Dinner Party

We had a dinner party this evening. Judy's brother, Frank, is renting a place across the street from their house here for a visit, but Hardy and Judy are out of town for a week. Hardy has an IEEE meeting in Las Vegas, and they took a couple of extra days to drive over to the L.A. area to see Hardy's son and family, including his young grandson. We thought it would be nice to have Frank over while he's batching it here on his own. Unfortunately he wasn't able to make the dinner tonight, but we still had a great meal and a good time with friends.

Dinner started with a wonderful (Asian) Italian salad that Jan brought (the tomatoes and avocados on top make it Italian, right?).

It segued on through lasagna and garlic bread (sorry, no photos) to the pièce de résistance, another of Jean's delightful lemon meringue pies made with Meyer lemons from our tree.

After dinner we played Farkel. Various people were in the lead, but I had a solid lock on last place--I didn't get on the board until late in the game. Steve ended up the winner, but Sandy gave him a good run. Read more!

Handymen at Work!

Today our good neighbor Chuck and Ken tackled the job of tuning up our patio screens. Some of the screws had pulled through the frames, and the downspouts were pulling away from the canopy frame pieces. One had even fallen down in a windstorm over the summer.

After these two guys were finished, the screen frames were definitely squared back up, and the downspouts are guaranteed not to fall down in the next windstorm. Thanks, guys! Read more!

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

No, not that other National Wildlife Refuge, the one in Oregon where Bundy and a bunch of armed guys are at a standoff with federal officials. Fortunately Santa Ana is peaceful and occupied only by birders, hikers, and helpful staff.

Jean hikes here regularly, but somehow we have never made it here before, and it's been a year since Judy hiked here with Jean. Jean was our leader on a five mile hike around the refuge, passing the Cattail Lakes and the Old Cemetery. We saw few other people while we were in the refuge, but we did see some wildlife, including a couple of foraging armadillos, some ducks on the lake, and a magnificent white Ibis taking flight.

Thanks to Jean for this wonderful experience. We certainly intend to come back soon.

The Old Cemetery

Curious armadillo rooting along the roadside Read more!

Redhead Express!

The Redhead Express sang their hearts out tonight at the Green Gate Grove hall. These girls have it all: energy, talent, personality. Both performances here today were sold out in advance. We were lucky to be near the front center. Jan and Steve got tickets for our group and organized a party to save some good seats for us.

Lots of our square dancing friends were in the audience.

The girls played and sang some of their own compositions, including one about red heads: it's not just a hair color, it's an attitude!

Ken and I both have a soft spot for Alisa, the fiddle player, but all the young women are excellent musicians and performers. At intermission they brought their babies on stage. Their three younger brothers also performed a couple of numbers. They have a group called the Walker Boys. Altogether a very talented family.

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Happy Birthday, Friends!

Or is it "Any excuse for a party"?  We picked up John and Sandy for the drive to the International Bridge connecting Nuevo Progreso in Mexico to Progreso Lakes in the U.S. We always park on the U.S. side and walk across the bridge. Visitors generally feel safe in the tourist area near the bridge, but it was a bit unnerving to find armed soldiers at the Mexican end of the bridge.

The group gathered first at Pancho's Bar, as usual, for beverages and conviviality.

Third from the left is Clint Godden, celebrating his 80th birthday next week.

Across from Clint is Jean Hayden, celebrating her 70th birthday today.

A Mexican Toast

Clint and Jean were serenaded with an English Happy Birthday song.

Later we all went to El Rancho Grande for lunch. As usual, they had a long table set up for us.

Judy's sister-in-law Shilah (on the right) is visiting for a few days.

Judy's brother Frank (on the right) is in Mission for the month.

Hardy and Judy stepping out

Jan and Steve  Read more!

German Dinner Party at Jean's

The party palace was open again today (that's Jean's place). We had a great German dinner with contributions from everyone. Jan made rouladen for appetizers. Although my family has some German heritage, I've never had them before and didn't even know what they were. They are beef rolls simmered in gravy, with a surprise inside: a dill pickle. Delicious.

Jean made some fabulous sauerbraten and red cabbage. Judy made sauerkraut, and in addition to the rouladen, Jan also made German potato salad. We brought kale salad from Costco. Joannie picked up some really good rye bread. For dessert, Pat made apple crisp, and Jean also made a lemon meringue pie. All yummy of course.

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