Halloween is coming!

It's almost the end of October, and it's going out with a big wallop in the East Coast. Hurricane Sandy is called the perfect storm. With a name like Sandy how could it not be perfect? :)

October has been a pretty good month, the weather has been great in the 70's mainly. Sandy's knee surgery went well, Marvin has been feeling pretty good most of the time, I had my 2 crowns (grr dentists!) and Lizzie had a nice vacation.

We had the tree trimmers come and work on the 2 trees on the back, unfortunately they had to destroy the squirrel's nest. Oh well!

We have had Dewey and Mary come to visit with the lil poodle Petey. It is funny how she treats him like a baby, she even takes him for a walk while holding him up in her arms. He's a bad tempered puppy, growling and trying to bite anybody coming close to him, especially Lulu, that really only wants to play.

growling

 

Finally Lulu got tired and ran after him, it was funny!

here they are friends playing together :)

 

Have a Happy Halloween

 



 





The Cotswolds

There is a place in the world that I would dearly like to see. The Cotswolds in England.

I have reading books by an English author called Katie Fforde. Her books are fun and easy to read, girl's lit basically, but I like that her characters are everyday women. The stories are nice and everything always ends the way you'd like them to end.

The author lives in The Cotswolds, and  her books take place in that area of England, and the way she depicts them I got interested in seeing pictures and learning about the history. It is located in the lower part of the Southwest of England, and it is beautiful.

If you want to learn more about it, here's a link :)
http://www.cotswolds.info/



Squirrels and a pub story

We've been having a constant visitor in our garden, a squirrel. I have taken several pictures of him climbing on the bird feeder, it seems like he jumps from the garage roof.



 I decided to move the feeder and put it over by the fountain.
Today we were very entertained with the squirrel antics, trying to find out how he could get to the new feeder place. He climbed on the house roof, moved over to the pergola, tried to jump to the feeder, almost fell on the fountain, etc. He was not able to get to it but it was very amusing to watch.
I felt  for him for trying so hard, and I put some food in the small bird fountain. Soo he found it and ate happily. Then another squirrel came in, and so it went. Lulu was really aggravated watching all the wildlife roaming around her garden!

Afterwards Lizzie, Marvin and I went out to eat at Maggie's Pub.

(don't know why the double picture)

Marvin was feeling  good and we were looking forward to a nice fish dinner. After we were seated, I realized that my chair was all wet and my pants  got soaked. It had been raining and the waitress said the roof might have leaked. She

offered to change us to a different table but I just changed my seat and was a little uncomfortable. But the fish was very good.

When we got he bill, I went to the hostess and explained the problem with the water, and we got a discount on our meal. She was very nice about it, and then she asked me if I was a teacher, I said yes. She asked if I worked at Jersey, I said yes, and then she said you were my Kindergarten teacher! then her sister who is a waitress there came over and she said hi Mrs. Wann :)

 

All in all it was a pleasant day.

 

Spring cleaning in the Fall

Now that the weather has cooled down a little bit, I have got a burst of energy and started cleaning out the garage, organizing and getting rid of lots of stuff. Some things I hate to get rid of, but I cannot use them or need them anymore, so off they go to Goodwill.

Norbert came over Saturday and cleaned the Jacuzzi, and helped me move some heavy boxes, he also swept the garage and organized some wood stuff. We went to have lunch at El Torito, it was very good. He got back from 2 weeks in Lake Powell and now is off for 2 more weeks on a trip with his sister. He said it's going to be an all Nevada trip.

When I work in the garage, Marvin comes out sometimes and  l moves the sprinklers around and also helps tearing off  emptycardboard boxes so we can get rid of them more easily. Of course Lulu is out there as well getting in trouble.

Another thing I'm doing this month, is I try to do a little more cooking, different stuff. Marvin has been planning the menu for a week, and I go buy groceries and cook. Maybe you have seen the pictures I am posting in Facebook.

I have been playing games in the computer, my favorites, besides the ones I play with the girls, are the match games and hidden objects games. I have also been watching a lot of "older" movies. Yesterday I watched "A Little Romance" now I am getting ready to watch "Roman Holidays".

And so it goes...  :)

September recap

October already! Is it just me or do the days seem to fly by? And to think I was worried that in my retirement the days would drag on and on and on...

Here's Marvin with a black eye after skin surgery, it looks a lot better now :)

September has been a good month, just a little too hot for my taste. I was hoping October would be a little cooler but today is hot again. It almost makes me wish for Swedish weather (not really lol).

Here are the books I read in September:
Wendy Max - 10 Beach Road
Jennifer Paddock - A Secret Word
Liza Palmer - Conversations with the fat girl
Faye Kellerman - Hangman
Wendy Wax - The Accidental Bestseller
Katie Fforde - Paradise Fields
Kristin Hannah - true colors

Lizzie at El Cholo

Endeavour

This is how it looked flying over La Mirada about noon today.

 

This is not my picture, if I post my picture all you will see is the trail the plane left, because when I heard the  engine noise, and it was loud, I started to run to the front door, but first I went to get my camera, and then my sunglasses (it was very bright outside) then had to tell Lulu no she cannot come outside. By the time I finally went out all that was left was the smoke trail :(

 

Prior to that, I had taken Marvin to the dermatologist to have some skin cancer removed. I had read that the shuttle was going to fly right over where the hospital is (part of the shuttle was built in Downey and it was going to fly over it) So I went to the top floor of the hospital that has a nice view of the Space Center and Los Angeles and waited. Someone saw me looking and told me it was going to fly by in about an hour. So I went home hoping to see it from  there. By the way, when Marvin was having his procedure, the shuttle flew by and all the nurses ran to watch it, Marvin only had a glimpse of one of the jets that flew along the 747.

 

Everybody that saw it said it was an awesome sight!

Totally random post

Today I went to the dentist again. Had to get a permanent crown, plus he worked on another crown and other assorted painful procedures. Dentists are not my favorite people, although my dentist Dr. Cho is young and very knowledgeable and very kind. Right now my left cheek is all bruised, also my tongue and lips. I cannot open my mouth too far and they had to put something to make it open wider grrrrrrr.

Marvin is doing pretty good lately, he goes out in the garden and moves the hoses around and waters the lawn and sits with Lulu. We had an automatic garage door opener, because it was hard for us to lift the door manually, so much easier now :)   We also had a new garbage disposal installed, the old one had rusted and I found myself moping water in the kitchen one morning!

My tomatoes are done for the year, it was a pretty small crop. The tomatoes never sized, they were cherry tomato size. I think it may have been because the weather has been so hot. The peppers  are doing better.



Marvin went to the optometrist to get some glasses made, one for close and one for far. The insurance covered frames and lenses. Now, we both have exactly the same insurance, matter of fact, it is my insurance from the school which now is deducted from my retirement. However,  this same insurance, will not pay for my glasses! Go figure.

Talking about insurance, I read Mia's comments on going to the ER etc. That is what you get when you get socialized medicine. Just saying.

I have been trying to get rid of stuff, the other day I decided to sort my shoes. I got rid of 14 pairs some of them I had hardly worn at all, so they'll go to Goodwill. I am about to do the same with clothes, I have way too many things I haven't worn for years, time to get rid of them.

Norbert got back from his extended trip  to Hungary, Croatia, and France. He said he had a good time visiting with his brothers and siter, and meeting old friends. He went to see the town were he was born, and he said it is a dead town now, everybody left, his father's vineyards are now sunflower fields. But all in all he enjoyed the trip, especially Lourdes.





By the Danube River.

 

So that's about all for tonight. I am about to watch a movie, then take a Motrin and go to sleep.

Have a great week everybody!