Two swims, Trader Joe's...

A big day...such fun to have a great shop at Trader's.  Enjoyed Margaritas on the patio in the sunshine.
Well, most photots didn't get uploaded.  Now, watching The Midado...Jim picked up a great book for a buck at Revivals on Glibert and Sullivan.

If it was Monday, we must have been at Bill's

And of course we were! We got our favourites...Baby Z's Luau and Christine Rocker. Even more yummy than I remember! Lots of leftovers.

Day 1 in Palm Springs

Our timing seems to be perfect. We enjoyed a spectacular Fall and now this from Linda this morning:

I just thought I would tell you we’ve had torrential rain and a thunder storm.  You are missing nothing and I’m super jealous!   Enjoy the swims, Trader Joe’s and the sunshine.

My wonderful mountains soon to be given a long view while swimming in the pool.

Orange tree in front.  Looks like a good crop and we'll probably get some in December before we leave.

My lovely olive tree in front...so reminds me of the south of France!

Our front yard.  They have really done a good job with the desert landscaping and the plants are really big this year.

Watching hummingbirds on the bougainvillea while reading my Desert Sun and drinking coffee.

And soon to Bill's Pizza...ain't life great!

Arrived in Palm Springs!

We had a great flight...everything on time.  It went quickly as we watched "A Perfect Murder"...excellent.  Ken picked us up from the airport and he had everything ready for us...hot water on, water on, garden all cleaned up and even soaked the tap filters with CLR! We arrived to everything being in top order and the car started up right away. We've unpacked the essentials and now relaxing with a beer. We'll do a bit of shopping then go for a swim.

Great to be back!

This afternoon we will be swimming in our pool in the sunshine....

Really looking forward to being back in our little piece of paradise and our San Jacinto Mountains.

I love this Japanese term

We may have to resort to books piled on the floor in Palm Springs....bookshelves and shelves in closets are pretty full. It depends how many books we pick up at library booksales this year.This reminds me of the home of a friend of my brother's where they had books stacked up everywhere. I loved going there!

Itty Bitty Book Review: "An Old Cold Grave"

"An Old Cold Grave" by Iona Whishaw

Just loving this series!  Well, will have to wait until we come home in April now to read thelast two. Lots of stuff to read in Palm Springs.  Really getting excited about being down there!

Itty Bitty Book Review: "March"

 "March" by Geraldine Brooks

This is our book for the Brock House Book Club today. I will be interested in the discussion as usual. I was a bit turned off by this choice since "March" is Mr. March from Little Woman. But it is from his point of view in this terrible Civil War in the US and I found it excellent.

My mother gave me two books from her library to read around the same time..."Little Women" and "Rebecca" by Dauphne du Maurier. I thought "Little Women" was old fashioned and goody goody but I love Rebecaa. I read the first chapter of each again and I still didn't like Little Women but loved Rebecca.  I could read that again now that I've been to the south of France and Monte Carlo.

Both books have never been out of print since publication.

Christmas decorations

It's fun to have these up now and will be especially cheery when we arrive home Dec 28.  We also have some special Calvados on hand for our arrival.

The Nativity scene is from Mexico and the candlesticks a gift from Elaine.

My little Thai people I bought in Chiang Mai and the snowman is from Elaine.

The tray I painted in my very early days of painting and we've had the music box with the rocking horse since Richard was just a baby.

The terracotta Last Supper is from New Mexico.

Meanwhile, in Palm Springs...

Can't wait ot see my wonderful San Jacinto Mountains!

-photo by Joe Dresch

Well, a dreary day today. Jim is off to do a presentation at Brock House on WW I poetry as part of the 100th anniversary of the end of WW I. The day seems appropriate to the topic. I got up my Christms decorations and one minute tree up yesterday so it's very cheery.

And the Boston Red Socks won the first game of the World Series yesterday. Hoping to see another win today. It was cold in Boston last night.

The Fall colours are just amazing. These are trees in front of our apartment. I took the photo from the balcony.

And some blue sky has appeared...even more now as I'm looking out and updating this post. I think we may get some actual sunshine today!

Thinking of support animals like dogs, cats, and now squirrels...

Do you think I might get away with checking in with this one?

Artist Trading card meeting

These are my ATC's which I called "Paris, je t'aime" inspired by the Paris in Love photo collections of photos of red in Paris.

Rose with the bicycle helmet she decorated with plastic flowers.

Folks at work creating masterpieces.

Someone brought this great cake with "finger and brain" cookies.  All very yummy!

The cards I collected...always fun to see what people create.

Lunch at Country Meadows Golf Course

Thanks Carol and Dave for a super lunch!  It's always great fun to see you all and lunch was superb. I'm glad I took photos when we all arrived as after we all get talking...

This is Linda's photo since I'm in it. Cec, Dave, Jim, me, Carol

 Carol and Linda, my oldest friends.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Death in a Darkening Mist"

"Death in a Darkening Mist" by Iona Whishaw

I really enjoyed this second novel in the series and so glad Maureen put me onto her. We went to her talk at Brock House Thursday and she was just so entertaining. It's great she's doing so well as she certainly deserves it. Patty, you must give these a try...I think you'll love them!

Iona told us some interesting stories about her mother who isn't really Lane in the novels but certainly  has some things in common with her. Her mother was a linguist and spoke perfect German and was also very beautiful. In WW II she worked as a spy while living in Latvia entertaining German military officers to get information. And some other adventures with her mother that were quite amusing. Iona has had an interesting life!

A few laughs

Shopping for a baby toy

Kat, our favourite server at Las Margaritas, is having a baby girl in December so I wanted to pick up a little gift. There is a toy store on 10th and I was hoping to find one of those soft baby books. Being book lovers ourselves it seemed appropriate. I loved the one we had when Richard was a baby. I love the idea of it...baby's very first book!

I was thrilled to find this one and also perfect since she and her husband live in Kits close to the ocean. The little "pockets" with things in them are so neat and great for a baby to interact with.

Thinking about toys that Richard loved...LEGO the really big one but when he was younger the corn popper, the very famous Magic Kit by Fisher Price, Masters of the Universe (I think we made a special trip to Seattle to buy the castle since they weren't any available in Canada in time for Christmas and of course he was expecting Santa to bring him one), Transformers, and Hot Wheels cars.

I read an article recently on the National Toy Hall of Fame (who knew?) and they "induct" a toy every year...kind of interesting.

http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys

Happy Birthday, Richard!

Happy Birthday to the greatest son in the world!  Have a great day!
Love,
Mom and Dad

Last night we went out with Richard and Grace for Ramen. We had never had it and they ate almost nothing but when they were in Japan. It was fabulous and a great value. Richard recommended a small bowl and I could only eat half so I have lunch tomorrow.  Jim had a large which was twice as large and he finished it all!  My add ons were a soft boiled egg (very yummy!), green onions and mushrooms.

It was great to have a chance to see them before we leave for Palm Springs.

A few snaps from the old photo album...

Our very dear old friends, Derek and Mary.

And more very dear old friends, Roger and Kerry, in Quebec City. We were all at UBC together. Remember those evening of playing cards and sharing a big bottle of cheap wine at your place in the West End? I think that old apartment is still there but probably not for long.

We didn't have any idea Richard would end up working in San Francisco. Poster from the San Franciso Zoo.

My Mom and Dad with Richard.