Nature Walks

 We've been doing a lot of PE when we can - raking leaves (lots of leaves), archery, and nature walks. 

We went to Quigley while the girls were off school for Thanksgiving break, and saw three deer! Violet and I always look for deer, but hadn't spotted any for a long time, at least a year. So it was cool to see these guys.

Just before seeing them, we came across what we must presume to be a relative - this is a sight we'd never come across!

Kind of shocking, really. Could have been a predator like a bobcat or pack of coyotes, or even a cougar, or it could have been chronic wasting disease, which we understand to be going around the deer populations.

Clearly, whatever the initial cause, the scavengers had picked it pretty clean.

Violet wanted to take Stace and me up past Castaic Lake for a walk. It was a stunning evening, at the famed "golden hour."

And on Thanksgiving Day, we went for a hike at the Golden Valley Ranch Open Space. It was so dry, it looked very different than other times we've been.

Our Town: Friends and Family Edition

As always, we appreciate all who took time out to come support Cora and her theatre program!

We couldn't get photos of all of her fans, but here are the pics we did get.

Grandma and Grandpa
 

Auntie Kelly and Mrs. Hawthorne!

Rigo, Colleen and Liana

Coach Greg and Auntie Mel

Jarod ordered this backdrop and red carpet, so I made sure to get a photo with Cora.

The cast photo board I made, with the photos my dad took. The photos were also used in the program, with each actor getting to write their own short bio. I made these pages, which looked really good.

Our Town

Cora's theater department presented the classic American play "Our Town" last weekend, and Cora played the Stage Manager of this play-within-a-play. Technically, she and Mackenzie shared the role, splitting the lines and talking to each other and the audience on stage. It was a great pairing, reminding us of how she and Ben would finish each other's thoughts during Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Here, Cora and Mackenzie jumped into the role of the milkman's horse, one of several times Cora's stage manager slid into other roles as the story progressed. 

Here, you can see some of the set that Stace, Cora and Jarod worked so hard on. It was designed to be a very simple set, giving the impression of the homes of the Gibbs and Webb families in Grover's Corners, N.H., around the turn of the 20th Century.

Here, Cora takes her place during church choir practice.

Here, she's animatedly describing how the majority of people get married, and suddenly find themselves 50 years down the line, on the other side of youth. This was in the context of the play's main characters Emily and George falling in love and getting married.

Here, Cora's playing the drug store and soda shop proprietor, Mr. Morgan, and getting George and Emily ice cream sodas. 

The closing scene in this nostalgic, thoughtful play. Many were wiping away tears as Emily dies and is allowed to relive part of a day, and remarks on how people don't appreciate life while they are living it.

It was sweet to have Cora almost bookend her high school straight-play career with a role so reminiscent of Rosencrantz.
 

Week in Review

The joy of having kids at home still, and the flexibility to be able to help when needed... Twice this week, I picked up orders of wood from Lowes for the Our Town set build. 

A reward for this delivery - I love birds, and this hawk is frequently at Cora's school. I got to see it on the ground, enjoying lunch. 

Several evenings this week, after rehearsal, Stace (and I, kind of) helped Cora and Jarod with set construction. It's always gratifying to see it take shape. And I helped a lot with the program, and made the sign up for concessions.

A friend of mine is fostering kittens, so Violet and I went to pay them a visit. No, we're not taking them home! But tiny kittens are so cute, they're well-worth visiting.

When we were ready to go, Vi put them in the enclosure, but the black and white one wasn't ready for her to go. She climbed straight up and onto Violet. Then the sister decided to do the same. So cute!

Here's Evie, saying, I can act like a kitten, too! She actually likes to be held like this the best.

Violet and I took a walk at Quigley Canyon at dusk Saturday. We saw several rabbits, heard a lot of great horned owls, and spotted a white stone heart on the top left side of the hill. It's hard to see here, I know.

Stace, Violet and I rode our bikes into Newhall late Sunday afternoon. We stopped at Honu coffee and then looked at the Christmas decorations along Main Street.

 At Egg Plantation, I spied with my little eye an Our Town poster! I had dropped this one off a few days earlier. The students are taking them around town to businesses, to spread the word.

The Signal ran my press release this week. Here's a link to the story.

On Monday, the girls were off for Veterans' Day, and Violet's friends came over. They tried to bake a rat-shaped cookie, and a man-face cookie. Obviously they flattened out into tasty blobs.

Tidbits

 The girls had Friday, the day after Halloween, off, as a teacher in-service day, for the first time. Seems like a good idea for the district to do so. Cora had a rehearsal for Our Town.

On Saturday, Stace and I went to the Finally Family Homes Bingo/Poker Night and auction. It was held at the Egg Plantation, a SClarita favorite. Our admission got us dinner and two drinks, so we got fancy cocktails.

Colleen and Rigo joined us, and Stace won a bottle of wine at the end of the bingo rounds. At the silent auction, I "won" a great deal on carpet cleaning, from the company we normally use. 

On Sunday, I worked on processing the two jack o' lanterns and came up with so much pumpkin for the freezer. We use it throughout the year in our favorite pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins.

For lunch Sunday, I opened up a special can of real Heinz baked beans and made a Stacey favorite, beans on toast with English cheddar broiled on top.

With teens, I'm definitely not needed in the same ways I was when the girls were younger. 

But at times, they do still ask for my help. 

Yikes.

Every now and then, this guy has to be at the top of his tree!

More Kitty Cuteness

 Who needs a kitty update from the Crazy Cat House?

Oh, these two are so sweet together...

This old large Beanie Boo giraffe of Cora's wound up in the living room. Confusing! Who would get it out of Cora's open bin of old stuffed animals at the foot of her bed?  This guy, I guess! Why this giraffe? He would have had to stand on his hind legs to reach in, and then carry it around by mouth, when it's half his size. He makes us laugh!

He also needed to wash the coveted red ball, that disappears and reappears around the house. This is one of the toys that Seb likes, too, for some reason.

Seb likes our quiet times in the mornings. He does not love it when Winston joins us. 

More kitty cuddles. All three, in the above photo.

End of October

Melanie had a big wedding Saturday, which she coordinated and did the flowers for. I went early to her florist studio and was tasked with stripping these roses, using a little tool. You quickly bring it down the stem, removing all leaves and thorns.

While I helped her, Cora helped build sets for Our Town, and Stace helped at the tiny house.

Earlier this week, I worked on Cora's passport application for her first British passport. 

On Sunday, I went to see a radio host and author I've followed for decades, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, with my friend Sue. 

The event, marking 50 years of Dr. Laura being on air, was held at the beautiful century-old Alex Theater in Glendale.

 

Halloween was this week, and we've officially moved into the next stage of Halloween life as a family. Although the girls weren't trick or treating really last year either, Ellie came to our neighborhood, so we went around together with Mel and Nick. 

This year, they went with Ellie's little friends closer to their own home, and Violet didn't dress up at all, and Cora went to a friend's house after school to watch scary movies and hang out. So, no trick or treating for us - and no free candy! Sad. We had to actually buy candy to pass out, as we also didn't participate in the Trunk or Treat we've done for years (where we end up with a bowl full of candy when that night's over).

Stace put out the Headless Horseman, decorated the MG, and he and Violet carved pumpkins to set out. We chatted with Toni and John, who brought out their table and chairs to the end of their driveway.

Also this week, Cora was heavy into rehearsals for two plays - Our Town, and later in the evening, Wolves, which she'll perform in come January. And I was at her rehearsal a couple of times, helping my dad take photos and interviewing kids for the press release I'll write, and the cast photo board I'll make. I'm also helping with the playbill.