Third World Problems

I asked for a Apple watch for Christmas. There was a very practical reason since I'm not a very high tech type. A friend fell while walking her dog and emergency services were notified of her location. It did save her life. It made me realize I should get a watch especially since I plan to do more hiking in the hills. It was an Apple watch Christmas as everyone else upgraded their watches. Starting from the top down, the watches were passed down to younger family members. There were cables and chargers all over the house for the various devices. The newer iPhones now have a different charger which means I have to carry multiple cables, very much a third would problem.

Today I'm closing up the Carmel house. I've spent the last week packing up everything to either storage or sell off. The past few days have been cleaning and washing all the bedding. The washing alone took a whole day as things have to be bone dry. The damp weather here makes things go moldy quickly. The kitchen takes the longest to clean. Trying to clean a very old stove top and oven is almost impossible. Hopefully I'll get everything done today and head home. It's been wonderful being here for two months with my family for the holidays!

Hoping for a better year and finding a place to call home. 

 

Out of the box Christmas stockings - 2024

Several months ago I was lucky enough to walk into Trader Joe's when they were stocking the mini totes. At the time I didn't know how popular they were. We decided to save them and use them for our Christmas stockings. Really turned out very nice and something that can be used year round. :) 

Monarch Butterflies

 It has been raining for most of the week but there was one day that was nice and sunny. We made the quick trip to the Monarch butterfly reserve in Pacific Grove. It was still a little chilly so the few butterflies there weren't too active. The population is scary low and almost on the endangered list. 

A little creative time

Squeezed in a little creative time while the boys are off visiting friends in San Jose. I've started to pack up the craft supplies so while I had the paint out decide to paint some things for the Gnome village in the neighborhood. We've been picking up driftwood and rocks at the beach so I started making little dioramas. This year the oak trees are dropping a ton of acorns so I made little people. I know my little creations won't last long once placed outside but it was fun trying to not make the face look like a scary clown. 

I got brave and painted a Santa on one of the driftwood pieces. The eyes are still a little wonky but I think it adds character. At least is doesn't look like a crazy clown serial killer. :) 

Cookbook Reading - yeah it's a thing

With all the new to me cookbooks in the house you would think one of them would have a recipes for pork tenderloin. Nope, had to look up Alton Brown's bbq recipe that I have made in the past. After dinner I remembered the Milk Street recipe that is very good and I have made many times but it's pan fried. The stove top here isn't level so makes cooking anything challenging. It also requires more spices than I have here. 

Mother's Best cookbook looks good and it got me to thinking want recipes would a Japanese American family add. The MB book is the more traditional middle America comfort food. I did like reading where the recipes came from or the story behind it so for me it was a fun read.  

I also have a copy of the cookbook Lush Life and I found some editing errors right off the bat. If you know me, the written word isn't my thing at all. But when I see errors that should have been caught, makes we wonder. The index in the back has a lot of errors which made me wonder how good were the recipes. So I googled the reviews, which were all 5 stars but one. I read them and all the five star reviews loved the photography of the book, which is nice but none of them had actually cooked anything from it. The one star review agreed the photos were nice but the recipes were just meh. This is one book that's going back to the thrift store. If you just like looking at pictures of food then maybe this is a book for you. 

 

Carmel House

 One of my favorite things about the Carmel house is the fireplace.  Since it was turn into gas and sealed behind glass, it's perfect. Keep the front of the house a constant temperature even when no one is here.  That has reduce the mold smell at least in the front part of the house. It's not that I sit in front of the fireplace but it does make the house comfy. The Carmel house also has floor to ceiling windows in all the rooms. I'm sure the design was to let in all the sunshine possible. Not really too concerned with heating the house back in the 40's. 

When I remodeled my home years ago I did opt to take out the fireplace. People thought I was nuts.  I wanted more wall space and wood burning fireplaces back then were slowly being coming not so PC. Of course the major attraction is the beach. 

Leftovers

 Having toddlers who are very picky eaters (or just never hungry) we end up with a lot of leftovers. When I got the call to make something for lunch for the boys who were on their way home I said "leftovers". The pizza and chicken wings were from a really fancy place here in town. The mac and cheese dish was homemade by one of our guests. What isn't in the picture is the most amazing lasagna from Marcellas in San Francisco. Have to say it's been a long time since I was impressed by dish! Highly recommend it!

Ina Garten 2002 Cookbook - Family Style

Yes, I did pick up another cookbook at the thrift store here in Carmel. Do I really need another one? No, I don't but I did like listening to her new autobiography a few months ago so I thought I should at least try some of her recipes. I'm testing if her philosophy about cooking pans out. :)  Paid $5.

While I was there a donation of over 1,000 books came in. I had high hope the art book I'm looking for came in but sadly no luck. I picked up a few more books because it was fill up a box for free day. These are books I wouldn't normally pick up but being free I decided I could review them quickly. 

 

Really bad design

Not sure who thought of this design but clearly they didn't test it on the little kids that would be using it. The pointy thingy right at the throat area doesn't seem like a good idea. Henkie is demonstrating how unsafe it really it!

Never miss a photo op

 I can't resist taking a scrapbook photo when the scene is just right. We were at the beach but the tide was just a little too rough for the boys to swim so we spent most of the time feeding the sea gulls. :) 

Bushy Christmas Tree

I haven't gone tree cutting in years. Since the boys are old enough and this may be the last time they're here for Christmas, we made the trip. There aren't many tree farms left in the area. Many of the farms and owners have aged out of the business. The farm we went to (Church Family Farm in Prunedale) has been in business for 77 years and you can tell. All the trees are small (less than 5 feet) and now only have the fast growing bushy varies, which I'm not a fan of.  The farm is reasonable close to Carmel so that was the only reason we went there. It was nice for families with small children, lots of open space so you couldn't lose anyone. The large oak trees were also a big hit and a natural jungle gym  Tree cost $90. 

I thought it was funny to add the shark to the tree to fill a massive hole. One of the major down side to bushy trees is that they don't hold ornaments too well. 

 

Dinosaur or Ostrich Egg?

Another project that didn't turn out the way I had planned but still worked. 

I had plans to have a sandbox filled with sand to bury these giant easter eggs. I did spray paint them a neutral color to make them look more like a real egg.  

I couldn't source a sandbox down here in Carmel and there was no room in my car to bring one from Cupertino. So it was put on the back burner and stored in the closet. It was decided that the Gnomes would use the eggs to find their surprise when we had a guest whose parents didn't want her to have candy in the morning. Inside was a large zoo animal. The eggs didn't really stay together very well so it was difficult for the boys to carry around. Was sort of a success. I think the sandbox idea would have been a messy hit. :)

Practice Decorating a Christmas Tree

There are plans to go cut our Christmas tree this year but I really don't think it's going to happen. Tight schedule with all the activities that are on the calendar. 

The boys started to decorate the small topiary trees with non breakable ornaments. of course only a few of the branches got all the ornaments. 
 

New Born In The House

This week we had a newborn visit the Carmel house. Noel is only 4 weeks old. Parents are lucky that Noel is nursing well so sleeps in 5 hours shifts. All the loud noises (and the boys are very loud) don't seem to bother her either. We have a no throwing anything in house rule. We don't encourage throwing anything but it's a firm rule while Noel is here. I did get a lot of grammy time as I don't see anymore grand babies in my future. :) 

1. These are the type of family photos I like. The stage ones just don't to it for me.

The boys are in San Francisco visiting some friends from Holland who now work here.  As cute as this photo is, I know it's only seconds before that embrace turns into a head lock or choke hold. It's a boy thing. :)
 

Christmas Mittens - 2024

If you have been following my blog, you know I was working on these mittens. The first idea was to make a banner but that idea was scraped when I ran out of time. 

I hung a few with the garland but the rest will go on the tree. It was funny when Henkie tried to put then on as real mittens. :) 

 

Acorn Diorama Carmel - 2024

The boys are off visiting friends in San Francisco, so the house is very quiet.  Got the house cleaned up and some Christmas decorations up. It's not wise to get on a step stool with toddlers racing around. 

I can't remember the oak trees dropping so many acorns. The boys are happily filling their pockets with acorns so they're all over the house too. I decided to make a little diorama with the acorns to add to the gnome village. I like to think this is my way of starting my travel journaling by breaking out my paints and tiny paint brushes. Getting creative as I stress out not having found a place to live when I get back to Cupertino in January.