Merry Christmas

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.  We did.

We have been enjoying some time off and looking forward to Aimee being home all of next week.
She has been busy with some projects around the house and expects to be wrapping up some of that work during her break.

The weather here has been summer-like and Rosebud and I enjoyed a lengthy Christmas day hike.
She slept well that night.  Actually, she sleeps well all the time.

Christmas Time

Here is the lovely wreath that has been hanging on our front door the last couple of weeks.  It was a gift from the Deaks and gives a nice smell every time we enter or exit the house.

Aimee has a few days off this week and she is taking off all of next week.  We are looking forward to the downtime and are ready to relax and enjoy the nice weather.

A few of the neighbors are coming over for a bit on Sunday evening.  We are lucky to have some very nice people on our street and we have become friends with many of them.

Hopefully you have a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.  Aimee and I are very grateful for continued good health and good luck.  Rosebud feels the same way I'm sure. 

Bird Day

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  It was just the two of us and instead of cooking a turkey like we did last year when we had three guests we roasted a 5 lb. chicken.

It took a lot less cooking time and tasted great!  We're still finishing off the leftovers.

Rosebud loved the smell filling the house and she got to enjoy the giblets added to her food bowl.
Thanksgiving is Rosebud's anniversary with us.  We picked her up the day after Thanksgiving in 2006 when she was just over a year old.  We're strongly considering keeping her.

Game Night

Last Friday night Aimee and I went to a UCLA game at the Rose Bowl.

We met with six other people before the game for some tail-gating.  At the Rose Bowl they park all the cars on the golf course that is adjacent to the stadium.  This makes for a good tail-gating experience for the fans (probably not so great for the fairways).

It was a 6pm kickoff and we got there around 3.  We enjoyed some food and beverages on the golf course for a couple of hours before the game.  Aimee grabbed a football and showed everybody how to throw a tight spiral.

UCLA defeated Washington and all of the Bruin fans were very happy.  Aimee and I are not UCLA fans but we wanted to go to a game and we had a great time.

A Trick - No Treats!

As usual our Halloween was a quiet one.  We didn't even bother getting anything to hand out this year since we don't expect trick-or-treaters on our street.  It's too dark and hilly for little kids.

I did enjoy this video from last year's Halloween, though.  And this video from two years ago.

And the one from this year.

Gameday Ink

Aimee got set for the USC-Notre Dame game first thing this morning with some ink on her forearm.

The Irish sticker may not last the entire day but her bright green 'Return to Glory' t-shirt will.

The first time we went to a game at the Coliseum it was a chilly night and Aimee wore her long-sleeved ND gear, but also had on her USC t-shirt just in case.  She gets confused sometimes but she usually remembers who the good guys are.

One Problem Rosebud Doesn't Have

Local Winery

                                    

 

Recently we visited a winery that is not too far from the house.  It is about a 15-20 minute drive toward the beach in Malibu Canyon.

 

 

We had a good time enjoying a wine tasting and eating a picnic lunch that we had brought.  Rosebud would have had a good time too but they don't allow dogs or kids.  Probably a good thing.  It was a very relaxing atmosphere and not at all crowded.

 

     As usual, Aimee gets a little carried away.

 

We went back a couple of weeks later and plan on making it over there whenever we have time.  The weather is great and the setting in the middle of the canyon makes it seem like you are far from home.

 

Fall Bath

Rosebud had a full day today.  She got to go to Aimee's softball game and then play some Frisbee on the field after the game.  Then it was back home for her traditional beginning of Fall bath.

We are watching some football today and enjoying the Fall weather.  Good thing the Giants game was not on TV here.

Softball season resumed recently and Aimee is quite busy as ususal.  I get to play in the occasional game also. 

Crop Update

We've had mixed success in the garden this year.

Above is one of our basil plants.  This plant and some of the lettuce plants have done very well so far.
But the tomato plants have been a disaster.  I think the problem was putting the plants in a slightly different location this time around.

The new spot, while only about 2-3 feet away from last year's position, gets less direct sunshine each day.  Apparently it's not enough sun for the tomatoes.

We'll have to make an adjustment and see if anything can be salvaged from this season.  In the meantime the herbs and lettuces are doing great and smell fantastic.

Make Your Own Ice Cream

Maybe you already know about this but I only recently learned how to easily make 'ice cream' at home using just one simple ingredient.

All you need is a banana.  Freeze it.  Blend it.  There you go.

You can also add some other frozen fruit.  I like to toss in some pecan pieces at the end.

I've had a few bowls of this 'ice cream' lately and it was very good.

Wine Tasting

We celebrated our anniversary by going on a brief wine tasting trip.

As usual, we headed with a group of friends to the Central Coast wine country area of Paso Robles to sample the wares.  We have some favorite spots we like to visit and also a couple of new ones to check out also.

The weather was perfect and the hospitality at the wineries was excellent.  Because it was their Wine Festival weekend there were many special events and we had some tastings right out of the barrel!

Springs Fire

There is a big fire burning nearby.  It is called the Springs Fire and it has been going strong since Thursday morning.

Fortunately for us it is far enough away to not pose any danger other than the air being very smoky.

It is burning from an area near Thousand Oaks and headed toward the ocean.

Change in Weather

We enjoyed our brief visit from Aimee's parents and Nils.  They were here for four days and the weather was perfect during their visit - 70's and sunny.

They left here on an early morning flight to visit Lars and Molly in Minnesota and this is what they got the first day there.  This is a picture of Lars' backyard.

That was in mid-April.  I was reminded of this when I read that some parts of Minnesota got 15" of new snow just a couple of days ago.

Our Visitors

 

 

We knew this would happen. 

 

We knew we'd get to the end of the four days that Aimee's Mom, Dad and Nils were here and it would have gone by too fast.

 

They got here on Saturday morning and were due to get on a plane to Minnesota on Wednesday morning.  Aimee's plan is to drop them off at the airport on her way to work in the morning.

 

We had a good visit and got to celebrate Aimee's birthday on Monday with chocolate cake.  There was enough left over to have more cake on Tuesday night.

 

I think Rosebud is going to have a tough time adjusting back to the normal routine.  The last few days she has been the recipient of a lot of attention, not to mention a generous helping of treats.  She also got to go on plenty of walks and play more Frisbee than usual.

 

The Visit

Here's Rosebud anticipating the arrival of our first overnight visitors.

Aimee's parents and her brother Nils are staying with us for four days starting today.  They're headed to Minnesota for four days after that.

We were very pleasantly surprised to get the news recently that they were making the trip and we've been busy preparing for their arrival.

We don't have a lot planned to do while they are here, but we will be celebrating Aimee's birthday on Monday.  No doubt the four days will go by in a flash.

Rainbow

Last weekend we had some rain and sun at the same time.  This presented us with a really nice double rainbow that you see here.

Actually it wasn't really rain but sort of a hail.  Little ice crystals were hitting the balcony and bouncing off of it.

The double rainbow lasted for about a half hour or so, long enough for Aimee to take this self-portrait.

Chilly

It has been pretty chilly here the last few days.

Not too cold to play softball, fortunately.  Aimee had a good game on Sunday when she hit a home run in her first at-bat.  Her team won and now plays for a championship next week.

But it was a good weekend to stay inside and watch football.  The Denver and Atlanta games were very entertaining.  Aimee's Packers were overmatched in their game.  Not as bad as the Irish were against Alabama but a loss just the same.