Christmas morning (2)

I just finished writing a long post, and when I was trying to add pictures the whole thing dissapeared. :(

I wrote about the fun I had opening my Christmas gifts and  happy that Santa knew I like shiny bright things for my garden!
I got several solar things, and today Lizzie and I placed them in the garden. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow. They were all solar and really nice.

One I placed in the front  are where the white fence is, others around the fountain, the hummingbirds hangings are next to the hummingbird feeder :)

I also got many other things, a Barça cap, a robe, some brush crayons (I really need to start painting) and much more!!

I'm looking forward to go to my chocolate cooking class in Newport Beach. That'll be fun!

Lulu got some toys and she was happy!

THANK YOU SANTA

Merry Christmas, Bon Nadal, Feliz Navidad, Bon Jul

An Adventure

Some of my happy times are watching the sunset and the beach. I wanted to see one more sunset at the beach before 2020, and since it was still my birthday week Lizzie and I decided to combine them on the 21st

We left home a little past 3, there was quite a bit of traffic in some areas of Beach Blvd, as usual. I had asked N for the beach pass, and we arrived at the beach around 4:20.

I told Lizzie I wanted to get my feet wet too, so I took a beach towel to clean and dry my feet afterwards. We parked the car and walked on the sand towards the shore.

Big surprise!!! we reached the end? of the sand, and there was like a 4 feet ledge of heavy packed sand all the length of the beach, the sand had been pushed by the high tides, and it was now low tide.We looked over the ledge and tried to decide how to get down to the shore. I am now sorry I didn't take a picture to show how far down to the shore it was. L started first so she could help me down, she started slowly but the sand being sandy and shifty started sliding down and she fell on her butt, but she made it OK, then it was my turn. I've never been very sporty, and now at 76 even less so. I tried a few times but the sand kept shifting and it look so far down to the water. Finally I sort of slid down and it got so it was hard to stop and  kept on going till I was almost by the water.

My iphone camera left a little dot on my forehead in the picture

The sunset over Catalina was beautiful, and I did get my feet wet!

It was pretty chilly

Lizzie holding a big stick left in the surf

The sunset colors were amazing, the water cold but refreshing, we enjoyed it very much, but then we had to get back to the dry beach, which meant climbing up the big wall of sand!

Again Lizzie went first, it took her a while to find some footing as the sand  kept on shifting, but she made it OK. Then it was my turn!

I tried and tried but it was a step up and 3 steps down. We tried holding to each end of the towel and Lizzie would try to get me up, but she kept sliding, the sand shifting. We were the only people at the beach and I had passing thoughts of the tide rising and taking me away!,  finally I started digging on the wall of sand trying to dig deep enough that would hold my foot it was hard work but after several tries I reached the top and Lizzie helped me up. I was covered in wet sand (my pants had got wet when I walked on the water).  We rested a few minutes while I cleaned the sand of my feet and legs and clothes. The sky was bright red and orange and we turned toward the water for one last picture.

That was quite an adventure for me!!!

Afterwards we drove downtown Huntington Beach and had dinner at Avila's El Ranchito.

I had a bowl of chicken soup with rice with avocado, a taco, chips and salsa and a Margarita

I needed that!  ;)

A fun evening 

My 76th Birthday!

WOW 76, hard to believe, but I'm happy to say that this birthday finds me in good health with a very positive outlook in life, and very happy and grateful to my daughters.

My daughters got together to give me a wonderful birthday. Lizzie made reservations at the Wyndham hotel in San Diego for the night of December 14th. She also made reservations to Ruth's Chris Restaurants. Sandy came on Friday from Sacramento and we picked her up at the airport.

We left on Saturday and checked at the hotel, they got an upgrade and our room was a suite with a wonderful view of the San Diego bay and Harbor for Lizzie and me, Sandy got a room with a great view of  the city of San Diego.

Also had a lovely view of the sunset

We had a really spectacular dinner at Ruth's Chris Restaurant,https://www.ruthschris.com/  within walking distance from the hotel. The Restaurant, the service and the food was first class all the way. Best steak ever!

Juicy, tender, great ribeye steak!

 

                                                                                              My beautiful daughters

Yummy creme brulee

After dinner we went back to the hotel and got ready to go aboard the Star of India for a night of poetry (Lizzie started the program with a beautiful poem) and music. Sorry I couldn't post a picture.

https://sdmaritime.org/visit/the-ships/star-of-india/

Star of India

It was a really wonderful day and I can't thank my daughters enough for giving me such a great gift to celebrate my birthday. 

Of course Lulu enjoyed the day as well by having a puppachino

On Monday we took Sandy to the airport and she went back to Utah, Thank you Sandy for coming to spend this time with us. I really loved having my girls together for my celebration.

Tuesday the 17th was my proper birthday and Lizzie and I went to La Huasteca for drinks and tacos. Here I was serenaded by the staff and given a cheesecake with berries.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

November recap

November flew by! It was a good month, lots of rain which was needed too.

1. All Saints Day. I put a rose and a candle for Marvin. At night L and I went to Santa Monica to see      Steve Poltz. I enjoyed it very much.
2. It hailed!
3. DST. Days get dark sooner :(  Went to Lakewood Park with L and Lulu
4. N came over, we had Indian dinner.
7. Went to Kohls with L. Late lunch at Tempo in Brea.
8-12  - Working at clearing stuff in the garage and taking lots of things to Goodwill.
13. Brunch at Scotty's in Whittier. Chicken fried steak, eggs, biscuit and gravy.

14. Went to the new taco place in town, it was good.
15.  S, MT and T to Cancun Mexico. I made corned beef/roast beef tacos.
16- L to San Diego. I stayed home. Went to TJ's  to get holiday chocolates.
18. Our financial advisor came over.
19. L's Birthday! @ DISNEYLAND & California Adventures! Had a great time, walked 7.4 miles.
      Wen to Happy Hour to New Moon.

20. Rain
21. Black Angus for L's birthday dinner. Was amazing.
23-24  L to Sand Diego, met with friends.
26.  Went to La Huasteca for Happy Hour/Taco Tuesday. Very good! Got a free Chambord Margarita          yummy!

28. Thanksgiving. N didn't come, he wasn't feeling well and it was too rainy. L and I went to 20/60.           Not a traditional meal. S and family canceled the Pocatello trip because of big snow.
29.  L and I to Anthony's for a color and cut for me, and a cut for L (BD present) Had tapas dinner at         Phlight. Very good.

30. Last day of November. Library, got some good books and it made me happy.

MOVIES I'VE WATCHED IN NOVEMBER

BOOKS I'VE READ IN NOVEMBER

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for health, home, family and friends, and Lulu  :)

A birthday dinner

Lizzie signed up for a birthday offer from Black Angus, which was a "free" steak dinner with the purchase of another entree of the same or higher price. All good.

So on Thursday, still her birthday week, we went to Black Angus.  We found out that the free dinner was for up to $20, but we wanted rib steaks and they were$32 each, so we decided to have the Campfire Feast dinner for two, and they would deduct the $20 from the total price.

Here's what we had:

Sweet molasses bread, and cheesy bread (a winner!)
Lizzie had the ribeye steak with fries and macaroni and cheese
I had the ribeye steak with loaded baked potato and grilled asparagus
For dessert we had NY cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
I had a white sangria that didn't taste like sangria but was very good anyway.

The meal was excellent, one of the best rib steaks I had for a long time. Perfectly cooked and tender.
We were very full and satisfied.

For Thanksgiving, we decided we'll go to El Cholo, since neither one of us likes a traditional turkey dinner. I may make a pecan pie :)  Norbert came back from Las Vegas but he  was not feeling too great because he thinks he ate some romaine lettuce from Salinas, that had been in the news because some people got ecoli from eating them and there was a warning not to eat romaine.

I told him of our plans for Thanksgiving and asked him to join us, he said he would come because he didn't want to be by himself on Thanksgiving. Hopefully he'll feel better by then :)

Sandy and family got back from warm Mexico and back to snowy Utah! 

Disneyland!

We celebrated Lizzie's birthday by going to Disneyland :)

It was so much fun. Everything  looked so festive decorated for Christmas! Here are the rides I took:

Haunted Mansion Holiday (always a winner)
Star Wars: Smugglers Run  (super fun, I was the gunner)
King Arthur Carrousel  (all horses Merry-go-Round)
Star Tours  (it shook me up)
We also went thru Mickey's House @ Toontown
Disneyland Railroad  (nice way to  go around the park)
@ California Adventure: Soaring over the World (Lovely!!!)

We saw the lights turning at It's a Small World and Sleeping Beauty Castle. Spectacular!

I had pictures taken with Pluto and Goofy :)

We saw the end of Disney characters parade at California Adventure. It was so fun because they all came by us and smiled and threw kisses at us.

We ate pretzels, churros, and a delicious hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli's

We walked and enjoyed all Disneyland and California Adventures. I walked 7.4 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We left after 8, and drove to Buena Park and had Happy Hour bites at the New Moon.

FUN DAY

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Maybe next time

Maybe next time  the NABLO thingie comes around I will try again to write daily. I think I've done pretty good this month especially at the beginning.

But from now on I think I'll just write when I have something to say, and of course  my recaps.
Next week there's things coming up so I may have something fun to write about :)

Some times, I may write about things other than my day to day life.

L is going to SD tomorrow and S and family are in Mexico on vacation, N is going to LV. Lulu and I are staying home.

Nothing about nothing

Since L and I do basically the same things, is hard to write  about  day to day happenings.

I watched the Latin Grammys and Rosalia, a singer from Barcelona, won Best Album , best  pop vocal and best urban song. I really like her. 

So I was going to make a link for one of her songs and instead I ended up watching Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrities reading mean tweets"  funny but now I need to sign off or I won't make the midnight cut off!

Love you!

Dolce far niente

Woke up at 11
Had breakfast: 6 baguette slices  con tomate y ajo + 3 slices chorizo
Played in the computer
Watched TV
Took a shower
Had a cup of homemade soup
Read
Take Lulu outside to do her business

L came home from work
Burritos for dinner
Talk with L just  this and that
Lulu happy doggie
Read
Did some PSP
Ready for bed soon

November cleaning

Saturday I couldn't sleep. I kept on thinking about stuff and it made me restless and unable to just tell my brain to calm down and let me sleep. I finally slept at 4:45AM  Among the things I was thinking about was to clean and organize the garage.

Lizzie has been a great help and did her stuff in record time. But I have to go box by box and  decide what to throw away, what to give to Goodwill/recycle, and what to keep. It is stressful for me because things that don't mean anything to "you" bring back memories and are hard to give up. I have a box called miscellaneous, L calls them knick knacks. Some stuff is really easy to say trash them, or give them away, but other stuff is much harder to , stuff I have kept during the 54 years I've lived in the US. I have got pretty emoiional a few times, even writing about it brings tears to my eyes.

Anyway yesterday I had a piece of "brownie" so I would be mellow and wouldn't think so much about keeping stuff . It worked OK and I got rid of quite a bit of stuff. But then I got sleepy -remember I didn't sleep much the night before- and didn't feel like doing more so I had a late lunch and we decided to continue on Monday.

Trophies of 4H  for Tippi and her handler Sandy

Monday we did a lot more. Now you can see empty shelves in the garage! Lizzie organized the boxes of things I've kept , we've also put stuff together that were in different boxes, like "office supplies"  "electronics" "health supplies" etc. We'll keep working on it .

There's still a lot to do. We have about 7 boxes of Christmas things! Of course the left side of the garage has not been touched. That's for another time.

How I felt today

Didn't do much today, well I cooked a pork roast.

Then later I wanted to do some gardening but.....

Shopping

I'm not a good shopper, I don't like to try things on and I get tired, but I went with L and it was OK.

I got me a hat! I'm not sure about it as I only wear caps or knitted hats in winter sometimes. But my hair has not been looking good so I looked for some hats at Kohls. I put one for fun but Lizzie said it looked cute, she even sent a picture to Sandy asking if she liked that hat on me, she responded, sure. Not a great endorsement but I bought it anyway.

We had lunch at Tempo in Brea  https://tempocantina.com/ I liked the place but the sangria was too sweet and my tacos too spicy, but it was fun trying a new place. After we had some yummy  cupcake, I loved their chocolate chip cookie!

It gets dark so early that it always seems later than it actually is. I may have to change my schedule a little, maybe go to bed earlier and wake up earlier?

Cooking shows!

Wednesdays are my fun  TV days:  Cooking Shows!

There's 2 shows I watch every Wednesday. One comes from Catalunya and is in Catalan. It's call "Joc de cartes"  or Card Games.  The premise is like this...the host/presenter  goes to 4 different restaurants in differents areas of Catalunya, looking for the best Restaurant of...catalan, cooking, or best outdoor cooking, or best fish restaurant, etc etc.  He meets with four Restaurant owners/managers  and they go to each one and judge the restaurant and give points for the dining room, the kitchen, the service, the food, and the price. At the end they all meet and they each  read and comment about how many points they got and why . Then they get in the van and  drive to the restaurant with the most points and he/she get a diploma as Best.... and 5000 euros.   It's fun for me because of course they speak catalan and the food makes me salivate and makes me wish I could eat some of it!

Marc Ribas, presenter of Joc de cartes

The other show is Master Chef Spain. Is pretty similar to Master Chef US. It has 3 judges, 2 men and a woman, my favorite is Jordi Cruz, the owner and chef of a 5 star restaurant in Barcelona. He's cute too!  This time they are having Master Chef Celebrity #4. Every week the weakest one gets expelled. Right now there's 6 left (out of 14). They are: a female comedian from Barcelona, a Madrid socialite whose mother was married to Julio Iglesias and her father is a marquis, a  well known Venezuelan gay writer , a male actor from Huelva , a singer/actress/TV presenter from Sevilla , and a male fashion designer from Barcelona.  Very entertaining.

Juan Avellaneda, fashion designer

There's one problem, the shows are very long and with the difference in time I go to bed late!!!

I just finished watching Joc de Cartes, and getting ready to watch Master Chef Celebrity. It lasts 3 1/2 hours, no commercials.  If I get sleepy I may just watch half now and the other half tomorrow.

Just another Tuesday

I slept well with my new pillow!

I think I've mentioned that I have very vivid dreams, very specific ones, full of colors and details. Maybe I'll share some of my random dreams in this blog :)

I called N yesterday to see if he could come up at take me to Costco yet again, of course he said yes, but he had other stuff to do and didn't get here till almost 4.  I had told L we'd go have lunch but then we didn't so she ended up cooking some chicken sausage and cheesy rice for herself. I was thinking N and I would go have something to eat after shopping.

 Costco was a bust! They didn't have the jamon de bellota I wanted, actually they didn't have anything I had in my shopping list (in my head) but I got another fruitcake. I also got 3 lbs of pistachios -yes, I'm addicted- and 2 boxes of frozen Indian food  that I hope Lizzie likes as well. N did a lot of shopping, big time, I was surprised! lots of fruits and vegetables, two big salmons a case of beer etc. 

After that I was so hungry I didn't feel like having an hour discussion about where to go to eat so I suggested we had  a sausage or something outside Costco. They used to have Polish sausage that was pretty good but now they only had hot dogs, so N bought some chicken and cheese  roll contraption. I only ate half of it and I'm pretty sure I won't have it again, but at least it stopped the hunger pains.

Time for bed now. G'night!! Oh wait is only 11 :)

Turrones :)

I didn't do a lot today, but in the morning I went to Marshalls  looking for some chocolates and turrones from Spain. They didn't have a lot, but I bought some truffles, and a big bar of dark chocolates with hazelnuts, and a package of 3 turrones.

I also got a big bone for Lulu. She won't chew on it unless L or I are in the room with her, if we are all in the room it makes her extra happy!

Oh and I also got me a new pillow. Is called Essence of Bamboo. I turn around so much that all my pillows lose their shape after a few nights, then I have to wash them and fluff them and I get tired of doing it.  I hope I like this one!

Tonight I made boiled and fried red potatoes and chicken and ham croquetas, they were good just a tad too salty ;)  We also had our weekly call with Sandy. I hope her cold gets better!

Tomorrow N is supposed to come by and take me to Costco to buy another fruitcake and some Spanish jamon de bellota, yum! I don't have a Costco membership anymore, just Sam's and they don't carry products from Spain hmpf!

DST

We gained an hour with Daylight Savings Time, but I don't like that the sunset is at 5:00PM
I much prefer it gets darker late because I sleep late in the morning anyway.  Of course I shouldn't complain because I guess in Sweden the sunset is ever earlier :)

The weather was nice and mild, and L and Lulu and I went for a walk in one of the trails L discovered in Lakewood. We walked for a mile, which is about right for both Lulu and me.  It was very pleasant.

At home I made chicken fajitas, and I made Margaritas from scratch. Lizzie could not finish hers, they were VERY strong, 2 ozs tequila, 2 ozs Cointreau, 3/4 oz lime juice, shake all with ice and serve in salt rimmed glass. I prefer to use a good mixer and good tequila, but I had no mixer. 

Good night everybody!