A little SAGA

Having young grandchildren is a boon!
Really young children will teach you that dust balls are fun for one thing.  We adults almost always anguish over the presence of such fuzz,  while the kids find them amusing.

The children sing out loud and enjoy doing so, while we the adults worry about if we sing out of tune or not.

The same is true for dancing!

Children laugh about 300 times a day!  How many times did you even lift the corners of your mouth today?

Children are artistic naturally.  We gawk at the drawings they bring home from school, post them on our refrigerators with great pride.  We adults criticize each others efforts endlessly.  Hampering rather than encouraging........ Artist this, singer that, writer, author, cook.........

Saga who who just turned seven spent some time with us this summer just sang, danced, cooked, drew, played, laughed and loved Ralle our Great Pyrenees totally uninhibited, with fabulous joy and confidence as almost all children do.

These  are a few examples of her artistic bent.  She drew pictures of human emotions in no time at all.  She captures it so well.  May she never lose the desire to sing, dance, draw, laugh, love, play and cook!

Looking at these drawings makes me feel happy, so I look at  them
again and again.

Now I am sharing.

Where are my SUN GLASSES

You heard right!  We actually had to squint while driving Ralle to Svanshall this morning.

This is a tiny adorable little village on the coast where a lot of beautiful swans converge.

They wanted food this morning.  Have to remember to bring some next time.

Have a great day you all. We are.

Tuna sandwiches for lunch.  Delish !!

Just HOLD it !

Got up out of bed this morning.  That is always good, being able to get out of bed that is.  Stretch, yawn and yep all parts seem to be working.

Look out the window to see what kind of a day we will have weather wise.  Can not say I was awakened because the sun was shining in my eyes.

Realize as I gaze out that the oak tree is changing color, see tinges of bronze.  Same thing with the birch leaves, those are getting yellow edges.  Now just wait a minute!  It is NOT autumn yet for "crimmenies" sake.  Fall does NOT start until NEXT Friday!

As this  season comes to an end I will take advantage of some of it's bounty.  So "Slow Roasted Herbed Plum Tomatoes" as well as "Anne's Tomato Sauce" will be on the agenda.  Placed in the freezer so at a  later date they will play the lead role on both Pizza and Pasta.  Mmmmmm!

"A Rocks In Your Pockets" Kind Of Day

or bricks would be more like it.

We leave the Palos Hacienda early to get Ralle out for a walk as we often do.  Destination Höganäs our nice  little coastal town where it always is fun for the big fuzzy one.  There is so much NEWS  to "read".  This day we have a date with our "personal bank person" so the walk needs to be brisk and not too long.
It is windy as all get out!

The grass is laying down.

We, according to the paper (there I go again) are in the throes of hurricane Katia who has been raging on the US east coast.  Wind gusts in the range of 24 meters per second and upwards are predicted here.  Good exercise!  Ralle looks akin to a seal depending on the direction he is facing.  Is he careful when he lifts his leg?  Ha, ha and heck no......

As we head back to the car after our walk the cell phone rings.  A nice lady at the "other end" informs me that Louise, our "personal bank"... yea, you got it, she is ill and not at work today, we need to reschedule......

Mölle

OK no rush now,  so let's drive to quaint little Mölle to check things out before returning home.
Big wind = Big waves = Surfers!
Guess what?
There she is!
Louise.
So much for being sick!  Bad girl Louise!

Surfer Out in the Wild

That was our morning.  How was yours?

High School Friends Reuniting

John, Teresa, and Joe

While I was down in LA some high school friends and I got together and went out to dinner in Long Beach.  Later we went to John's house to shoot the breeze.  We stayed up until 1:30 in the morning talking.  I spent the night on John's couch.

There are five of us who still keep in touch after all these years.  John, Joe, Oscar, Marcy, and me.  Marcy couldn't join us this time.  He was in the hospital getting a new heart valve.  We went to see him and his wife Martha in the hospital after the operation.  It was great to hear him laugh again.  It was good to see him.  He is recovering well but slowly.

John, Teresa, Oscar, David, and Joe

It was a great time.  We keep in touch and we try to get together every few years.
Here is a blast from the past.

 
 John, Oscar, and Joe in there prime.

Pictures are from our high school year book.

Courtesy of Joe Yasuhara.

     

Marcy and David

Redondo Beach Vintage Cars

Every Friday during the summer the locals from far and near gather in this parking lot and have a grand old time.  There is a 50's / 60's style diner nearby and the rocking music of the times playing.  The car owners are showing off their cars and commiserating with the other car owners and all the gawkers that come by to check out their rides.  Here is just a few of them.

I remember those radiator water bags.  They sure saved my butt a few times.

There was that familiar exhaust smell from these cars that I had forgotten about.  That smell is long gone.
That's a good thing.

These "young boys" saw me taking pictures and decided to liven it up.

It was a good time.  It was the best of times.  I've heard that before.  It sounds good and it feels good.

Drive down to visit Fred in LA

I rented a car for the day to drive down to LA.  I considered Amtrak, but I didn't want to spend 12 to 15 hours riding the train and a Greyhound bus.  I wanted to rent an exciting car but nothing was available in Hollister but a small compact car from China, Japan, or Korea I'm not sure what it was.  It was good enough and it gave me the independence of stopping whenever and wherever I wanted.

The drive down on Hwy 101 was great.  It brought back many good memories.

I even caught a glimpse of an Amtrak train going north.

I got to Fred's house just as he got home from work.  It was a nice house.  It was the first time I had seen it.  It was Fred's first house.  A big event in Fred's life.  He has been spending a lot of time fixing it up and enjoying the time doing it.  It was good to see Fred and spend time with him in his "New House".

Fred couldn't take time off for work because he had an urgent deadline to meet.  So I borrowed Annika's bike and rode to Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach over the next couple of days.

The Pelicans were very comfortable with all the people on the pier.

They were like prehistoric flying reptiles.

They are vicious and nearly ate this little girls friend.

The weather was great and many people were out enjoying themselves.

Fred and I went out to dinner by the beach and took some long walks enjoying our time after he was off work.

It was great just hanging out with Fred.  While I was there I happened upon a gathering of vintage cars at Redondo Beach.  Fred says they gather every Friday during the summer.  More on that later.