Recent activities

The garden was planted and MaryLou has enjoyed watering and watching it grow which has been surprisingly fast.

We celebrated Saint Patrick's Day which corned beef, boiled cabbage and potato dinner with Irish beer. Our friend Clara joined us in a favorite Irish prayer for friends.

I continue to play with the kayak at the closest access to the river which precipitated a trip to the river/Sycamore Island for three days and two night.

The dogs swam out to me in the kayak, flushed the albino deer that lives on the island and chased the rabbits until their tongues hung out and they couldn't go another step. We saw quail, an eagle's nest and lots of ducks and geese swimming and flying.

The morning we left was foggy which made an interesting picture of the fifth wheel. The river road is a great place to spot all sorts of small animals; especially along the ponds.

My latest cooking class, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, was fun and easy. We've only met once so far but already I found a receipt I liked and made it for MaryLou who hates fruits and vegetables. It's a potato and bean stir fry with arugula, garlic, onions and mushrooms.

Mom's 93rd birthday is Thursday. I've been repairing and replacing parts on her power chair which has been really expensive but she really depends on it to get around and socialize with her friends around the facility. Sam's coming up and going to help me paint the house which is overwhelming just to think about. We'll have Mom over and Larry will join us for a little party for her. She gets down every birthday as all her friends and family are gone and she wonders why she's still here. We try to get her out more often and keep her mind on other things.

I'll take some before and after pictures of the house for my next post. Love you all!

"She's an ole 'farm' hand..."

The idea of a garden came from Sam offering to put one in for us. Next I had coffee with a fellow retiree from FCMH who told me re. a class she took with the Master Gardeners at the Garden of the Sun. http://groups.ucanr.org/mgfresno/Demonstration_Garden/ It was all about tomatoes which she's grown for years. Then with the economy and food prices going up, we decided to put in a small garden.




The concept of planting in straw was a winner since neither of us can get down on our knees to weed, etc. any more. With an instant raised garden, it was a snap. First I had to locate and haul in 4 bales of straw, then get bags of potting soil and finally, a trip to the nursery brought home carrots and lettuce seeds, tomatoe, pepper, strawberry, zucchini and squash plants.


We have to water the soil and straw for a week before planting. The last garden we had exploded with veggies and we gave away more than we ate. I intend to plant tomorrow if the weather hold up; the plants have been inside for two nights as the temp was below 32.

Tai Chi

Today's fun activity is my Tai Chi class. I really like it because it combines breathe work, movement, music and meditation. I've been going now for two years since I retired and am getting more and more out of it. It's offered free from Fresno Unified SD's community education. Our teacher, Debi Kalas, is always working new ideas into the sequence.

We are a big group that seems to grow weekly.

One of the fun things we have each year is a Christmas Tai Chi Tea. Debi brings the tea and everyone brings all sorts of goodies.

It's amasing to see these men and women in their 80's and 90's happily moving and grooving. I figure if it works that well for them I'll just keep showing up.

Blossom Trail

Every year Fresno County celebrates its rich agricultural heritage with the Blossom Trail which is a scenic drive through all the fruit tree orchards. http://www.goblossomtrail.com/ This 62 mile trail includes a festival with various activities: bicycle ride, 10k run, art show and many fruit stands.

Here's a shot of our own peach tree with its deep pink blossoms.

Fresno city has planted thousands of Bartlett pear trees along street and many businesses have landscaped with them too. Their blossoms are white and are often used next to cherry trees or peach trees to contract with their pink. Almonds are blooming and filling the air with their white petals with a pink center.

With recent rains, the wild flowers are blanketing the foothills. Here's a few shots a friend of mine, Duane, took.

Tour of California Bicycle Race

My latest adventure was to volunteer to be a course marshall for Stage 4 of the Tour of California bike race; . This stage was 115 miles from Merced to Clovis via Oakhurt and Bass Lake. http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

After three days of cold, wind and rain, the central valley was glad to have a sunny and clear day for the riders. The mountains could be seen full of snow and the riders were reported saying how beautiful this area was.

This stage had 3 king of the mountains and 3 sprints which made it the hardest day in the entire 9 days of racing.

As the race progressed, there was live feed being shown on the Jumboron near the finish line in Clovis. Loval TV stations were broadcasting how to watch it on the web as it wasn't available otherwise.

Clovis' old town was where nearly 40,000 people were screaming as the sprinter David Cavenaugh crossed the finish line. Levi Lipenheimer is the leader so far with Lance Armstrong in 4th place; both are on the Asana team.

I was stationed nearly 12 miles out from the finish but helped cheer the riders when they flashed by. The excited mounted as the helicopter could be seen approaching with the TV crew on board. It's amasing how fast they were going after having turned a corner just hundred yards away.

The three breakaway riders were only seconds ahead of the peleton as this point. Everyone was yelling, "Here they come" as they turned the corner.

I was greatful my camera could rapid fire as they were so fast I was happy to get any pictures at all. The Peleton is shown here with Levi in the yellow jersey.

Could it be...Lance Armstrong!!!

What a day it was! I got to talk to lots of fellow bike people and saw some friends I used to work with who were just down at the corner. WOW!

Cooking Tour of the United States

Finally, I have begun to satisfy one of my retirement goals; I wanted to take cooking classes. I'm into my second week of classes at a local high school's home ec. classroom. Each week we "tour" a different part of the country.

The first week was "The South" and my kitchen group made biscuits and a bourbon glazed pecan pound cake. I wanted to take pictures of it but the class ate it so fast I couldn't get my camera out.

The second week is "Napa Valley/Bay Area". I made poached pears in a red wine sauce.

I decided to avoid the mad house chaos of the class and try it at home first. It takes an hour and a half to poach the pears so the 2 hour class is a real rush job. I invited Dori and another friend, Vicki over to try them out.

I tried to work on presentation and think it came out pretty good for the first time.

Next week we'll be in Cajun country, New Orleans and Marti Gras. I'll let you know in two weeks what else is going on. I think I'll make an entre and have some friend over or maybe invite them to cook with me. If it's nice we'll eat out on the patio. This really makes me happy!

When I'm 64...

"Will you still love me; will you still need me; when I'm 64?!" Paul McCartney wanted to know that years ago and now he's 66 and I am 64! My birthday sparked Sam to gather the clan and friends to celebrate. We even had Mom out until 9 p.m. which was so LATE she was locked out of her care facility!

We had a good weekend with Sam and Marge coming up from San Diego on Friday afternoon. It was spring like weather and we had breakfast on the patio. Mom came over for an at home IHOP breakfast which she loves.

Clara, Dori and Linda joined us for dinner at the Elbow Room where we had a good time taking pictures. Mary Lou is our cake monster taking the leftovers home for breakfast? Here's a few...