We don't own a rake

Sweet gum tree leaves on the front lawn.

Submitted to Photo Friday Theme: Autumn
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Disney Halloween

I got all caught up in the election, then I caught a cold and next thing I know, it's a week later and I still haven't posted the pics from my Halloween getaway to Disneyland.I've gone to Disney a lot this year, but this was the annual girlfriends trip. We left the bay area early Halloween morning and were in the park by 2pm.

We decided to to go to California Adventures first because it closed at 6pm.
I love how they decorate the parks for Halloween and Christmas. They totally get into the spirit of things!

Before the end of Halloween night, we watched the fireworks and rode on the Haunted Mansion ride that was totally decorated in the Nightmare Before Christmas.


Disneyland even had a section of the park decorated for Dia de los Muertos.


Mickey is dressed in his festive autumn colors as he leads the band down Main Street.

No matter how many times I go to Disneyland, there's always something new to see.
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Anxiously waiting

I've been listening to NPR nonstop for the past week. Reading the various news websites I prefer to visit. And now it's just about over.
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Linguistically Challenged

I feel like my brain is spilling over but I'm incapable of putting any of it into words. This is often my problem. I've joked that I'm linguistically challenged. I could never be a teacher because I don't have the ability to express the ideas in my head in a clear way. What comes out of my mouth isn't the same thing that's going on in my brain. I can write well enough to get by, but that's because I can take the time to formulate the words. I'm wondering if that's why I like haiku, because the little snippets of verse in a 5-7-5 pattern and sometimes nonsensical word order is similar to how I think. LOL!

So here are my little soundbites, if you will, on the ramblings going on in my head.

On the election
Anxious. what will come?
November 4th will tell all.
Stomach tied in knots.
I know I'm not alone in this. Almost everyone I know feels very passionately who their candidate of choice is. And is afraid of what could happen if the other candidate is elected. I don't talk about politics much on my blog, but I haven't hidden what I believe and I'm sure most of my friends who read regularly know how I feel. California also has a few Propositions that are very important. And at this point, I really just want November 4th to get here already. I want the anxiety to end, hopefully in celebration and not in resignation.

On work
New ideas brewing.
The business plans are flowing.
Hope it will work out.
This is taking up a lot of my brain space otherwise I probably wouldn't even mention it. I talk about work less than I talk about politics. Jimmy and I work together in our business that we run and operate out of our home. Possibilities of ventures in 2 different avenues. Not sure where either one will lead, but wheels are in motion.

On art
Is it possible
to be overwhelmed by too
much creativity?
I took some great classes last weekend. The teacher came from Buffalo and is an amazing person as well as extremely creative. There are so many things I want to create. Minibooks, mixed media art, sewing whatevers, holiday cards...but with all the things I want to create, I can't concentrate on anything specific.
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Finding Fall

It's official. Now that we're 40, it means that we're old enough to join committees and become board members of the community that we live in. And by we, I really mean Jimmy. Jimmy joined the mutual water company board of directors for the little town our hideaway is in. Actually, it's nice being part of the community more than just as part-time residents. And now that he'll have to go to most of the meetings, it means we'll probably go up more often.

While summer is probably my most favorite time to be at the hideaway because of all the activities, every season has a lot of beauty and charm. This weekend we got to see fall in all her glory. Which is wonderful because fall hasn't quite hit the Bay Area yet.

We didn't have to venture too far out to see the changing of the leaves.
The oak tree in our yard was just starting to change.

And the Virginia Creeper in our neighbors tree
couldn't have been a more vibrant red.

But this just teased us and got us wanting more. So Saturday, we took a drive up the mountain in search for more of Autumn's bounty.
About an hour up the road, we stopped here for lunch. This is the Stanislaus River and is one of the biggest rivers in the area.
In the fall, the water levels are low because snow melt feeds it. It's also the river that feeds the reservoir where we do a lot of our summer boating activities.
And more poignantly, now that Jimmy's a board member of the water company, it's the river that most of the water comes from that feeds our little mountain community.

As we drove further up the road, the trees grew more and more barren and it starting looking more like winter rather than fall. I'll save that for another post.

My main goal during our little adventure was to find a little aspen grove.
Aspens are one of my favorite trees, if not my favorite.
There's something in me that comes alive whenever I'm in an aspen grove.
My wiccan friend says it's the woodelf in me. I can't disagree with her.
And when the wind blows through the aspens leaves and they shimmer and quake, to me, there really isn't anything more magical.
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Fall's weekend appearance

Couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. It rained Friday night into Saturday then the sun peeked out in the afternoon. Sunday the air was clear and crisp thanks to the previous day's rain and the cool breeze.

Saw Nights in Rodanthe with my MIL and SIL. It was good. Not great, but better than just ok. At the very least, entertaining and a workout on tear ducts. If you're susceptible to that. Did you see Diane Lane and Richard Gere in Unfaithful? So different from this one.

I've been learning how to make a basic potholder.I got the instructions here. I didn't know how to do a blind stitch but I easily learned after watching a tutorial on youtube. I love the internet.

Since the weather is cooler, I felt like making comfort food. Have you had heard of Mulligatawny soup? The first time we had it was at the Spaghetti Factory. It's served every Thursday at lunch. I needed to find a recipe and the one I finally ended up with is a combination from one I found on allrecipes.com, one I found in Cooking Light magazine and making substitutions that suit our tastes.
If you like chicken & rice soup and curry doesn't turn your stomach, I recommend it. At the very least, try it the next time you see it on the menu at a restaurant. It's fun to try something different. Here's how I make it:

Chicken Mulligatawny

1 onion
4 stalks celery
2 carrots
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
8 cups chicken broth
1 apple, cored and chopped

3/4 cup white or brown rice
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast half - cut into cubes
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup milk - nf is fine and what I usually use but use whatever you want including 1/2 and 1/2 if it suits you.

Directions

-Puree all vegetables
-heat oil in large stock pot and add veggie puree, cook for a few minutes.
-add curry powder and chicken stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1/2 an hour.
-Add rice, chicken, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer another 1/2 hr or until rice is done. -or- Simmer 2 hours for rice to thicken and become more 'hearty'.
-Add milk and apples, simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Notes:
If you'd prefer your veggies chopped instead of pureed, then sauté veggies in oil for 5-10 minutes. Add 3 T flour and the curry powder to the veggies and sauté 5 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and continue on with step 2 above. You'll need the flour to thicken the soup. This makes a lot. You can 1/2 the recipe, but we like the leftovers.

And I leave you with snippets of the famous Seinfeld soup nazi episode:

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Magnificent Fall

The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certain
Loveliness.

-John Updike
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(re)Sealed with a...Kiss?

Not so much. Doubt there's much kissing going on with this gunk, do you?We resealed the driveway and cul-de-sac this weekend.
And by we, I really mean: not me.

I did, however, skillfully mask the parts of the house, chimney and driveway that we didn't want that black goop to touch.
Jimmy and the neighbors did all the back breaking work.
They started before 9am and finished after 5. All of the pre-cleaning and masking happened the day before.

I made them blueberry muffins. From a box. Tough job, but someone has to do it.

The resealing had to be done before the the cooler weather starts to roll in. October typically brings rain and sometimes snow to the higher elevations where our hideaway is. It's still mid-September, but...
our dogwood tree is already starting to change colors.

Fall beauty, isn't it lovely?
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Halloween in Seattle

It's much colder in Seattle than in California, lemme tell ya. But that's not news to anyone. I'm glad I decided to take my winter jacket. And by winter jacket, I mean California Winter Jacket: ie: I was still really cold. But freezing my butt off was totally worth it because I got to spend Halloween with my cousin and her son and experience his first Halloween as a toddler. It was flippin' awesome. He was so adorable in his turtle costume and even won 2nd prize for best costume at his daddy's work. Here's a little collage of my quick visit:
The first 2 pics are at a beach by Puget Sound. There are tidepools here, but it was high tide so we enjoyed the scenery and walked along the shore a bit. The next 3 are at a Monastery along the shores of Lake Washington. Fall in Washington is an awesome experience! My cousin said it had already peaked a couple weeks before but it was more impressive than anything I've ever experienced. (Interesting how my hair matches the orange trees, isn't it?) The next 3 are my cute little nephew Turtle out trick or treating! So sweet. And the last photo is flying back home and a view of downtown San Jose where it was a warm 74 degrees when I arrived.
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October Orange

Fun, sunny day in Half Moon Bay, which is famous for it's pumpkin festivals.



California's biggest pumpkin in history.


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donkey talk

ok, i don't know what i'm doing. i've never uploaded my own video before, so please forgive me if it doesn't work or doesn't look right or isn't fancy. But here's some more animal talk. I caught him mid-sentence because I wasn't prepared and didn't have the camera w/ video ready.
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Talk to the animals

During our tour around Clear Lake, I made Jimmy and Drew stop at nearly every spot where we saw animals. And I would talk to each and every one of them. These were the friendliest animals because a lot of them walked right up to the fence and some even talked back to us.


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Cloudy Day at Clear Lake

Jimmy and Drew have been buddies since they were 12 and played little league baseball together. He was one of the groomsmen in our wedding nearly 17 years ago.But in the past 21 years since graduating from high school, they hadn't spent more than a few hours together. Sound kind of familiar? It's reminiscent to my visit to Alaska and rekindling a friendship with my high school friend, Linda. In our junior year, before Jimmy and I started dating, both Jimmy and Drew were in my American History class. That's the class that we all became friends. We sat in the same row, Jimmy in front, Drew behind him and me behind Drew. They called me The Flip. One test day, Drew was absent and Jimmy sat in front of me. That was the turning point in our relationship when Jimmy prevented me from cheating on the test. Oh yea, this isn't about me, but about Jimmy and Drew, huh? Anyway, after graduation, Jimmy and Drew kept in touch, but didn't see each other much aside from the occasional get together with other buddies, once every 6 or 7 years whenever we'd get back to the high desert or San Diego. Fast forward 20 years and Drew's parents found their own little hideaway in Northern California about 3 hours from us. Drew was here for the week to ride in the Konocti Challenge so we went to visit him for a couple of days. He took us to a few historical sights, showed us the scenic views from his ride the weekend before, took us wine tasting and brought us to a couple of really great restaurants like the Blue Wing Saloon and TNT on the Lake for great Mexican food right on the lake.

The Lakeport Courthouse built in 1871 served the county until 1968. It's currently a museum that houses many county records along with artifacts from the local Native Americans.

Jimmy and Drew check out some of the historical data. We were pleasantly surprised that we could freely browse through these old books.

In my previous post I probably wasn't very convincing about the fall colors. But as you'll see now, we were surrounded by autumn's beautiful bounty.
Walnut groves for miles and miles.

Ranch horse among the trees.

Clear Lake is about an hour north of Napa and the vineyards have steadily crept more and more north.


One of the wineries Drew took us for wine tasting was Ceago.
We don't really drink, but with a purchase they give you 5 tastings. Drew bought a bottle and gave me the tastings. I don't like wine and in general I don't typically like the flavor of alcohol. And Jimmy doesn't drink at all. So I started out skeptical and the first 2 tastes were bitter as I expected. But the 3rd taste, which happened to be the same one Drew bought, was actually decent. It was their "Del Lago" Muscat Canelli. I ended with that and forgo the other 2 tastings. After the tastings, we walked around the winery awhile.

Lavender fields at the winery.

Ceago has a dock to the lake. Clear Lake is the largest fresh water lake in California.

Enjoying the views at the winery.

Our last and most creepy visit for the day was to see the Castle near the northern shores of Clear Lake. It was originally a lake resort ill-timely built in 1927 just before the Great Depression. As can be imagined, there are rumors of ghosts that haunt the tower. Despite it's look of disrepair, it's currently used and operated by the Castlepoint Ministries.
After our long day touring the area, we headed back to his hideaway, had some dinner and the boys stayed up talking and laughing about who knows what for who knows how long. I hope we can make this an annual thing. We had so much fun!!
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Drive by shooting

On our way to Clearlake Thursday afternoon, we drove thru the east bay and the Napa Valley. Jimmy and I have never been to Napa together and the last time I was there was over 10 years ago.Autumn just might be the most perfect time to visit the Napa Valley. The trees and vineyards are glowing orange, yellow, red and green. ok, so maybe in this photo everything is still green, but it's an autumn shade of green, lol. We were ahead of the peak color change by a couple of weeks but it was still remarkable - like nothing I've seen before. I've wavered over which season is my favorite because I love summer activities and being on the lake and eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies but I don't like the heat. But our little autumn adventures this weekend may have tipped the scale towards fall a bit more. I said several times during our adventuring that "fall is my favorite season." If only there were a way to boat in the fall and not freeze my butt off.

Here are a few boats that might not be enjoying the views as much as we were:This collection of Navy ships in the east bay next to the Benicia Bridge has been nicknamed the Mothball Fleet. Over 75 decommissioned ships sit there waiting at attention. It's the largest single collection of ships on the Pacific Ocean. Some are in reserve for possible future use and others are mere ghosts or heroes from the nautical past.

In Napa, many of the vineyards decorated their entrances with pumpkins. No time for wine tasting, we had to be in Clearlake for dinner.

Napa bichon with her pearls and bandana. Must be a local, the Napa wealth with the laid back Napa style. LOL!

Driving thru a tree tunnel in St. Helena.
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Well hello October, aren't you beautiful

I've got a pretty busy month ahead and I'm looking forward to the adventures.

We went to the hideaway this past weekend with our good friends the Bowen's.Ok, now aren't they one of the most photogenic families you've seen?

It was too cold to take the boat out, but the kids still enjoyed getting into the boat even though it never left the garage.Miss A does her best Titanic impression even though she's never seen the movie.

Prince W got so excited he had a devilish little grin.

He definitely loved pretending to drive it. The imaginations of children...so awesome to see in their eyes.

Miss A pretended to row the boat, all the while singing the appropriate song, but Little W continued on his journey powering down that gentle stream.

After our garage boating adventures, we headed to Covers Apple Ranch for some lunch and a ride on the little train. Apparently the theme of the weekend was transportation.Here's the whole gang getting ready for a little ride.

Just about to go into the tunnel!

Interested in a little swim? Uh, no thank you. It may almost look picturesque, but I wouldn't even stick my big toe in that mucky water.

The ranch also has a few farm animals and the kids enjoyed feeding them some corn.

This last photo isn't in focus but she is just having so much fun that I couldn't resist.
Tomorrow, we're off again for another long weekend, first to Clear Lake then back to the hideaway with one of my dearest friends and her family.

My apologies to my bloggy friends, I'm very behind on catching up with your posts. We're only home for 2 days but I look forward to reading all about your autumn adventures next week. Till then I wish everyone a blissful, carefree, feel-like-you're-flying push on that swing.
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Fall: Bring it!

I'm so ready for fall! The evenings are a little bit cooler, the air is a tiny bit crisper and every now and then there'll be a slight breeze. But we typically don't 'see' fall till mid-October or Thanksgiving. So I'll just have to accommodate my needs with these photos from a couple of years ago.
Sweet gum tree leaves on the front lawn.

SC at the apple ranch near our hideaway.
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Oh yea, and Pumpkins!

I was just on Myrtle Mae's blog and she posted about fall and asked what fall means to you. I forgot to mention my love of pumpkins. They're the epitome of fall.

Coincidentally, I stumbled onto blogthings and did this quiz:

What Part of Fall Are You?

You Are Apple Cider

Smooth and comforting. But downright nasty when cold.

Which cracks me up because I.do.not like Apple Cider. No sir. Won't have any part of it.

All the catalogs I'm receiving advertise fall fashion. I love fall clothes. Long sleeves and boots. And my Uggs.

But I'm not quite ready for fall. How 'bout you? Is there anything else you want to do this summer before fall comes?
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Success!

This is the 2nd pie I've ever made and I'm very happy to report that I couldn't have asked for it to turn out better! The crust was flaky but not dry (like my first attempt about a month ago).

Had a good and quiet weekend. Truly nothing fantastical to blog about, just enjoying the peace, calm and hominess of fall, including baking a pecan pie. :-)

Autumn is a Mosaic

We haven't been up to the cabin since the beginning of September so I suspect we missed all the fall color.
This is a digi-sb page I did a couple of years ago.

Totally missing my dogwood tree.

Street Parade

I gushed about this last year, but I can't help but blog about it again because I just love how my neighborhood gets together every Halloween for a friendly street parade. The parade starts 2 doors down from my house and the parade is lead by a local high school band. Following them are families and friends, enjoying the halloween spirit and seeing all the kids dressed up.

Happy Halloween!

Kauai, here we come!

In less than 36 hours, Jimmy, his sister and I will be on a plane to Hawaii! We're meeting our niece there who is flying in from San Diego, arriving 5 minutes before we do. I'm totally excited and love travelling with them. In 2004, I went on a 12 day cruise to Alaska with my SIL, and in 2001, Jimmy and I went on a motorhome trip with our niece to Vancouver with the parentals. It's gonna be a blast. Our niece loves to take photos as much as I do so I'm sure we'll get a lot of goofy shots of us being...goofy.

I've been concentrating so much on my race that I really haven't taken the time to think about this trip. I'm a last minute packer, too, so I'm counting on Jimmy to remember everything. I have stamp club tomorrow night and won't get home till almost 10pm. I know myself well enough that I won't start packing till after I get home. I'll be too excited to sleep anyhoo! Besides, I have a 5 hour flight to sleep, right?

I think part of the reason I haven't been able to accept autumn yet is because of this trip. Hawaii is such the summer environment that my mindset is still in summer. Plus our temperatures are still in the high 70s and 80s. The Bay Area is known for its Indian summers and it often doesn’t feel like fall till the end of October - just in time for Halloween! Fall is one of my favorite seasons, it’s definitely in the top 4. Ha! I can’t say what my favorite season is because I love a lot of elements of all the seasons. But Halloween and Thanksgiving are probably my favorite holidays. Weather wise, fall and spring far exceed summer and winter. I enjoy the rain and snow, but I’d rather be boating on the lake.

Another fall tradition I love is the fall lineup. I’ve programmed TiVo to record the interesting series premiers that I’ll miss while we’re in Hawaii. The ones on my radar are Heroes, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Class, Twenty Good Years, Jericho, Ugly Betty, The Nine, Brothers & Sisters, Men in Trees, Notes from the Underbelly and Six Degrees. And then there’s the returning shows: Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer, Law and Order and Gilmore Girls to add to that list. TiVo will be working very hard!

We’ll be gone for 9 days. Lots of time for relaxing as well as playing. The condo we’re staying at has wifi so of course, laptops will be brought. At least 2. Along with 4 iPods, a PSP, GPS (geocaching!), 3 digital cameras, 4 cell phones and I’m sure a lot more electronic gadgets. Obviously we are not roughing it. We’re also bringing books, magazines, Sudoku puzzles, hiking shoes, bathing suits and possibly purchasing snorkel gear when we get there.

...ah...well...for those times that I had little to say, I think this post has made up for it! I was a little (!) long winded and rambled on without direction. A sign that I cannot concentrate on anything in particular because too much is flittering around in my head. I guess I succeeded in wanting to spill open more! :)

Photo taken at the Kalalau Lookout of the Na Pali Coast, July 2005.

Delicious Autumn

Children jump on piles
Of fallen leaves raked by dad
Delicious autumn

The deep golden hues
Combine with brisk cool breezes
Fall is in the air

submitted to One Deep Breath Haiku Challenge