Christmas in Westminster

I wish I'd thought to photograph our Christmas meal. Don made it look quite attractive. Vince and Sharon came over for lunch. Sharon had suggested pasta with pesto since ages ago that was one of the few things I'd attempted cooking and had done pretty well with it. I've long since lost the recipe to my pesto sauce though, so settled on a jar from Albertson's. And instead of the Angel Hair we used to use, we went with Bow Tie pasta upon Don's suggestion. I bought some extra pine nuts and Sharon had reminded me we'd included sun dried tomatoes in the old recipe so we added those too....and Don thought to include a few olives. Don cooked the pasta and it came out perfect. Then, since the memory of the great asparagus and almond dish we'd had with Penny at the Marriott was still in my mind I bought some asparagus and almonds to accompany the pasta. Don found something on the Internet that suggested cooking it in the oven, so we followed it's instructions, oiling a cookie sheet, breaking off the asparagus ends where they naturally broke, drizzling olive oil over the top, seasoning with salt and pepper, and baking for 15 minutes at 325. It was great! Sharon brought salad makings---she'd found a bag of leafy greens and then filled baggies with cherry tomatos, chopped cucumbers, purple onions, carrots, and I'm not sure what else. She even brought crutons. We had a choice of Italian or Ranch. They also brought some fabulous garlic bread...we worried the 18 minute cooking time might make us late for the movie we planned to see after lunch but really by the time we served ourselves and got seated the bread was ready.
After lunch we went to see Clint Eastwood's newest movie, "Gran Torino", at the Block. I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't comment on the movie.

12/13/08 1 Day Short of Full Moon from Westminster front door.

OK, you've seen my full moon attempt in the last posting. The good thing about that exposure was that you can see the clouds and it was truly a FULL moon. This wobbly looking moon is clearer but the pretty clouds aren't visible.

12/12/08 Full Moon from Westminster front door.

The biggest full moon the Earth has seen since 1993:
I struggled with making the camera do what I wanted---('auto' over exposes the moon as you are about to see). By the time I had it figured out a cloud bank moved in, entirely obscuring it.

Lakeside visit continued

You may recall I didn't quite finish posting all the pictures from that visit with Dad, Julie and Tom.

This is still the property behind the house. This path amazes me each time I see it because I recall when it was overgrown. Dad did an amazing amount of work all on his own with weeds and bush and tree trimming. And I'm amazed how he keeps up with it.


Now come along here to the side of the house. Please forgive the leaf blower and the hose. We're busy here.

And now we'll go up this driveway to the front of the house.

OK, here we are at the front yard.


Now, you can't see it, but over near that trash can I just spotted the rooster that I'd been told has taken up residence here. Lets see if he'll let me approach.


Hmmm. Well, I don't see him now either. I think he went this way.....

Here he is!

Saturday in Lakeside, Ca

Don and I went to visit Dad, Julie, and Tom on Saturday. We all met at the Home Buffet at the Trolly Square in Santee at 8:00 a.m. when they opened.
After a fabulous breakfast Don and I went to the swap meet and then met the folks back at the house. The projects de jour were the removal of a concrete/wood post in the driveway that was threatening tire damage, the removal of a tree branch that was threatening to fall on the fence, and the raising of some dry wall.
Meanwhile I did the more important work of photographing the trespassing rooster who has recently taken up residence in their yard, and recording the various projects on "film" for posterity.

The back yard

Also the back yard with Dad on the left picking up his leaf blower and Don on the right digging a hole around the concrete that is holding a wood post in place.

Now you can see what he's up to.

This driveway starts at the street and goes past the house to the bottom of the hill.

Turning 180 degrees from the preceding view, is this view of Dad and Julie's house.

Poor Don really wants that thing. There's something about starting a project that demands it be completed. We've been to Home Depot for two shovels and they've been helpful. Here Don has gone back to the idea of braking up the concrete around the post with a hammer, which is how Dad had begun this project, but now that there is a deeper and wider hole around the concrete it is breaking up easier. You can see some of the chunks there in the little mound of dirt. Occasionally Don grabs the post and yanks but nothing happens.

Don stops to breath and Dad picks up the narrow blue shovel.

Wow! I took a little walk around taking a few photographs and when I returned the project was over. The post and concrete were out and the hole was filled back in. The only evidence is this little circle of churned up dirt.

And here's that dastardly post now! It's the rectangular one pretending to be all meek and harmless.

Next project? Well, the Eucalyptist trees have had a bad habit of falling in bad weather, so Dad would like to cut a branch that would land on the fence should the tree fall.

It's the branch on the right whose minutes are numbered.

Don has wrapped this rope around the branch. Soon Dad and I will plant ourselves in a postion to pull on the rope so that the branch does not land on the fence when it falls. Don will saw the branch while we pull. That means there's no one to take pictures.

Here is the reciprocating (?) saw that Don used. It took a long time with Don needing to stop occasionally. Possibly another case where he considered quitting but felt compelled to complete the project. This may not have been the best saw for the job...or perhaps just not the best blade, but considering the height it had to be lifted to cut off the branch it was probably the one that could be hefted and held there for any length of time.

Success!
A chain saw came out, much to Don's relief, to chop the fallen branch up.

Final project? to nail this dry wall in place.

This is doubtless enough for one post (Blogger has been known to drop all of my pictures when I load several on a single posting). I'll save the rooster and a couple more yard shots for the next post.