Sunday

Another day of sleeping late.....altho I was convinced it was 0930, it was only 0830 when I got up. But that is still a lot later than 0530, which is when I will be getting up tomorrow!

Had a leisurely breakfast, read the paper, and then went to the gym. That felt good - havent been for almost 2 weeks!

Then home and hubby started the Pumpkin stew.....I made the angel food/pineapple dump cake (http://thefrugalgirls.com/2012/08/pineapple-angel-food-cake.html) and it is cooling - upside down! I have made many angel food cakes in my time and know they have to cool upside down and I have never once had one fall out of the pan....but this one is still making me nervous that it will fall out!

4 loaves of zucchini/carrot/pecan/walnut/chocolate chip bread are in the oven (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/zucchini-bread-recipe/index.html). I hadnt planned on the two nuts, but the pecan bag was open and they started falling out so used those up....and then finished off the bag of walnuts. I also used 1/2 the sugar and 1/2 Splenda. I have been using Splenda on other things, so we will see how it tastes in baking. I double/triple checked my recipe and am hoping that I did not forget any ingredients this time! We will see!

There is flour all over the flour. I used up the flour in the container and put the rest of the new bag in the container - couldnt figure out why I was dribbling flour everywhere - yup there was a big hole in the bottom of the Rubbermaid container!!! So managed to get most of the flour into ziplock bags.
Went to use the little dustbuster to clean up - and whoever used it last time (I am not naming any names, am I honey????) did not put it back on its charger so it was dead.....

Looking up how to make some tomato sauce to throw in the freezer. Something is nibbling on our tomatoes and I would like us to use them not me!

We were at the grocery store yesterday and there was a woman there with one of those big 5 gallon jugs of water in her cart. Well, I turned down the aisle and there she was taking one gallon jugs of water off the shelf, pouring the water into her big jug, and then hiding the empty jugs!  Really?????!!!!! If you cant afford water and you  need it, there are public water fountains around town you can use rather than steal from a store. I know the idea is - it is a big corporation and they wont miss it - but it is those losses that keep adding to the cost of what the rest of us are paying!

Saturday!

Yeah - I slept LATE today - well, till 0815 but that has become late for me....once upon a time that would have been early!

So we got up and went to the market. And then stopped by some garage sales on the way home. Only got 'lucky' at one.

Isnt this the cutest little tin? I couldnt resist it....I know it isnt antique, I dont think even vintage but...

Also for these buttons (2 cards each of the green and pink ones). And the one earring which will make a good clip for a purse or something.

And then this little yellow cupe - Made in USA. So cute, I think it will be a trinket holder. Hubby also got a Tommy Bahama Aloha shirt for $5 so he was happy!

Finished my 3d project for Camp Loopy. It is drying and then I will take photos and post it - and will earn a prize. I am not happy with any of my projects this summer. This last one was supposed to be a cotton Market bag but the yarn jsut did not want to be that. So it turned into a cotton toddler sweater and I ran out of the complementary color so ..... but I learned FINALLY how to truly do the mattress stitch to seam together the two pieces. It will go into my giveaway basket and find a home someday.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. And I thought a lot about her yesterday. We had a few deliveries and I thought that was fun to have all those new babies born on her birthday - too bad they were all boys!

The weather has cooled off which is so nice. I made 4 loaves of zucchini/carrot/nut/chocolate chip bread today with my favorite yummy recipe. Too bad I forgot to put in the baking soda.....well, I planned to get more eggs and make more loaves tomorrow anyway!

Loving these mini vacations!

So, we didnt get up to the Yosemite area over Memorial Day weekend as usual, so we decided to go up there this week. Lovely time to go - yes, I missed seeing the dogwoods and other wildflowers in bloom - but it was a much quieter time!

 

 This was close to sunset in the Bass Lake area - can you see what I am calling an angel's wing?

 Such a lovely place to stay... and this time we got a room we never even knew existed before! Large and quiet....we already booked that same room for Memorial Day Weekend 2013!

 He looked thirsty, so after he scampered away at our approach we ran some water for him. Hope he came back and drank!

 Got lots of Yosemite photos....but in many ways, this is the most important one!

 Thought I would try out my sepia....

 and my black and white!

The grounds of the Narrow Gauge Inn are so beautifully landscaped....

Anyway, we drove up Tuesday and while hubby was playing golf I went to a couple of favorite thrift shops. One was a complete waste of time...the other I got a silk Hawaiian shirt for hubby for $2!!! And some other little knickknacks.

Had dinner at Bass Lake that night after we went to see The Expendables. Totally not my kind of movie - but the movie there was only $6 so cant complain about that.

They yesterday we spent in Yosemite. Wandering around....took the Valley Floor Tour which we havent done in oh, about 10 years or so....that was fun. I so love Yosemite....I was thinking while there that day of all the years wasted  that I had never seen Yosemite....not until we moved back to CA in the early 90's!

Came back and had a wonderful dinner at the NGI. Hubby had venison steak - and I was so jealous! It was so good!!! My chicken marsala was fine, but not nearly as tasty....

Today we drove him cause I work tomorrow. I could have gladly stayed up there longer, but....

What a Week!

It was a busy couple of weeks; even my days off were busy. And I did a couple of 3 day stretches, which I normally dont do. And hubby knew I was exhausted. Got home Monday night barely able to stay awake to drive home (thank goodness it is only about a 10 minute drive!) when he said - I looked, and you have 3 days off with nothing planned....you have long wanted to do the Elkhorn Slough Safari - why dont we go???

Yeah right, it is the ending of summer and we are going to be able to get reservations on a Tuesday (I was too tired to deal with it that Monday night!) for a Wed night place to stay and a Thursday tour????

Yeah right, we did!!!!!

So Wednesday we drove down to spend a lovely sunny and warm day in Monterey - hubby got the new walking shoes he needed; I got the yarn I needed for a Christmas present.....then we drove to Moss Landing. While waiting to check in we visited a lovely new antique shop.


 Here we are on the way back in .... in the sunny part of the tour!

 We stayed at The Captain's Inn B&B in Moss Landing.....after an underwhelming dinner at a restaurant I wanted to eat at (tasteless cioppino, tasteless sanddabs, but good wine, beer and french fried artichoke hearts!) we sat on the deck to wait for the sunset....

 The Inn was lovely....my only complaint was trying to watch the Olypmics on a tiny TV (hey, a lot of B&Bs dont even have TVs!) and unable to prop up against the iron headboard cause the pillows were way too soft...

 In my opinion, the only good seagull is a .....

 Must be August - the naked ladies are out!

 So we saw lots and lots of different types of birds, and well over 60 of my favorites - the sea otters! This seagull is really hoping to steal the food from this guy....this prompted the story about an otter that was being deviled by a young seagull....until the otter finally had had enough and ended up filling the seagull and eating it! Which is a rarity...

 Lots of sea lions....over 300 of them...I love their faces! Also lots and lots of harbor seals...

 And you thought you had bad hair days???????

 Lots of jelly fish of all sizes floating by - so quickly I only got one shot of one!

 White pelicans....

Can you see the white dots in the trees? Nesting birds

So we drove home Thursday cause I had to work Friday...left  Moss Landing when it was 64 degrees, and got home to 94 degrees, yuck. But I was quite refreshed for work on Friday which was the whole idea.

Sat we babysat 2 of the grandsons while the youngest went to a birthday party. And that evening went over to their house for the family birthday celebration of the middle one. (and by the way, the temps today ranged from 104 - 108!)

Today we drove to San Juan Bautista (emailing the photos from my phone is taking an exceptionally long time) for their Antique Show. Still trying to figure out when we went to the last one and thinking it was sometimes between 10 - 15 years ago. And it was smaller today. But it was fun - including all the yard sales. Some of the people were unwilling to budge on prices, which meant we walked away from some of the things we wanted, but we got a few things anyway. And enjoyed the 85 degree heat there - and the 78 degree heat on the way home to....99 degrees!

Back to work Monday and Tuesday. Then 3 days off which will include a haircut and a baby shower....middle of next week we will be spending time at the Narrow Gauge Inn - time in Yosemite....