Mission accomplished.

This afternoon I stopped by Joann's to look for pompoms to decorate the bunny slippers. Sometimes when I'm in there, usually while I'm waiting in a long line to check out, I hark back to my teenage years when the building was a department store and I was one of its employees. By juggling my part-time sales job with my babysitting jobs I was able to amass a nice collection of Johnny Mathis and Pat Boone record albums. I wasn't into loud, clattering music. My parents didn't realize how lucky they were.

As I stand there inching my way up in line, I notice the rack of thread and zippers--the greeting card department. I learned how to make change one very long Saturday standing at that cash register--with lots of tutoring from customers. There were no fancy digital registers back then to do the math.

The yarn aisle was the ladies hat department. I got stuck there a few times. I was always grateful for a slow night. I didn't know the first thing about hats, except for the couple of times I went to church with my cousins and had to wear one.

Decorator fabrics used to be sporting goods. My only experience working there was on inventory day--counting fish hooks and golf balls and baseball mitts.

The highlights of my department store job were the few times when a boyfriend would meet me at the employee door after work and take me out for a Coke and a 19-cent hamburger. Having that to look forward to somehow made it less painful to serve time in mens underwear.

Cactus wisdom

I'm always intrigued when I walk by this cactus with the flowering plant growing up among it's thorny leaves. It's a lot like life. Sometimes you get beautiful blooms and sometimes you get prickly thorns. Right now things are a little thorny, but I'm steadfast in my resolve to stay on the sidewalk where the prickers won't get me.

Besides that, we've got ants. Mr. Gadget even found some in the bed. But they're nothing a little Raid won't cure. And the Raid does a nice job of covering up the aroma of a skunk that often passes by our open window in the wee hours of the morning. I think that's what you call a win-win situation.

This recent bout of thorniness has slowed down my craftiness, since I've never been one to handle more than one thing at a time. Sometimes I wish I'd learned to juggle. I did, however, start work on a bunny slipper and I think with a slight bit of tweaking it will work fine for my new doll--the disheveled morning lady.

I 'll look for some small pompons to use for the nose instead of embroidery, and some beads for the eyes. Maybe I should plan ahead and make a foot to try on for size before going further. No bunions though.....although it would be kinda funny, wouldn't it? I've never had a bunion. Maybe they aren't so funny. But now that I'm a senior citizen, I probably have those to look forward to.....along with movie discounts, early-bird specials, and more naps in my recliner.

All things vintage

It's been such a whirlwind of excitement around the Calcondo lately I almost forgot about the blog.

First, there was my birthday.

I won't tell you how old I am, but I will say that I now qualify for ALL of the senior citizen discounts. I don't think I look too bad for my age if I do say so. That's thanks to turtlenecks that disguise my turkey neck, capris that cover my varicose veins, long sleeves that conceal my ever-growing crop of age spots, and my wonderful hairdresser who magically makes the gray disappear. I wonder how long I can keep up this charade?

Mr. Gadget suggested a nice birthday stroll on the beach, so we merged into the long string of strollers already strolling, and followed along.

Along the way, we observed the many colors of summer.

And before I forget I should tell you we had a wonderful time on our trip to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach.

I made good use of these vintage opera glasses that once belonged to my grandparents. Not once did I asked Mr. Gadget if I could borrow his high-tech binocs.

And today I enjoyed the last of my birthday gifts. Mr. G offered to chauffeur me to my favorite discount fabric store and wait patiently for as long as I wanted to shop. That last part was what made this gift so special. Mr. Gadget gets antsy waiting for red lights.

So I'm all stocked up on fabric for.....oh, maybe 20 years. Now I should probably make something. But before I open up the ol' sewing machine maybe I'll take a stroll down to Baskin Robbins and see if they have a senior citizen discount....

Tidying up

Mr. Gadget and I are cleaning up after a blizzard of relatives blew through over the weekend, and things are slowly returning to normal. There have been no crafting opportunities, and there probably won't be for a day or two, as we are planning to take in a wonderful southern California cultural event later today.

The condo travel club is sponsoring a bus trip to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach and, very surprisingly, there were still seats available when we inquired. This is a unique presentation wherein great art masterpieces are recreated using real people. It's been a summer tradition since the 1930's. We are excited to finally get to see it, even though the bus will not return until midnight which is way past our bedtime.

So tomorrow, after I'm rested up from the late night, I'll plan to get some crafty supplies out and start on something. I found a couple of clay witch heads in the drawer, so there's a possibility. I also found a stack o' fabric I bought last time I was here--another possibility. I may try to work out a pattern for doll-sized bunny slippers. And who knows? Maybe I'll just take a nap. Sometimes a really good blizzard can knock a gal off her feet for a few days. One day in a lounge chair with a good book and a tasty drink can do wonders for an aging body and spirit.

From the western front

Mr. Gadget and I have arrived at the Calcondo and now await the ant contingent. Word has it they've been sighted and are enroute. Oh, how we've missed them....

And as is usually the case when we come to town, we're frequently accompanied by trouble and all manner of mayhem. Our neighbors only pretend to be happy to see us. One time during our visit a fire broke out in a nearby condo unit. Another time the coroner's van was spotted just up the street. And there's always an earthquake.

This time the earthquake didn't even wait till we were in the front door. It must have happened while we were driving from the airport because we only found out about it when one of the local folks wrote me an email and threatened that if we ever came to town again, there'd be police in pursuit on one of those high-speed freeway chases.

So I figured since we were coming to sunny California I'd only bring my summer clothes, and this afternoon I had to search my drawers for some winter socks. But I'm not complaining, since what we left behind was several days of record heat. And the good thing about me and winter socks is that when my feet are warm, I'm warm all over.

Tomorrow we expect a whole carload of relatives to arrive (I hope they don't mind ants) so I was unable to dally in getting to the grocery store. No jet-lag excuses this time. I've decided to make my hardly-ever-fails lasagna recipe for the crowd. Sadly, Auntie Pasto won't be coming. There's absolutely no place for her to sleep.

A random holiday assortment

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth. I know I did. Mr. Gadget and I spent some time relaxing on our deck, watching buzzards soar overhead and wondering if they were keeping an eye on the two-lane road for tasty morsels.....or waiting us out.

Later we went inside for a special holiday meal of leftover lasagna (his) and a Lean Cuisine (mine). We're getting ready for our summer trek to the Calcondo, and this always requires depleting the contents of the fridge. Maybe I should just invite the buzzards in.

Before I go any further, I have to admit I made a small mistake. So sorry. Right after I published my last post I realized the bear is actually a dog. Whoops. But I still think it was a beary good idea.......doggone it.

And now a few bits of randomness:

Don't ya just love when a big, macho construction guy is soft-hearted enough to rescue a bird's nest?It's not always necessary to pay big bucks at the florist. Sometimes a very pleasant floral bouquet can be gathered from a weed patch.

I've never thought my house was clean enough to hire a cleaning lady. But maybe my feet are finally looking good enough for a pedicure.
Big City Girl was recently asked by a store clerk to show some identification. The clerk, after noticing organ donor printed on BCG's driver's license, asked "Did it hurt?"

And just when I thought there were no more characters to add to my collection I've come up with a new idea. Here's a hint:

I've already done some mental planning. There will be flannel. There will be coffee. There will be bunny slippers. And if I can figure out how to make the slippers, you just know what will happen. Sister Mary and Spud and Lois and the others--they'll all be wanting them....

Bear with me

Mr. Gadget and I went out to do a couple of errands this morning in my car....and it wasn't even raining. Mr. G's sports car is allergic to rain. And snow. And crowded parking lots.

"Why have you been carrying a stuffed bear around in your car for weeks?" he asked me, after glancing in the back seat.

"Oh, I've been meaning to put him in one of those charity boxes around town, but I always forget he's in here," I told him....sheepishly.
"He looks pretty comfortable," he noted. "You might have trouble uprooting him."

"Now that you've reminded me, maybe I'll get busy and find him a new home," I said.

It didn't take me long to come up with a bright idea.

"I think I'll leave him on a park bench or on a playground swing for a child to find," I told him after I'd made the colorful and festive tag. "Can you imagine the excitement?"

"Oh yeah, I can see it now," replied Mr. Gadget. "It'll be front page news after the bomb squad shows up to investigate a suspicious bear loitering in the park."

Why must he throw wet blankets on my ideas? I think this is a beary good one.