Saturday Celebrations!

[OKay]

Happy Birthday Lilac!!

I missed celebrating it yesterday so I declare do-overs for today.

And a belated Happy Birthday to Mr Lilac too!!

today is also my DH birthday.

So much to celebrate!!

[OKay]

I have a pan of sourdough biscuits rising for DH celebration birthday breakfast meal. When I asked DH what he wanted for his birthday, he replied "Those awesome biscuits you make and some fried chicken" That's it!! His only birthday request is for food that he normally doesn't eat.

I've decided to paint LO room. I thought we could decorate without a fresh coat of paint, but once I got started decorating the walls I changed my mind. The decoration instructions say walls are suppose to be painted 3 weeks before applying the decorations so this is going to be a month long project (at least). I'll try to pick up some paint this weekend and get started painting ASAP

[Emptynester]

Our friends are back in their RV in our driveway. They didn't get back in time for supper last night but we had invited another couple so we had a great time with them.

I made chocolate cake in a cup in the microwave. I used 2 T of peanut butter chips and 1 T of dark chocolate chips. I forgot the nuts, but it was good anyway. Everyone enjoyed and said it was a great end.

This morning we are up early and off to breakfast and then an auction. They are supposed to have all sorts of neat things for auction. I don't need saddles nor barbed wire but some SW decor and/or some lodge pole lawn art might be nice.

Then is the semi-annual garage sale here at the park so we will be checking that out. Last time I picked up some good stuff like the chain saw and a couple lamps.

Time to get moving. TTFN

[bittersweet]

I started a post yesterday morning, and when I peeked into the village at almost 10:30 last night, it was still sitting there, half done!

For those of you who 'do' daylight savings time, remember to set your clocks ahead an hour when you go to bed tonight!

I've got payroll again today, so won't have much time to sit and visit *sigh* I have to admit that I'd really rather sit here, drink coffee, and chat with y'all ... but that just doesn't pay the bills.

Downstairs critter care has been taken care of, so I'll just need to do the upstairs litter boxes and refill the kitty bowls before work. I think I'll just ignore the other half million or so "shoulds" on my todo list this morning.

[Twins' Mom]

Just arrived at work and getting busy. Tonight dh and I are going to a bat mitzvah party - he is going to the service this morning. I got almost 12 hours of sleep last night - very nice and I'm feeling rested.

[Nancy]

Lilac Happy birthday!
Having coffee granola bar for breakfast.
Thinking of what is on the docket for today.
I'm up a bit earlier than the norm. today but later than yesterday.
Have 15 puppets done for this batch 10 to go.
Airing out yarn that smells of cig. smoke from the thrift shop. Hoping it works okay. If not
I put out a request for yarn for V.B.S. puppets hoping to do those for the next batch.

H. was talking of fishing today we are supposed to get rain later on and tomorrow and the end of the week as well so this will be good for the new roses.

H. made us Grilled ch. breasts on a bun for dinner yummy! I did sweet pot. fries in the oven a nice change with fruit.

[Harriet]

`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°` 
~~~~~~~~~ Happy Birthday to Lilac!~~~~~~~~~~
`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°` 


♫...and forgive us, we're laaate! ... because we're siiiidetrackable....♫



That sounds like a delish meal! Happy Birthday to Mr. OKay! Hope he enjoys it very much.

Cake also sound great, Emptynester.

I don't know if smoke odor airs out of yarn or not, Nancy. It's not like you can hang a skein in the wind/air outdoors, is it? It's pretty much in a bundle.

[lucylee]

Good morning, everyone!!!

All seems about the same around here... of course, I have not spoken to my parents in the last 24-26 hours... so... ?

But I think everyone is "holding their own."

I must get my make-up on & go to the jewelry store to get my watch set. (Remember -- it is a 35-year-old Seiko, gift from late dgf, I refuse to give it up, now if I set it I will break the stem, so twice a year, jewelry man has to set it & seal around the stem to prevent moisture from ruining it.)

Didn't even get to the computer yesterday -- dh had it tied up w/ballgames, and then we went to the hospital.
(I got a lot of papers graded while we were there, though.)
Trying to cuop, though, and some thoughts remain with me --

Thank you, Twins, for saying I do accomplish enough w/errands & elder care stuff... I appreciate that

Indiana -- Heaven Is For Real is such a good book! I loved it! Glad you and Jake seem to be managing okay.

Harmony -- I can definitely relate to what you've been saying about physical irritations, etc. My dmom keeps saying, "We didn't intend to get this old this fast!!!" LOL. And dh, at 60, keeps saying he just cannot DO all he feels he needs to for his parents.

(((Elizabeth's dd)))

Lots more I want to say but I must go. I think dh wants the SUV instead of his rattletrap truck this afternoon.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

More writing got done today:

If it is Thursday it must be Malaga and Ronda.

A different port each day is very tiring, especially when combined with life aboard ship which includes a lot of socializing.

This was our first experience with a major port terminal (except when we were embarking in large US cities.) It was a 10 minute walk to the tour buses, but thankfully I was running slightly ahead of schedule when Colin came on to announce that we needed to leave time to get to the buses. It was at least 7 minutes to drive out of the port so, after returning from our day out, we chose not to take advantage of the shuttle bus because we couldn't face another long walk and drive.

Our tour was a full-day tour to the town of Ronda. There were only 5 of us on the tour which made it very nice, no waiting to load/unload the bus, and our guide was always within earshot unless we wandered off.

The drive took about 2 hours with a comfort stop along the way. Because we were on a small bus and there were only five of us, we were dropped at the bull fighting ring and not at the bus parking lot (so we saved a 10 minute walk there.)

Our guide was excellent, reversing the order of the tour in order to slip us into the ring when no-one else was around.

This bull ring was the first to be built, in the year 1785. There was a small museum of the history of bull fighting and then a chance to stand in the ring and look around.

From there we went to the lookout point. Ronda is built on an outcrop of rock in a basin surrounded by mountain ranges. There is a gorge which separates the old part of the town with the 'new' part and the city has its origins in pre-history. As our guide said, you don't go to school to learn history here, you simply walk around and breathe it in!

The views were simply stunning every place we walked.

The gorge is crossed by two bridges. The New bridge dates from the end of the 18th century and is 120 m high. The Old or Arab bridge was built in the 16th century but there are signs that a bridge was in that spot dating back to the 11th century. There is a Roman bridge farther down the valley.

For those who don't quite recall (or never knew) their history of this region, the Moors (actually Berbers from Morocco) invaded the southern part of Spain and only were driven out in 1492. This area has history that includes Neolithic Age rock paintings, settlements by the Celts in the 6th century BC, then the Phoenician, then Roman becoming a city at the time of Julius Caesar, then, Muslim and then Catholic. The Arab influence is strong in the city, reflected in the buildings and in the tile work we found everywhere.

As the bullring is in the 'new' part of time so we crossed over the New Bridge and toured home overlooking the valley and then a museum of the town. From there we walked to St. Mary's Church, which was originally a mosque and converted into a church. It was originally Gothic and was added to but the addition was during Baroque times so the church has two distinct architectural styles on the inside. Neither were to my taste but it was interesting to see. What I loved best was the choir loft with a large, 4 sided, music stand with super huge books with the music and words to Gregorian chants. That solves the problem of having enough copies of the music for the choir members!

We were given 2 hours of free time while there and had a great time wandering around on our own. We walked down a series of gardens to the Old Bridge and then back up through the old town. I'm not sure how much distance we did but between the steps and the hills, I'm considering it a good workout!

We met up at the appropriate time and walked the 10 minutes back to the bus. Our route home took us through the mountains so I took this time to have a siesta since my eyes would be closed anyway!

As we approached the coast, our guide pointed out Gibraltar and the corresponding African mountain was also visible so we saw the Pillars of Hercules.

Once we were across the mountains, the drive home was an endless stream of condos and shopping areas along the coast until we were back to Malagar. It felt very much like driving along a highway in northern California and the traffic was bad too. Over all, we drove over 200 km through the day and driving time was 4 hours even though in sections the speed limit was 120 kph in many stretches.

We were back to the port just at 5 but not into our cabin until 5:20 because we had to drive to the terminal, go through security, and then the long walk through the terminal and up ramps to the ship, so I missed trivia.

The dinner was a Galley Dinner which was a nice plan B. The powers that be felt it was too cold for a deck BBQ so they had a galley dinner instead. It was wonderful for Ken because he doesn't usually eat lunch so never fully enjoys Galley Lunch because he's never hungry enough for it. But at dinner he was able to sample a lot of the offerings.

Being self-serve, we finished up dinner a lot sooner and ended up in bed by 10. A welcome early bedtime after being up past midnight the night before.

[Kally]

Change of plans for my day. I was going to work on taxes, but this morning my neighbor called & needed a favor. She asked if I could run an errand for her, & of course I am happy to do that. (She is 97 & doesn't drive.) So, while I am "out and about" I'll stop by & visit DMother.

Trying to ignore the fact that if I could get my days started before noon, I'd be able to fit in more activities....... Just not a morning person & probably won't become one at this late date.

It is another beautiful day here. We're expecting rain tomorrow, which will be welcome.

Happy Birthday to Lilac. Hope it's a good one!

Waving to all!