Duke

Got an email from Kia today asking how everyone is so I thought I'd post a quick update.  We adopted a new dog.  He was abandoned one cold night last December and left tied to a fence at a rescue group.  Our friends, Chris and Liz saw his story online and let us know about him.  Cooper has been a little lonely without Kanan and was falling into a bit of an inactive lifestyle.  He was still getting his daily hikes or trips to the park but it wasn't the same as having a friend to run and rough and tumble with.  Duke was the name the rescue group gave him but he had a leather collar with Dre scratched on it.  Guessing the previous owner was a fan of rapper Dr. Dre.  Here's the photo the rescue group posted of him online.

They guessed Duke to be part lab, part pit and around 2 years old.  He was so thin with ribs showing and an intact male.  They said the people in the particular area where he was abandoned almost never neuter their pets, get their shots or treat them for fleas.  Quite a contrast to the life he would have with us!  Rescue groups are so great:  they had him checked by a vet, neutered him, gave him all his shots, bathed and treated him for fleas and microchipped him.  All for $145.00!  Here's a photo of his sweet face.

He's been with us 2 months now and it's like he's always been a part of the family.  He loves us, especially Jeff, the boys and Cooper.  He's super friendly and loves going to the dog park and making friends with everyone.

There's something special about a rescue dog... you can feel their gratitude.  Here's a photo that lets you know just how great of an addition to our family he has turned out to be.

"Buds"

G'Day Mates! Just back from Australia!

Surprise!  A new post!  Thought I'd share our latest vacation to Australia.  We left on September 8th and spent 2 weeks visiting three very different locations.  The good news is I didn't break anything but you might see Jeff wearing my old sling.  While mountain biking to increase his endurance for a SCUBA dive trip at the Great Barrier Reef, he did a header and fractured his elbow!  He had to snorkel instead because it was too hard to manage the weighty SCUBA gear but still had a great time while Justin SCUBA'd.  Our first stop was beautiful Hamilton Island- a little piece of tropical paradise with the whitest sand beach on the planet- actually pure silica!  Sarah did all the trip planning and we stayed at the most fabulous places!  Here's a link to our Hamilton Island photos:

We moved up further north to Cairns (pronounced Cans) where it was even more tropical.  While Jeff and Justin dove at the Great Barrier Reef, we were joined by Sarah's sister Amy and her Australian lawyer boyfriend and we toured rainforests.  It was great having an Aussie drives us around with all the driving on what is the wrong side of the street for us and confusing roundabouts!  Here's the link to Cairns.


Finally, it was on to beautiful Sydney.  Sarah arranged a very special outing for us.  As you may remember, Justin has a dog called an American Dingo.  We visited a Dingo Rescue and they had a new litter of puppies!  We got to play with them and we took the older dingos on a walk.  We donated money for the experience and they were able to make improvements on their facilities and sent us photos of the new additions!  Our only disappointment was it rained on our planned day to visit the Blue Mountains so we missed seeing that in all it's glory.  Here are photos from Sydney!

I do miss blogging with my old, longtime friends!  For those living abroad, you'll appreciate that I had a lot of "Trumpslaining" to do as to why America has seemingly gone mad regarding our elections.  It's hugely embarrassing and we all joked we would wear Canadian Maple Leaf caps to avoid the WTH questions!

Photos from our European Vacation

I'm posting Facebook links to our photos and you do not have to be on Facebook to view.  2 weeks into our 3 week trip you will see my arm in a sling.  A funny thing happened on the way to The Forum (literally) in Rome... I was listening to an audio guide of the sights and tripped on an ancient cobblestone.  In a valiant attempt worthy of a gladiator to save my phone, I came down hard on my wrist and fractured it badly!  The ambulance came (wee-woo) and took me to the hospital where only one person I came into contact with spoke English- fortunately the doctor who treated me.  They had to "manipulate" my arm in a manner similar to the rack I had just seen in the Tower of London 2 weeks earlier.  I ended up with a cast from my fingertips to above my elbow which was like carrying a 10 lb baby around for the rest of our trip.  This all happened the day before our cruise and nothing was going to stop me from getting on that ship!  We did have some of the wildest adventures and I'll try and post some stories to go along with the photos soon.  Two days after we got home, I had surgery on my wrist but will be rid of the sling in a week and I start physical therapy.

London

Hampton Court

Paris

Zurich

Bernina Express (Swiss Alps)

Venice

Rome

Allure of the Seas

Barcelona

Palma de Mallorca

Aix-en-Provence and Cassis

Cinque Terre

Adding one story that I posted on Facebook...

So the Bastille Day in Paris story... Yes, high speed Eurostar from London at noon and dinner cruise reservations that evening... What could go wrong? Well how about our Eurostar breaking down and limping into Paris 3 hours late? So now it's after 5 pm and we are trying to walk to our hotel that I know is a 9 minute walk and we get totally lost! Make our way back to train station and Jeff says let's just take a taxi! "Taxi driver" tells us €30 and I say, "It's a 9 minute walk!" And he says, "Ok, 2 euros a minute!" Sorry, I've read my Rick Steves and know a scammer! So off we go walking again and get even more lost! Without anymore detail, let's just say we were introduced to the more dodgy areas of Paris! Finally after an hour or so of wandering the streets and back alleys of Paris with luggage in tow, we find our lovely little hotel at about the time we are supposed to be boarding our boat! We check in, throw on our dressy clothes and have Micael point us in the direction of the Metro. What more could go wrong? Is it even possible to make it to our "prepaid" dinner cruise to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower? We hop on the packed number 7 metro (I have my directions- 2 trains and a bus or if no bus a 20 min walk) and within 30 seconds a pickpocket has his hand in Jeff's pants trying to steal his wallet (in our rush, no time to put on the money belt) and Jeff slaps his hand away saying, "Get your hand outta there!!!" Think that"s it? Non! We are on #7 but heading in the wrong direction! Get off first stop and run around and get back on #7 going right way. Transfer to # 8, get off at correct stop but no bus so start speed walking with thousands of Parisians along the riverfront (almost sure boat has left by now) and finally arrive dripping in sweat to our dock... And we are not too late!!! The rest of the night was amazing as you can see from the video of fireworks over the Eiffel Tower! Unforgettable! I have another video to share about a magical moment onboard "The Cristal" and yet another tale about our adventure back to the hotel... arriving at 2 am! (No, we didn't get lost again!)

What was I saying...

It's been so long since I posted here and I don't miss the daily thinking up of things to write about.  For almost 10 years, it came easily and then, all of a sudden, it became a chore.  What I do miss are the blog friends who are not on Facebook.  I haven't found Twitter something I like to use but I do check it to see how friends are doing from time to time.  I was saddened to read this morning about Annie's loss of her beloved cat Garfield and decided it was time to give a little update.  Maybe those who see updates on their blogs will see that I posted.

We also experienced two sad losses since the beginning of 2015.  At the beginning of the year, we lost our sweet calico cat, Hayley Mills.  She died extremely suddenly of kidney failure.  She was Hunter's sister and she was our pet who had epilepsy and was on constant medication for that.

Then in another blow, we lost our 9 year old black lab, Kanan, to cancer which all of you know has plagued our dogs.  Once again, we went to our oncology vet, who knows us all too well, for treatment and chemotherapy which did not prove to be effective in Kanan's case.  So Jeff and I once again made the trek up to our hill to scatter Hayley's and Kanan's ashes where Dylan's and Kali's also remain.  Kanan was an especially tough loss for Jeff as Kanan was so devoted to him.

In good news, Jeff and I are finally getting around to those travel plans!  We have a family trip to Yosemite coming up in June and then in July, we will be in Europe for a little over 3 weeks.  Our first stop is London for 4 days then on to Paris for 3 days.  We will take a train from Paris to Zurich and then board the Bernina Express for a scenic ride through the alps on a narrow gauge train to Italy.  We will spend the night in Milan before boarding another train to Venice where we will stay for another 3 days.  We then leave for Rome and stay 2 nights before embarking on a 7 day Mediterranean cruise about the largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's  "Allure of the Seas."  Here's a little map of our itinerary at sea.

After we return to Rome, we will board a plane to Prague and stay there 2 nights before returning to London for one last night before our return flight home. 

Any advice anyone has for things to do in any of our stops would be greatly welcomed.  Turns out that we will be arriving in Paris on Bastille Day so should be in for some excitement, partying and fireworks over the Eiffel Tower.  As I said on Facebook, guess I can scratch off a bucket list item that I didn't even know was in my bucket!

Lots of love to you all! <3 <3 <3   

Kitchen Remodel

I just posted some photos to Facebook of our kitchen remodel and there was a link I could use to share with everyone even if you're not on FB.  So here's the link...

Kitchen Remodel Photos

I will try to do an update here soon.

Christmas Cookies Blog Hop

Peppermint Cream Bites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos (15 cookies)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons shortening
(Optional- crushed peppermint candies or candy canes for topping)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan; set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine crushed cookies and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, blender or using a mixer combine powdered sugar and softened butter. Cover and process until butter is evenly distributed. With processor running, add milk and peppermint extract through feed tube until a paste forms. Spread peppermint mixture evenly over prepared crust. Freeze for 45 minutes.
• In a medium microwave-safe bowl combine chopped chocolate and shortening. Microwave on high about 1 minute or until chocolate is melted, stirring once. Let chocolate cool for 15 minutes. Pour chocolate over peppermint layer, spreading evenly. 
• Optional:  Top finished bites with crushed peppermint candies while chocolate is still wet.
• Using the edges of the foil, lift uncut bars out of pan. Use a 1-1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut into rounds or use a sharp knife to cut into squares.  Could also use any Christmas shape cookie cutter.  Store in the freezer until serving time.
• Place peppermint bites in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

Continue the blog hop by clicking on the graphic below

Thankful for Thanksgiving

When November rolls around and we think of things we are thankful for, I always think of how thankful I am for America's very special holiday:  Thanksgiving.  It's such a heartwarming feeling to see how so many families come together to enjoy this day.  Over the hills and through the woods to grandmother's house we go.  The airports are crowded with travelers trying to get home sweet home.  It's a holiday without "presents" but rather the gift of togetherness.  When I sit down to dinner with my family, I smile thinking of all the families sharing pretty much the same meal:  turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberries. maybe that green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and all those traditional dishes that we often only have once a year.

Here's one of my favorite photos of a turkey I cooked a couple of years ago.

Pretty proud of how it looks- almost magazine worthy!

This is my "Special Yam Casserole" I make for Thanksgiving.

  Recipe follows along with another family favorite,

Auntie Joy's Zest Carrots:

Click to enlarge

"Auntie Joy's Zesty Carrots"

Let's dig in and be thankful for all we have living in America!

CONTINUE CHATTERBUG BLOGHOP

BY CLICKING GRAPHIC BELOW

   

Autumn in Southern California

CHATTERBUG BLOGHOP
(Link to next blog at bottom of post)

I know people don't think there's a change of seasons in Southern California but there is.  It may not be as dramatic as other areas of the US but there are plenty of changes if you just look for them.  One thing we in the LA area can do to help it feel autumnal is to plant deciduous trees and bushes that change color.  Two very popular boulevard tress are liquidambers (aka sweetgums) and crape myrtles.  In addition to planting those two trees, we also have a mini forest of birch trees in our backyard.  Sycamores are also very popular.  Here's a photo taken out my upstairs windows of our neighborhood showing off it's fall color.

This photo was taken late in the year, probably late November, so our fall is a little delayed from what it is in other areas of the country.

Here's a photo of our backyard birches taken from our living room.

  Crape Myrtles have brilliant pink flowers in summer but beautiful fall color later

The other thing I do once it's fall is to change decor in my house.  One of the easiest changes is to have throw pillow covers that you can change seasonally.  Mine all come from Pottery Barn.  I also change out placemats, dining room table centerpiece, decorate the chandelier, bring out my autumn Longaberger baskets and add an autumn wreath on our front door.

And then of course there's Halloween and I have to bring out my Dept 56

And decorate the front door in my black and white theme!

BOO!

Continue the Chatterbug Blog Hop by clicking on the graphic below

Bora, Bora

Justin and Sarah had non-stop rain the two days they were in Tahiti and were pretty disappointed to say the least.  Being Survivor fans, I pointed out at least they were staying in posh digs rather than outside in the elements!  Kind of the ultimate "First World Problem!"  Fortunately, their move to Bora, Bora brought them the sunshine they were hoping for.  They are staying at Le Méridien Bora Bora  in one of those iconic over the water bungalows.  Justin says Bora Bora is easily the most beautiful place he has ever seen.  Here's a photo of their bungalow with famous Mount Otemanu in the background.  I made this photo my iPhone lock screen wallpaper.  Couldn't be more perfect!

Inside their bungalow showing the glass-bottom floor

Justin going for a swim right off the ladder to their bungalow

Looking through the glass bottom floor as he swims by

Sarah's turn

The Bride

The Groom

Justin Stand-Up Paddleboarding

Spelunking and Little Lambs

I've mentioned before that Sarah is such a great travel planner and finds the most unique places to stay and things to do.   So far, in New Zealand, they went zorbing which is rolling down a hill in a large inflatable globe.  They also went spelunking and rafting in 43 degree water in a glow worm cave- see Black Water Rafting Company.  I'm pretty sure these activities were planned with Justin in mind.  But for Sarah, the main reason they were staying at Kamahi Cottage billed as New Zealand's only 5 star farm accommodation, was so she could pet baby lambs.  Well, she got her wish!

 

Sarah is a vegetarian and I don't see any lamb chops in Justin's future now!  

Honeymoon in New Zealand- Day One

Justin knows I am not a fan of flying and especially not in small private type planes so they didn't tell me or Sarah's mom what they had planned for the first day of their honeymoon in New Zealand.  Here's the post they left after the fact on Facebook:

"A floatplane came and picked us up at the jetty a few steps from our room, and took us for a flight over New Zealand's geothermal area...volcanic craters, sulfur bays, geysers, etc. Neat experience! Sorry Sue Bringhurst and Darylynn Mills, we figured it was best to tell you after we were done so you didn't worry. — with Justin Mills at Black Swan Lakeside Boutique Hotel."

They got that right... I would've been very worried but now I have to wonder what else they aren't telling us about their plans!  Here are photos from their flight.

Next they move on to Kamahi Cottage, a luxury sheep farm resort so Sarah can hold baby lambs-   That sounds a bit tamer but I wonder what else they have up their sleeve?!?

The Wedding!

I will have to wait a few weeks until Justin and Sarah are back from their honeymoon but I have a few photos from friend's cellphones that I can post for you.  The wedding was held on the sand at a lake/lagoon area in Irvine (Orange County) and we were fortunate to have a picture perfect afternoon and evening.  The wedding began at 6:30 pm so it went from a warm glow of a setting sun to little white lights at night twinkling over the water.  Everyone agreed the setting was lovely and most appreciated the casual nature of the wedding.  Here's a photo of the new Mr. & Mrs. Mills.  It gave me a start when I heard that!

Sarah is an avid reader so all of the bouquets were crafted of flowers made from book pages.  Very unique! Here's a photo of Sarah with her flower girl, niece Gabriella, who looked adorable!

Ryan and Jacob were the ring bearers and here's a photo of them along with Justin and Jessica who was one of Sarah's bridesmaids.

Sunday night, they left for their honeymoon in New Zealand, Tahiti and Bora Bora.  While at LAX, they ran into Elijah Wood who was on the same flight as Amy, Sarah's sister who is living in Australia.  Here's a photo of Amy and Frodo himself headed back to the Shire no doubt.

I will try and post more photos as I get them.  I always like to track their travel itineraries as Sarah is such a great travel planner.  She finds the most interesting places to stay.  For example, for part of their time in New Zealand, they are staying at Kamahi Cottage billed as New Zealand's only 5-Star Farm Bed & Breakfast Boutique.  Yes, it's a sheep farm and Sarah is determined to hold baby lambs.  Their travels to Tahiti and Bora Bora will have them staying in one of the fabulous over-the-water huts which I always say is on my bucket list!  

All of this going on in the middle of a kitchen remodel which has actually gone to a worse state then the photo I last posted.  Walls are even gone now so they can do all the new electrical and plumbing!  We are also dog sitting Justin's dog, Sierra, so I have 3 dogs, 3 cats and 2 grandsons all in a house filled with plumbers and electricians.  Luckily, the boys return to school on Wednesday.  Jacob is beginning Transitional Kindergarten as the cut-off date for kindergarten is now September 1 and he won't be 5 until September 22. I'm the one who needs that Bora Bora over-the-water hut!

Where Was I?

So, what was I saying?  I know, I know... it's been a long, long time and I'm sorry for worrying a few people (emails I received) that something bad had happened.  I'm not returning to regular blogging but thought I'd post occasionally just to let you know I'm alive and well.  We are finally about to begin our kitchen remodel so I'll post some photos of drawings of the design.  Justin and Sarah's wedding is about 6 weeks away so I'l have photos to post about that and then the fabulous honeymoon they will take to places like New Zealand and Bora Bora.  We have been on a real roller coaster ride with Jeff's mom.  She is slipping further into dementia and Jeff found her a nice assisted living facility from which she keeps escaping.  It's not fun having the sheriff pull up to your house and knock on the door!  There's a whole post in itself.  But for now, on to the kitchen.

I can't believe how patient I've become.  Normally, I want things done yesterday but this has been dragging on for months and I'm still pretty nonchalant about it.  I guess I've finally learned not to sweat the small stuff.  We have a nice contractor who is working with a kitchen designer that we chose and they have been cooperating together to design our kitchen.  It involves combining our current kitchen and the adjoining breakfast room into one big kitchen.  So everything will go including the ceiling and floor.  We've bought all the appliances and the cabinetry is ordered.  This next week, we are having a electrical panel upgrade (to handle all the new appliances and lighting) which involves digging a trench from the street to the current electrical panel.  Phooey!  Who cares about this stuff... just get on with my new kitchen!  We still have to select all out granite, tile, faucets, hardware and lighting but here's some drawings of how the kitchen will look.  You can click on the drawings to see them bigger.

Here's a top view of the new kitchen.  Showing this view so you can see the angles- like the right wall has almost a hutch-like area that is set out... a lot of angles makes for an interesting look with the crown molding.

A side view.  Having an island was a must since we always gather there

This is the back wall.  All the appliances are Thermador.  The dishwasher is next to the sink, that's a pro-cooktop six burner range with pro-hood, and on the far right a double oven.  Only need that on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I requested the feet on certain areas to give that furniture-look to the cabinetry,

This is what I call the decorative wall.  There's the hutch area I mentioned.  It has a plate rack and the two cabinets on either side are glass with led lighting.  On the right is a wine rack.  The glass will have the same v-groove etching that our living room windows have.  There's one more glass cabinet that you can see in the previous photo next to the sink.

This is the view of the refrigerator and pantry.  The refrigerator/freezer comes in columns.  The freezer on the left side is 18 inches wide and the refrigerator is 30 inches so it's large at 48 inches total.  It will be paneled in the same wood as the cabinets.  The cabinets are pearl white with pewter glaze which only goes in the lines.  It looks really nice with all the stainless appliances.  Our appliances wont even have those vents at the bottom like in the drawing so it really blends in seamlessly.  The pantry is on the right.

Finally, the island.  It's the trend here to not have your island match the rest of the kitchen so the island will have the same cabinets but in cherry with an oynx glaze.  Also something new is a microwave drawer.  Everyone tells me they are fantastic as you can slide it open and look down on what you're cooking rather than tippy-toe to see a higher mounted micro.  There will be seating for four.

So there you have it.  Our contractor is estimating 6 to 8 weeks.  Once the kitchen gutting begins, we will have to have our current refrigerator in the garage and set up coffeemaker and toaster oven in our mini bar. We will BBQ a lot and get take out.  I don't think I'll have a problem with that but we'll see!  I'll add more photos as the demo and rebuilding progresses.  Happy 4th of July!