Friday Food 05-22-20

I don't always eat breakfast, I know the health gurus say it is the most important meal of the day, but I just don't wake up hungry.  And then I forget.  But I do love to go out for breakfast and I miss that in these Virus days.  These images are from the Original Pancake House in Placentia in January 2019.  I had met my friend Carol there for the usual great breakfast.   At the next table were several young people who were all tall and skinny and eating massive amounts of food.  Just look at the stack of eight large pancakes - a side dish!.

  

My choice is always the Dutch baby which is cooked in a hot skillet and popped into the oven to finish.  It is served with lemon edges and a bowl of powdered sugar. 

Carol likes the corn pancakes (I think) and we split a side of bacon.  

The boy on the left and the girl on the right are together with another girl seated off the right of the picture.  The woman and man in the middle are at the next table.  I suppose the three young people are sharing the eight pancakes and each has an individual serving of eggs and whatever.  

Last week I was overcome with a yearning for a Dutch baby, so I called the restaurant for takeout.  By the time I arrived my food was ready and I raced home so it wouldn't get cold.  It was very good, but somehow not the same as eating at the restaurant.  And it is expensive - coffee, Dutch Baby, side of bacon, tip = $20!  

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Thursday Treasures 05-21-20

Well, It isn't MY treasure, but something I see every day, usually twice.  I have lived in this house for over 30 years and from the very first day I have wanted to make some clothes for this lady.  I've done some drawings of how I could make a "santa" suit for her and fasten it with Velcro strips.  Of course, I don't intend on asking the owners.  They would just wake up one holiday morning and see their naked beauty clothed.  I don't have the nerver, unfortunately. 

The one story house is nondescript, tucked into a corner where two roads end.  The "landscaping" is just anything the owners want to stick in the ground with lots of weeds.   She is really quite a nice statue, but the location is so odd, I wonder if she has been there for fifty years, since the houses were built.  I keep hoping someone will take pity and give her a nicer environment. 

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KoKo's 6th Birthday 05-20-20

I spent a lot of time selecting twenty pictures for an album of KoKo's first six years.  But now I cannot get it transferred to my blog!  I'll keep trying, but here are a few from over the years.  

A tiny puppy at Nancy Ota's house   08-12-14

KoKo and his best friend Froggy 

KoKo's favorite bad thing to do - tear up tissues. 

Gathered in my chair with four of his friends - Froggy, Snake, Monkey and Duckie. 

KoKo and Froggy help me sew. 

Happy Birthday little guy.

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Tomorrow is a special day. 05-19-20

It will be KoKo's sixth birthday!   KoKo was originally adopted as a tiny puppy by Nancy Ota and her late husband Mike Ota.  Mike at that time was quite ill and he needed a little fur ball to keep him company.  Nancy did all the feeding and training and she did a fabulous job, KoKo is a very well behaved little guy.  I think they expected a typical Yorkie of four to six pounds, but KoKo kept growing until he reached his adult weight of twelve pounds.  His sister from the same litter is less that five pounds!  The vet says the KoKo is at his perfect weight and I try to limit the treats and be sure he gets enough exercise, so he won't be a fat dog.  He is definitely a lap dog and will sit in just about anyone's lap, as I have shown on this blog previously.  Unfortunately, he is also a licker, a habit I discourage without a lot of success.  He licks people, clothes, furniture, the floor; he doesn't spare anything.   Tomorrow will be a Wordless Wednesday with just pictures of the Birthday Boy.  Be forewarned.  

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Still working on the Little Houses 05-18-20

I just work on these blocks on and off, when I have time and interest. So, some days I don't even look at them and others I get on a roll and can't find a stopping place. 

Here are the house pieces I have cut out, ready to start stitching.  Top right are the cutout doors, and center middle are the roof/sky units ready to go.  

There are more striped fabrics that I haven't cut yet.  Don't know if I ill need them.  Could probably use another diagonal looking stripe like the black/yellow in the center. 

We had rain twice today, seems strange for May, especially with the daytime temperatures varying from 64F to 99F.  Just seems that nothing is as it should be.  Right?  

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Dreaming of being on the road = AGAIN 05-17-20

This week I should be on the road to Washington State to visit my friends Mabel and Mac Huseby and several people along I-5 on the way up or down.  But the Virus has canceled all our travel plans.  I'm going to try for September now.  And maybe I will try driving up Highway 395 again.  It was a very nice drive several years ago and I didn't go all the way up into WA, instead turning west to visit Sisters, Oregon, though not during their quilt week.   385 can be a very lonely road, but it takes me through familiar country - Bishop, Mono Lake, Reno, and beyond.  Part of the decision would depend on how much time I have, right now I have endless time!  But no place to stay or eat or visit or....   The Virus is in charge. 

Highway 395 follows the east slope of the Sierra.  This image is from May 2018.

Looking south from from the pass north of Mono Lake.  Love the stickers on the guard rail, there must be thousands. 

Here is the Starbuck's in Alturas, CA., which is located in the far northeast corner of California.  Notice that it is not a drive in, I didn't need to stand in line either.  The hotel is open for guests. 

A very common sight in northern CA, OR, and WA.  I well remember log trucks in my childhood that had only one huge fallen tree on the back.  There were still virgin forests being logged back then.  Now the logs are usually about the same diameter because they were all planted at the same time. 

It would be fun to drive this route again.  Soon! 

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Little Houses quilt 05-16-20

When I have a burst of sewing mojo I cut out a few more little houses.  I have fifteen more cut and ready to sew together.  The cutting is what takes time because I foolishly choose to use only stripes for the houses, so each piece must be cut singly for the strips to go vertically and straight.  When I add the fifteen I will have 55 blocks.  Also need a few more different palm trees, which are fused.  

There is no deadline on this (something I seemed to need to finish anything) so I can stretch it out for a long time.  There is a cartoon going around on Facebook that shows a man time traveling back from the future.  He asks the human he encounters what year he has landed in.  The reply is 2020 and the time traveler responds, "Oh yes, the first year of the isolation."   Funny and not so funny.  

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