Christmas eve day

Well, there was no trail riding on Thursday, so I was able to catch up on wrapping Christmas presents and finishing the sock I was knitting for Dennis. Yes, that's right--sock not socks.

Friday I had what I hope is my last Field of Vision test. I'll find out the results on Jan. 9. Dennis and I left at noon to deliver some of his homemade salad dressing to our friend in Point Loma. Then we drove back to Rancho San Diego for my test. After that we had dinner at Lido's in Lemon Grove; then home to relax.

Saturday, Christmas eve day, everyone came to our house to eat cookies and watch Christmas movies until dinner. Amanda and I chased the turkeys back into their pen in the late afternoon because Dennis and Gary had gone to Klaus's open house in San Clemente. We are waiting for them to come back, then we'll have dinner and open Christmas presents.

A Beautiful Day for a Horse Ride

Today was horseback lesson day and, finally, the weather cooperated...not too cold or windy, no rain, no snow. I'm a little sorry about the no snow, but grateful that I was able to ride. Doc was behaving beautifully with none of the attitude he sometimes has.

Amanda is visiting for the holidays and she ran up while we were having our lesson. She loves riding, so we put her on Doc and Betsy walked her around the arena a few thousand times. Amanda was happy.

Later in the day, Angie brought Amanda over and I gave her the first Harry Potter book to read. Amanda loves to read and she had finished the book she brought with her. She read two chapters while she was at the house, so I think she liked the book.

She's also making her own book, which is reminiscent of my cousin Betty and I writing our detective mysteries while we waited for Santa so many years ago. 

Busy

Yesterday, Monday, was a marathon day. Vivian came over at 7 am to clean the pantry, requiring my help, of course. Then I did all the bookwork (paying bills, etc.) I have been procrastinating about for a couple of weeks. At 12:30 I picked up my sister, Angie, and my Mom for a trip to La Jolla where Mom had a cardiologist appointment. She came out of there with another appointment and a couple of tests to do next month. All baseline tests, nothing critical.

After that we headed to WalMart to pick up a few things. We got home after dark and I think we were all exhausted.

This morning it's back to another doctor in Rancho San Diego, followed by more shopping. We're not going to the movies today, so we should get home before dark. Sigh.

Secret Sauce

Today, a nice cool, rainy day, Geno made his secret pasta sauce for us. He bought all the ingredients and put the sauce together. I opened the cans and Mom, Angie and I took turns stirring the pot every ten minutes for five hours. Otherwise, it was all Geno.

Geno explained the sauce would be ready when the spoon stood up by itself in the pot.











Finally, as the aromatic smell permeating the house was about to drive us crazy, we all sat down to dinner. Our former neighbor, Jay, joined us for a fabulous meal.

Thanks, Geno!

My Week

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011
Angie and Gary came back Saturday night, and Geno arrived on Sunday. Tonight we are having dinner together. I'm serving butternut squash ravioli with my homemade pasta sauce.

Monday, Dec. 12, 2011
Today was Physical Therapy day. I had a 9 a.m. appointment, then came home and worked in the Craft Room for a while.

Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011
Today was Movie Tuesday. We saw New Year's Eve, but it wasn't a great movie. Not the worst we've seen, though.

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011

Had a really good lesson on Doc this morning. He did great even though the SDG&E Power Link helicopters (4 of them) were flying around the property for no apparent reason. They weren't bringing or picking up equipment, so I can't imagine why they felt compelled to buzz around like flies.

I had my last Physical Therapy appointment this afternoon. Now I have a home program of exercises that I need to do, probably forever.

Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011
Joyce and I met at Cuyamaca to ride since Laguna was too snowy after the storm early this week. The trails were muddy and some of it was slippery, but Doc did great.

Friday, Dec. 16, 2011
I had a doctor appointment this morning in La Jolla. I had to leave at 7:30 a.m. to get there by 9. Dennis also had to go into town for work at the port. Around noon we met up at Grossmont Center to do our Christmas shopping and just spend the day together. After shopping, we went to the movies and saw Hugo. It was different than we expected, but we enjoyed it. After the movie, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then drove our separate cars home. Dennis stopped to buy a Julian boysenberry-apple pie for dessert. I arrive at Mom's about ten minutes before Dennis. When he got there, we all had pie and coffee together--Mom, Angie, Gary, Dennis and me.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2011
Dennis had to go to Calexico this morning; Gary went with him. I used the time to make Russian Teacake cookies for Christmas. Next, I'm going to work on the sock I am knitting for Dennis. Socks are hard. I also have packages to wrap. Sigh.

Lost Weekend

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday working on our annual Christmas letter. Finally finished it today and will be printing copies tomorrow.

Lunar Eclipse

Dennis, Mom & I hopped in the car at 5:15 a.m. and drove up to Pine Valley to watch the Lunar Eclipse. We saw the whole thing and were pretty impressed.

Health and Beauty

Today was a physical therapy day. Afterward, I had the first facial of my life. It was really nice.

It was warm in Alpine, but when I got home it was windy and cold. The SDG&E helicopters were back, dropping big orange boxes of equipment on both sides of our property, up on the hill.

We went to Mom's for dinner and ate leftovers--chicken pie and Chinese food. Strangely good. Dennis made a carrot cake and brought some of it for dessert.

We made plans to pick up Mom around 5:15 a.m. and drive west until we could see the lunar eclipse.

T.R.O.T.

It was a gorgeous day in the Lagunas today where Joyce and I rode for about 2-1/2 hours. It was cold, but with jacket and gloves, it was comfortable, especially in the sun.

Tonight we had dinner at Mom's. She made chicken pie from the leftover chicken I cooked in the slow cooker on Saturday.

Dennis is in the kitchen as I write this making a carrot cake. The smell is driving me crazy.

My cousin's sweet little Yorky, Dharma, is very ill. That is so sad and I'm crossing my fingers she'll be better soon.

They're baack

The SDG&E helicopters were back today. This time they were picking up the metal crates and pallets from the equipment they left off Sunday.

Mannheim Steamroller

Last night Mom, Dennis & I went to the Civic Theater downtown San Diego to see the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert. It was great. This is my favorite Christmas music. I've been buying their CDs for years at Christmas.

http://shop.mannheimsteamroller.com/category/1806133681/1/Music.htm

Spike

Spike had another seizure last night. It's so hard to watch, first the seizure and then the wandering around as though he can't see and doesn't know what he is doing or where he is going.

But this morning he was looking for his breakfast like normal; tonight he blasted through his dog door and ran around the living room. He ate his lunch, his dinner, and now is staring me down for cookies. Good boy.

Spike sleeps in the closet most of the time

Power Link

SDGE/Sempra has been on our block for months and will be here until December 30 presumably. But on Saturday they arrived at our house. Helicopters began arriving in the early morning, delivering equipment to the two tower sites just on the other side of our property lines.

Look toward upper right to see the parade of towers coming toward us.

Dinner

My crockpot cooked a whole chicken today and we had that and asparagus and Mom's potatoes for dinner. Angie and Gary came over with Mom and we had a nice dinner together. Dennis made a carrot cake for dessert and it was delicious.

My Sister Returns

Yesterday, Dennis left around 2 a.m. to pick up some equipment in Orange County. I spent the day going to physical therapy in the morning, then doing some grocery shopping. I'm starting to do some of the cooking at home and I needed some condiments. Dennis got home around 5 p.m. and we were both tired; Mom didn't feel like going out, so we all stayed home.

Angie and Gary are returning to the ranch today, but will leave tomorrow for Flagstaff. A short visit.

This morning we are going out for breakfast and then we're going to Blue Dolphin Stained Glass to shop for some glass and maybe a new wine bottle slumper.

No T.R.O.T. Today

Dennis is using the truck today so no trail ride. As it turned out, it's raining so we wouldn't have gone anyway. The vet is coming this afternoon to see if Happy is doing any better. I'm making 3-bean vegetarian chile for dinner tonight. Not too tough; the crockpot is doing most of the work.

Riding Doc

Today I rode Doc around the pond before our lesson with Betsy. He was very good. 

This brings the blog up to date..finally. Whew!

Happy Birthday, Dennis

Monday, Nov. 28, was Dennis's birthday. On Sunday, Mom made cream puffs (instead of a cake) and we celebrated Dennis's birthday at her house. On Monday, Dennis, Mom, Uncle Johnny and I had lunch at Mister A's restaurant in San Diego. Afterward, we went to Extraordinary Desserts in downtown San Diego. Wow, what beautiful desserts! We ate them.

Dennis and Uncle Johnny at Mister A's

Happy

About the time Spike had his seizure, Happy came down with "moon blindness." This disease causes inflammation behind the eyes, which is very painful and causes temporary blindness. This is the second time she has had the condition. It is a recurring disease that people used to think was caused by the moon, thus the name. We have been treating her with medication to control the pain and inflammation. She has to wear a mask because her eyes are very sensitive to light. This mask blocks out 99% of UV light and is made specifically for this illness. Poor Happy.

Custom Designs

I made this wine bottle for a friend who provided the label. I slumped the bottle, decoupaged the label, and decorated the bottle with raffia, grapes and a gold charm.

This is a pendant I made for a customer who wanted to give her husband a very special anniversary present. He is a Vietnam vet, and she wanted me to make a pendant in the colors of the Vietnam Conflict.

The green in the pendant is more sparkly than shows up in the photo.

Jewelry

Here's some of the jewelry I've been making. My sister took some of my glass pendants to her Titanium RV rally and sold them at their mini-craft fair. Thanks, Angie.

Spike

Spike had another major seizure the night after we took him to be groomed. I don't know if it is a coincidence, but it happened a couple of months ago after he'd gone to the groomer.  My sweet doggie is 16, partially blind, and almost totally deaf. He spends most of his time in the closet where he feels safe.

Pretty Kitty

T.R.O.T.

Me

I'm so glad Doc relented and went through the gravity gate because we finally found the lake in the Laguna Mountain forest! We've been looking for it for a really long time and even thought it had dried up. But as you can see, the lake is still there, if a bit diminished by the drought.

It's really, really hard to take a photo on horseback. Joyce cut off Doc's body and I cut off her horse's head. Not on purpose.

Joyce

Big Laguna Lake

Jennifer Marie Brown b. 9-28-11

My great niece, Jennifer Marie Brown, sister to Amanda and daughter of Kristy all lined up in Kristy's hospital bed. Angie and Mom are in the picture, too.

Bill Homer's 70th Birthday

Mom, Dennis & I attended Bill Homer's 70th Birthday Party on September 30. Bill is married to Joanne, who works in our office. It was a really nice party.

Doc

 Joyce and I were going down the trail in Laguna and we had to go through a gravity gate, which is a swing gate with a bar at the bottom, elevated about a foot or so. Doc wouldn't go. Mind you, he has been through plenty of gravity gates, but he didn't want to go through this one. Probably he thought he would bump his legs or something. I don't know, except he sometimes gets something in his head and then there we go.

Here are some photos of Betsy taking Doc over some small jumps to give him confidence. After a few lessons like this, he finally went through the same gate when we went on the trail again.