Thanksgiving Break

With the family meal over, our Thanksgiving Day was very restful. Stace, Violet and I went for a nice hike at Golden Valley Ranch Open Space in the afternoon. 

It was a beautiful day, as you can see.

We stopped at the video store - yes, we still have a video store in Newhall! - and picked up Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We watched it that night as a family. 
 

On Friday, we did a bit of shopping in the afternoon, and managed to get both girls to come with us. At Best Buy, we (finally) bought a new printer, and got Violet a new gaming headset since hers was broken. We dropped Cora off at home and then did a little more shopping with Violet.

On Saturday, we worked in the yard and Cora and Violet went to Teacision and archery. In the evening, Stace and I went out for a drink at Chili's.

A week ago, Stace and I did a favor for Uncle Bill, and went to check out a car he was bidding on, on an online auction site. The car was in La Crescenta, about a half hour from us. Stace gave it a good lookover, and we even got to have a drive in it, with the owner behind the wheel. 

We then got coffee at a nearby shop where Stace wrote up his notes and talked to Uncle Bill.

Unfortunately, the price went far above what Bill was willing to spend, but it was a fun experience for us.

My mom sent me a healthy recipe reel on peanut butter blueberry muffins, with no flour. They came out OK, weird consistency, but a good way to use up bananas and blueberries. 

Thanksgiving, Observed

With funny work schedules for my mom and sister, we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, instead of Thursday. 

 

As has become our routine, Melanie brought half the meal, as she loves cooking. I did the turkey and roast potatoes and desserts. 

This year, I decided to spatchcock the turkey, which Aunt Patty has recommended for years. With this method, you cut out the turkey's backbone and splay it out, so the turkey cooks evenly and much faster.

Ellie helped with basting it with herbed butter.

It came out very yummy.

The roast potatoes looked perfect! I think they could have used a little more salt. I'll remember that at Christmas.

Ellie made place cards for everyone.

I made pumpkin crunch cake, and baked a frozen storebought apple pie.

It was a lovely day! 

Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Cora appeared in her college debut, "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui," by celebrated German playwright Bertolt Brecht. The play is an allegory about Hitler's rise to power, in a story set around 1930s Chicago, with gangsters taking over the cauliflower trade.

Cora had about eight different roles, several of them key parts. She was a very different person each time. 

Here, she's a Chicago vegetable seller.

Here, she's playing Bowl, an accountant who witnessed shady dealings. Arturo Ui, the Hitler-esque gangster, is very interested in his testimony but has him killed on the way to the investigator's office. 

Here, Cora plays young Dogsborough, son of the city councilman who gets himself into ethical trouble. The play featured clowns throughout.

Cora is the investigator O'Casey, when Ui and his lieutenant, Roma, walk in. 

An adjudicator (like a judge) from the national college theatre festival came out and chose these three actors to compete in the upcoming regional festival in February!

O'Casey isn't buying what Ui's selling during the investigation.

Here, Cora is a newspaperman in Cicero, a nearby area where Ui wants to expand his empire. Here, Dullfeet (Cora) is chatting with a florist/gangster friend of Ui's.

Final bows - it was set in the black box theatre, with a simple set.

It was raining on Opening Night, and the cast greets guests outside. 

Cora's West Ranch people all came out to support her on Thursday.

Grandma and Grandpa came to a show, and Grandpa took all the top photos during a photo call.

We didn't manage to get a family photo with Violet, because she came Friday night, when Cora ran out to say a quick hello but had to rush back in. That was the night the adjudicator came, and was giving them her opinion.

Thanks, as always, to the other friends who came, who I wasn't able to get photos of: Melanie and Nick, Heather and Maggie, Sue and Betsy, Christina, Coach Greg, Mrs. Hawthorne, Moira, and Colleen, Rigo and Lucas.

Week in Review

 Cora was in her tech week with lots of rehearsals for her college play.

Stace, Vi and I played Catan one of the nights. I wish we could make board games happen more often, in place of screens.

On Wednesday, Cora picked up Violet so I could pick up Eloise from school while both her parents worked. She was very excited to ride her bike with me. She was gung ho about wearing all her safety equipment - helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads, until we decided it was cold enough to wear a hoodie, and that would protect her elbows.

Thankfully, she didn't fall at all, so we didn't test out the protective gear. After riding around the big block, into Ralphs to see her cashier fried, and back, she rode up and down the driveway several times, with me running along. We both got our exercise!

So much love!

We had rain off and on all week, makign for a beautiful view on my canyon walk. Green hills in November, normally that's a late winter treat here!

Weekend Fun

Nick brought Ellie over for a couple of hours Friday, and she helped me make a new recipe for healthier peanut butter cups. 

 

Pretty tasty! And nice knowing the ingredients are all decent.

In the evening, Stace went to Pocock Brewery for a coworker's goodbye gathering, while I went to Hart High School to watch the musical Little Shop of Horrors, as I knew several of the kids in it.

Also this week, I had my final meeting of the West Ranch Parent Advisory Council, as the group held elections and replaced me on the board. 

I processed our pumpkins and used some of the puree to make my own pumpkin spice protein latte, with vanilla protein powder. Yummy, and so good for me.

Stace and I went to a theatre performance at the church I grew up going to on Saturday night, and it was great! Very high quality production of an entertaining story, set in the late 1940s in New York City. One of the leads (in the top hat) is a radio talk show host I like listening to, so it was fun to see him in a different element.

It rained all day, and Violet and Stace drove around admiring our rivers. Meanwhile, Cora had a daylong tech rehearsal for her college play.

On Sunday, Stace and I celebrated our anniversary a bit late, with a steak dinner at a local favorite. We'd waited because of Stace's dental work. 

A real date!

Oh, it was delicious. Twice-baked potato, 14 ounce ribeye steak, and coconut shrimp to start.

We shared everything, and still brought a bit home.

We made sure to save enough room for dessert - a shared slice of mudpie.

This was a special meal; thanks to Sue and Gord for the money!

We finished the day with a family rewatching of The Princess Bride; it was kind of a perfect day for me.

Nature Trips

I'm so blessed with a daughter who craves her nature walks. I love them too, but I might not drive off on my own to catch the sunset and get some movement. But Vi will ask, and it's a great reason to get up and go. 

This was in Castaic, not far from the animal shelter.

Vi pointed out the oddity of a chain formed from interlocked padlocks.

On Tuesday, the girls had a day off school for Veterans Day. Violet and I drove up to Mt. Pinos, just past where we camped in June. We found a campground and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the cool woods.

If you see the white spot in the center of the photo, that's a car, and that is where you park to access the campground. It's free to stay here, and first-come, first served, but you have to walk in with your gear.

We drove down the mountain, and went a few miles northwest, to the community of Pine Mountain Club. I'd never been here, but have heard of it. It's cute! Nice homes, picturesque, fall color, and a coffee place that stayed open long enough for Vi and I to get a large latte to share on the drive home.

It was nice to feel like we'd had a mini vacation but have jus an hour's drive home.

Romeo and Juliet

 Cora took on her second job, working for her old high school's theatre department over the weekend. I helped by writing the press release and volunteering in the box office for "Romeo and Juliet," while Cora did all sorts of work to help things go smoothly.

Cora's friends Mackenzie and Lucas played the leads, and did a great job! Cora would have loved to perform in a whole Shakespeare production; hopefully someday.

Violet's First Concert

 A couple of months ago, Violet mentioned she loves a folk band called The Oh Hellos, so I looked them up and saw that they had a tour coming up in the fall. We bought tickets, and on Saturday, Stace and I took her to her first real concert!

The venue was down in L.A., at a smaller club with a capacity of about 1,500. 

If you're curious about the numbers at the corner of this photo, and a few others below, these are photos I took off the Internet because they're better than the ones we took on our phones.

The whole concert was general admission, and standing, with a balcony ringing the perimeter. We were upstairs at the restaurant having pizza, and walked out and realized we'd have a pretty good view from right there. 

Violet took this photo on her phone.

This was from the outside patio - we were pretty close to downtown L.A. 

These next pics are from the band's Instagram page. We bought a few CDs in August and listened to them nonstop on our Sequoia trip, so we were familiar with the music. It's lively and fun, with a nine-member band on stage! Drums, guitars, banjos, fiddles - very high quality musicanship throughout. These are the two lead singers, sister and brother Maggie and Tyler Heath.

Violet had SUCH a good time; it was wonderful to watch her sing along, enjoying herself so much. And for a girl who can't stand busy cities, she loved the experience enough to mention she'd like to see other bands she enjoys, when they are on tour.

There's just nothing like live music!