Friday Faves 5 & Saturday 9

Thankful that in spite of the AC going out, we have had a place to stay with our kids.

Thankful for the fun day with my friends on Saturday. We took a train ride from our city to San Juan Capistrano which is about 40 miles away. We only had to pay$5.00 roundtrip because we are seniors. San Juan Capistrano has a mission, and we were last there in 2018 when we took the grands to see the mission. But we did not go to the mission. We did take a trolly ride around a part of the city. Some out of state people were there and one man had a little to much to drink and was happing and joking the whole time and a few things were not to nice, but we offered grace, and his friends got him off the trolley as soon as they could. I painted the tunnel on the picture below and found a train for the tunnel. I did these pages for my Crafty August book.

Thankful that we could go to the early church service this Sunday. Then we picked up Minnie and headed to my daughter's home. They went to Disneyland for the day. Thankful to have a cool place to hang out. We spent Monday with our son during the day and my granddaughter and I went shopping. Then we went to my daughter's home and spent the night. Wednesday-Saturday here at my son's. Dogs are happy they are with us as my son and his family are at the beach. 

Thankful that we are credit union members and were able to get the $ to get our new AC Unit. It is supposed to get installed on Sunday.

Thankful that my face biopsy is almost healed and looks a lot better. 

Saturday 9: It's So Nice to Be Nice  (to Your Neighbor) – 1947

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this song, Monica Lewis encourages us to greet our neighbors with a smile and a hello. Tell us about one of your neighbors. One of my best friends lives down the street. She lets me take my grands swimming at her house. she is a great listener and very generous. She is a craft person like me and can really paint nice things. We met at church over 25 years ago.

 

2) She reminds us that it's "nice to be nice." Who has recently shown you kindness? Our kids who have let us stay at their home since we lost our AC where the temps are in the 90's daily!

 

3) Monica Lewis was born in Chicago, where her mother performed with the Chicago Opera Company. Have you ever been to the opera? Phantom of the Opera on Broadway 2008 and at the Venetian in Las Vegas in 2007

My parents waiting for the show to start. It was about 30 minutes longer that the Vegas show.

 

4) Her family moved to New York City, where she attended college by day and worked at radio station WMCA in the evenings to help support her family. Which do you listen to more: the radio or podcasts?

The Radio.

5) In the 1940s she appeared all around New York – in nightclubs, on Broadway, and on radio shows. It was then that she got her best-known and longest-running role: the voice of Chiquita Banana. For decades she was heard singing the jingle, "I'm Chiquita Banana and I'm here to say ..." Do you have any bananas in your kitchen now? Yes, there are some here at my son's house.

 

6) Around 1950 she moved to Hollywood. She had recently divorced and wanted a fresh start. There she dated an actor who was also newly divorced: Ronald Reagan. Obviously she never had to ask, "Whatever became of him?" Who is the last former romance, classmate or coworker that you looked up on the internet? I don't remember, but it was someone from my class that I did not know well. Someone posted a link that keeps classmates updated.

 

7) In 1947, when this song was popular, actor Ted Danson was born. He's best known as Sam Malone, the bartender at Cheers, "where everybody knows your name." Is there a bar or restaurant where you are recognized on sight? No.

 

8) The 1947 Studebaker Champion was one of the first cars to have an adjustable driver's seat designed to accommodate motorists of various heights. When you're driving someone else's car, do you usually adjust the seat? All the time. I have short legs.

 

9) Random question: When someone takes advantage of you, are you angrier at them for doing it, or at yourself for letting it happen? Just depends on the situation though it does not happen very often.

I am writing this Friday night and I have to go to bed early because the grand dogs are tired.

Tuesday 4

I am on vacation is Las Vegas this week. Our son has a time share at at the 

beautiful Marriott Chateau. I will write more about this in a couple of days. 

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4. 

This week, let' talk about October. Toni sure enjoyed facts about the months and questions on that topic too.

1. What are your feelings about the month of October? Does it bring anything special to mind for you? Do you have memories to share? Yes, my mom's birthday was October 19 and hubby's on the 25th. We don't really get fall weather until the end of October though our nights are getting cooler. I live in the city so there are not very many fall trees to be see. I asked hubby to take me on a drive to one of our local mountain communities where we can see lots of fall color. 2 years ago we went to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite and we saw a lot of fall colors.

2.Have you ever gone apple picking? Pumpkin picking? Any kind of picking including banjo picking at all? Do you bake pies with those fruits? We went Apple picking  November 2020 about an hour from where we live. It was a fun day! We had apples with cheese, and I made apple Betty. I have never baked a pie. I do plan to do something this year with the Pillsbury Dough and apples.

3. What is autumn like where you live? How about when you were a child? We have a late and mild fall. When I was a child, we hard a large tree in the front yard and I loved watching the leaves fall. I would help my dad rake the leaves and I loved to jump in the pile. I remember spending several nights looking out the window watching the leaves swirl as the wind blew. I loved the sound of the howling wind. Halloween brings a lot of fun memories as a child, and as a parent and grandparent. I do not enjoy the scary, demonic elements of the season. It seems that is going more that way. 

Halloween was fun when we were kids. It was safer back in the 60's when we were kids. Our church has a safe and fun harvest event and we pass out candy.

4.Autumn is not the same as Fall. Fall is the time when the leaves are actively falling.  What activities of Autumn/Fall do you enjoy?  Do you decorate your door or home for the season? I decorate my whole house, inside and out. I love the fall colors! I love putting out my scarecrows. The following pictures are from last year.

I got this couple with a dog scarecrow this year.

Around the House 1. Do you have pets ? What kind of pets do you have? Photos? I have a black and tan long haired mini dachshund. Her name is Minnie.

Minnie is on the left and her mama Rei is on the right.

2. Do you have a weekly menu you plan out? Would you share it with us, or perhaps a short list of meals you make often? It gives other people ideas !
My husband and I are retired and we don't cook everyday. We buy a chicken at Sam's Club and we make several meals from that chicken. We like to cook fresh veggies like broccoli, zuchinni, and cauliflower. We cook brown rice or quiona in the rice cooker. We have a lot of salads and when it is cold we like soups.

3.Where do you do your grocery shopping? Do you like that store or do you go to others to fill in the gaps?
I like to shop at the closest store called Sprouts. They have a lot of healthy food. I also shop at a few other stores depending on sales and what I need. When we are near the gym, we go to Aldi's

4. What kind of house do you live in or is it an apartment. Describe it. What changes would you make to it if you could?
After we retired we sold our larger 2 story home and moved to a single store 4 bedroom, 2 bath home, 1000 square feet smaller. It was an adjustment for sure, but we had to make sure we would be comfortable as we got older. We are closer to the places we need to get to. This house does have 4 bedrooms so there is plenty of room for the grandkids. Our old house had a formal living room, dining room , family room and breakfast nook off the kitchen. This house has a family room and the kitchen is combined with the eating area. But over all, we are comfortable and it takes less time for cleaning. When we bought this house, we added a fireplace mantle. We have painted most of the rooms and fixed up the front and back yard. We bought a large spa that the kids love and also great for achy muscles. In the future I want to paint the kitchen cabinets white. Hubby wants to get the exterior house painted.