We were up reasonably early and worked in the office, getting the last of our tax materials for next week. Wewill see the man and get the bad news.
A day without coffee is like… Just kidding. I have no idea. Sometimes, I think my birthstone is a coffee bean.
At 11:15 a.m., he headed to the Elks for Girls’ Night Out. We had so much fun that I didn’t even take a picture! We arranged for a large table for Easter and St. Patrick’s Day. The gang will join forces.
We got a flyer from Old Ranch about their Hawaiian Night this evening, and we got reservations for Irene, Vick & Jim, James, and us. We had a delightful dinner and regaled the table with stories of yesteryear.
Indeed?
James shared his childhood memories of growing up in Colton, where he and his friends used to jump freight trains during their junior high school days. One time, they even went as far as Salt Lake City. However, they were not always lucky and were sometimes caught, resulting in arrests. James also mentioned how his dad was displeased when they had to pick them up. He even recalled living in a tent in 1944 when they came out to California for his asthma condition.
We all found it amusing when his parents decided to visit Phoenix, a place known for its relief for asthma patients. However, only the father bought a train ticket to explore this new place. Upon reaching there in August, he realized the temperature was 115 degrees, so he bought another ticket and ended up in an orange grove in Colton.
James tells us a story!
Jim and James worked on construction projects and had much to share. Irene was decorated for the evening. Of course, Vicky had many stories to share about growing up.
Vicky, Jim, and Irene enjoyed a Hawaiian dinner at Old Ranch.
There was quite a Hawai’ian spread this evening, and we all dug into the various items.
Make a selection!
It was an excellent evening, and James mentioned he needed to get out more often. I understood what he meant because that’s how Girls’ Night Out started after Sue’s passing.
We returned home around 8:00 p.m. and watched a movie before crashing. We were watching an Irish film to prepare for St. Patrick’s Day.
It is bend and twist day, yes, gym day. We prepared and headed the one-mile distance between peace and quiet and loud screaming and moaning. We survived the onslaught one more time. We have learned to park near the front door, just in case.
We went home and had breakfast before heading into the yard to plant the last of the tomatoes and do some serious transplanting. These beds are located at the back of the garden and receive a lot of shade. We will test how the beets will perform in this environment.
All the beets are now co-located in fresh soil!
We heard a “Beep Beep Bow Wow,” which translates to, “Did you find anything good to eat?”
Why did the carrot make a hair appointment? Its roots were showing.
The dagadolphapuss joined us; he wanted to help!
I use the steps to get into the beds.
The beds are filling up!
We have two additional blue berry plants to put into the larger bed before we rototill the area in preparation for melons and corn.
The blueberries go in next!
The sweetpeas are going well and are already making their way into the flower vases.
The pears are looking beautiful!
The celery and onions are going amazingly well. Time to trim the celery and get out the peanut butter!
We have celery!
My in-drown toenail has been giving me fits, so Mary called Dr. Bill, a long-time friend, and we headed to his office in Newport. He numbed the toe with Love Potion #9 and took out the offending nail using a size 18 vice grip and a small amount of dynamite. I can walk again!
It was 5:00 pm, we were hungry, and the American Legion was 1.6 miles away; need we say more? Mary saw the baked potato, and she was happy; I did the individual pizza and a cup of chili; I was in hogs heaven.
Dinner at the American Legion
She was hungry!
We libated with the other folks!
Only a few says away!
So, to recap: we exercised, we planted, we doctored, we ate, we watched TV and we crashed; that about sums it up!
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We are going to separate! Yes! I am going to the Lexus dealer at 9:00 a.m. to get the Silver Fox serviced for his 45,000 checkup, and Mary is going to Huntington Beach at 10:30 a.m. to get a new set of hard contact lenses. This separation anxiety is difficult at best. We should be back together at noon. Then, I shall hit the garden and continue planting activities; we have sixteen additional tomatoes to give a new home.
We are havingsome second thoughts about driving in Ireland. I plan to discuss our itinerary in detail and determine if a limo/taxi might be a better (read SAFER) choice. After driving for 64 years on the right side of the street, changing to the left may be more than we want to try.
We spent several hours planting the majority of our tomato plants in the garden. Mary assisted me until it began to get dark, and we both went inside. We jumped in the hot tub and soaked for quite a while before watching TV.
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Now, this hardly makes sense, but this tune was banned! The spiciest thing about “Mambo Italiano” is the mention of “enchilada,” yet WABC in New York banned the song in 1954 for its supposedly suggestive lyrics.
As usual, we were up, but this time with the help of Scout, The Wonder Dog! He woke up at 5:00 am, so I took him out and left him out!
Off to get beat up! Mary did thirty minutes on the rack, and I managed to eke out 19 minutes on the treadmill; perhaps I should slow it down a bit, keeping the belt from overheating.
Off for our tri-weekly punishment.
Mary dreams of Ireland and when to cook up our corned beef and cabbage!
It’s time to dream about escape.
Me: (sobbing, eyes swollen, nose red) I can’t see you anymore. I am not going to let you hurt me like this again!
Trainer: It was a sit-up! You did one sit-up.
We finished and crawled to the car, barely able to wiggle. We went home and got the baby, who was looking forward to his trip to the groomers! His groomer is called “The Clip Joint,” and they love Scout!
We took the van because it was Tomatomania week at Roger’s. For the 13th year, the world’s largest (and most fun) tomato plant sale comes to Roger’s Gardens. Scott Daigre and his staff of Tomatomaniacs offer an astonishing selection of over 250 varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomato plants, including new varieties for 2024.
We preplanned our visit and knew we needed 24 individual tomato plants for the first planting, which must be done before vacation. Mary got the cart, and we went up and down every aisle, looking for the right mix of tomatoes.
After taking the baby to the groomers, we went to Roger’s.
Do you think that was easy? Look at the list of possibilities:
After all that work, we decided to go to the Farmhouse and have lunch! The entrance is being remodeled, so we had to go through the back door.
Easy to get lost.!
Our favorite barkeep was there, and we also waited tables in the bar area, so we chose the bar area!
Our favorite bartender!
More dreaming… corned beef is only days away!
More dreaaming.
They have a “pizza of the day,” which I can never pass up.
What kind of person doesn’t like pizza? A weirdough.
While having lunch, I had a brilliant idea! I’m going to open a restaurant that only serves crabs and pizza. I’ll call it the Crust Station.
The pizza was fantastic; my waistline, not so much!
It is indeed an old farmhouse with solid stone walls, but fortunately, they also have a gas heater about the bar area; otherwise, we would have frozen to death; it was in the 50s today at noon!
We are in our grubbies directly from the gym!
We finished lunch and headed to our collection of goodies to load the van and go home.
We had a glass of vino with lunch!
Zoom, the Grey Ghost was loaded with goodies, and it was time to go home and begin planting.
Mary unlocked the back door as I came around with the wheelbarrow loaded with our treasures. I began to work, first pulling out or transplanting Daikon radishes, beets, and kale.
I filled Mary’s cart with peat moss and topped that off with a tomato fertilizer.
Meet Peat Moss, our go-to additive.
After an hour, I realized Mary must have laid down after lunch; she had not felt terrific all morning. If she needed to rest, she should rest. Poor, overworked Paul (POP) would carry on with the intense farm work, adding a 1/4″ of calluses to the already heavily callused hands (vision of tiny violins playing in the background).
This was about half of what remained after some serious planting.
I totted the barge and lifted the bale with only a minor intense pain. Eight babies got their new homes, complete with cages on which to climb. In front are the Daikon radishes and Swiss chard that were transplanted.
Few people know these plants weigh 130 pounds each, but they got moved using levels, pulleys, and my once-strong back. (More violins, please.)
I got eight of the babies into their new homes.
It was hot, so I removed my sweatpants and jacket and let the cold winter breeze cool me off. OK, I feared getting my new sweatpants dirty, as Mary would beat me! Moving fast enough to keep the ice crystals from forming was a good idea.
Eek! In the distance, a human-like form stood and watched the work underway. I fell to the ground in pain when I did the mandatory salute. I heard tiny little violins playing!
Mary informed me that Scout needed to be picked up. I went back into the house, found some jeans and a shirt, and we raced off to the groomer to get the baby!
That dog is a beauty right after the groomers, and he smells pretty good, probably better than me!
After returning home and Mary telling me what else she wanted done in the garden, she went back to sleep, and I again felt the lash of my slave owner on my back and remembered her words, “No planting, no dinner!”
Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
It was getting dark, and my little hands were numb from the work. I carefully hid the plants that did not make it into the ground this afternoon so “the boss” would not see them; otherwise, I might be planting in the yard with a helmet-mounted flashlight to get my quota done.
Grow, baby, grow!
Accomplishing a week’s work in one afternoon without any help was difficult. All afternoon I felt abandoned, alienated, alone, apart, companionless, deserted, desolate, detached, forsaken, friendless, homeless, isolated, lonesome, outcast, reclusive, removed, secluded, separated, single, single-handed, sole, solitary, solo, unabetted, unaccompanied, unaided, unassisted, unattended, unescorted, uninhabited, unseconded, unsocial, unsupported, withdrawn and generally missing my partner.
My last official duty was to water the new babies.
Returning to the house, I tippy-toed into the bathroom to wash my callused hands and apply meds to the cuts and scrapes resulting from not being allowed to wear gloves because they are expensive.
Since we had a late lunch, we decided to skip dinner (even though I was starving after all that work) and go into the TV room to watch a movie. We saw Dr. Dolittle, and it was pretty good.
The movie was a financial flop. Dollars were Dolittle’s biggest enemy, as the 2020 financial statements reveal that “the estimated final cost of the film is over the budgeted cost due to additional photography and visual effects work undertaken.”
We thought the movie was pretty good.
I put Mary to bed at 9:00 pm because she was feeling poorly. I stayed up until midnight, making some website adjustments. Scout and I went outside just before the clock struck midnight.
We were up and running early and having a great cup of coffee by 7:00 am. A quick trip to the backyard rain gauge revealed we got about an inch of water in the past several days, even though it was hit-and-miss.
We watched some Love Boat and had a tiny breakfast before getting ready to depart on our way to Robin’s house in Corona. Why, you ask?
Robin, Bob (and Nick) got us tickets to the theater on Sunday afternoon to see “Beauty and the Beast.”
We picked up Robin at her home and visited with Nick.
The Cultural Center is home to three major elements: a second full-service Library for the City of Rancho Cucamonga; the 536-seat performing arts center, The Lewis Family Playhouse and Celebration Hall with approximately 4,500 sf of meeting and banquet space for all of life’s celebrations.
The Lewis Family Playhouse is a fantastic venue!
The house was packed today. The performers played Irish music while people were entering the room. Bob joined us just before the performance began.
The theater was beautiful!
Mmick introduced his sister (to the right who is President of the Candlelight and the President of the ballet pany on his left.
Mick did his usual opening remarks.
Beauty and the Beast has its roots in 1740, in a novel by French writer Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.
It was soon adapted by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756, and it is this version of the fairy tale that Disney took most inspiration from.
The cast was terrific.
The Beast is a hybrid of different animals – Have you ever wondered what animal the handsome prince was turned into? Well, it’s a bit of a mash-up. The Beast is a mix of several animals, including a lion, a buffalo, and a bear. Disney animator Glen Keane revealed that Beast was made up of the head of a buffalo, the mane of a lion, the tusks and nose of a wild boar, the brow of a gorilla, and the bulky body of a bear. To soften the Beast’s features, he was given the ears of a cow.
They threw ballet into the show, making it an exciting change.
It took us a few minutes to figure out the teacup!
Look carefully for “Chip.”
The cast and their costumes were amazing, and their performing skills were excellent. It was an enjoyable afternoon.
There must have been fifty in the cast!
We departed and headed up Foothill Blvd, attempting to go to the new restaurant, but upon arrival, there was a line 150 feet long; it was not a good idea when the outside temperature was 51 degrees.
We drove a while and stopped at Cari Mia Italian Restaurant. It was a pleasant discovery!
Quick service and excellent food!
The girls were hungry!
We went for Italian after the play was over.
I tried their special: angel hair pasta with shrimp and scallops. It was delicious.
Half of this will go to tomorrow’s lunch!
It was a 45-minute ride home via the 10 to the 57 to the 91 to the 55, but traffic was light, so we arrived around 7:15 pm.
We watched Love Boat until 10:00 pm and crashed!
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We worked in the office this morning. Mary made phone calls, and I love it when she spells words phonetically. For example, she said “COTE” and spelled it our for the poor person on the other end of the line: “Cattawumpus Octopus Triceratops Elephant.”
As a loving husband, I offered to help my wife when she seemed to be struggling with something called “Callisthenics Oscillator Tambourine Overdramatizing.” However, my offer was not well received, and a hard-bound book was thrown in my direction.
Realizing my mistake, I decided that my wife might benefit from having a phonetic alphabet guide )cheat sheet) near her computer. I also realized that it was best for me to keep my mouth shut in such situations.
I was trying to help!
We planned to walk, but Mother Nature decided it was time to rain! We had a light breakfast and then did some errands. I needed to go to CVS, and Mary needed to go to the bank.
Arriving home, we watched two more episodes of “The Love Boat.”
At 4:00 pm, we cleaned up and dressed for an evening at Campus Jax, a dinner theater at the end of the OC Airport.
A wonderful singer backed up by the seventeen-piece orchestra!
Mary and Vicky had to soft seats; Jim and I sat of old wooden chairs until the show began!
Mary and Vicky had the best seats in the house!
We had dinner first, with Mary opting for the Salmon, Jim the Piulled Pork sandwich, and Vicky and I did a burger with a house salad! We even shared some dessert!
We listen to her rendition of her favorite muses!
Wow! What a voice!
Wonderful times with wonderful friends!
Vicky and Jim.
We enjoyed the evening, and we headed out at about 9:30 pm.
Just Us!
By the time we made it home, 10:00 pm, we were ready to crash! Scout wanted to go outside, so he and I walked in the rain for a few minutes.
Today is Friday, so I had my usual morning workout with a trainer who is 50 pounds lighter than me. I had a new trainer today, and she did a good job, except that she is a bit dyslexic. While adjusting the weights on one of the machines, she accidentally set it to 90 pounds instead of 60 pounds. I still attempted to complete the exercise but couldn’t finish the second set. When we were done, we were done!
We walked out together after an hour of elder abuse, saying, “Why are we paying these guys to beat us up?” We sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies, SNAP, CRACKLE, and POP! We drove home slowly and entered the house for a quick breakfast!
After breakfast, we inched our way around the garden, but finally, the smell of the soil and the plants forced us to take action.
It was a magnificent day!
While working, our handyman assisted Paul in putting up the new convert on the gazebo. The old cover was two years old and died of wind failure.!
Why do they call it a gazebo? – The name is an 18th-century joke word combining “gaze” with the Latin suffix ebo, meaning “I shall.” As a structured form, it is as old as garden history: it is the “viewing pavilion” of the Chinese or the summerhouse on the summit of a garden mount referred to by the 17th-century philosopher Francis Bacon.
The gazebo was a new top!
In the garden, the peas were going mad. We have peas that are the same color as the flowers!
The beans are growing like mad.
Our vines are coming out of the winter doldrums and showing themselves off.
Spring has sprung.
Dr. Scout helped up by staying out of the way. He did pop by for some strawberries, which he spotted about 100 feet away!
Scout watches us carefully.
Did I say we kept eyes on us?
All eyes are on you!
The radishes are starting to get big. They can become the size of a cucumber.
Our Daikon radishes are ready to pick!
Growing on the trellises makes the pears easy to pick. They get ripe.
The peas are reaching for the sky!
Look carefully; you will see the snowpea in the bottom right-hand corner. Snow peas received their frigid moniker from their ability to survive small amounts of frost and snow during cultivation. The plants are hardy and are one of the first vegetables to be planted in the spring, and the pods can be harvested throughout the season for a variety of fresh and cooked dishes.
Spring is a fantastic time of year!
I checked out the electronics, and we do have the 100-watt Alexa Studio and lights all working!
Close-up of the new gazebo!
We came inside and rested briefly before going to the Elks for dinner and dancing. DJ Ronnie (shown NOT DJ’ing below” and Mary kicked their heels to the fantastic music.
Ronnie and Mary hit the floor; DJs have all the fun!
Poof, off to Ireland.
Ireland, there they go!
A little different than a “spotlight dance,” this is a drumroll dance.
I could not pass this one up!
We departed about 8:15 am before the wild music began and headed home. There was no rain so far, and we did NOT stop at Aces; we were both tired.
It was a beautiful morning, so we walked for an hour before getting ready for Girls’ Night Out at the Elks. On our way to the Elks, we stopped and picked up/dropped off dray-cleaning garments.
Finally, we are at the Elks. Ed and Betty joined us this afternoon! A pleasant surprise.
Ready to head for home.
Using the magic in the iPhone, we transferred them to the Emerald Islands to prepare for St Patty’s Day!
“Where is that Pot Of Gold, Ed?”
We talked about the old test patterns.
Did You Know? Since the earliest TV broadcasts, test patterns were originally physical cards at which a television camera was pointed, allowing for simple picture quality adjustments. Such cards are often used for calibration, alignment, and matching cameras and camcorders.
The feathered headdress signified going to war, and so the Indian Head Test Pattern, drawn in 1938 and embedded in an RCA TV tube, told viewers this chief was ready to fight.
After the Elks, we went to my doctor to have the stitches removed from the jaw. It took about an hour, and then we were on our way.
OUCH!
We had plans to have dinner with Robin and a friend, Cathy Smith, at the Fish Company at 5:00 pm. Since we were early, we stopped by Old Ranch and had a quick glass of wine. Cathy
Lookim’ good!
With the flick of my wrist, we moved to Ireland.
In a few more days, it will be St Patrick’s Day!
We asked our waitress how the lake had been doing, and she said it was up quite a ways during the two previous storms, but they were able to release enough to bring the lake down almost twelve inches.
The lake serves as a water storage facility for Los Alamitos and Norwalk when the rains are hefty!
The golfers were golfing, and we will start again when we return from our vacations this year!
It was chilly out this afternoon!
We met up with Robin and Cathy and had a delightful dinner! Next time Cathy comes to town, she will stay with us. Robin will join in, and we will party between going to work.
Here’s to you!
We headed home around 7:30 pm and quickly stopped at Ace’s to say goodnight to everyone.
I woke up early to go to the dermatologist. Shootin’ Tilly Hickok got up with me and brought me coffee when I was in the shower; Shootin’ is very caring.
The Silver Fox pulled into the parking lot at 6:55 am, and by v]carcass was dragged to the 4th floor by the lift. By 7:45 am, I had undergone three “burn-offs” and a biopsy. After my appointment, I got in my car and drove to the gym to meet up with Mary.
We met at 9:00 am, and each got an hour’s workout. We were also both still after the exercise.
Ralph’s Market is located next to Peak Performance, so we stopped by to pick up a few items. Shootin’ Tilly Hickokhad her shopping list on the phone!
We almost filled the cart!
We returned home and readied ourselves for a walk. We walked the garden first and picked some fresh veggies for Bonnie, our neighbor. Today was perfect with the temperature reaching a high of 74 and pretty much a clear sky.
I thought to myself, why do bananas have to put on sunscreen before they go to the beach? Well, duh, they peel!
The garden is loaded with goodies.
Time for a walk! I’ve been working on my fitness lately by walking to the fridge and back. I love walking so much I could do it with my eyes closed. But then I’d probably fall into a hole, so I don’t recommend it.
We walked 3/4 of a mile as it was getting cold.
Coming home, we spotted a large black crow on the top of a dead tree. We have no idea how he stands at the top! The tree was moving in the breeze but he stayed there the entire time.
He does have a great view of the hood.
We also visited our neighbor’s flower bed, where he keeps his collection of dinosaurs.
What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with a pig? Jurassic pork.
Roaring sounds 24/7!
We watched five full episodes of “The Love Boat” after having a small dinner before crashing at 11:36 pm.
We worked in the office all morning, and by noon, we decided we might stay with our current insurance as the company we were considering was not great! I guess we are stuck with $7,000/year premiums. Life is! The more bad news I get, the more I think about moving to NC or TN.
We took a mile walk this afternoon with Scout the Wonder Dog! Another 3,500 steps were added to our daily workout. We saw Easter decorations up around the hood as we walked.
In the late afternoon, Mary made some Banana Nut Cupcakes, and we took them to our neighbor Jeff. We stayed and visited with him for quite a while.
We returned home around 5:30 pm and jumped into the Swin spa to attempt to recover from the road trip!
We watched “Emperor” and “Fool Me Once” until we crashed at 10:00 pm.!
Emperor summary: As the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, General Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
Mary informed me that Scout needed to be picked up. I went back into the house, found some jeans and a shirt, and we raced off to the groomer to get the baby!
