Chilly Day Pursuits

I will admit to being tired of the cold...and what little rain we have had.

That being said I have not remained idle! I've been doing lots of cooking
(freezer is filling), sewing and crocheting.

For the sewing projects I have chosen aprons - one type has a twill "skirt" with color cotton gusseted pockets (the blue with flag design). The other type is a log cabin pieced apron. Of the two I really enjoy the creativity of the pieced apron.

I've crocheted ditty bags and extenda bags from the Pattern's by Dot website. These are so easy to make and are finished in no time. The "extenda" bags are the ditty bags with an interior flap that comes up if you need more space or is folded like a liner when not needed. This has been a good project for using up little extra yarn balls.

I think I'll tackle the "bling" dog collars shown on the Martha Stewart Living website next.

December and January

Christmas visitors. Quiet times. A trip to the emergency room.

Christmas saw Loren, Daren and Kristie with us for dinner. A lovely day for all of us. Unfortunately Daren & Kristie had to eat and run.

We drove to Sacramento so we could provide Loren a ride to the airport for his flight east to return to work. We used the opportunity to visit with friends!

The first Sunday in January saw us making a trip to the emergency room at 5 a.m. - Larry experience his (and hopefully last) kidney stone. All is well, but the process was excruciating.

My brother returned from his trip to Australia and New Zealand and is off looking at property in Nevada.

It has been a little too nippy for us to ride, but we are hoping for a change soon!

We miss Lucie. Don't have any desire to have another dog right now, but it seems that at every turn there is a reminder of our gentle friend :(

Our Lucie

Today we gave our Lucie the greatest gift - peace.

For the last 5 months Lucie has been suffering with renal failure. She was actually doing quite well until yesterday. It seems she knew when the time was right.

She will have a very special place in many people's hearts!

Daren Visits

We had the pleasure of Daren and Kristie's company for lunch. A rare treat for us! Kristie's new car is VERY nice!

Loren Visits

Loren's new career as a truck driver has kept him out of California, so yesterday when he was able to stop in Lake County for breakfast it was a real treat. We enjoyed the visit!

We have been busy driving to and from Sacramento. Last week we had to go down for Larry's follow up CT Scan. This week we went down for the follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon. Happy to say Larry has no recurring meningioma. Next appointment in 2 years.

We continue to be amazed at how busy we are in retirement!

Larry had the bright idea to have a Halloween outfit for Lucie so she can go to the Doggie Fest today - with the help of a free pattern from the internet I sewed a vest with a Jack-O-Lantern design on the back. She also gets to wear a hat!

My friend and I took advantage of a wreath making class at one of the senior centers, so I've been having fun creating!

Patriot Guard Rider Mission

We rose at 5 a.m. to get ready to ride to Novato, CA for a Patriot Guard Rider mission.

After a chilly ride into Lakeport we met Steve Biggs and rode over to Highway 101 via the Hopland Grade. Just a tad bit foggy - to the point that we stopped at the top and wiped the condensation off our windshields.

On arriving at the high school in Novato we joined around 20 other Patriot Guard Riders in a flag line leading to the memorial service for Cpl. Nicholas Paul Olson. Cpl. Olson lost his life while serving in Iraq.

I have been signed up as a member of PGR for a couple of years, but there has only been one other occasion that has been in our area. As it happens Cpl. Olson is the son of one of our friends here in Lake County.

The whole event took a couple of hours. One poignant moment came when a lady with a toddler came out of the memorial and as the toddler walked around the mother said, "Look at all the flags. Daddy would have liked the flags." The lady and toddler were the wife and daughter of Cpl. Olson.

Many people thanked the PGR members who made up the flag line. As far as I could tell, not one participant felt the need for a thank you, more like it was the least they could do for someone who had given their all for their country.

October

<-Joel at RFK; RFK Ride; Larry at RFK (early) and the bottom two photos are of the Clear Lake Road Riders.




In the few weeks we have returned from our motorcycle trip we have traveled to Sacramento twice - once to attend Larry's retirement dinner (a lovely evening at the Sheraton) and this past weekend to participate in the Ride for Kids event in Woodland, CA.

The group we belong to had the 4th highest club donations and our local dealer came in as top dealer with over $27k attributed to his business.