Oh My, Cold And Rain Today!

Posted on Monday, April 13, 2026 by Paul

Life really does go by too fast—now we’re basically speedrunning time.  We wake up Monday, blink, and suddenly it’s Friday afternoon, like, “Welp, there goes the week.”

We have absolutely no clue how we ever survived working jobs, because now we do errands every day—and it somehow takes hours.  Apparently, the grocery store alone requires a full episode and a commercial break.

Being Monday, I found myself hiding in the closet, refusing to come out when Mary called me.   Not even Mary saying  “Come on, Champ, you can do it!” would work.  I knew that within two hours, I would be lying on a hard concrete floor with my “personal trainer” laughing hilariously at my various moaning sounds while I attempted to get back up.   Then, adding insult to injury, I would be placed in a torso being machine with 500-pound weights pulling my little muscles until they creaked.

The only machine I like is the rowing machine because my trainer gets into his/he Viking costume with the helmet having horns and using a whip while yelling “Row, Row, Row my boat… quickly down the stream!!”

This image strikes fear into my heart every time I think about it!

But all is NOT lost, I finally found a machine at the gym that I like: the vending machine.

First class, all the way!!!

Now, on a serious note (yes, I do get serious): Led by Antony Mitchell, with over 30 years of expertise, Peak Performance delivers personalized fitness programs designed to achieve real, lasting results.  We prioritize proper form, safety, and balance, guiding you through tailored workouts in our exclusive, private facility.  The staff is amazing and really cares about you, carefully reviewing and selecting exercises that will help you meet your goals.  Mary and I feel a lot better since we began going there several years ago.  I do not feel like I am in the 80s.  Thank you, Antony and crew!!

Today’s goals:

  1. Clean up my desk so I can see the top!
  2. Organize and table ALL the damned wireless cords!
  3. Install the new burner on the second standup heater!
  4. Go to Home Depot to get flowers for the front of the yard.
  5. Troubleshoot my security cameras and properly rename them!
  6. Go to the market and get goodies for this week’s meals.
  7. Find candles for our breakfast room table (for those romantic dinners with m’lady)
  8. If time allows, trim the cactus garden and adjust the watering cycle.
  9. If time allows, move the heavy-duty socket sets to another location since I do not use them much… Make room for other tools.
  10. Fall more in love with my amazing wife!

After the gym, we stopped by Home Depot and filled up the “truck” with bags of goodies, including flowers, posts, parts bins, etc.   Mary fixed a great breakfast. I’m glad I don’t have to hunt for my own food. I have no idea where sandwiches live.

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Lucky Me!

Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2026 by Paul

Oh, so very true!

Yep, it was “raining” when we got up, so we had our coffee, watched the rain, and planned the day.  I enjoy planning so much that I sometimes forget to do the thing.

As the title says, I was lucky.  When Mary and I got together, she had a Precor Elliptical Cross-Trainer machine, which we moved to the new house.

“Why does the elliptical have handles?  So I can hold on while it reminds me how out of shape I am.

The Precor EFX 556/556i is a commercial-grade total-body elliptical trainer (approx. 80″ L x 30-32″ W x 64-68″ H, 326 lbs) featuring moving handlebars, 20 resistance levels, and a fixed 20°–25° incline ramp.  It includes 6–10 workout programs, SmartRate® heart rate monitoring, and a 350-lb user capacity.

It was a professional unit she bought from someone who was closing his studio.  We used it on occasion, but decided to move it upstairs to be with the stationary bike.  That would enable us to exercise together on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, which are the days we do NOT go to the gym.  When we turned it on, we got an Error-5, key stuck message.

We called PreCor; they said that the model was discontinued and that they had no parts, but they did say what might fix it.  I tried, but to no avail.  So, I got online, and I found a replacement board!

The list price on a REFURBISHED model was $3,995!

The replacement was about $400, and it had a “money-back guarantee,  so I bought it, and it will be here this week.   If it works, we will have some professional movers put it upstairs.  They wanted $300, but that is cheap at half the price.

The day began with us in the nice, warm office, looking at the cold, cold rain.  We called Joe and got an “Amy-Check”.  The plans remain the same; she should be released later on this afternoon.   Charlie had a great prom, BUT Joe was checking on him using the iPhone, and at 3:00 m it showed Charlie being in La Habra???

Joe was getting ready to get in his car and make sure everything was OK, and as he passed Charlie’s bedroom, Charlie was snoring up a storm.  Yes, you guessed it… the iPhone did not update.  When Joe refreshed the page, it showed that Charlie was at home.   We will get a full report later in the day.

We did get a picture,

Yep!  Just like his grandpa (except for the beard).

And he is one handsome dude; he takes after his grandpa!!!

We spent two hours plus in the yard with Mary deadheading her roses,s and I worked in the HeShed and replaced the burner in one of the two spa standup heaters.  If I were about half my age, I could have done it in 5 minutes, but at 81, it took almost 45 minutes because I had to put the entire heater at an angle where I could a) see and b) get my hands inside without twisting my back out of shape.

The rain finally stopped, and I wandered outside looking for problems, and all I found was a rose bush limb lying over due to the weight of the water.  I tied it up, and all is well.

Just us in our gardening uniforms.

The vertical planters are going very well, and we rotate them about 90 degrees every day, making sure everyone gets sun

The rain made everything shine.

The Swiss chard is doing well, and I found a recipe in AllRecipes magazine that features Swiss chard, so tomorrow we will be chowing down on these little fellows.

Tomorrow’s dinner awaits.

Cantaloupes are supposed to be trimmed after six side shoots show up—because apparently that’s when they decide to “commit” to the mission.  The trimming helps the plant get stronger and nudges the blooms into becoming actual fruit instead of, you know, decorative flowers.

Tomorrow I’m putting them on a wire trellis and getting them off the ground—because I refuse to share my cantaloupes with some sneaky varmint who thinks they’re running a produce buffet.

We are about to prune the thornless as they have six branches already!

Looking north reveals an angry sky!  Sure enough, it began to rain again, making today’s total just one inch!

The rain was supposed to be gone at 2:00 pm, but it looks suspicious

Mary trimmed the west wall roses, then returned to the center wall roses to give them a haircut.  The white roses are especially bright this year.

We love our roses.

I removed about 15 small apples as they needed to be thinned out to make the others grow.  The apple tree is coming on strong.

The apples are going berserk.

After coming inside, I offered Mary a deal she could NOT refuse.  I cleaned the vegetable drawers at the bottom of the refrigerator.  It was unknown to us, but “someone” has been using the bottom storage bins for their science projects.  I saw several types of mold/fungus/unknown growths in the veggie bags, and the old mushrooms walked out on their own and jumped hary-kary style into the garbage disposal.  For a moment or two, I seriously thought about trying to make penicillin, but wisely, I avoided that rabbit hole.

After several trips to the trash can and with Mary’s wonderful help, we have a new refrigerator which we will promptly fill!

Mary was cooking, and she asked me to get some carrots and other garden goodies.  When I returned and showed her my findings, she had a strange reaction after she looked at my effort.

 

Mary fixed a sweet potato, which I am learning to love.  We had two breakfast steaks with our dinner and the remaining homemade beans.  We still love cooking at home and being together all the time.

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are not actually potatoes or yams, but rather part of the morning-glory family, originating in Central/South America over 5,000 years ago.  They are nutrient-dense superfoods packed with vitamin A, available in over 400 varieties ranging from purple to orange, and can even be used to make biodegradable plastics.

After dinner, we watched a little TV and crashed at 9:00 pm.  I had a thought, “Whatever you’re doing, always give 100%.  Unless you’re donating blood.”

Posted in Cooking, Just Us, Vegetable Garden, Working Around House | Leave a comment

Do Chores Ever Stop??

Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2026 by Paul

We rested this morning and did not get up until almost 8:00 am.  A quick walk through the front yard revealed that some of the bulbs are breaking ground and will soon be showing themselves to passersby.

The day was nice, but the forecaster said it would rain later… we both doubted that!  The rain finally came, but at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

It is a beautiful day!

The pomegranate tree is doing well.

Pomegranates are ancient, nutrient-dense “superfruits” native to the Middle East, with trees that can live over 200 years.  Each fruit holds hundreds of juicy, edible seeds called arils (up to 1,000+ per fruit) and was historically used in remedies for various health conditions.  Their name means “apple with many seeds”.  Here are more fun facts about pomegranates.  Mythological “Fruit of the Dead”: In Greek mythology, Hades used pomegranate seeds to trick Persephone into returning to the Underworld, a myth explaining the seasons. A “Super Fruit”: Pomegranates are high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as fiber and antioxidants, which may help prevent serious conditions like heart disease.
Name Origins: The word “pomegranate” is derived from Middle French pomme garnete, meaning “seeded apple”.

The Original Grenade: The word “grenade” is derived from the French word for pomegranate, likely because the first grenades looked like them.

Long-Lasting Treats: Whole pomegranates can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Ancient Symbolism: Pomegranates are mentioned in ancient religious texts and often symbolize fertility, abundance, and life.

Versatile Culinary Use: In addition to eating the arils raw, in many cultures, the juice is used to make syrup (grenadine), salad dressings, and marinades.

The “Forbidden Fruit”?  Some scholars believe the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was a pomegranate, not an apple.

Staining Power: Pomegranate juice is a strong natural dye, often used to color textiles.
Hardy Growth: Pomegranate trees thrive in hot, dry climates and can grow between 10 and 15 feet tall.

We are going to have pomegranates soon!

When I next used my iPhone/camera, I got a “what happened three years ago message.  It was just us sitting on the patio in our backyard.

Three years ago, we were relaxing.

Around 2:00 ppm, we started The Silver Fox and ran to the very end of the 55 Freeway just before going over the bridge to Balboa Island.  Turing right into the Hoag parking lot, we made our way to the third floor to visit Miss Amy.  She was in high spirits, even though she was missing Charlie and his new girlfriend at the Senior Prom.

We visited with her for about an hour or so before going to the American Legion Newport Beach Post.

Did You Know?  The American Legion was founded in Paris in 1919 by U.S. Expeditionary Force members following World War I, with its official name and charter established shortly after in St. Louis.  Built on four pillars—Veterans Affairs, National Security, Americanism, and Children & Youth—it remains a prominent veterans organization.

Key American Legion Facts & Trivia:

Largest Post, Post 347 in Lady Lake, Florida, with over 6,700 members, is recognized as the largest in the world.

Origin: The organization was founded in March 1919 in Paris, France, by members of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Mission Pillars: The four key pillars are Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation, National Security, Americanism, and Children & Youth.

Motto: The official motto is “Veterans Strengthening America”.
Leadership: The National Commander is elected annually to serve as the chief executive officer.

Social Activity: Many local posts, such as Post 186, host weekly trivia nights to foster community engagement.

The American Legion is just a mile from the hospital, and we waved at Amy.

The Legion is located on the island next to the water at 17th Street.  They have their own private parking lot, and Mary has a pass that gives us access.

The weather was OK but in the very low 70s so we sat inside!

They serve a great meal, and we enjoy visiting with people while watching the boats come and go from the harbor.  Today, Mary met a lady from Germany, and they jabbered in German for quite a while.  Both of the ladies enjoyed practicing their language skills.  The lady escaped communist Germany just before the wall went down.

The American Legion Menu is pretty good!

I had the best view in the house.

That’s my girl!

They have daily specials in the bar, but today we settled for a glass of water and a glass of chardonnay.

Interesting drinks!

After an amazing lunch and meeting new friends, we exited the hall and went to visit The Silver Fox, who, by the way, was expecting a drink for being so patient.  Still, car, drinks are for adults.   I whispered to The Fox, “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker”.

Just us!

We headed home, which was easy.  On top of that, we drove north for 25 minutes, and we arrived home in time to walk the front yard and see the new leaves emerging from their bulbs.

We tried to watch TV, but I don’t even remember what we tried; I was out like a light.  I woke up around 2:00 am and went to bed.  Mary said she was so tired that she didn’t want to wake me up.

We will rest for tomorrow will be rainy giving us time to fo in-house chores!

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Sitting All Day Is Hard Work!

Posted on Friday, April 10, 2026 by Paul

The nasty alarm went off at 5:00 am, reminding us we needd ot be in Newport Beach at 7:30 am to meet with Amy & Joe at the neuro-ophthalmologist.   We all arrived on time and after a quick coffee at the Strawberry Cafe located on the ground floor of this yall building, the ladies headed upstairs with Joe in tow.

It was fun to be with the “kids,” but we wish it were for a happier reason.

Recently, I ran across a picture of us five years ago having dinner in Fullerton!

It was 6:45 am, an hour that should strictly be reserved for deep REM sleep and dream-induced marathons, but there was The Silver Fox, nosing his way out of the garage like a shiny, mid-life crisis on wheels.

He headed down Jamboree toward Newport Center, gripped by the quiet intensity of a man who was 100% certain he’d left the garage door open, but was 1,000% too committed to his morning latte run to turn back and check.

We parked and walked to the Strawberry Cafe for more coffee.  Joe and Amy rolled in immediately after us.

The appointment went OK, but the doctor told us to go to the ER immediately.  The local ER is at Hoag Hospital.

Hoag Hospital Newport Beach is a top-ranked, nonprofit hospital founded in 1952, recognized as the #1 hospital in Orange County.  Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is a nonprofit, faith-based hospital founded in 1952 with historical ties to the Presbyterian Church.  However, it operated under an affiliation with Providence/St. Joseph, Hoag became an independent organization again in 2022, while retaining its name and its founding Presbyterian association.

We went VFR to Hoag and got him checked in.  While she was getting the MRI and other tests, Joe and I went to the cafeteria, where we got lunch and ordered lunch for the girls.  I ran across an ugly monkey while eating and captured his photo.

It’s hard to explain his behavior, but Joe is his father’s son!!

Amy got admitted and will be there for several days, taking a large dose of steroids to hopefully calm the situation.  Steroids (most often corticosteroids like prednisone, dexamethasone, and sometimes anabolic steroids) are used to reduce inflammation and/or suppress the immune system.

From her room on the 3rd floor, we could see the Newport Elks lodge (underneath the American flag).

Room with a view!

ASmy was finally placed in a nice, private room on the third floor, overlooking Newport Harbor.  We stayed with her for a bit, with Mary making sure all the paperwork (test results) was for the doctors to see.

We were a tad hungry and certainly tired, so we stopped at the Elks and had a light dinner around 8:30 pm.  A cup of soup and a bowl of chili, we were good to go.  Go home, that is!

While getting ready for bed, Mary spotted today’s T-shirt and had to get a picture of it

So true!

We fell asleep immediately.  Good night, all!

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Busy Day Ahead

Posted on Thursday, April 9, 2026 by Paul

I will do the first part Ms. Boop suggests and have a grateful heart.  As for an open mind, that will require some serious work!!

We were up at 6:30 am since we are going to Whittier to see Amy’s eye doctor.  I told Mary that will stay in the car with my baby and a pillow, and catch up on my beauty sleep.

55, 91, and 57 get ready to receive The Silver Fox, terror of the freeways!  Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

Last week, Mary drove to the Elks, and a police officer driving down the freeway looked over and spotted Mary knitting while balancing the steering wheel with her knees.

He pulls alongside Mary and angrily shouts, “Pull over!”  Of course, being quick, Mary shouts back, “No, it’s a scarf.”

I was going to let Mary drive, but then I remembered last time!

But I digress; we made it to Whittier, a 30+ minute drive, with minutes to spare.  When Mary got out of the car and headed to the appointment, she said to me, “If I’m not back in sixty minutes, just wait longer.”

Happy birthday, Joe.  He is 385 in “dog years”.

Just before leaving for the Elks, I ran across an old picture from the 1970s of Colleen and Joe meeting two real astronauts (I am cut in half on the right side of the picture).

They met and talked to two of the Shuttle Astronauts who were visiting my lab in Downey!

Gordon Fullerton  (October 11, 1936 – August 21, 2013) was a United States Air Force colonel, a USAF and NASA astronaut, and a research pilot at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California.  His assignments included a variety of flight research and support activities, piloting NASA’s B-52 launch aircraft, the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), and other multi-engine and high-performance aircraft.

Fullerton logged more than 380 hours in spaceflight and was a NASA astronaut from September 1969 until November 1986, when he joined the research pilot office at Dryden.  In July 1988, he completed a 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force and retired as a colonel.  He continued in his position of NASA research pilot as a civilian.  Fullerton, his wife, and their two children lived in Lancaster, California.

Fred Haise, currently 92,  is one of the 24 Apollo astronauts to reach the Moon, having served as Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 13.  He was to have been the sixth person to walk on the Moon, but the Apollo 13 landing was aborted en route.  Haise flew five Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests in 1977.  He retired from NASA in 1979.  He is the last surviving crew member of Apollo 13 and the last surviving Apollo astronaut who flew to the Moon without landing.

After several years, Joe and Colleen thanked me in their own way!

Oh, oh, more astronauts for you two characters!

OK, we went to Whittier thinking the traffic would be terrible and were surprised to make it there in about 25 minutes, arriving early.  We needed more coffee, so we stopped at McDonald’s and enjoyed an Egg McMuffin and a cup of hot coffee.

A perfect breakfast BEFORE going to the doctor.

When we arrived and parked, we did not see Amy’s car, so we called Joe and found out the appointment was for 2:15 pm, NOT 9:15 am.

We apparently wrote down the wrong time, so it was back in the car, heading to Orange.  The traffic was not too bad.  We did three errands before arriving home, so the time was not wasted.

Now it was 11:00 am, and it was time to head to the Elks for our weekly “Girls Night Out” celebration.

We visited with George, Iris, and Will before heading back to Whittier.

Off we go again to Whittier, and this time we took the 55 to the 5 and got off at Beach.  The traffic wasn’t bad!  Mary and Amy went to see the doctor, and Mary was armed to the teeth.  About an hour later, Mary returned to the car, and we followed Amy home to one more doctor’s office, where we picked up some test results.

We all talked for a while and Joe go the digital info ready to go to Newport tomorrow morning where we have a 7:30 am appointment with Dr. Dr. Madhu Agarwal who Mary taught years ago and is a prominent neuro-ophthalmologist in Newport Beach, CA, specializing in diseases of the eyelid, eye muscles, and optic nerve, located at 400 Newport Center Dr, Suite 605.

A neuro-ophthalmologist or neuro-optometrist is the appropriate eye doctor with specialized training for issues linking the brain and eyes, such as optic nerve disorders, unexplained vision loss, or double vision.  They specialize in treating eye problems caused by neurological conditions like stroke, brain tumors, or Multiple Sclerosis.

Arriving back home, we had a quick dinner and hit the sack around 9:00 pm.  It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.

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A No Pain Day? What’s With This?

Posted on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 by Paul

No alarms were set, and when I woke up, rolled over, and peered at the wall clock, it indicated 8:30 am.  Immediately panicking, I ran to the office to put on my tracksuit, thinking I was late for the workout.  Then I remembered: Mary canceled today’s pain session so she could rest before our trip to Azua to see Megan compete in Gymnastics and Tumbling.

So, I replanned my day and decided to clean up my side of the office, including mopping up all the tears from writing checks to the State of California and the US Government for our 2025 taxes.  Then I remember my seven rules of life.

So we stayed around the house until it was time to go to Mary’s doctor’s appointment so that she could get a reading on her knee.   Even though the doctor is in Irvine, we chose a right after lunch appointment and made it there in 18-20 minutes.

The doctor’s office is quite nice, and she has many geodes throughout it.  Geodes are dull, unassuming, and often lightweight rocks that hide stunning crystal interiors, formed over thousands or millions of years.  Born from volcanic lava bubbles or groundwater, these “earthlike” stones can contain quartz, amethyst, or even trapped, ancient water (enhydros).  They are found globally, with major deposits in the US Midwest and Brazil.

After the appointment, Mary suggested another shot of Jewish penicillin, so we headed to Benjie’s for the third time this week.  I warned Mary not to order fries as they can be dangerous, but she did anyway.  I told her so!!

After that bit of excitement, we went home and did some minor chores.  We had to leave in just a few minutes to go to Azusa Pacific College in Azusa to see Megan do her gymnastics.  Mary came out of her room, saying she was ready to leave, but I reminded her that we would be sitting on HARD bleachers.

After a quick change, we hit the road for the hour fight with traffic.  We arrived just as the meet opened and got good seats three tiers up in the stands.  We stay with Diane (Megan’s Mom) and Mary’s son (Geoff).

Megan was in several of the “mandatory” sets, and I finally got a good picture of number 43, or is it 34?

Upside down?

We departed right after the meeting ended, but took a quick picture of Mary, Megan, and her mother, Diane.

By the time we got home, unpacked, and crashed, it was 10:00 pm.  We need to be on the road to Whittier at 7:45 am to see a doctor over on Whittier Blvd, and we know the traffic will be horrible.

NOTE: I am trying to resist the urge to stay up until midnight to call my son Joe, who turns 55 tomorrow.  Oh my, how time flies!!  Phooey, I sent him the following image at 12:15 am!

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Toosday Has Shown Itself And We Are Ready!

Posted on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 by Paul

We have to be at the Tustin Seniors Center at 8:15 am to get in line to sign up for the watercolor painting class.  I always wondered who “WE” was, and now I know.  Mary signs up, and I provide transportation services and probably breakfast on the way home.    This morning, since I was driving and she was in the backseat, Mary suggested I wear my chauffeur’s getup!

NOTE: Mary told me it was a chauffeur’s outfit, but to me, it looked a lot like a Chippendales outfit.  (Remember them in the 1980s?)

Just in case you wondered, the picture is NOT of me!

I did have to make the long trip into the kitchen and get her nibs the morning: honey-laced coffee with milk, a peeled banana (I was allowed to keep the peel), and the pièce de résistance, an 11 fluid-ounce French Vanilla 30-gram protein Max Ensure.  It was my lucky day, I got a thank-you and no beating for being 21 seconds late!!

After my quick shower provided by Mary using a water hose while I ran to the garden and back, I slithered into my jeans.  I must watch my diet better.  If my jeans could talk, they’d plead for mercy.

7:50 am and we are off like a rocket to the Tustin Seniors Center to sign ary up for another watercolor painting class.  She was in and out in about twenty minutes.  Smiling as she returned to the car (waiting for me to open the back door),  Mary said she had an idea about her next painting.  She described it, and I thought it to be a bird-brained idea!

In keeping with my efforts to return Mary to “normal” using all the modern medical techniques at my disposal, I again took her to Benjies for a fresh helping of Jewish penicillin, otherwise known as chicken noodle soup.

She felt better after downing four bowls of soup (today I had them remove the feathers first)!!

Upon arriving back home, Mary took an extended nap because tomorrow, we plan to go to Megan’s Gym Meet in Azusa, so Mary wants to feel 99%.  She watched some shoot-em-ups and worked on her needlepoint masterpieces.

Working on Christmas presents already!

At 12:30 pm, we headed to the doctor’s office to see my pulmonologist, and he confirmed I need to go back on the CPAP machine as I stop breathing about 23 times an hour.   I have no problem wearing the machine and stopped only after the operations late last year.  I thought that, after losing all the weight, I might not need it anymore.  I am remaining below 190 pounds.

The doctor asked if I had any problems with the sleep study, and I said no!  He wrote a prescription, and a clinical technician will set up later this week!

Yeah, right!!

I did mention to the doctor that I broke my leg in two places.  He told me to quit going to those places.  Our doctor is very accommodating!

When I told him I couldn’t afford an operation, he offered to touch up my X-rays with Photoshop!

We returned home, and Mary went back to resting, and I slaved in the backyard painting the bullnose bricks along the berry garden.  I also rearranged the HeShed and tossed out a lot of junk (which I will probably need next week, so that will mean a trip to Home Depot).

The grinder, shop vacuum, and drill press are now in the HeShed, making it easier to get in and out of the cars.

At least I can walk inside the HeShed now!

The garden is growing by leaps and bounds.  Tomorrow we will be trimming the bottom branches off the tomato plants, and I will finish sealing the last two vegetable beds.

Buried beneath the plants are a selection of strawberries and a lot of spinach!

We had a nice dinner of beans and tamales before going to the TV room, where Mary continued her rest (read: back to sleep almost immediately).

Our painters finished the front of the house with a bright white paint to allow the colored under-eave lights to reflect the true colors more clearly.  It looked pretty good.

Mother’s Day colors are red, white, purple, and pink, and they dart around the outside of the house until midnight every night.

The Mother’s Day banner gets an assortment of lights shining on it, making it stand out as cars drive by the house.

By 10:00 pm, we were in bed.  Mary canceled our gym visit tomorrow so she could rest and get better before the trip to Azusa tomorrow evening.

Right before I got into bed, I heard God sneeze.  I didn’t know what to say.

Posted in Art, Doctor, Just Us, Painting, Working Around House | Leave a comment

Back To Work And The Dreaded Gym!

Posted on Monday, April 6, 2026 by Paul

Yes, we got our tax returns, and we have a lot to return.  Oh my!  we make $1.00 and have to give the government(s) back $0.37… that’s just not right!

Being the dutiful husband, I was up by 7:00 am, in the kitchen, making a cup of joe for m’lady and bringing it to her.

It is now 7:45 am, and I am beginning to shake with the thought that in 45 minutes I must get into the car and travel 1.1 miles to the dreaded gym.  At this location,d for 90 minutes,s I will be subjected to acrobatics, calisthenics, gymnastics, isometrics, physical jerks, stretching, tumbling, workouts, and various forms of yoga.  In the end, I will have recovered, having lost 0.001 pounds and gained acknowledgment of seventeen more muscles than I ever knew I had!  Oh my!

This is me attempting to get to the car after the “workout,” which consisted, amongst other things, of a “Post Back Squat”!

Mary was feeling down, perhaps with the start of a cold, so she suggested some Jewish Penicillin (often called chicken noodle soup) for breakfast from Benjies!  Bravo, great ideas.  Off we went to 17th Street and the 55 Freeway.

Mary had her penicillin but augmented it with some Irish Coffee.  We were quite surprised when the coffee came with a bunny!

I swear I heard it hiccup!

Now, I have two bunnies at the table!

Surrounded by bunnies!

Upon arriving at home, Mary took a nap, and I headed to the yard for additional work.  Amazon delivered a starting capacitor I needed for my “busted” air compressor, and after a 10-minute install and wiring, it was off and running, just like new.  Now I have compressed air in the back yard for my tools.

The rest of the afternoon, I puttered around in the HeShe’d, trying to get it better organized, and I also planted some flower seeds and worked a bit on our step-exercise machine.  It is out of date and has no replacement parts, but I am going to try to get it going again before we move it upstairs.

Mary found some pizza in the fridge, and I took over from there and prepared a gourmet dinner of pizza, grapes, sliced pizza, and wine.

After dinner, we tried to watch a Bruce Willis movie, but it was so full of foul language that I went back to the exercise room and tried to fix the control panel again.

Before plunging into the exercise machine innerds, I walked outside to see the progress on the front of the house.  When I looked up, there it was, a magnificent contrail left from a missile launch at Venenbury Space Base.

Taken from the front yard!

In the backyard, one could see the entire contrail as it drifted southwest!

Amazing what air currents can do to the contrails!

We crashed around 10:00 pm, but then I got up and finished off the Easter 2026 Webpage. 

Posted in Dining Out, Gym, Just Us | Leave a comment

Happy Easter Y’all!

Posted on Sunday, April 5, 2026 by Paul

Just little ol us!

This is the first Easter Weekend that we did not have a party at the house because “everyone” was gone.  Michele and Franklin were out of town; Robin and Bob were on a cruise; Bob and Donna were in Palm Springs; and our dear friend Irene is no longer with us.  So, we worked in the garden instead.

BUT on Sunday morning, we walked through the garden and got ready to go to the Elks to celebrate!  The garden is going gangbusters, and every day brings another inch or so of growth on the tomato vines.

To the Elks at 11:00 am, we arrived about 18 minutes later.  We were the first of our table to arrive.

We had entertainment during the brunch, and it was quite good!

He played some really cool Easter music!!

The harp is one of the world’s oldest instruments, dating back over 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, likely originating from a hunter’s bow.  Modern concert harps stand roughly six feet tall, feature 47 strings, and use seven pedals to alter pitches.  The strings are traditionally plucked with only the first four fingers of each hand, as pinkies are too short.

We got so busy talking and sharing that I forgot to take many pictures, but I did get a snap of my favorite ceviche.

Ceviche is not originally Mexican; it is widely believed to have originated in Peru over 2,000 years ago.  However, it is a staple dish throughout Latin America, and Mexico has developed its own distinct, popular style of ceviche characterized by the addition of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and cucumber.  Peruvian ceviche is generally simpler, often just fish, lime, onion, and chili, served immediately.  Mexican ceviche usually marinates longer and often features chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and Serrano or Jalapeño peppers.

The bowl emptied very fast!

Mary and I sat down first, although we expected to see Jim and Vicky there first.

We have so much fun together, always a laugh and a giggle!

We always say, “If you don’t have wrinkles, you haven’t laughed enough.”

Iris and Will are doing just fine, and in about eight months, Iris will be 100 years old.

“Let’s eat!  Over the teeth and through the gums, look out tonsils, here it comes!!”

Yolie joined us, and we enjoyed her description of her FIRST airplane flight from OC to Sacramento…and back!  She is now officially fearless and ready to take on the world!

“When do we take to the air next?”

Dianne and Fast Eddie joined us today, and we enjoyed his stories.  Dianne always makes events very pleasant.

Laughing and giggling our way through brunch.

Of course, the masterminds behind today’s get-together are Vicky and Jim.   Vicky has been my friend for close to 40 years, which is hard to understand, since she keeps celebrating her 39th birthday!

Enjoying life!

“Gee, Paul, your wine sure looks good!!”

Standby, big-time drinker about to guzzle her drink in one sip!

History is being made!  Vicky takes a drink!

When either of us does something “bad,” we always say, “I’m going to tell!”  The problem is, we have no one to tell!

“I’m telling!!”

Just Us!

After brunch, we headed to Ralph’s Market for some necessities of life: coffee, milk, Greek yogurt, and bananas.  There were other things on the list, but we saved them for another day.

When we got home, we decided to take a short Easter nap.  Mary lasted an hour, and we did not wake up until 5:30 pm.  We then headed for the swim spa to finish off the evening.   That reminded me of the old saying, “The best contraceptive for old people is nudity.”

On a serious note, the 45 minutes we have together in the hot water are always special.  Wee plot, plan, discuss,  dream, and share without any interruption!  The cell phone stays in the house; there is NO TV, and Alexa is behind glass.  It’s just us!  It’s a good time to realize how much we love each other!

OK, back to normal.  I was thinking that one of my traits is that I never give up.  I am currently in my 14th year of a 10-day beauty plan.

We made some phone calls to Joe, Colleen, and Becky before watching TV.

We watched “The Iron Mask”.  Summary:  Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger star together in the 2019/2020 fantasy-adventure film The Iron Mask (also known as Viy 2: Journey to China or Dragon Master).  They face off in a featured fight scene within the movie, which follows an 18th-century English traveler encountering mystical adventures.

Not the greatest movie but quite funny and entertaning.

We hit the sack at 10:00 p,m and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!  I was afraid of having a nightmare because tomorrow is “G-Day”.  Yep, another visit to the dreaded gym.   I know I am old because my walker has an airbag.

Posted in Elks, Family, Friends, Holidays, Movies, Working Around House | Leave a comment

Working In The Fields! Tote That Barge, Lift That Bale!

Posted on Saturday, April 4, 2026 by Paul

Ain’t it the truth!!!

As soon as I got up, I called the Finchs (Brian and Jan), who live in London, eight hours ahead of us, and told them they were about to have guests.  Robin and Bob plan to visit with them during their current vacation.  Jan and Brian are doing well, just getting old like us.

At 8:30 am, I was outside working on the patio.  We have a Bay Bush, and it was producing more bay leaves than we could use, so we harvested some and dried them in the air fryer.  We will likely give them away to friends who cook.

The true bay leaf (Laurus nobilis) is commonly known as bay laurel, sweet bay, true laurel, or laurel leaves.  Bay leaves are aromatic Mediterranean leaves known for enhancing soups and stews.  They symbolize victory, historically crowning poets and athletes, and contain compounds like eugenol that offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, while also acting as natural insect repellents.

Then I trimmed our “Root Beer Tree,”  known as the sassafras tree (Sassafras albidum).   Historically, its roots were used to flavor root beer.  Native to eastern North America, it is easily identified by its aromatic bark, three distinct leaf shapes (mitten, oval, and three-lobed) on one branch, and fragrant, rootbeer-scented foliage.

We bought the tree and did not realize that in 1960, the FDA banned sassafras in food/drinks because its natural compound, safrole, was found to cause cancer in rats.  Modern root beer uses artificial flavoring.

Today the temperature was in the high 90s, and working on the patio was hot, so I changed into my gardening costume and continued stuffing the rotary-upright planters with strawberries.

When it is so hot, I take breaks and sit in the shade, and I ran across some interesting tidbits which, for the most part, I already follow!

After a short rest, I headed to the vegetable garden and applied Thompson’s Water Sealer to two of the vegetable beds (I ran out).  The water sealant is effective, working well on bricks and clay pots.  The product is easy to apply, keeps water out, and repels water almost instantly after drying.   I have been using this sealer for many years, and it restores the wall caps’ bright red color.

Take a look at the before-and-after in the pictures below.  Now the water beads up instantly when we water the beds.

Before: Dry and porous!

After: Shiny and sealed!

Toward the end of the day, I was beginning to fade.  I took one last walk through the garden.  The corn and artichokes are doing quite well, and the cucumbers are beginning to climb the trellis!

The corn is coming, and the cucumbers are growing fast!

The Swiss chard is quite pretty.

What is a fun fact about Swiss chard?
Despite the common “Swiss” reference, chard is not Swiss in origin.  In fact, it is a native of the Mediterranean. It is believed that the name “chard” is derived from the French word for “cardoon,” carde, which further confuses matters because a cardoon is a thistle and hardly a leafy green.

Who needs spinach when we have Swiss chard?

Very berry berry!

I found the recent book that we share with people who ask about our garden!

I put together this 50-page book from the photos taken before, during, and after the garden was constructed.  It sure brings back memories.

Mary stayed inside and worked in the kitchen, drying the bay leaves and making a wonderful salad for dinner.  She also made some fresh blueberry muffins, which we took over to Pam and Marc (Jeff’s kids) while they were going through the house, cleaning it out before it goes on the market.

We sat and talked to them for half an hour, remembering the good times we had with their Dad before his passing.  Marc gave me a box of ham radio technical books, which I will review over the next few weeks.    I offered to buy his ham radio equipment, but had NO idea what it was worth, so I suggested Greg get some numbers at the local radio store, and I would match them.  This probably means I will go back and renew my ham radio license.   Maybe I can get my old call sign back, K6CXI!

We got a message from Bob and Robin as they sailed out of Florida toward London on their seven-day cruise.  They are looking good!

Sailing sailing over the bounding main!

Then another message popped up from Bob Z; they arrived in Palm Springs for the next week.  We will be missing them tomorrow at the Elks Easter celebration.

It was in the high 90s there, so I am sure they are inside dancing away!

Mary and I had dinner and then proceeded to the TV room, where we watched the boob-tube until about 10:00 pm.  I had decided 10:00 pm is my new bedtime.

Before crashing, I took pictures of the front of the house decorated for Easter; we love our Govee lights!

The lights change color and run around the front of the house.

The fence always displays the current holiday banner with the appropriate lighting.

Good night, everyone.  See you on Easter Sunday!

Posted in Gardening, Just Us, Painting, Working Around House | Leave a comment