Fun with Nan and Pop

 

Nan and Pop were able to come with us to the archery range. Pop tried out Violet's bows, too.

Sue and Gord timed their trip to coincide with Cora's musical show. Aunt Patty flew down, too, to see Cora's starring role. We went out to lunch together with my mom and her friend Gill, who was in town from Arizona. Gill (who took this photo) also got to see Cora.

Sue and Gord's trip was a bit of a coffee tour of SClarita! We checked out Honu (several times), Havana Savannah, Bodhi Leaf and Trophy (pictured here).

This was a great time - Gord was entertaining me and Violet with stories from his younger years.

Cora was busy with her musical, but I was glad to grab this secret shot of her chatting with her grandparents in the back yard.

Sue and Gord loved getting to meet and love on Evie and Winston. Evie, especially, took a liking to Gord - it was so sweet!

Tidbits

 Nice to see a Percy poster up at a favorite Newhall coffee shop - and even better, I didn't put it there!

We're in the season of long musical rehearsals, and I've been doing my bits to help with publicity. I wrote a press release and will make the cast photo board.

Violet has been doing archery when we have time and it's not too hot. This time, we walked the course up in the hill behind the range, where you can aim at animal targets.

Also for PE this week, Violet met up with some people and teachers from her online school for a hiking club meetup at Hart Park. 

Cora's theatre department held a Young Playwright's Fest, with student-authored scenes. Cora took part by reading a part in one of the scenes. She's on the left - I know the photo is terrible. Since she's now driving herself, she went with a few crew/leaders to ice cream afterwards, while we went home. 

I'm so proud of her - she's driving every day, even the early days, when she needs to leave quite early to beat the horrible traffic.

I organized another fundraiser clothing drive for WR PAC. I mentioned it on FB and around the neighborhood, and collected a carload of bags to bring in. My back seat was just as full as the trunk!

I'm pleased to say we raised over $900; last year it was less than $600. 

I helped out Wednesday evening collecting bags, and again on Saturday morning, when the big truck came to load up.

We've been busy with the bifold doors - Stace had to trim everything to get them to fit, and I painted them.

See Evie under the door and Winston on the mattress?

Painting things with cats around! Ha! This was actually the Murphy bed but we were concerned about the doors, too. 

Also this week, we had the carpets cleaned, and the little sofas in the addition. A nice freshening up after the dust and building work. 

On Friday evening, I watched Stace's soccer game, and then we went to Pocock for a drink. 

Week in Review

Violet and I went out to the archery range and found two deer! The ran off before we could get any closer. Always some type of nature experience out here.

Also this week, we watched a Zoom online meeting at College of the Canyons for incoming students, to learn more about the process for Cora for the fall.

Cora finally returned to Green Tower Games for D&D after a few months off for Wolves rehearsals.

And I got together with Kelly while Cora was D&Ding and Vi was at youth group. We caught up and took a walk. I also visited with my friend Moira, and went to Monrovia to meet up with JT on Friday.
 

Violet started this digital drawing while we were with Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty. When she'd finished, I printed a copy of it to share with them.

I realized the kitties didn't have a lot of little toys around, and thought of getting out the yardstick to check under the stove. Sure enough! Look at all the things Winston had pushed under, out of his own reach!

When I saw them looking under my dresser, I found at least five little toys under there, too.

Stace and Violet went to the monthly car show at the Porsche dealership on Saturday morning. It's fantastic how she has taken an interest in cars! She'll look at his Bring a Trailer emails at night, too. 

And speaking of cars, look at this beauty! I mean, look at that beautiful driver!

Yes, Cora is now beginning her driving journey. Stace took her out this weekend, and she did very well. She's nervous, and very careful. 

On Saturday afternoon, we went to see West Side Story at the Canyon Theatre Guild with Colleen and Rigo. Our friend Coach Greg Hayes played the police lieutenant, and Cora's vocal teacher's daughter had the lead role of Maria. It was a great show!

After the musical, we went to Acton, with them and the kids (minus homebody Cora) for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was great to hang out, and our way of thanking Rigo for dropping everything to help us pick up a Murphy bed in Acton the prior week. Gotta treat your friends with trucks well! We'd passed this restaurant on the way to the home where we bought the Murphy bed, which we got a great deal on.

Catching Up

Exciting Saturday night around here: a trip to Walmart to replace all our cars' windshield wipers!

Stace, Violet and I went to Placerita for a nature walk Sunday, as we continue to try to catch her up on her PE hours. On Saturday, Stace and Vi went for a nice bike ride.
 

Cora helped Stace with some car tasks over the weekend, and washed a couple of cars, too.

Winston, why do you like putting soft toys in your water bowl???

It does make sense why Evie would like to lie on a heating pad.

And, in a cat way, it makes sense that she'd like to lie on the fabric Violet is cutting out.

Violet made this sleeveless mock turtleneck! She's recently turned her artistic interest to fashion.

She also made his hat, which she gave to her friend Sofia.

Violet and Stace fixed a bunch of her arrows, and I took her to the archery range for some more PE. 

And she and I went to Towsley Canyon for a walk.

Well, as long as Winston is comfortable...

Tidbits

Oh, Winston. 

Colleen gave us a few muffins she'd made, and the plastic baggie was no match for the Winstonator. Unfortunately, our efforts to keep him off the kitchen counters haven't worked, though he definitely knows he isn't supposed to be up there.

Later in the day, he found where I'd hidden the muffin, and knocked it to the floor to have another bite. And it appeared he's learning to use tools!  (That cool plastic knife/spoon was given to us at the strawberry festival by a vendor passing out free kiwifruit. Perfect for avocados!)

But he's so stinking cute, we can't stay mad.

Violet and I ventured back to the archery range, this time on a cooler morning and we didn't see any snakes. We did, however, see this scrub jay attacking my newspaper! He grabbed the bagged paper, and got it out of the bag (see the paper on the ground?). I wonder if he's encountered bagged snacks from the youth lessons that take place here?

Action shot! Arrow is flying here, though it blends into the hill.

Violet did some solid shooting - one arrow went nearly straight through the center!

Here's most of that arrow, coming out the other end.

Cora was home sick while we were at archery... she missed three days this week, not great since they were mostly review days for next week's finals.
 

Stace had some bad luck with the TT. He couldn't turn the key late Monday night after the theatre banquet, and had to have it towed early Tuesday morning before school started. 

Our favorite mechanic replaced the ignition, and also the water pump, which was cracked, and the cause of the slow coolant leak we've been babying since we bought the car. That all set us back a pretty penny. But, we'd saved money buying a less expensive car, knowing we might be spending some on repairs...

Bread, Snakes and Frogs

This week, using my flour and a new recipe, I finally made good, soft, well-risen bread again.

I took Violet back to the archery range for the first time in a couple of months, and what did we see, but a huge rattlesnake crossing the main road just past the turning for the range. I drove closer to get a better look. 

Very clearly a rattler, with the diamond shaped head and long rattle. Yikes!

When we parked at the range, a man was leaving and I asked if he had seen any snakes in the arena. He said no, so I told him about this one. He asked me if I wanted him to go get it for me(!). He said he was from Acton (a bit rural) and was in the army, and had killed and eaten many a snake. I politely declined.

Violet shot her arrows, and then we walked over to see the poppies. So pretty, and short-lived. I know they might not be here next time we come.

Yes, we were keeping our eyes peeled for snakes, but I wasn't exactly expecting to see another one. But we did! You can see it in the center of this photo. Not as large as the first, but, yes, another rattler. 

We gave it plenty of distance, and all was well. Just gotta be aware of your surroundings!

We also saw a few quail.

The next few days were cooler, and on Friday, during our typical nature walk, we went to Whitney Canyon and were surprised to see dozens of tiny frogs hopping across the path!

They were so cute!

You an kind of see the creek in this photo - that's where the frogs were headed, or coming from. We also heard coyotes yipping. That's a lot of nature for just a few days.

Week in Review

While I was out with the ladies, Stace took Violet to the archery range. She still enjoys archery, though for the time being she's stopped her mounted archery.

From the car on the dirt path to the range, they spotted this bad boy. Yep, that's 100% a rattlesnake. Notice the larger diamond-shaped head and rattle!

Violet doesn't just shoot arrows, she throws them. All good for her PE credit hours we need to track at home with her new schooling situation.

Speaking of school, it's going very well, but Vi has had a ton of algebra to do this week to get caught up to where the Learning Post algebra course is. She's been a bit frustrated but she's getting through it. Thankfully the English and history assignments are easier.
 

Living his best life! Seb got height AND the bean bag when we stacked cushions up to get them out of the rain this week. 

Cora took a rest day this week, following the extreme energy output required for Puffs (or any show run). 

Here's the completion of the beautiful bird puzzle Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill gave us when we went up to visit in September!

And, we didn't get a photo, but JT, Jim and kids came up for lunch Friday to return Violet's camera that we accidentally left in their car when they came out to see Puffs. We met up at the Indian restaurant and enjoyed their filling and fabulous lunch buffet.