Sounds fun (Palm Springs). I'm in New Jersey. Flew here today for my grandmother's funeral. She passed away last week, at 105 y/o. Her life was very full and long, her last year had been in a sort of gently fading twilight, and her death was, it seems, pretty peaceful and painless, at home with no tubes or machines. So her passing was as gentle as it should have been. Life was kind to her, and at the end no less. Laying on the couch, lights off, thinking about this house and the things left over from fifty years of being my grandparents' home. There are photographs, my grandfather's calligraphy scrolls, my grandmother's needlepoint art. Those will be taken, I suppose many have already been over the past couple of years. Then there is the random daily stuff that has no value, but that I recognize from fifty years of visiting and sometimes living here. Old toys and books, dishes, things like that. I suppose it will all be disposed of, except for a few bits that people might take for sentimental reasons. Then the house will be sold, as a fixer because it needs a total remodel, although in a nice neighborhood with a good sized lot. And that may, I think, be it for New Jersey, for me. My aunt and uncle and one first cousin live here, but without my grandparents, my connection to this place, a place I never liked much, will be done. I think I'm going to cook dinner tomorrow at my aunt's. She has a nice Bluestar range and that is where most of the family will be. Her daughter, my other first cousin, is flying in tomorrow. She lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where her husband works for the United Nations. I don't think they like it as much as Switzerland, where they lived for the last several years. But the UN HCR (High Commission For Refugees) moves its senior staff around every several years. They don't get permanent cushy posts in comfortable cities; they have to go where the refugees are, so Ethiopia was, I think, better than some places they might have ended up. There isn't much scope for home cooking as an expat in Addis Ababa, I'm told. Especially with young kids who are adapting from their previous Franco-Swiss diet (and life). So I figure she might like a dinner at home, at her mom's home anyway. Menu undecided but I'm thinking about chicken marbela. I also have a hankering for ceviche. They may not go together, but tough. Otherwise, no interesting cooking recently. I have spent the last month on back to back to back business trips. So I've been eating like crap - airport food, hotel food, restaurant food. Occasionally a good ramen or other street food in New York, but mostly crap. As the weeks of this have dragged on, and I've gotten fatter and flabbier, I've started skipping restaurants altogether and going to grocery stores and delis to get "healthy" things to eat. So my diet has mostly dwindled to Greek yoghurt, canned sardines and tuna, bread and cheese, fruit, takeout sushi, and coffee. It's not a bad diet but there isn't much cooking or variety involved. Although I have discovered that canned tuna plus Greek yoghurt plus a little salt or soy sauce makes a creditable and oh-so-healthy tuna salad. And that chopped raw salmon, Greek yoghurt, and one of those super-miniature bottles of hot sauce that you can filch from restaurants makes a reasonable spicy salmon filling. When I get home on Monday, I don't have another trip on the calendar for months. I'm going to cook up a storm, enjoy being home on weekends, re-acquaint myself with bicycling everywhere, lose this travel flab, and appreciate springtime in Portland.

David - have a great time with your group! Sorry about the Sooners and sorry about Sam Bradford. Hope the shoulder heals quickly. Claire, happy gardening! I have daylilies and hostas to move too, but I am waiting until it cools off here a little first. We are finally getting warm summery weather this weekend LOL! Sharon, I am so jealous of your being able to spend the fall at the cottage after the summer people are gonw. That was always my favorite time of year in Ogunquit - saying goodbye to the tourists! Enjoy your time and Clive bcskye, sounds like a blast! What sort of horse show is it? I used to ride hunters (and a few jumpers) back in the day, but I love all sorts of equestrian competitions. Have a great time with the family too. Linda, OGM! 1200?!?!?!? There are going to be some happy pooches and you are a dear for the labor of love. Katie - sounds like a wonderful way to spend the weekend. As David says - dance like no one is watching! Annie, glad to hear those beanies are going to good use. And happy canning! I can't wait to start my next project, I just have to find a little time. Dedtired - enjoy the Cape - as I mentioned before, fall is the BEST time to go anyplace touristy - the crowds have thinned. Lyra - Good luck with the projuect. I know how that goes, seems I can always find something else to do rather than what really needs to be done. Somehow it all does get dome though - an enjoy your time off, you deserve it! I had my second jewelry class on Friday - I just love it. Working on a multi metal (copper and brass) pendant to learn my skills. I will post photos as I complete projects. Fri night was out with friends for Happy Hour, yesterday was relaxing at home and getting totally caught up on Mad Men. I am TOTALLY addicted to that show now! Today we are having another couple over for a BBQ - sometimes it is nice not to have a gang and just sit and enjoy a quiet evening with grown up conversation. Tomorrow we are thinking about going to the NJ shore (I am cringing at the thought, I don't care for the shore) so we'll see. Maybe I will send the men folk off and have a canning day to myself. Stay happy and safe everyone! Alexa

Marilyn, You sure keep busy gal. I was exhausted from the trip...along with being cold. Enjoyed company, they were great guests. No grandkids visiting, but the animals were exhausted too from playing with the visitors. We all took a long nap today. Went to HP this morning and had to wear jeans and a sweatshirt, it cleared up but is back to the icky weather. I do know you live in the NW corner of NM, but was floored to hear their rainfall numbers. My guests are following storms all the way home to NC. Am on a roll though to get some things done. My son lives with me but travels a great deal, is with airline security and was called out last Thursday during the upheaval to LAX for a month. He is a great help when here but also tends to divert me from getting projects finished. Good diversions like watching movies and eating too much, when home he just kicks back. So, I have 4 weeks to play all day if I decide to. Bought tile at HP to finish the bath surround and have tile to do same with my fireplace. The kitchen had been remodeled about 5 years ago by previous owners, but they did a terrible job on the counter tile job. Tile was butted right next to each other, very little grout will stick in seams and I am constantly cleaning spills which seep in between tiels. Most likely this will be another tile job soon as I hate how it looks and the work. Am also putting a cement resurfacer on the concrete patio. Paid some good money to have this done on the driveway and looks like I can do as well myself. Thinking of putting a terra cotta tint in it. The patio is so old I really don't care if I mess up..hopefully next year will build a deck. If it turns out well, may not have to build that deck. Thunder and lightening....hot bath and snuggle in for the evening. Good grief, it is almost Sept. and we hardly had a summer....too early to talk about snuggling in. Sandy

Staked tomatoes Fri, have more to do but it was going to rain ... and did, plus got somewhat cooler: I've been sleeping in skivvies, sometimes with a sheet, last night pulled up the sheet part way through, plus an afghan. Garden wet ... pulled off half a dozen or so tomato worms this morning, as I dislike seeing just stalks on the top of tomato plants. Some beans need picking today, to take to the churches tomorrow, plus squash, zucchini, possibly a few of the last of the melons, cabbages, tomatoes and likely some radishes. Pick beets, with tops left on, broccoli, Swiss chard and lettuce on Sunday morning to avoid wilting ... and often arrive at church about the end of worship. Don't know how much of that I can do, after the rain, but it has faired off now, but won't dry as quickly, due to the lower temperature. Don't appreciate having to pick beans after rain ... ... and what's a descriptive word to relate to picking beans? Boring! Lots of weeds to pull, some of them taller than I, in my better that kilometre/3/4 mile of garden rows. Sometimes I take leftovers from the churches to one of the social agencies: Salvation Army, Women's Shelter, Mission Services, that operates several hostels, or Ark Aid, that offers a drop-in centre including supper for disadvanteged/homeless. Sometimes visit son and his partner Sun afternoon, but often in summer he's away at a festival, fair or other gathering, blowing balloons into shapes for kids, in which case it's often on Monday. And the landlord plus another friend gets part of the garden stuff. Actually, when one is retired ... ... every day is weekend. ole joyfuelled (with some help from veggies: tomatoes from the vine taste better than ones picked green and shipped for a few days in controlled atmosphere trucks to hasten ripening)