Perfect

Ahhhhh!

I breezed right over the bridge to San Francisco today for a rare lunch alone with Bill.

We went a favorite restaurant in Chinatown.

It was perfect.

We talked.

Uninterrupted.

Ordered.

With ease.

Meandered through a few stores.

Without complaint.

Or purchase.

We even bought, and ate, chocolate covered fortune cookies.

With no chocolate mess!

Ahhhhhhhh!

Can't wait to do it again!

Heat Wave

Ugh! It's really really hot here in Alameda. Really really hot. It's 98* at this moment. And this old house has no screens or ceiling fans. So, we are baking! I tried opening windows and doors yesterday, but the house was filled with hot stagnant air, plus there were a ton of flies on top of it all. So today we are closed up and the drapes are drawn. Annie and I have taken a cold, green tea bath already, and we didn't drain it so we can jump in and have another one. Soon. Very soon. It's Bill's birthday today, (although we're not celebrating until tomorrow) so I'm decorating, and baking. (Ak!) Bill requested Chocolate Bread Pudding. I'm also cleaning, changing sheets and and getting ready for Bill's folks who get here tomorrow afternoon for the birthday celebration.

Enough about my workload, the photo above is a little singing mermaid I made for Lily around the corner. It was her 5th birthday recently and she had a mermaid party. It was a really great party and she loved the mermaid. Or at least her folks did! Makes me want to jump and swim in a cool body of water just looking at her. Ahhhh, that tea bath is calling my name. I'm sure I'll get much more crossed off my list if my temperature is more manageable.

New Years Re-Do!

You may recall my last post telling (well, mourning more like) of my solo New Years hike. I'm happy to say that today Annie and Billy went with me to retrace my steps that I took New Years Day. Once Annie had seen the ladybug and mushroom photos that I took on my hike, she said "I would have gone if I knew it was going to be so beautiful!" I knew Bill was interested in checking it out too. It was a beautiful, beautiful opportunity to explore and we timed it perfectly between these California storms. The ladybugs were still there, and we saw an astounding amount of mushrooms sprouting in the damp, cold and alive forest. Ahhhhhhhhh! Really, I think I'm most content when we are together! It could be anywhere, and being outdoors and exploring with them both is pretty close to Nirvana to me. Both Bill and Annie have eyes for spotting life! With each find Annie would cry "This is a magic forest" or "Thank you earth!" I was in perfect bliss and I'm still feeling the effects of our experience tonight! Thanks for the comments both here and through email! I felt supported and cared about.

Mmmmmmm.
Love that!

Merry Christmas Papa!

I finished the scarf for Billy today. I actually finished about a week ago, and today I just blocked it and wove in the end pieces. It looks so much better once I steamed and blocked it! It looked very rough and ordinary before. Now it has such a light and fine feel to it. Maybe the Alpaca needs to be stretched and threatened a bit to show it's true beauty. I made it very long, like he likes, almost five feet, and I hope it keeps him warm on the ferry in the mornings. (If not darling, this might warm you a little.) Back to the project. It's a very simple pattern. Just let me know if you want the instructions.

Lunch With Pop

We had a day in the city starting with lunch with Papa. It was San Francisco just the way I like it. Crisp, a little breezy, with puffy clouds over head, and two hands to hold. We walked from Pops work to a little place he'd been eyeing with us in mind, and we had a terrific lunch. The lemonade was fantastic. So were the fries. The restaurant itself used to be a train car, and the interior still had the wonderful details that hark back to an era of luxury.

From there, we headed up to the Legion of Honor where we enjoyed the sculpture, drawings and painting in their permanent collection. The grounds alone are almost enough to satisfy...architecture, stunning ocean views, the grassy fields (and climbing trees) and fountains! Annie and I talked about taking some drawing materials next time we go so we can do some art work outside and enjoy the view. We made a few movies while we were there, mostly of her darting and dancing around the columns in the entry way, oh, and other sassy stuff. I'll spare you and not load them up here.

Keep it Simple

You'd think as we near the four-day-before-we-move mark that food would become incredibly simple around here. Nope. For some reason as the stress builds my dear Bill cooks more complicated and wonderful meals than normal. Not to say that he doesn't always exceed my expectations (and need) everyday with his cooking, but tonight he made the most delicate and wonderful lamb dish, with an incredible reduction poured over the top, luscious mashed potatoes, and steamed asperagras on the side. So amazing! The photo above is of a dish from a few days ago that was so pretty in the preparation that I had to run in with my camera! These beauties became a sherry-mushroom concoction that was pure heaven. If you're reading this darling, thank you!

SF Fantasies

Tonight I was poking around in my studio, trying to get an idea of what to keep and what to let go of for our upcoming move, when I found this gouache painting my mom did in '66. I'm not a person who believes in "signs" or "messages", but I did feel comforted and reassured by this little painting. It reminds me of how much my Mom loved the city, and how I love it too!

You know, I was born in Berkeley and have enjoyed San Francisco and the Bay Area all of my life. La La Pat said that she remembers she and Mom taking me over the bridge to the city when I was just a few months old. I've always loved visiting SF and I've actively fantasized about living there, mostly when I was in my teens and twenties. I don't think Bill has any SF fantasies. This worries me... We always thought we would go more rural than more urban. I dread him being unhappy, almost as much as I dread really loving it and having to leave it.

I'm trying to remember all the facts, and I don't have all the details organized in my head but I believe my Maternal Grandmother and Grandfather both lived, met, fell in love and got married in SF, my Great Great Grandmother and Grandfather lived and spent their last days there as well. Pat, can you set me staight...?

Black & White Weekend

Extreme pleasure to excruciating pain.



Safety and comfort, to total fear and insecurity.



Saturday night Bill and I stayed up late and watched an old Robert Altman movie in bed, talking, laughing and enjoying some alone time. We both fell asleep around 2:00 AM. By 4:30 AM he woke me up with his face completely ashen and swollen, his whole mannerism grave and troubled, describing symptoms that sounded really bad. Bloated abdomen, screaming pain from his ribs to his groin, and the inability to move his bowels, urinate or vomit...and a great desire to do all three. This coming from a man that has not taken a sick day in fifteen years of work and hardly a cold or flu since we married. We were in the emergency room minutes later. It took almost three hours and three doses of morphine for him to experience some relief. By that time the doctors confirmed it was a kidney stone. The CAT Scan showed that the stone was almost done traveling and that he would feel better soon. Whew!

I noted a few things about myself during this (thankfully) small crisis;



1.) Watching someone I love in extreme pain is almost worse than experiencing it myself.



2.) I'm grateful for my efficiency and my ability to think clearly during an emergency.



3.) I realize how deeply bonded and connected I am to Bill. I was scared utterly shitless at the thought that something bad could happen to him.



4.) Watching others in crisis at the emergency room reminded me of the horrible pain and suffering that comes with just living life and loving others.



5.) There is a time to live and a time to die. Today is our time to live and enjoy and have as much fun as possible! So I'm finishing this post now to go play with my baby.

Pure Pleasure

Words don't come close to how beautiful it was here today. Wow! With the showers we had on Friday night and yesterday, today was bright, beautiful, warm and glorious. Annie, Bill and I went for a long hike out at Wilder Ranch (Yeah for Annie for walking for more than two hours!) to celebrate our wedding day twelve years ago. One thing that stood out for me that made today so pleasurable, was all the scents. The earth was damp and pungent, the spray off the ocean smelled musky and the acres and acres of rosemary farmed out there kept wafting past us as we wound around the ocean path. Heavenly! I'm being called downstairs right now because we are about to make a special dinner to continue the celebration (complete with a chocolate heart cake that Annie and I baked for Papa this morning to surprise him.) I'm hoping everyone had a pleasurable day, and that it continues on through your week!

Chinatown or Bust?

When I married Bill and moved into his house, we blended all of our belonging together, keeping some and letting go of some too. When we were "melding" I noticed an unusual doorstop in one of the rooms that caught my eye. It was a chalk ware bust of an Asian child that appeared to be sucking it's thumb. It was hard to tell because it was in really rough shape. He said it was originally his great grandmothers from Carmel, who's wedding ring I now wore, and that it had been through a house fire at his Grandpa Joe's house in the late '80's. I really enjoyed looking at it, and I even did a few small watercolors sketches of it. It wasn't until I stopped in an antique store in Paso Robles on my way to L.A. a few years later that I saw another like it and found out what it was. Yes, it was chalk ware, an Esther Hunt style chalk ware bust. The one I saw was expensive and beautiful! As you can imagine, chalk ware chips, peels and breaks easily so I'm guessing that many were destroyed, making them valuable and collectible.

Esther Hunt began making and selling chalk ware busts, and portraits of Asian women and children in the '20's in San Francisco, after studying art there and then with William Merritt Chase in Paris. She grew up and lived most of her life here in California. There were a handful of artist working in the same genre at the same time, and all of the work seem to be very collectible today. I was surprised that I had never seen one before! Being a long time thrifter/collector from California, and being from a family that loved most things Asian and all! Well, that original "doorstop" still sits on a bookshelf, and over the last twelve years we've been lucky enough to find a few. We love the hunt! I have even restored one just like the Child Sucking it's Thumb that started it all. None of ours are Esther Hunts, and none of ours were expensive. I'm writing this tonight because yesterday Billy and I had a rare few hours together, and we went antiquing in Moss Landing together. Well, we walked into a little store and boom! There she was! In all our years of looking together, we have never seen one in a store! I found a bust once by myself years ago in L.A that I bought, plus I've found a few small pieces that were probably carnival give-aways from the period that I got as well. Mostly we see them on-line, mainly on EBay. This bust is big! She's about 9 1/2" tall. She isn't in pristine shape, but she is in original condition. There are a few chips and dents plus some paint loss. I just love the tilt of her head, and the expression in her eyes. Next week is our anniversary, and so we got her in celebrate a dozen years of searching together.

Bill

Bill BILLY My Bill Willie Will WILLIAM

thank you love, for every day