Cultural and Kitty Fun

 I read in our local paper about a masterpiece painting from the 17th Century that had been stolen by the Nazis, and now finally returned to its rightful owners, with one of the descendants living in our town.

The family decided to donate the painting for display at the Skirball Cultural Center, a Jewish museum near the Getty in Los Angeles. Violet and I went down to see the exhibit and the rest of the museum Thursday afternoon. 
Here, we're looking at ancient archaeological finds from the Holy Land.

This is part of the exhibit on the wealthy Bloch family from Czechoslovakia whose goods were stolen. These items had been saved by being sent abroad before their home was taken over.

But this 17th Century painting, Isaac Blessing Jacob, by Johann Carl Loth, was missing for more than 80 years before finally being returned to the family last year after decades of legal work.

We enjoyed this exhibit, and the others. It's nice having more free time during the week with Violet for other types of learning.

In other educational news, Seb is teaching Evie how to drink from the bathroom faucet. See how she studiously watches the master...

...and then tries to figure it out on her own. First she thought that you hit the water with your paw. Eventually she got the hang of drinking the drips.

Meanwhile, where was Winston during the lesson?

Well, he hasn't quite mastered getting onto the bathroom counters, so he busied himself by trying to get the swinging blonde toy above his head.

The girls had Friday and Monday off for the President's Day weekend, so I enjoyed coffee and Bible time in bed with my three amigos.

Speaking of three amigos - Vi met up with her school friends, Lea and Sophia, at the boba place Friday. It was the first time she's met with them outside of school, so we were all proud of her for setting up the date.

Seb isn't always annoyed by his new little brother.

But, often, he is.

Valentine's Day

 Violet and I started our Valentine's Day (after her yearbook class) with a walk at Whitney Canyon, where we saw some damage from our recent rain storms.

Beautiful girl in a beautiful setting...

Vi and I were pleased to see two kestrels on this walk.

Every now and then, my Google photos makes something worth saving. First photo from Yosemite, second from Newhall.

Melanie delivered a flower arrangement, which we put on the mantle to keep it away from the cats. Evie was very intrigued, however, and was trying to measure the jump from couch to mantle. Stace and I also enjoyed Valentine's drinks from Havana Savannah at lunchtime.

I made heart-shaped pancakes and bacon for dinner, after taking Cora to our local costume/dance store to buy two pairs of shoes for Chicago. After dinner, Stace and I watched The African Queen with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.

Snow Day

 Violet has been wanting to get up to the snow, and Stace and I are more than happy to accommodate either of our girls when they actually desire to leave the house and do something cool. 

With Violet's interesting school schedule, it worked well on Monday for Stace to come home early, and the three of us headed to Wrightwood. Going on a weekday meant we missed all the traffic up and down the mountain from, well, people like us.

Violet did some sledding, and we had a great day.

The snow was SO deep! At least compared to what we are used to when playing in snow. Walking was a challenge - Vi definitely earned some time on her PE log!

On our way back, we stopped at a Chinese place in Saugus I'd heard good things about and picked up dinner to bring home. I had to take a photo for Cora - D&D.

Weekend Fun

 After celebrating Cora's birthday with the family, Violet went to Liana's house to make orange juice. Yep, that was her request earlier in the week - "Can I go to Liana's house and make orange juice?"

Also Saturday, we had another contractor over to look at our room project.

On Sunday, most of the Western World watched the Super Bowl. We did not. 

Rather, I took a long walk with Sue, and Stace and Violet went to the Placerita Waterfall Trail. 

Also, Cora's friend Violet's mom and brother came over to get some kitten playtime in, as they are also cat people.

Like we're in another state or something!

Cora's 17th Birthday

 Our Cora Rose is now 17. She celebrated with friends from her new high school D&D group, who all joined her for an escape room and then pizza at Vincenzo's. Basically, very much like last year's celebration. And, the teens escaped! We also got birthday treats together after school at 85 Degrees, an Asian bakery the girls like.

I wish we had a better photo, but sometimes I have to take what I can get. This was on her actual birthday.

On Saturday, we had the family over for a meal from Stone Fire, Cora's favorite, with a slice of carrot cake for the birthday girl.

Happy Birthday, Cora! Last year before adulthood - oh my. We all love you so much!

Hikes and More Cats

 

Violet and I are really enjoying her new PE schedule.

It rained a lot this week, but Wednesday was clear enough for a Golden Valley Ranch hike. We didn't mean to do as long of a hike as we accomplished, and she was a little late back to her campus for lunch. But we had a great time enjoying the beauty - and mud - and getting exercise.

We saw raccoon prints, and lots of deer tracks, too, in the mud. 

Earlier in the week, while it was pouring with rain, Cora and I drove to Beverly Hills so she could take part in a paid focus group. It was the first time anyone in our family had done one of these in years. 

The drive there was nerve-wracking with the heavy rain, but we were on time. On the way back, at rush hour, I allowed the Waze app to take us through the neighborhoods of the famous Hollywood Hills rather than the congested freeways. The rain had stopped, and it was a very interesting drive home.

Also this week, I attended my last Hart Theatre Boosters board meeting - thankfully, we have found new board members to take the place of me and the other members who no longer have kids in the program. 

Violet loves these three so much. They are a lot of fun. 

Ummmm, excuse me? Sir? I don't think you belong there!

Creative Pursuits

 Creating with curious kittens around can be a challenge.

Here, Cora is adding rivets to her brown leather pants to achieve a stylized look for her upcoming MacBeth scene she's doing for the school district's theatre festival. 

Or, at least, she's trying to.

Cora's hand is deep in the pant leg, so Evie is attacking it through the material.

Cora persevered, and was able to create this amazing outfit. Shirt from Amazon, and she'll add a leather cord to tie round and round the arm. She painted the gloves with the same leather paint she used on the corset, which she completely made from scratch with the sewing machine. I look at the corset, and truly can't believe she made it!

I had a little crafty evening myself - a group of girlfriends got together for dinner and Valentine's craft on Saturday night.  

Also, I finally had better luck with my bread baking. I've been struggling for a couple of months with it not rising enough, despite changing nothing about the recipe or method from when it worked well each time. 

So, I've been tinkering, and this one came out so well.

Violet is still drawing up a storm. 

She made this beauty on her iPad. It seems to be a great investment for her. 

Tidbits

Little milestone - my Mazda hit the 100,000 mile mark. It's starting to show a bit of wear and tear with its age - 11 years - but I love my car and hope we can maintain it for many years.

This week, Cora had her auditions for the spring school musical, Chicago. She's hoping for the lead role of Velma Kelly. She wasn't thrilled with her initial singing audition, but felt better later in the week following the dance call and other callbacks.

It was Restaurant Week SCV, with a number of locally owned places offering deals or specials. Violet and I took advantage of a dim sum sampler at One Bite Dumpling, and a special coffee drink at Honu, and took them to Hart Park to enjoy. And later, Stace and I got a delicious meal at Wanted Grill. 

We had Ellie over for a few hours, and she and Violet picked some oranges. 

Also that day, she watched a film while we had a contractor over to discuss the room project. He suggested replacing the patio enclosure with a similar enclosure. We have thought about it, but still want a real addition.

I spent hours looking up more contractors and architects for the project, and making calls. 
 

Getting closer!

A little blurry, but look at my sweater-drying helpers!

We got a new water fountain for the cats, and they love it.

Kitties in boxes! With her coloring, she blends right in.

Winston is always getting in our laps. Evie, sometimes. So much purring!