| ||||||||||||||
| Dec | 2006 | |||||||||||||
|
On the 1st, led 3 other tennis club members on a 3 mile hike that hit the Palms at Indianhead, where we explored the 50 year old ruins of the burned-out hotel rooms, and got a tour of the restored portion of the hotel. Later that night, Gary and I did the draw for the tournament with 21 men and 20 women. On the 2nd, started the BSTC tournament with partner Al Lieb. We played a round robin with 4 teams in the men's upper division. We won 2 out of 3 and wound up the 2nd seed. We attended the potluck that night, where Kathy prepared a cherry / cream cheese / turnover-like dessert.  Only loss was to eventual winners, the Freds: 8-6  Bonnie and Carole   Bonnie in one of hotel rooms On the 3rd, lost the semi-finals to the 3rd seed (Mike S and Barry F) 8-5.  Barry and Mike On the 4th, after finishing the next tennis club newsletter, and jump starting Kathy's Toyota, planted some cacti at Norm's and did another 5' of the marble apron extension on my carport. On the 5th, added another installment on apron extension at my house and painted my front deck.  Deck On the 6th, completed apron extension at my house and spackled / painted picnic table, bench for mom, as well as completed first coat of upper deck railing - working a bit into the night.  Start of day  End of day On the 7th, surveyed Norm's proposed additions to irrigation system.  Spaz helping Jef with computer work  Hershey is very calm On the 8th, drove to San Diego with Kathy and Holley. Won 0.45 at poker, as did the Hankster. Spent night at Stacey's abode. On the 9th, went shopping with Kathy, Stacey, and Holley.  Stacey's place  Pre-shopping trip with Holley Note: falliage After hectic mall shopping, we took off to O.B., having lunch at Nati's, checking out O.B. X-mas tree, and doing some of the shops there.  O.B. X-mas tree that afternoon   Ornaments are beachballs!  Holley on beach   O.B. X-mas tree at night  Trying on wierd sunglasses at the Shell Shop  Later that night, we checked out the hard-core decorations of Garrison Street in Point Loma, capturing some images for our holiday card:   Kathy, Stacey, Holley   Holley, Kathy, Stacey  Photo for our X-mas card  On the 10th, after lunch with Stacey, Kathy, Holley and I did our final shopping for weekend -- getting shoes, mainly before heading back to Borrego. On the 11th thru 13th, hauled about 1420 brick tiles from Terry's to Norm's - estimated weight: 3000 pounds. Picked up the Mazda from Randy's -- he had fixed the brakes over the weekend.  Bricks loaded in Jeep  Jeep unloaded  Jeep loaded with bricks |
 1000 brick pile at Norm's On the 14th, picked up Jeep from Randy -- he had put in a new stereo. Then took Kathy to doctor, and did some shopping. Got a cordless circular saw. On the 15th, replaced Sonja's irrigation controller, which was destroyed by a voltage spike by SDG&E. Later that night, helped do make-up and watched Holley in the encore presentation of Toy School. We had some rain this night.  Toy School stage On the 16th, with the help of Gil H., moved my queensized bed from upstairs to Kathy's guest house. We prepared it for future guests, and showed it later this day. Took some pix of mom's trailer, trying to get Christmas lighting at sunset. by her new trailer -- the last pictures I ever took of her :(   Festive decorations outside of Airstream  On the 17th, tried using my new toy to cut some firewood. Took some pix of mom by her new trailer -- the last pictures I ever took of her :( Later that night, with Holley and Kathy, trimmed the live mini-tree we purchased a few days prior. Holley made the rough draft of a gingerbread house.  Mom walking to her trailer  Mom by her Airstream  Mom pointing at coming storm  Trimmed tree  Holley by her creation On the 18th, completed most of the holiday cards. Started repairing upstairs screen door. Watched as scattered showers provided some deluges in the mountains. Weather turned cold this day.  Rain and snow showers on El Toro On the 19th, removed a remote control in Norm's fan -- no clicker! Had a nice 4th of July display when I blew the breaker. Did another round of painting upper deck and the door to it. On the 20th, installed more irrigation after planting 2 new blue palms at Norm's. Reserved a hotel in Southhampton between Xmas and New Years, and arranged for a rental car from National.  Tires no longer fit on bike rims, so here's my futile attempt to stretch it - to replace Holley's tire.  Planting new blue palms at Norm's On the 21st, got old Mazda - "Amanda" - towed away. Finished re-screening upstairs door.  Loading up Amanda  Goodbye little car -- you were great!  Holley's finished creation On the 22nd, installed some irrigation at Norm's. Then started going thru old clothes in attempt to find warm things for Long Island in December and donated ones that don't fit. Helped Kathy reclaim her Dodge (new battery and fixed transmission) and Toyota (new battery) from mechanics. Dropped off Ford for servicing. Made a care package for mom, and the family joined her for a glass of wine and talk. Then we had some dinner at Pablitos.  New irrigation for this garambullo at Norm's  Holley as "Statue of Liberty" in mom's trailer  Assuming the torch of freedom is a burning pencil  Holley demonstrating her telekinetic ability on ornament above her head -- Pabilitos nachos in foreground On the 23rd, finished packing for our trip to Long Island and took off to San Diego to spend the night at Stacey's. On the 24th, Kathy, Holley, and I took off for New York City to visit Kathy's relatives in Long Island, and to visit neighbor Julianne in her Manhattan apartment. After renting a car, we drove to Kathy's cousin Michael and Martha's house, where we had an epic Italian Christmas Eve dinner. We then had to go back to the airport where we spent the night at a Ramada.  Holley preparing to drop half her snacks on floor -- while eating the other half  Picture of back of Jef's head at Michael and Martha's Christmas Eve dinner at Michael and Martha's house in Malverne  John, Michael, Martha at the dinner |
On the 25th, we drove to Muttontown where the girls were hungry, so stopped for some NY Chinese food at Empire Szechuan. Then we drove to nearby cousin Kevin's house, where we had a huge Italian Christmas dinner. Jef ate, too much and had to delay sleeping for a couple hours to make sure it was all going to stay down.  Kevin and Donna's living room  Opening presents  Keving bringing a course while Donna works in background  Kathy helping to set up  John explaining football game to Michael  John cutting up another course while Bill watches  Kathy in front of Kevin and Donna's house On the 26th, left Kevin and Donna's, and drove to Oyster Bay, where we looked around a bit, and then headed to SouthHampton, where we checked into the SouthHampton Inn. We walked around town amongst the cool Christmas decorations -- each business in the downtown section had a lighted cut tree just outside on the sidewalk. We settled on Bannisters for dinner. Food was great.  Oyster Bay   Window shopping in Southhampton  Dinner at Bannisters On the 27th, visited Hampton Bays beach, after getting some seafood at Tulley's nearby. Toured area where Kathy had stayed while visiting last time. Saw Night at the Museum movie at Southhampton Theatre 1 block from hotel. Cute. Dinner at Villa Paul.  Southhampton Inn  Beach at Hampton Bays       Back at Inn for nice sunset On the 28th, Southhampton beach walk, walked over to bay on boardwalk. Wine tasting at Duck Walk Winery - bought a few bottles of wine. Had some frozen yogurt on way back. Dinner at Tuscan House. After dinner, toured mansions near downtown Southhampton at night. Saw a few good Christmas displays, including the Southhampton Christmas tree. Kathy detoured and walked around a mansion where nobody was home.  Southhampton Beach  Dinner at Tuscan House  Christmas decorations  Southhampton Christmas tree  Kathy inside the tree On the 29th, had a little breakfast with Holley at the hotel. went on wine tasting tour, going NE beyond Bridgeport before turning north. Took ferry across to Greenport via Shelter Island. First to Ternhaven Cellars in Greenport. Discussed where to go next with proprietor after purchasing about 3 bottles. Next to Old Field Winery, where we bought another bottle, and Holley got a chance to play with some farm animals. Finished up with wine tasting at 2 wineries in Peconic: Lenz Winery, bought $35 bottle of cab, Pindar Vinyards, ordered a case of 3 different wines be delivered to Borrego ($186 including delivery). Returned on ferry at just after sunset, where we watched the scenery. Had pizza dinner at La Parmigiana Restaurant about 5 blocks from Southhampton Inn.  Holley feeding chickens at the Old Field Winery  Kathy by vinyards at the Lenz Winery  Sunset at the Pindar Winery  Pizza dinner at La Parmigiana On the 30th, checked out of Southhampton Inn and drove down to see 93 year old Marie Kaiser, a close friend of Kathy's family. Then drove to Manhattan, and found parking place right in front of Julianne's apartment, just off of Central Park on the West Side. Had dinner at a bar: Prohibition.  Marie Kaiser On the 31st, Dinner at a Turkish? restaurant. Stayed up til midnight. Called mom 10 minutes before midnight, just before going up to roof of the 5 story brownstone with Holley and Kathy - might have been last time I ever talked to her. A party was going on on building next door (on 5th floor, 1 floor below us). | ||||||||||||
| Nov | 2006 | |||||||||||||
|
On the 1st and 2nd, installed over 200' of irrigation line at Norm's.  Moved most of oil in this slick to piles (background) by road  Some of irrigation line trench  One of Kathy's clients had this unusual flower On the 3rd, got oil changed, did some shopping, split at tennis, 6-7, 6-3, then lost 20 at poker.  My eyes gave away my hand at poker On the 4th, completed fixing up mom's new trailer in preparation to moving it to trailer park. On the 5th, while walking around circle in front of Kathy's house, Kathy stepped on a rattler (same one Jef poked at on Halloween), but it didn't bite -- just rattled. On the 6th, found out Kathy's doctor appointment was mistakenly set for following day, so she had to re-organize her schedule. We made a shopping trip to Palm Desert, however, in order to free up more time for the next day. Kathy took me to her favourite sushi restaurant in Palm Desert. On the 7th, took Kathy to get an epidural shot in SD. We had lunch at Shogun, this time sitting on the "grill side", where we got entertained with such things as flaming onion volcano. On the 8th, Kathy got her hair done in preparation for reunion the coming weekend. Jef started a new irrigation project at Norm's, and finished spackling his front deck. Jef got stung by bee while skimming Norm's pool. On the 10th, drove to L.A. with Kathy and Holley and Leny cooked us a nice dinner. On the 11th, after checking out dad's new work, walked around his neighborhood.  Dad's new 70' bench  New pattern based on spidrons     New trail-building on far side of hill  Had German food here for lunch |
Later on the 11th, drove to Long Beach and checked in at the Coast Resort Hotel near the Queen Mary. Later that night, Kathy and I attended Kathy's 31st reunion party.  Looking towards Queen Mary from hotel     Queensbay Bridge  Holley taking it easy at hotel  Ready for reunion  Donna, Kathy, Sharon   Kathy with "Crazy Lanci"  Class of '76, Jon  emcee Nathan On the 12th, walked over to the Queen Mary with Kathy and Holley. Then Kathy tried to take us to Sam's Seafood in Seal Beach, but it was shut down, so we ate at a restaurant next door. Then drove back to Borrego, stopping in Temecula, where I got a pint of fro-yogurt and ate it while driving home. |
 Queen Mary Arriving in Borrego on the night of the 12th, 2 street racers passed us. They continued to speed thru downtown, and another car was coming the other way. Turned out to be a sheriff, and he went after them, and may have caught them. On the 14th, completed a new 150' irrigation replacement at Norm's. On the 17th, split at tennis, 7-5, 2-6. Won 0.05 at poker. On the 18th, completed re-painting my front deck. On the 20th thru the 22nd, worked on getting Norm's and Kathy's houses in good order for Thanksgiving.  Looking down at pool after fixing Norm's swamp cooler on roof  Desert landscape late in day  Norm's house from ridge in park  On the 23th, did some final clean-up and helped Kathy make a Thanksgiving feast. There were 5 of us altogether with Stacey, Holley, and Stacey's friend, Anna from Guatemala.  Place setting at start of loading up table  Eating desert in living room  Leftovers! On the 24th, surveyed more plants to be moved from Terry's, and started moving some. Lost at tennis: 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, and then won 10 at poker. Helped get rid of some of Craig and Nancy's Thanksgiving leftovers.  Wasp next in one of Terry's kilns On the 26th, drove to Palm Desert with Kathy and Holley. Did some shopping, had lunch at Tsing Tao's, and saw movie "Deja Vu" in Indio. Pretty good. Holley was ill afterwards, and we kept her home for next few days. On the 27th, worked on driveway border at Norm's and started apron extension at my house, using Rose marble. On the 28th, waited all day for satellite guy to come -- he didn't come until nightfall. Made a new ad for Kathy:  Kathy's new ad On the 29th, drove Kathy to get shot in S.D. She screamed, as it was the most painful shot (of 12 epidurals) by far. Afterwards, we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant with the Hankster. Holley was out sick (tummy ache) the entire week from the 26th into December. | ||||||||||||
| Oct | 2006 | |||||||||||||
|
On the 1st, went on hike with Kathy, going on longer loop - about 1.5 hours. On the 2nd, on humid day with neat clouds, set old kitchen sink in corner of carport.  Jef under sink  Sunset on BS Rd  Sunset behind grape arbor  Holley made this Jack-O-Lantern out of a Coyote gourd  Cousin It, wearing Holley's clothes On the 3rd, after visiting Rita for a notary service, had dinner at Carlee's. I had southwest chicken caeser.  Sunrise at Kathy's  Note lenticular at bottom of this beast On the 4th, Kathy and I went on our, now usual, 1 hour walk around the neighborhood. Neat sunsrise this day. On the 5th, Holley decorated and Holley and I had an impromtu birthday party for Kathy, using cupcakes for cake.  Fonts Point this afternoon  Preparing for birthday festivities  Sunset that night On the 6th, Kathy and I hiked up wash to the north from house - 1.2 hours. On hike, we saw a tall ocotillo - about 22' tall. Note below the number of 'Kathy-lengths' ocotillo is tall. Later I met mom in Santee and we purchased, and mom hauled away, a chipper at Home Depot. Won at tennis with partner Craig against Gerry and Hank: 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Then lost 12 at poker.  Found this ocotillo on hike to have similar height to another very tall one:  Ocotillo in Ocotillo Heights On the 7th, got my garage sink to work. Later that day, Stacey had another impromptu birthday ceremony for Kathy.  Kathy's more ceremonious blowing out of candles On the 8th, after trying to assemble chipper, found a severely damaged part. Could not fix completely this day (no time). Hiked up to cave house (3+ miles) with Kathy, Holley, and Stacey. Planted 2 trees later with Kathy.  In the cave house |
   On the 9th, picked up about 8 cu.ft. of potting soil at Terry's and dropped off at Norm's, applying it to nursery. On the 10th, tried fixing mangled chipper part, but failed. Tested chipper, and generated a couple hunder pounds of chips at my house. Picked up a bunch of cacti at Terry's. On the 11th, planted over a dozen cacti at Norm's. on the 12th, picked up a Frankensense tree at Terry's, a couple other trees, and about 15 cu. ft. of potting soil. Moved it all to Norm's, planting trees.  Re-planted Frankensense tree  Holley found "Charlie Finch" in the house this nite On the 13th, drove to cannon party with Kathy and Holley. After arriving at night, set up camp. As it started raining before bedding down, Holley slept in Jeep. Kathy had problems sleeping with thunder, lightning and rain. On the 14th, woke up to find Holley's tent had blown about 1/6 mile away. Brought it back, but broke pole along way. Today, saturday, turned out to be a great day, with nice clouds, little wind, lots of cannon shots, a few BBM shots. I took Erik's sign and hung it up on Mark's target, making it much more visible. Later that night, when Holley wanted to again sleep in Jeep, we took her tent, and burned it in Mara's bonfire. That night, we had rainbow, awesome sunset, and some cool fireworks. My camera ran out of juice, and couldn't find Kathy's.     On the 15th, after a few cannon shots and a BBM, we broke camp and drove back home via Palm Springs. On the 16th, subbed for Marlene (her 10th wedding anniversary) at work for a couple of hours, and picked up my new tire (last week had run over a nail, and it turned the inside of tire into dust). on the 17th, did major clean-up of Norm's garage, and continued burying pipes installed during prior month. On the 18th, finished moulding for garage sink and worked on mom's trailer. On the 19th, after working on mom's trailer, went with Kathy to the Sundowner at the airport. Live entertainment, food, and right in front of all the cool planes for the airshow.  On the 20th, after doing some whirlwind shopping, split at tennis (Fred and I) against Craig and Hank: 7-5, 5-7. Won 3 at poker due tom my "big hand":     |
On the 21st, got set up for, and then hosted a Halloween party with Kathy and Holley. About 10 of us had a nice dinner in Kathy's backyard.    Grace brought these "Misfortune cookies" and dead-man's finger cookies Misfortunes were things like:
 WATERCOLOR On the 22nd, went with Kathy and Holley over to my house, where mom and Elsa had some vittles set out. We hung out on the deck and gabbed, as Elsa, who was helping mom organize her things, was leaving in next couple of days.  On the 23rd, strained my back digging a new irrigation line at Norm's. On the 24th, took Kathy to her doctor in San Diego. On the 25th, did a lot of trimming at Norm's, and planned the rest of a new irrigation system. On the 27th, did the draw for the BSTC tennis tournament. Found out the next day that I had scheduled 2 matches on same court at same time. On the 28th, played in tournament with partner Jan. We were eliminated: 3-8, 8-6, 8-5, 6-8. Was dehydrated and very sore by end of the day, as Kathy spent day with Stacey and Holley at Borrego Days festivities. Managed to see parade with them, however. We skipped pot-luck, and had dinner at Pablitos. Worked on Kathy's back that night. She was very sore from fall during week, and standing in line for 45 minutes for lunch at the circle.  Outgoing Miss Borrego  New Miss Borrego  Holley taking pic of Grand Marshall: The San Diego Chicken  Hat made locally from 100 dollar bills  High skool cheerleaders    On the 29th, watched the finals at the tennis club, and took rest of day off. On the 31st, trick-or-treated with Holley and Kathy, going around circle. Saw rattler in one driveway. Looked dead, so I kicked it, and got it to rattle at me.  Holley's pumpkin  Kathy and Holley in costume | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
|