Aqui en Buenos Aires--did I get that right?

Lots of time in DFW yesterday--yes! Yesterday! for we are indeed here in BA now--but yesterday we walked and walked and walked , even through a musical labyrinth, fun!
 Now it appears that I am unable to locate that photo, and I do want to inform you all that we are indeed walking the streets of Buenos Aires--does that sound right? Arrived on time, passed through Customs/Immigration, car was waiting, arrived at hotel and took a delightful nap, stretching out full length--no comments please.  Now we've spent hours walking and shopping--great handbags her, lots of leather. No cycling jerseys though, alas. Soccer is huge here though.

Now it begins....

Well before the sun's rays touched the frost on the roof at Talus Way, I was up and at 'em. Showering, drying my hair, getting dressed in the clothes I'd laid out so I didn't forget any detail, making the bed, putting dry dishes away... then Jennifer arrived and whisked me off to the airport where I met my friend Kay to begin our journey to another continent!! We left Reno (where this picture was taken) still before sunrise (admittedly the days are very short this time of year) and flew three hours to Dallas, good old DFW. We've walked and walked and had a late lunch, now Kay is writing Christmas thank-you notes, and I'm writing to you! Still more than three hours to wait because we were cautious about winter weather in April when we planned this trip. By the way, the sun did finally come up, but who knows where we were when that happened!

Tomorrow we'll be in Buenos Aires! Can small town girls really go to Buenos Aires? Quite a world we live in, quite a world. So many wonders to see! We'll share them with you, stay tuned....

The Final Round--This time!

And so, dear friends, today is the final golfing day of our excellent adventure, and let me tell you--it was great fun! (Plus I finally won the quarter for putting today!)

Breakfast at the golf course then a wander along the beach because we were waaay too early and eager for our teetime. But the sea is a great restorer of peace of mind and calm, so we were the better for our time there.

We played with Jimmy today, a man about our age from Denmark, whose wife was out shopping.

Although the group in front of us was pokey, it was such a beautiful day and the sea was often within sight, how could we mind too much???

Following the lead of Jimmy's wife, Jean and I went shopping after our round. Back Porch Fabrics is a lovely shop in Pacific Grove. But even after shopping we were too early for dinner--back to the beach!

There is beauty everywhere--

Finally....dinner at

Since it was our final dinner out, I kept the mini on the table until I had photographed each course, though I almost missed dessert!

chardonnay and tasty, fresh bread

This is a Dungeness crab cake with lime relish; it didn't photograph well, looks like  a bowl of soup, but it was all crab, no bread filler. Amazing, flavorful and shared.

My entree was sea scallops with tomato-truffle butter, some kind of cooked greens with a vinegar, and a savory rice custard. Here's my untouched plate:

Oh, my goodness, every bite was savored and all  the flavors came out even.  Mmmmmmmmm...

Jean's entree was equally good, just not as colorful: spaetzle with wagyu beff, aged asiago/ burnt chard and very thin fried potato skins. I think she sighed with every bite.

But was I finished? Oh, no!

For dessert--unshared!--I enjoyed chocolate truffle torte with whipped cream (sweetened with condensed milk) and passionfruit syrup paired with Domaine Tour Vielle Banyuls 'Rimage' dessert wine. Not too sweet, perfect pairing.

Back to our room for Project Runway, which Jean had never seen--silly and fun. A little packing, a little computer time then to bed to rest for the drive home. What a time we've had! You should join us some time! 

Day Fore Again!

No Maple Bacon Cinnamon roll today, alas! A lovely ginger current scone instead, sorry, no photo. I'm very eager to eat my food when it arrives as you'll notice again later.

We were in some traffic en route to Pacific Grove from San Francisco, but not bad at all.  Jenn and Jeff had recommended a bakery near Santa Cruz, but it was too early to eat again, so we drove on to Phil's in Moss Landing and had a lovely early lunch.

 We saw these guys who'd been hoping to eat there too--not to be eaten!

And it wasn't one of them that Jean was enjoying here,

nor me with my cup of clam chowder and huge cup of crab cocktail. Alas, my eyes were semi-closed in the photo, so you don't get to see that one. You should be proud that I thought of the photo before I ate!

Not far from there to Pacific Grove and our golf game at the municipal links. It is lovely and deer wander all over the place or just lie down in the middle of the fairway. On the back nine we were overlooking the sea--so beautiful and calm.

Isn't it scenic? I did poorly on the front but much better on the back and we play again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll improve, especially not having to ride a few hours in the car. No complaining from this quarter though, it was great fun, even if the scores weren't stellar.

Dinner at the Rio Grill in Carmel

but oops!

I forgot and ate when my food arrived! I was hungry. What a great place!

Then to Roy's at the Inn at Spanish Bay where we enjoyed a drink on the patio. A piper was piping in the dunes and came up to the patio; you can see his ghostly figure here. I forced it a little too far for the mini's picture-taking capabilities.

Then the drinks arrived, 

And now we're back at our room, preparing to sleep through the night  and  have more fun tomorrow. It's a good thing we're so good at having fun!

What a way to begin a day!

Can you read that? It says, "Maple Bacon Cinnamon rolls!" How cool is that? Have you ever heard of such a thing? Well worth trying, I say. Well worth trying.

It gave me enough energy to play eighteen holes on the Lincoln Park golf course in San Francisco near the Legion of Honor:

LOTS of uphill fairways--shouldn't uphill and downhill even out?

See that bunker next to the green? It took me two shots to reach that bunker from the tee and fourteen to get out! See why I needed energy?

But look at the view, it that cool or what?!!!

We played almost all the way around the Legion of Honor: here's the backside.

Then we went in. First off: lunch. Jean had the best quiche of her life-yum!

Waiting in line we saw this incredibly ancient wreath of gold leaves:

It must've been 12 inches in diameter! Stunning!

The 'Impressionists on the Water' exhibit didn't allow photographs, so I enclose these taken of my souvenir postcards:

Monet, I bought a poster of this too.

Caillebotte, who gave up art to sail mor

Seurat: the postcard doesn't do it justice.

Off now to the de Young Museum of Art for a Diebenkorn exhibit. No photos allowed but there was thifascinating  list in the hallway:

Up into the tower to look 360 degrees at the city with Jean!

What a great day it is!

After coming to earth from the tower experience, we were intrigued by suspended woven wire sculptures and their equally intriguing shadows; which is which?

En route to the hotel we took the scenic route:

We parked where we did yesterday, and just for novelty, went in the entrance. Not surprisingly the exit we entered yesterday was effectively sealed off Do you think we had anything to do with that?

Lunch was a while ago, so outside the parking garage, we asked a friendly mail carrier about where to get an ice cream. She directed us to a place that freezes each serving individually with liquid nitrogen to get smaller crystals. I had fresh mint, and here it is freezing:

No picture of the cup of ice cream though, I forgot and just ate it! It was outstanding, full of fresh, real mint flavor!

We're going to dinner in half an hour at the Maple Bacon Cinnamon roll place, should be good!

Hope you had a great day too! I certainly enjoyed this one!

Jackie and Jean's Excellent Golfing Adventure

Up and at 'em early this morning, we dropped Lizzie off with Jenn at 5:45 and drove over the Sierras to Auburn where we played

While we didn't get an eagle on 18 like Jeff did, we did all right earning some pars and bogies. We felt we did a respectable  job (but you don't get to learn our actual scores!) playing the first time on a new course. See Jackie play:

 Unfortunately, it was HOT there, but we made it and , after lunch drove to San Francisco. The next bit of adventure began just a few miles north of the Golden Gate when serious fog rolled in:

But, immediately after crossing the bridge , the sky cleared though the temperature remained comfortably in the 60s.

More fun followed as we found our lodging and tried to find a parking place to check in. We went down an alley....and through a portal...we didn't notice what it said above and the gate was open!!!

There was some confusion when the manager tried to explain that it was not possible to enter through the exit, but ultimately he failed and accepted the silly truth. When we entered the alley the sign was half a block away and the gate was, indeed, open. So we have a parking place for overnight and a ticket to get the car out the morrow!

And dinner--a sweet little Italian place. Jean had some kind of shrimp/pasta dish and I had gnocchi, tasty! Tomorrow our tee time at LIncoln Park near the Legion of Honor (where we'll see the Impressionists in the afternoon) is 8:00 a.m., should be lovely though it's quite cool this evening as the fog has now moved in to the City.

It has been a great day--fun golf, quite high temps, the fog on the Golden Gate, pleasant dinner and now a crossword puzzle and bed. Another excellent day awaits.

Finally, back to work!

What a wonderful and busy summer it is! A grand time in Scotland with Bill and Mary, to Southern California  for a family reunion with Jim and Judy, a visit from Mary Anne and Jim (including golf!), lots more rounds of golf with Jean including quarters won and lost on putting... Did you notice anything at all in there about resuming my quilting? Nary a word.

Today that changed, though in fairness to myself, I have piddled around and dabbled in a few things, but very few and not for any length of time.  Enrolled in an online class in dyeing fabric and designing quilts (Dyeing to Design with Elizabeth Barton), my first lesson's dyeing gradations of gray is completed--ta-dah!--

The quilt, based on this photograph, has been started along with necessary sewing and un-sewing-- 

BUT the third lesson will arrive tomorrow evening! I'm a little behind, but I'm working, and  the work is coming along pretty well and will be visually interesting.

The question for the day is: Why has it taken me so long to return to the work I enjoy so much? Why does Spider Solitaire (now I'm embarrassed) get in the way? There are chores around the house certainly, and rounds of golf to be played, but neither of those  devours my time.

I know that over-thinking can take over, so I'll sign off and leave these questions with you: What gets in your way of work you enjoy? What do you do about it?

I'm going back to my studio now to resume work, hope to finish the large expanse of roof before dinner--okay, so dinner will be late!