A Full February!

February was a "loaded" month and it is not yet at an end. It actually started with The Super Bowl! And what a shindig that is! Then , over and above the regular Garbo walks, the visits to Brigantino Park or the walks with the "pack" over in  Buddie, Gemma and Yuki's "hood" plus the various afternoons spent at the Morgan Hill Dog Park, there were celebrations galore!

We had the pleasure of a visit from my long time and forever friend Maud and parts of her family who came to spend a little time with us!

There was Valentines Day!

The Photographer and I celebrated our wedding anniversary!  The number of years look mighty big!

In honor of the day we took time out for a visit to one of our favorite cities, San Francisco!

Leaving Garbo at Lepa Dog for an overnight stay!  A new experience for us all.  Lepa Dog is a very nice Dog Hotel.  Garbo is in training for a long stay there come autumn, when we will attend the wedding of our granddaughter Kellie, who will marry her Prince Charming Derek.

Our day included a visit to the de Young Museum!

We enjoyed a great lunch!

The Photographer photographed!

We walked and Walked and WALKED!

Enjoyed fabulous views!

Enjoyed PERFECT weather!

Enjoyed a little wine!

Spent time in the Japanese Tea Garden!

Walked up and down Golden Gate Park!

According to our FitBits we logged more than 17,000 steps!  Finally ending the day with some shopping in the Ferry Building in the city, squeezed in a visit to IKEA and ended the day with a nice dinner!
It was not an ordinary day!
But be assured that was not the end of the February celebrations!

We have had a few guests here for lunch!  Spent an extraordinary dinner at some newfound friends home, where we were treated to fresh crab straight out of the ocean,  among other delectables!  I had a fun  "girls night out"  with a few of the ladies on our street.  We ate good, enjoyed cocktails or wine and laughed a whole lot!

Tonight we will attend The Oscars Gala at the future Chefs house as we have been invited to partake in Tapas and Champagne!

We welcome the month of March hoping to catch our breaths:-)

Rain and "Heat"

January is almost gone!  Where?  Don't ask me.

The month gave us rain, lovely rain!  Soft, gentle and welcomed rain.  Not torrents and buckets but the kind the parched earth could actually absorb.  The mountain ranges are beautifully green and glorious, creating a feast for the eyes as far as one can see.  We are grateful!

Garbo put a "kink" in our everyday existence by coming into season.  AGAIN!  It appears she is an "every 5 monther"!  For the most part it is not a big issue other than the most intense days, when she desperately is looking for a "boy friend".  What works best for us is walking VERY early before the rest of the world is up!  The Photographer has been out with "the girl" while it is still dark, leaving me to luxuriate under the duvet, in the warm bed!  Lucky me!

The late afternoon walks have been in the company of Buddie, Gemma (who have been in the same situation = in heat), and Yuki.  Safe in the company of "the flock".  The dog park has been off limits of course, limiting real off leash running and frolicking other than in Buddie's and Gemma's back yard!  But soon, real soon we will be able to go and play with our other dog friends there again!

January has been a month when on Sundays we share "Family Dinners" taking turns cooking.  One Sunday the "Future Chef" and her Mom cooks, the next Sunday it is my turn.  Last Sunday it was dinner and football at their house.  We are coming up on the Super Bowl you know.  I will cook this coming Sunday, planning to serve Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree as the main course.  It is great  fun to have these get togethers as there are few things we enjoy more than cooking and sharing food with those we love!

Coming soon as I mentioned is the BIG Super Bowl!  We attend an  extravaganza in San Jose these days hosted so graciously by Leslie and Carl!  A tradition that goes back 35 years or so, started by Kenneth and Barbara way back... to keep the kids and myself company on that auspicious date!

Pretty awesome that the tradition continued in our absence during some of those years when we were "slaving" away at Oakhurst Feed and Pet Supply and could not get away, as well as during the period when we were living in Sweden.   It is a day we see people we do not get together with often enough!

A great day, no matter who the football teams are who are vying for the coveted Super Bowl Ring, or I should say that is true for some of us!  I am there for the food and the friendships and the family! We will have a GREAT time!

Via a former neighbor we were made aware that Ryssmöllan is on the market for sale once again.

Lot's of pictures on Hemnet to view!  Fun to see the changes yet not so sure that we are fond of Hyper Modern meets the Old.  My personal taste is for more cozy and comfortable verses the sparse and cold!  But yes, to each his own!

We miss parts of that Swedish life.  Most of all we miss the beauty of the Swedish landscape!  There is absolutely nothing like it!  Also the freedom to walk wherever we please, through forest and field and all the castle grounds and fabulous parks.  Yea... we miss that a lot!

Out With 2015... Bring In 2016

The clock is ticking and as I wanted to squeeze in one more blog post before the year was over I better get a move on!
It came and it went, one day, one week, and one month at a time with one celebration following another, the year 2015!  As the new year 2016 is around the corner it is impossible to not recall how we all felt when we switched from 1999 to year 2000.  We were holding our collective breaths thinking the world would stop on its axes!

Here we are fifteen years later and so much has happened since then!

Fifteen years ago our life was centered on our store in Oakhurst.  We never sold as many baby chicks, before or after.... "the world was stopping and we would all have to fend for ourselves," was the trending thought.

Now all these years later, with all that has happened in between we find ourselves in Hollister

and have a hard time figuring out why so much money was spent erecting a new court house when it seems to us, the money could have been better spent....

we have of course, nothing to say, unless we become members of the City Planners  :-)

Strolling the city streets you do find some very quaint scenery and the weekend of the 4th of July, let me tell you

this otherwise quiet community is Wild and Hopping!

We gathered here for Christmas again this year, with children young and some a bit older.  The memory of the Xbox recipient forever etched in our minds.
Missing the branch of our family tree who celebrated the holidays in the Philippines.

There were helpers in the kitchen chopping and stirring.  Swedish Sausage or (Potatis Korv) was
made this year in the Future Chefs kitchen.  What a process!  But Oh So Good and most of us were really happy with the effort.

  Tomte Gröt (Rice Porridge) was being prepared by the one Swede who knows exactly how to make a big group of people truly happy!  Thank You!

Now on to year 2016 a year I predict to be GREAT!  The Photographer and I are stitching our lips shut  tomorrow vowing to shed a few pounds, just as we do every year!  Sadly and predictably those stitches come lose all to soon but who knows... maybe this is THE year.

But FIRST :-) into the kitchen and back to the stove and the oven I go, ... there is Spanish Tapas to make, jewels from the ocean to prepare and the Bubbly to chill for this New Years Eve feast!

Happy New Year everyone. The Best Is Yet To Come!

Pumpkins.... and Paris

This beautiful, colorful month of November is indeed filled with pumpkins. They decorate our doorsteps,  play the leading roll in our food, filling  our tummies in the form of puree' and in pie.  Served steamed or oven roasted

 and  few things  are as comforting as a bowl of hot pumpkin soup on a cold night!  Right?  Or perhaps a creamy, cheesy butternut squash lasagna?

Paris has been on our minds too.  It started with the December issue of Cooking Light featuring a recipe for French Onion Soup.  A MUST have, I decided!  I started cooking  and planning to serve it for lunch.  Ha.... it was such a labor intense job that it ended up ready to serve at dinner!  It was worth the wait!

Prompted by a  reader comment in David Lebovitz last blog  featuring "Cranberry Shrub" we , the photographer and I,  tuned in to the Paris chapter of the PBS TV series: "I'll Have What Phil Is Having" enjoying a great  hour of Parisian food in pictures and words.  Parts of it, the pastry portion presented by David Lebovitz,  who else? David  is one of my favorite food bloggers. Sheer pleasure!

Then came the Paris attack!  How have we come to this?

Even as the event is unfolding there are those hurling awful xenophobia.  Those who hatefully exploit a tragedy.  To what end?
"Nous sommes tous Parisiens" after all, are we not ALL in this together?  Why so much hate?  On this tiny little Mother Earth.  I can not wrap my head around it!
We mourn with those who lost family members.  We suffer with the homeless.  Those who live in constant fear.  Be it in Lebanon, Beirut  or in Syria or here in the United States for that matter.

We want Love to WIN!  Goodness to prevail!  Love to conquer ALL!  It MUST!  The opposite can't be tolerated.

As November slips by, we now focus on Thanksgiving!  There will be a BIG gathering at our house this year.  Food to cook, family members to embrace, beds to make and dogs to walk.  So on with the Pumpkin Pie, the Pumpkin Bread Pudding and the roasted sweet potatoes.

after all we have Pumpkins...

and then,  there is THIS PUMPKIN!

Oh yes, let's not forget the Cranberries!:-)