5 things Friday #18 - Sketching, Family time, Pants & top that fit

1. Did you celebrate Mother's Day? We had our younger son, DIl and grandgirls over for brunch which was fun. The pup was delighted of course. We kept it simple - sausage & red pepper frittata with fried eggs for the little girls, sourdough toast & mini croissants with jam, and fruit salad plus mimosas for the adults.

2. Our older son came Tuesday for a short visit. Again the pup was delighted as were we. We were able to have a full family dinner Thursday.

3. I finally tried on the clothes I ordered from Quince and JJill. I really liked and kept the navy and blue/white stripe European linen pants from Quince. I have several linen tops that will go well with them for warmer days.

I also kept the palm tree short sleeve tee from JJill too, but was disappointed that I couldn't even unbutton the denim crops I ordered. I would have had to cut the buttonhole open and then wouldn't have been able to return them. I will just mail them back as given the price of gas it is about the same cost as driving but less stress. I'd like a couple more short sleeve tees so I'll probably shop the local Marshalls and/or the thrift stores.

4. It's been 6 or 7 years since I did any swimming for exercise. This city has a very nice, just renovated lap pool at the rec center. I'm trying to decide if and how to approach getting enough aerobic stamina for more than one lap!

5. Gave a neighbor a tour of our landscaping as they are redoing their backyard. Hopefully it helped with plant decisions.

5 things Friday #17 - Mostly boring!

1. Did anyone else watch the Kentucky Derby? What a come from behind surge and victory. We haven't been to races at Churchill Downs but have gone to Santa Anita and Del Mar tracks at various times over the years and even the smaller Golden Gate Fields track here before it closed. I love the looks and pretty much everything about horses. In fact I took riding lessons for a while when we lived in Atlanta even though I had to drive an hour to get to where they were. It was so much fun. BTW, the Golden Gate Fields property is being turned into a waterfront public park which is going to be amazing.

2. We are hosting Mother's Day brunch. Hubby is making a frittata with sausage and vegs. We are adding croissants and fruit salad plus mimosas. The grandgirls can have their eggs and sausage cooked separately as one really doesn't like them mixed together.

3. Had my annual physical and one appointment to adjust glasses. Made another one as the glasses still bother me. Also lab, COVID vaccine and mammogram appointments. Sigh. So many trips as I haven't figured out how to stack appointments with appropriate timing at Kaiser. I'll see if I can squeeze the lab in today as a walk in after the glasses appointment but they usually have a long wait.

4. The pup continues to entertain us. His new game is to put his smallest soft toy on his mat that is in the living room. Then he pulls the mat around and flips it so the toy is covered. The effort to "rescue" the toy is next. At least he is entertaining himself too.

5. Same routines & questions - How do 2 people generate so much laundry? Why does the kitchen get dirty so quickly? Why do we both dislike cleaning so much? 

Quick sketches and color palettes for fun reintro to art

Having fun doing quick sketches and color palettes taking everday objects as subjects and using the markers I have. The grandgirls have gone through lots of markers so colors are not matches.

A watercolor bought decades ago and our only houseplant on the dining room built in hutch

A trivet we have

5 Things Friday #17

When I was a kid we made woven paper heart baskets, fill them with violets from the yard and hang on neighbors doors thinking they wouldn't know who did it LOL. Today I wish you a happy celebration of Spring and many baskets of happiness.

Another ordinary week with small ups and downs. That is not a bad thing, but one of the up and down sequences was especially annoying.

I have made all possible changes to lower our car insurance bill including slogging through the 8 hour AARP Safe Driving Course (I did learn some things but really you don't have to repeat everything 3 times!), but then hit a curb driving through a construction detour and got a flat tire. AAA roadside service worked really well, but we have to buy a new tire for a car we've 2 months. One step forward and one or more back. Walking that afternoon I found a penny not that that helps much lol. 

Feeling one step forward, one or more back.

1. I kicked off the weekend by getting Hubby to walk my assigned route with me to distribute campaign literature for a Yes vote on funding for a new library. Go us!

2. We offered to host a Mother's Day brunch at our house for our son and DIL and are waiting to see if that works for all involved. 

We took our son and DIL out for lunch on Thursday for a belated birthday celebration (he's 43 - going by fast) plus early anniversary gift for them and sat outside as it was a beautiful sunny Spring day. 

3. I finally got back to weekly Pilates after 6 weeks off. My trainer is back from vacation and we both are finally over being ill. Now to stick to a daily exercise routine at home. My self discipline needs a boost.

4.  I found some more things to put out in a "Free" pile on the day of the citywide May 16th Spring yard sale. Decluttering never ends and getting rid of stuff after you declutter is hard.

5. I ordered some lightweight clothes from Quince & Jill - several types & sizes of lightweight crop pants & crop jeans plus a top. Free returns on all as I'm trying to have just one order. We'll see if anything fits and suits me. Fingers crossed.

5 things Friday #16 - What occupies your mind these days?

It wasn't the best of weeks as I was sick one day and very low energy a couple of others. Since there is so little to report I thought I'd share some of the things we have been chatting about lately to focus on our little piece of the world instead of talking about the state of our country and the worldwide impact.

I know we are not alone in trying to balance being informed and focusing on what is near and dear. So here goes some not deep conversational topics!

1. Why does the contractor redoing the sewer lines in our area park their large dump trucks and other equipment on our narrow cul-de-sac overnight and on weekends rather than one of the wide streets nearby? They block one lane coming into the court. The project has to be at least half over so this won't last forever thank goodness.

2. Does the dog have a game he invented to engage us in play? He takes his favorite little lamb stuffed toy, places it somewhere he could easily reach it, and then barks until we come and "rescue" it. I call it the "Help, help - Timmy is stuck in the well" game. A Lassie TV show reference if you are too young to know!

4. What can we do for an outing or entertainment? Mostly initiated by me. Repeatedly.

5. And lastly, we had a discussion last week that turned out to be a learning experience about why do we all say pots & pans and not pans & pots. After we threw around our theories (mostly that pots were invented first or used the most historically), I asked Google and it came up with this. So every time you say tick tock or pitter patter or hip hop and so on you can reference ablaut reduplication lol.

AI Overview

The phrase "pots and pans" is the standard ordering due to a combination of phonetic convenience (sound) and linguistic tradition (idiom), rather than a strict requirement based on the cookware itself. 

Here is why "pots and pans" is favored over "pans and pots":

• Ablaut Reduplication (Sound): In English, when pairs of words are used together, the one with the lower, back vowel sound (o) often comes before the one with the higher, front vowel sound (a). Similar examples include hip-hop, ding-dong, and chit-chat. "Pots" (o) flows more easily into "pans" (a) than the reverse.
• Idiomatic Tradition: The phrase is deeply rooted in old English nursery rhymes and sayings, such as "If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands" (recorded from the mid-19th century).
• Hierarchical Order: Historically, "pots" (larger, deeper vessels for boiling) were often considered the primary or larger kitchen vessel, while "pans" (shallower vessels for frying) were secondary, leading to a "large-to-small" ordering. 

While the order is interchangeable in context, "pots and pans" is the conventional English idiom. 

The week ahead - A little carryover plus more

A tiny shrub now in the back yard to replace one that died during the winter

Will get as big as its relative in the front yard. About 4 ft high and wide.

I did complete quite a few things on last week's list. We went on our outing, bought a plant to replace one of the 3 that died this winter and got it in the ground. I went and watched the 3 year old's swim lesson while visiting with my DIL and older granddaughter. I walked or did yard work 5 days and we did a good job on eating leftovers - pretty much the usual.

I also went to a meeting for people supporting the initiative to fund a new library in the city. The vote on that is during the upcoming primary elections on June 2nd.

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Carried over to this week

Finish mopping floors - both bedrooms and both bathrooms left.

Shop for a couple of nice lighter weight pants outfits for Spring/Summer.

Decide if I am going to start drawing again. I should take inspiration from the 9 year old grandgirl who carries a notebook with her to write poetry and stories and make pencil drawings. She just crosses out any she doesn't like and keeps going. My perfectionism gets in the way.

Added to the list for this week

Son's birthday celebrated in some way. He's a low key guy about his birthday and only wants family to celebrate.

Decide if I am going to sign up for any recreation center summer programs. Line dancing lessons for seniors perhaps? The completely refurbished lap pool opens at the beginning of May so it just might be time to get a new swimsuit and take water aerobics (and meet some people) or private lessons to get my stamina and technique back a little bit.

Listen to a debate by the top Governor candidates for the primary election.

Get a haircut.

5 Things Friday #15 - Day trip & brother is moving

The Victorian ranch house where John Muir and his family lived for 24 years. His FIL built it and ran a 2600 acre fruit ranch and medical practice from there.

 

Got this at the visitor center. I didn't know he walked from Indianapolis to the Gulf of Mexico starting in 1867. One of my ancestors walked & took small boats to go from Illinois to Mexico to fight in the 1846-1848 Mexican American War which has always astonished me but also made me realize it wasn't unheard of.

A sign in the Slow Hand BBQ restaurant where we had lunch. Love it!

1. We took a little drive on Thursday to see the John Muir House in Martinez, CA and to have lunch at a BBQ place nearby. We also went to the waterfront park, salt marsh and marina for a walk. Loved watching the flock of little marsh wrens skittering about.

I mostly knew of John Muir in relation to Yosemite and the Sierra Club but learned he managed his in-laws ranch and grew so wealthy doing that after his FIL's death that he retired and devoted himself to environmental issues. Strong educated interesting women in his family too - MIL, wife and 2 daughters. We liked the town of Martinez so much that we are going to find reasons to take more little trips there.

Here's a link to the overview video shown at the visitor center - A Glorious Journey

2. My brother has a full Spring and Summer and it sounds as if it is stressing him a lot. He turns 80 this summer and they are moving to an apartment in a continuing care retirement community. That means downsizing to a home 1/3 the size of their current one. They have a full attic on top of New England things like maple sugaring equipment, etc. We had a nice long phone chat about that plus some memories of our parents and updates on our kids and grandkids. I both do and don't wish I was nearby so I could help! 

3. I'm trying to keep my spirits up by rationing my exposure to the dreadful news and instead focusing on what I can do locally. So we now have a yard sign supporting the financing initiative for a new city library to replace the tiny, seismically unsafe one build in 1949.  I am considering volunteering to help at an info table on Earth Day and to pass out fliers.

4. I've done what I can to reduce our auto insurance bill for now. We dropped rental coverage, increased our deductible for comprehensive coverage, and I completed AARP's Safe Driving Course for a small insurance discount. It's not a lot of money off each 6 month bill, but is worth it over the 3 years of the accident penalty. I'll pay the bill at the beginning of April and then decide if it is worth the effort to comparison shop AAA insurance, etc.

5. The Smitten Kitchen recipe for pumpkin bread is so good! More a dessert than bread but delicious. We've also been extra good about using up leftovers and fresh produce (for example; tomato sausage risotto from dinner at son's, tofu with broccoli & red peppers). No problem using up the pumpkin bread lol.