Wow, December! 12-1

December already! Wow is all I can say…another year almost gone and out of the 21st centuries 0’s. It seems a lifetime ago that we were (well not all of us) worried about that turning of the calendar page to 2000 and now we are going into 2010 in a month’s time and it feels like a blink of an eye!

We’ve been busy this past week visiting family, friends and eating and I’ve also been trying to knit a youth blanket…well, I’ve been knitting and I am trying to get the danged thing finished because I have another one to do too and I’d like to get them done before we leave here!

Also I have a hard time posting a blog entry when I don’t have any new photos to share. I don’t always take pictures of the people we are with…not a lot of people like having their picture taken and I get busy yakking so I forget. Then there are the times that I know the pictures aren’t going to be able to do the scene justice because we are flying down the highway and there is nowhere to stop and set up properly.

Like on our drive back from the Bay area north of Santa Rosa along highway 101. Twenty years ago the hills were just covered with madrone, oak and pine trees and grassy meadows….today for miles and miles and covering thousands of acres are every kind of grapevine imaginable. The colors of the vines were stunning and with the slanted, almost winter sun highlighting them…a moving, living painting that was just dazzling. There were some that were leafless and some covered in chocolaty brown crispy looking leaves. The yellows were vibrant and highly saturated, the oranges…mottled, the reds and burgundies as richly colored as the wines from the wineries and for mile after mile after mile, sometimes as far as one could see….amazing!

Friday we visited Lou and Vickie and staying with them were Rita (Larry thinks she sounds like the Geico Gecko) Vickie’s friend, originally from “over the pond” and their grandson Joe who will be graduating this June. We had our usual laughter, gaiety and grazing! The females imbibed the grape…the males abstained…

We spent the night with our brother-in-law Hank and nephews Brandon and Michael…which is always a treat. They are all so busy with jobs and college, but always make the time to see us when we can get over there…makes us feel special!

We spent Sunday hanging out with Ian, Andrea and Connor. Will was off on the annual motorcycle toy run to Willits. It was a sunny, wind free day so they had a big turnout…a nice day for a motorcycle ride.

Yesterday we started the day with a walk, then we ran around town running errands and then Larry’s Mom came over and visited for a few hours and then we went to our friends place for dinner. We have been friends with Mark and Terry since we first moved north from Rodeo 24 years ago. They had only one child at the time and last night at dinner we were lucky enough that all three of the kids were able to be there. Tiffany, the oldest was married recently; Stacey the “middle” child is working her way through college for her R.N. and Tony, the youngest was there with his fiancé. Terry made us a wonderful dinner and we had a lot of fun.

Today on our walk we did errands too. We took the long way so I could stop and get a latte, and then we walked on up to the library to return books and videos and we were lucky enough to find that two of our requests had come in, which we checked out and then on our way to Andrea’s. It was in the 40’s but the sun was out and there was no breeze and with walking we were plenty warm enough in just our long sleeved shirts. I actually got too warm.

Connor was still awake so we got to hold and talk to him for awhile, then he nursed and eventually got sleepy and went to sleep while I was holding him…awww. They change so quickly…his eyes are really starting to focus; he is very aware of new voices and has been using his smiling muscles, but not on purpose yet. He is a little cutie.

I was feeling I needed to get back to my knitting so we headed back home…along the way we stopped in a little shop I like to browse around in and I found a pair of earrings that needed to come home with me…they were very vibrant, manufactured opal dragonflies…very pretty. Isn’t this huge old oak tree pretty? There are quite a few here in Ukiah that have been saved.

We also saw this dog carrying this basket while walking down the street.

So here I am a couple hours later and I haven’t picked up my knitting yet….jeez, but I had to get caught up here. If I don’t write down what we have been doing we forget a lot and then I waste a LOT of time trying to figure out what we have been doing and in what order…like any of you would know the difference, but I would…laugh!

Facebook has this silly game called Fish World and I spend a lot of time there taking care of my cyberfish and tanks…craziness, but it is fun and creative…so I have to pull myself away from there too….so much to do! I imagine I’ll get bored with it eventually or get on the road and forget about it, but for now it is fun.

The very last picture is of our friend Mark with the remote to give all men “remote envy”…it is huge! You certainly wouldn’t lose it in the couch cushions…and sitting on it would be uncomfortable!