It was good fun, of course, but I'm having a problem transferring pictures on here, plus it's almost 6:00 pm on Friday* and it's been a long two days, so this will be spotty with just a few random pics. First, I guess, the action: Mike drove to LAX to pick up darling Vivian...
...then stopped for me on the way to Ellen's. What a darling girl, my granddaughter is--I hope I can post more pics of her here! At Ellen's, we visited together, then Mike, Vivian, and I walked the mile and a bit to the shopping center, partly through the meadows. Mike picked up some things for hostess, Ellen, then walked back to get the car, while Viv and I sat on a bench until he picked us up.
Back at El's, we did this and that--she did almost all the work, though, and we mostly talked together. Make, who admits to being a tea addict, in Ellen's side yard:
Greg got there and fired up the grille for sea bass and his own creation, zucchini strips with his pesto sauce--they were yummy. turkey was accompanied with stuffing, roasted root vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts, candied yams, cranberry sauce, along with the sea bass and zucchini, then for dessert, my pumpkin pie with whipped cream. White wine was a good addition for some of us;
After. we naturally talked, laughed, and generally had a good family (we now consider Greg one of the family) time. Greg left in the evening and we turned in fairly early (I slept over), thankful, as ever, for my priceless gifts.
FRIDAY: Up early. There was somewhat of a crises before breakfast when the (separate) electrical system went out. This is an older house (Ellen calls it "quirky") and has some kind of a electric box that occasionally gets overloaded and a switch outside has to be pulled. We had to awaken Ellen, but it got fixed. The funny thing is, the lights and other things stayed on because they're connected to regular power lines.
Mike made breakfast (eggs and toast with salsa, if wanted), then we cleaned up and boarded the new Mercedes he had rented and drove up into the Ojai hills. We car-toured the camp Vivian's sister, Violet, had attended in the summer, stopping at the overlook, of course. A couple there took pics of all four of us, which I don't have yet, but here are the three important ones:
We drove back to El's, had lunch (leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, natch), then Mike and Vivian left for a hike in the high country. Ellen, dear girl, drove me to the bus and I got the 16 home. I did little before bed except unpack and clean up a bit.
M. will drive V. to LAX today (sob) and they'll stop to say goodbye to me on the way. Tomorrow, Mike himself will leave (sob) to drive up to SF, then back to Singapore.
* It's now 8 am on Saturday and I'm just finishing this up. I'll probably add more chronicle and pictures on subsequent entries. Added note: Vivian was one of the very best things about the holiday. What a darling girl: pretty, intelligent, and full of 20-year-old life and enthusiasm. I love her so much and am so thankful to Mike and his (ex) Paula, for the gift of her:
4 comments:
I see a lot of you in Vivian. And I also see a combo of her Mom and Dad. Good times to be cherished./pmr
I think you're right, Pat. In my case, I look much more like my Dad's side--Irish--than Mom's, whereas Betty always look more like the German maternal side. Which of your parents do you resemble?
I think my mother but I look more like the McHale’s than my mother’s family. I have a cousin I always wanted to look like and was thrilled when her brother thought I did. These were the McHales in Ohio. I was afraid I looked like another sister in that family, so when her brother made the above comment, I was thrilled.
Funny!
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