Josh, here are a few bags of ravs in the freezer downstairs. Only 2 or 3. we did not make them this time and we have not had them to eat while I have been here.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Photos 20
Josh, here are a few bags of ravs in the freezer downstairs. Only 2 or 3. we did not make them this time and we have not had them to eat while I have been here.
Getting to the end
This will most likely be my last entry as this afternoon I head to the airport for the start of my homeward journey. If I have time at SFX or LFX I will send one last chapter but otherwise this is it.
Yesterday was so hot, even hotter than the day before. Noni and I did an early run to the small Mexican grocery to buy the makings for Carnitas for dinner that night. I spent most of the day getting my suitcases organised and fussing around the kitchen. In the afternoon Gramps and I went down to La Tapatia to buy fresh tortillas for dinner. My suitcases are very full and there are many things that just did not make the cut. We investigated sending a box home but that was just ridiculously expensive in comparison to what was in the box.
Yesterday we finally explored the garage and went through various items down there. There is not too much that I can take. But I had a look in the fridge and freezer and although they are not full, they are well stocked with supplies for making Noni's favourites, pie crust for her apple pies, almond paste for Ameretti, walnuts and biscotti, bread crumbs, butter, etc. Only 2-3 bags of ravs though.
Yesterday we finally explored the garage and went through various items down there. There is not too much that I can take. But I had a look in the fridge and freezer and although they are not full, they are well stocked with supplies for making Noni's favourites, pie crust for her apple pies, almond paste for Ameretti, walnuts and biscotti, bread crumbs, butter, etc. Only 2-3 bags of ravs though.
Noni and I finally went digging into one cupboard yesterday, the one in the den above the TV.We also spent some time looking at Gardian Service websites selling the pots, just to get some idea of the selling prices. We even found a Guardian Service blog with recipes, history, etc. Noni was fascinated.
Yesterday Gramps read the Blog from start to the last entry. He really liked it. I thought he would get tired but he said no, he found it really interesting and wanted to read the whole thing. He liked the idea of the blog and later that evening when I was taking pictures he had a better understanding of where the pictures were going.
The Martinellis arrived in the afternoon with Noah and Uncle Mike went in to Gramps room for a short nap. Gramps and Linda sat on the front porch with the front door open and Noah went in and out with various small toys. Krista arrived just before Dinner with Lucca but did not stay long, just collected Noh and carried on. After dinner Non and Gramps and Linda and I spent a long time recalling various All Souls families and kids we went to school with. Now and then former All Souls people come into Linda’s office and then because there have been so many funerals in the past year, especially in January, lots of people are just seeing one another again after many years, similar to my experience at Cynthia’s mom’s funeral. So this is stimulating lots of reminiscing.
Noni is still fixing things and has many small tools laying around the kitchen. She still has a weakness for old wooden tools and has a few special items that she uses. This morning she was investigating a rough spot on the back of the shirt she was wearing yesterday and discovered that there was a small piece of ribbon that must have melted during ironing. So she had a look and found that she could just take this off with no change to the top so she has just finished doing this.
This morning we have a few last minute errands to run and then we will be heading up to the Martinellis for a last day lunch and hang out before bringing me to the airport. It is good that I am leaving on a Wednesday as I know now that Thursdays are a really big day for them as this is the afternoon that they have to get Noah down to Burlingame in the afternoon and Uncle Mike often works at the ball park on Thursdays.
See you all soon. Love mom
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Photos 19
Here are a few photos of the morning routine, Gramps checking out the papers before going off to his exercise class and Non cutting out coupons for Walgreens before going to do her morning run up there and Noni sharpening knives on one of her many sharpening tools that she has available in the kitchen.
Chapter 15
Yesterday was one of those days when everyone in South City realises that they really don't mind their crap weather. It was hot, very hot and everyone was struggling. While most houses in So City are well set up for cold weather in terms of heating, it is not the same for hot days as usually there are not very many. Noni and Gramp's house faces west so they really collect heat in the afternoon and by the evening the house on that side is pretty warm. But the rooms on the east side, kitchen and den, are not too bad and they can open the kitchen door to pick the evening cool of course the basement is very cool. Noni left the front door wide open too for the little bit of breeze that was coming in. This morning it is already feeling warm at 7.30 in the morning! definitely not the norm for South City.
Today I am hoping to get some photos of the pumpkin displays that are out now. This year they have had some problems with their pumpkin crop as it was either too wet or not hot enough for the pumpkins and they are not as big and many pumpkin growers lost most of their crop. The same weather conditions have caused problems for tomatoes and walnuts. Noni has been compalining about these last two things, especially as she counts on getting those from various people for her cookies. Fran and Dan Weber told non that their walnuts are still on the trees and the some of the outer shells have not even cracked yet. I have not heard anyone talking climate change for all of these weather-related anomalies, but they certainly are noticing the weather changes.
Yesterday we bought Noni a new phone and I have given her a crash course in using it and will show gramps too. The one we had our eyes on was ony available through a contract and gramps was not going to do that. The young man who was helping us was a bit impatient at first but once Non and Gramps were back in the shop he seemed to take a different approach and was very helpful in transferring the Sim Card, setting dates and even put a label on the back of the phone with Noni's number on it. So all up the new phone cost $32 and hopefully it will not take her too long to get used to it.
We did the suitcase check last night and it is right down to the wire with the two big bags. I have to work some magic today as I have not bought the sees candy yet. oh oh. Also there is no room for any of noni's pots. It is weight that is the issue for me, not space.
There are so many things I need to print out today and as the Martinellis do not have a printer, I need to visit Kingkos or some such place to do all of that today. I need to make a copy of the photos i have taken for them and print out somethings I have typed up for Noni. Then also today I hope to buy the pork to make the carnitas for them tonight.
Last night as Noni and I were looking at Gardian Service cookware websites we got a skype call from Noni and Eleanor and Sara's face popped up on the screen. Noni said "hey, there's Sara!". We had another visit with Eleanor too. That is all for now.
Today I am hoping to get some photos of the pumpkin displays that are out now. This year they have had some problems with their pumpkin crop as it was either too wet or not hot enough for the pumpkins and they are not as big and many pumpkin growers lost most of their crop. The same weather conditions have caused problems for tomatoes and walnuts. Noni has been compalining about these last two things, especially as she counts on getting those from various people for her cookies. Fran and Dan Weber told non that their walnuts are still on the trees and the some of the outer shells have not even cracked yet. I have not heard anyone talking climate change for all of these weather-related anomalies, but they certainly are noticing the weather changes.
Yesterday we bought Noni a new phone and I have given her a crash course in using it and will show gramps too. The one we had our eyes on was ony available through a contract and gramps was not going to do that. The young man who was helping us was a bit impatient at first but once Non and Gramps were back in the shop he seemed to take a different approach and was very helpful in transferring the Sim Card, setting dates and even put a label on the back of the phone with Noni's number on it. So all up the new phone cost $32 and hopefully it will not take her too long to get used to it.
We did the suitcase check last night and it is right down to the wire with the two big bags. I have to work some magic today as I have not bought the sees candy yet. oh oh. Also there is no room for any of noni's pots. It is weight that is the issue for me, not space.
There are so many things I need to print out today and as the Martinellis do not have a printer, I need to visit Kingkos or some such place to do all of that today. I need to make a copy of the photos i have taken for them and print out somethings I have typed up for Noni. Then also today I hope to buy the pork to make the carnitas for them tonight.
Last night as Noni and I were looking at Gardian Service cookware websites we got a skype call from Noni and Eleanor and Sara's face popped up on the screen. Noni said "hey, there's Sara!". We had another visit with Eleanor too. That is all for now.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Chapter 14
ok folks I accidentally wiped the photos from the Dante Sciandri party. Sorry anna, no cupcake and decorating ideas, but the photos will probably show up on face book.
Noni and Gramps had a great time at the party yesterday but they were the last ones to be picked up. We were waiting for Noni to call us but she never did and we did not want to just show up in case they were not ready to leave. Michelle and I went to get them and this was lucky as we missed young Lucca throwing up. But I did get to see Dante and wish him a happy birthday.
Yesterday afternoon we had two great Skype connections with Sara and Eleanor one at 5.15 PM us time and a second one at 6 PM. We took a short break in the middle to get Eleanor sorted and to round up the 2 little guys on this end. Noah was bonding with the toilet and Lucca was playing with cars. But overall this was a great success. Lucca tried to share his chuchi with Eleanor and she looked like she was interested. Sara got to see Non and gramps, Michelle, Krista, Tony, Mike and Linda and the 2 boys, so that was the best yet.
We had a great dinner again last night. Auntie lindy makes a pasta with cherry tomatoes and eggplant. She cuts up the eggplant and tomatoes and tosses them in oil and salt and pepper and some garlic then roasts them in the oven until they are starting to dry out. Then she tosses them in a pan with the pasta and it is very yummy.
Last night I also met Michelle’s friend Lee who is a very nice guy. Everyone likes him and thinks he is a keeper. Little Noah has really adopted me now. Anna and Josh will remember that he really did not want to talk to me when I was here 2 years ago and would start singing if I said anything to him. But he has decided that I am more than ok this time and comes and leans against me all the time.
This morning I need a reality check regarding my luggage. I have to try to get all my stuff in the suitcases and see how much it weighs as weight rather than space is going to be the big challenge. I have not been to Sees yet and need to know how much more I can fit in. Honestly we have not gone near the garage!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
chapter12
Today is sunday and the internet connection is givving me lots of trouble. It is nearly 12.30 and I ahve only just managed to get connected. so i am sending my blog before i check emails. Sara the message about you being connected to skype has come thpugh skype so that is great and i would love to try and hook up today. We would be ready to do that from around 5PM here, which should be 10am Monday morning your time. Alternatively if you want to call me on the SSF skype no, i could leave everything on from 5PM. Also we can always do the landline thing first to say we are both ready.
On Saturday I got picked up by Cynthia and Nancy at 9.30 to travel to Napa/Sonoma for our day at Fran and Dan Weber’s house. They live on a 2 acre property that is covered mostly in walnut and pear trees. They have grapes growing around them but no grapes on their property. As soon as we arrived we went straight into the town of Sonoma with them and 3 of their 6 grandchildren to watch the Firemen’s water fight, an annual event where teams form the local stations compete to push a keg across the line using fire hoses to score “goals” against the other team. There was also a fete so we watched the little guys go for prizes, etc. Back at Frans we had lunch and then spent the afternoon and evening catching up and talking about our childhoods, looking at photos and recipes and cooking dinner. It is now Sunday morning.
Today is the 90th Birthday party of Dante Sciandri. It is at David and Pia Sciandri’s house and all of the old timers are going to be there, the “cream of the crop” as Auntie Lindy says. I went up there earlier to take some photos of the party set up. The back of the house around the kitchen was set up for the early arrival. The lounge room is all set up for the luncheon. The garage is set up for card games after lunch, Pedro of course. Then I went to breakfast with Mike and Linda out near the cliff house before heading back to pick up Noni and Gramps to chauffeur them to the party. People were arriving as we dropped them off so I got to see a few of the old ones. Right now I am hanging at the Martinelli's getting my home messages done while Linda does the last shopping for dinner tonight.
The South City support network is really pretty special and it has definitely helped our family cope with the things that have happened in the last few years. And everyone thinks the old guys and gals are still going because they get to have such a great social life. There is always something happening and they all go to everything and everyone loves to be around them. So that is all good too.
On Saturday I got picked up by Cynthia and Nancy at 9.30 to travel to Napa/Sonoma for our day at Fran and Dan Weber’s house. They live on a 2 acre property that is covered mostly in walnut and pear trees. They have grapes growing around them but no grapes on their property. As soon as we arrived we went straight into the town of Sonoma with them and 3 of their 6 grandchildren to watch the Firemen’s water fight, an annual event where teams form the local stations compete to push a keg across the line using fire hoses to score “goals” against the other team. There was also a fete so we watched the little guys go for prizes, etc. Back at Frans we had lunch and then spent the afternoon and evening catching up and talking about our childhoods, looking at photos and recipes and cooking dinner. It is now Sunday morning.
Today is the 90th Birthday party of Dante Sciandri. It is at David and Pia Sciandri’s house and all of the old timers are going to be there, the “cream of the crop” as Auntie Lindy says. I went up there earlier to take some photos of the party set up. The back of the house around the kitchen was set up for the early arrival. The lounge room is all set up for the luncheon. The garage is set up for card games after lunch, Pedro of course. Then I went to breakfast with Mike and Linda out near the cliff house before heading back to pick up Noni and Gramps to chauffeur them to the party. People were arriving as we dropped them off so I got to see a few of the old ones. Right now I am hanging at the Martinelli's getting my home messages done while Linda does the last shopping for dinner tonight.
The South City support network is really pretty special and it has definitely helped our family cope with the things that have happened in the last few years. And everyone thinks the old guys and gals are still going because they get to have such a great social life. There is always something happening and they all go to everything and everyone loves to be around them. So that is all good too.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Chapter 11
Today Gramps left very early for a golf tournament in Santa Rosa. He got picked up around 6AM and it was an all day affair. Noni and I took the green machine (Noni’s car) to Walgreens where all the sales people know Noni, but of course she has her favourites. We then went up to the martinellis and switched to Auntie Lindy’s car for a trip to the fabric and craft shops, Joanns and Michaels, both of which are full of stuff for Halloween. Noni and I have been waiting to get up to these shops but we had not managed it yet. It was fun to go up with Linda. Usually Gramps brings us up there and you feel a boit guilty because he is sitting in the car waiting for you. Not that he ever complains about waiting.
Back at the Martinellis I did a demo of Skype with Dad and this was a big hit. We had called Dad the day before from Noni and Gramps’s house just to see if the new skype name ssfvisit 2010 worked. But I wanted the Martinellis to see it in action. I have loaded Skype onto their home computer but this has no camera or microphone so without those items we cannot test it out.
After lunch I went with Linda and Mike and the boys to Sacred Heart High School in Menlo Atherton where Tony is on the Sports staff. Linda wanted me to see the new Science building there. Although I had never been to this school I had some friends in college who went there when it was a small girls boarding school. The old building is still there but the school has developed around it and is fully co-ed. They have around 600 students and it costs $30,000/year to go there. Yes all those zeros are correct. They raised all of the $32,000,000 for the new science centre just through fund raising.
The building has a lot of green features and all of these are explained on an interactive screen in the foyer of the building, the water and energy production and consumption, the green design features and the overall carbon footprint of the building. We stopped to look at it and Tony said that he really did not know much about the screen or about how to use it. “that’s ok” I said, “this is my world” and proceeded to demonstrate how the screen worked and what the screen could tell you about the building. It is exactly what we want to have for our new building at the wetlands. Auntie Lindy and Tony both cracked up.
Of course the school has a big gym and we spent some time here letting the boys run around. Then it was off to Geoffrey’s for Hamburgers. I tucked into one of these quite easily as I had only had a small brekkie. But it was a challenge. Uncle Mike had his burger, fries and a strawberry milk shake with whipped cream! Tony had a salad with a few fries on the side.
Back home at Nonis around 5 PM I went on line to check for emails and saw the little green skype sign for the Mackie avenue crowd and we managed to hook up with J&L, Sophie and Tristan and Non and Gramps and me. This was of course a big hit and Noni and Gramps were so happy to be able to see the kids and talk with them and see Linda moving around behind everyone. Sophie had a shirt with a dog’s head on the front and honestly we thought it was a real dog at first. Tristan showed us his new light saber that he got at the circus. Noni and Gramps are just amazed at the technology.
The day was not over yet as this was the opera night at the ball park. It was an all girls affair, me linda, Krista, michelle and marla. We got to use the special staff parking area and were given special stickers to go in through the staff entrance. This made getting in and out very easy. The opera was a live transmission from the smaller SF opera house where I think they said there was an audience of 3000 compared to a 32,000 strong crowd at the park. It was a free event and you could apply for 4 tickets. Seating was in the stands or directly on the outfield on blankets. That was where we were. It is the 5th year that they have done this and it sure looks like people are supportive and will come to this sort of thing. Jerry the opera was Aida so that made it a bit easier. We had a moment of uncertainty at the start because there were no subtitles but these came on after a short while.
At the end of the show, each of the stars came out one by one wearing or waving giants paraphernalia and the crowds went wild. All up a great night.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Chapter 10
Friday here and we are heading down to San Carlos today to visit Tony at Sacred Heart High School to see the new Science centre that they have just built through fundraising. We have to wait until Noah is done with school so that will be around lunch time I think. Gramps got up very early this morning to be ready for a 6.30 pick up to go play golf in Santa Rosa. Noni is amazed that he can sleep so long in the morning but if there is a good reason, he can also get up early and do all his prep and be ready to go.
Yesterday i did a few errands with Linda and then went up to get Noah from school. Most of the kids in Noah's class get on a bus to be delivered to their front door. Noah is very interested in the bus and likes to watch it drive away and they think that soon he may be willing to try it. We went back to Mom and Dads for lunch. Noah loves coming here and calls then Nona and Papa, as opposed to Noni and Nonno for M&L. This all works well but i simetimes forget and refer to myself as noni also instead of Auntie Tina so I hope i have not caused too much confusion. After lunch we went to Burlingame and I cruised the shops while Linda took Noah to his speech therapy class. I did the GAPS, adults, kids and babies. Some very good sales on at the moment. The boys things really look very different from what our kids wear so I saw nothing that grabbed me. Some very cute girls things but since they are going into winter it was all heavy. But I may go and have another look if I get a chance.
Little Lucca had is third day on full Day care. His Day care is a vary large modern family home and it is run by 3 Mexican ladies. There are 10 kids in all and all the food is cooked at the house each day and the ladies only speak Spanish to the children. Lucca seems to have dropped right into this new arrangement., but he was looking pretty wiped last night. We all ended up at the Martinellis as Uncle Mike was just home from Chicago with Eddie B. He had lots of funny stories to tell about Eddie and all the new friends he made but he was happy to be home.
That is all for now as I think my bathroom slot is open.
Yesterday i did a few errands with Linda and then went up to get Noah from school. Most of the kids in Noah's class get on a bus to be delivered to their front door. Noah is very interested in the bus and likes to watch it drive away and they think that soon he may be willing to try it. We went back to Mom and Dads for lunch. Noah loves coming here and calls then Nona and Papa, as opposed to Noni and Nonno for M&L. This all works well but i simetimes forget and refer to myself as noni also instead of Auntie Tina so I hope i have not caused too much confusion. After lunch we went to Burlingame and I cruised the shops while Linda took Noah to his speech therapy class. I did the GAPS, adults, kids and babies. Some very good sales on at the moment. The boys things really look very different from what our kids wear so I saw nothing that grabbed me. Some very cute girls things but since they are going into winter it was all heavy. But I may go and have another look if I get a chance.
Little Lucca had is third day on full Day care. His Day care is a vary large modern family home and it is run by 3 Mexican ladies. There are 10 kids in all and all the food is cooked at the house each day and the ladies only speak Spanish to the children. Lucca seems to have dropped right into this new arrangement., but he was looking pretty wiped last night. We all ended up at the Martinellis as Uncle Mike was just home from Chicago with Eddie B. He had lots of funny stories to tell about Eddie and all the new friends he made but he was happy to be home.
That is all for now as I think my bathroom slot is open.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
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