Sept 19th: One last project and on to Cleveland

 

Matt and Wendy decided to install the same drinking water filtration that Rebecca and I installed at her place. We had the water tested for both locations and found a number of contaminants in the tap water. Although the amounts were very small, over time, the body continues to absorb toxic elements that can lead to a host of health issues. (A search on the web of toxic elements in drinking water can provide a lot of research info if you are interested.)

Installation instructions

The system arrived earlier than expected so I had a day to contribute to the installation. Having worked on Rebecca's system made the installation of Matt and Wendy's go smoothly. Wendy directed per the instructions, which are somewhat challenging.

I put the pieces together and Matt did the hard part of crawling under the sink. 

System installed under the sink

All went well and the system is up and running. No more buying distilled water for drinking water

The day before I left for Cleveland I finally got a couple videos of my hummingbird! Click on full screen to see it.

Julie and Jim's street

My flights to Ohio went very smoothly. I enjoyed returning to My sister Julie and brother-in-law's home in Euclid. Their house is on a nice quiet street that ends at Lake Erie. Their house is the white one behind the tree.
 

Jim and I went down to the end of the street to enjoy the lake view. It was a beautiful day. 

It was close to sunset and a nice view looking West.

One of my goals this trip was to sort through the stuff Linda and I left at Julie and Jim's as well as at the farm. Most of the items were no longer useful and just taking up space. A major item was the industrial sewing machine Linda and I purchased in 2006 to make boat cushions and a plastic enclosure for the bimini top. Linda spent many hours in our basement sewing.

She was skeptical that I could set up the bimini top in the basement and that she would be able to make the plastic windows fit properly. It wasn't perfect but she ended up successfully enclosing the flybridge, which was very useful in inclement weather. She grudgingly admitted that she was very happy I pushed the idea. Of course she did the hard part!

Linda used the sewing machine again in Julie's basement about 6 years ago to make a new canvas top. We realized it was time when she found she needed an umbrella when driving under the top when it rained heavily! 

 

Very old Singer sewing machine

Because I am selling Yesterday's Dream, I won't use the sewing machine anymore. It is so old and outdated that I just called a local "Junk" dealer to see if they could come and haul it away. It is very heavy and it takes two strong people to get it out of the basement. A friend and I struggled getting it into Julie's basement when we moved out of our house in 2009. And I was smart enough to let someone else get it out! I was pleased that they said a person in their organization would probably find someone who wanted it. It served us very well.

Some of the stored items I shipped to my California home. The clean out was very successful. I now have nothing stored at the Loudonville, Drouhard farm, and very minimal items at Julie and Jim's.

Euclid Lake Erie walk way

Julie and Jim sing at funerals in their church choir. They were going to a funeral one morning so I took the opportunity to walk to the end of their street and go down to the recently developed walkway along the lake. The city did a marvelous job putting the lakeside to good use.

In the distance , you can see the fishing pier that was included in the project. Here is a view from the end of the pier looking toward shore.

As I approached the fishing pier, I was fortunate to spot a bald eagle in a tree along the walkway.

There were a couple signs explaining some of the restoration work that was completed. It was great to see the efforts made to keep contaminants out of Lake Erie.

There is a video that describes the project in depth. The picture of the shoreline includes the end of Julie and Jim's street. (About in the middle of the picture.)  Euclid Lake Project Lake project video

There is a beautiful, large park which has been a part of Euclid for many years. It is well maintained and heavily used. A portion of the property was originally owned by a family that lived in the mansion pictured here.

There is a beautiful, large park which has been a part of Euclid for many years. It is well maintained and heavily used. A portion of the property was originally owned by a family that lived in the mansion pictured here.

Additional pictures and a history of the family can be seen at this link. Henn Mansion History

Many people don't expect to find a beautiful park like this in such a highly populated area. It's a nice retreat from the busy city activity. 

When I went to Loudonville, Linda's family, friends and I gathered for dinner at Donna Spreng's house. She is a most gracious host. Everyone except me, (because I was travelling) brought more food than we needed. I am sorry to say I neglected to take pictures, but everyone was looking good! Bob and Sue Brightbill joined us and I stayed at their house that night. When we returned to their house at 9:30 PM we all said we were ready for bed. We started talking and the next thing I knew it was midnight! I guess we had a lot of catching up to do.

Sue and Bob Brightbill
 and Elaine Burgett

The next morning, Bob and Sue, Elaine Burgett and I, (all schoolmates of Linda's), got together at Elaine's house for a fabulous breakfast! Elaine made a sausage, egg and cheese casserole plus cinnamon rolls. Sue brought some fresh fruit that sort of made it a healthy breakfast?

I returned to Julie's house for a couple more nights. It was great to have a lot of relaxed time together. I always enjoy their hospitality and their laid back sense of humor. Not to mention Julie's fabulous cooking! I get many of my childhood favorites as well as some newer dishes whenever I visit.

Dave Puffer, Laura Purnell
and Sue Puffer

One last gathering in Cleveland was with my very good friends, Sue and Dave Puffer and Laura Purnell. We all worked together for many years and remain good friends. We do a Zoom meeting once a month, including the Bambics who have moved to Durham, NC. But it was great to finally get together in person. Laura prepared an orange chicken with mushroom dish that I found unique and excellent.

The following morning I flew to Burlington to spend a week with the Scott family. They are always a lot of fun.

Sept 2: Back in California

 

It's fun to be back in California. The weather is great and I am enjoying getting together again with my kids and California friends. One of the first things I did was purchase a hanging flower basket plant, 

(Posterazzi Russelia Equisetiformis, Firecracker Plant)

 to attract humming birds. The hummingbirds go to each tiny tubular flower until they get the nectar from all of them. Fun to watch. I'm still trying to get a good video. Maybe one of these days.

I had kept my two hanging baskets with dirt from last year in a black plastic bag in my closet. Upon inspection, I noticed my Inca Lolly basket had a root system that seemed to still be alive. I put it out, watered it for a couple weeks and some small shoots started growing! I hope to get flowers soon. The Inca Lolly (Astroemeria) is also a hummingbird favorite.

I also enjoy seeing the tiny Lizard that hangs out on my step. It's very small, maybe 2 inches long.

Ocean view out my window

When I returned to my place, which is on the second floor, I was surprised to find they were still working on the rebuild of the house next door. It is going very slowly. Fortunately, the new renovation will not block my ocean view.

Neighbor's backyard in progress

The back yard has a long way to go. My view looks over the top of everything so although the picture looks unsightly, I'd have to look down from my kitchen window or balcony to see it. 

Of course I walked down the hill to the beach at Swami's. It's a beautiful beach with cliffs and typically surfers to watch. Swami's is a major surf spot for southern California because of the way the land is shaped and the waves break. The challenging stairs down to the beach provide good exercise. On the way back up I realized I need to get in better stair climbing shape!

I made a trip up to see my daughter Rebecca and her two dogs, Trevi and London. They were all excited to see me. The dogs know I take them for walks and Rebecca had a few projects for me. 

Rebecca's newly installed swim spa was another reason I was anxious to get to her house in person. She sent some impressive installation pictures.

Swim spa is in. Stairs and deck to come.

By the time I arrived, there were stairs to get into the spa and it was operational. A swim spa puts out a stream of water at variable speeds so you can swim in place, much like a treadmill. I tried it out. It is quite strenuous at low speed!

Changing the filters in Rebecca's drinking water system was on the list of projects. There are five different filters and the directions were not terribly specific. Fortunately, it was easy to pull the filter system out from under the sink and lay it on the floor to work on it. After struggling for quite a while, U tube came to the rescue. Once I learned a couple little critical "tricks" it was relatively easy. Project completed.

1st bracket installed

It seems like there is always a project in Rebecca's workout room. This time the goal was to install a work out bar on the wall. The directions called for a significant support system that could handle 500 lbs. I checked with my good friend and excellent builder Randy Peterson who was still at the island cottage. He helped me figure out what to use. There are only 4 brackets that hold the bars up. I secured them with 3 inch lag bolts making certain they were in solid studs in the wall. 

The installation went smoothly and Rebecca's friend and trainer checked it out. He is a very good sized former professional football player and he said he loved it!

We celebrated with a great steak dinner. Even London and Trevi got in on the celebration.

Hollywood & Highland Center

The visit was more fun than work. Upon Rebecca's excellent suggestion we went to Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood to see the new Top Gun movie in a 4D theater. In a 4D theater, the chairs tilt/vibrate, etc. Also, there were special lighting and sound effects. Similar to Disneyland rides. It's a great movie for 4D.

There is a huge atrium and mall that is part of the complex where Red Carpet activities take place. The whole complex was recently renovated. Notice how small the people on the second floor walkway look.

Here is a website with some pictures taken before the recent renovation.  Mann's Theater and Mall atrium before renovation

On my way home I stopped to see Karen and Craig in San Juan Capistrano. They took me to their yacht club for lunch. Their yacht club is quite laid back, very friendly and fun. We had a great lunch and walked all around the marina and shoreline walkway looking at boats in the harbor. We of course reminisced about our boat trips. Here's a link with some nice pictures. Marina Pics

We also took a ride to the top of the cliffs to see the remains of the Laguna fire. An electrical failure started the fire, the winds came up from the ocean, went right up the ravine and burned up many mansions. If you enlarge the picture and follow the brown area up, left of center, you can see the black area at the top. The view from there was incredible.

View from my balcony

A couple weeks after I returned to Encinitas, I heard heavy equipment outside one morning. I thought they were working on the house next door. Turned out construction was starting in the relatively small backyard across the alley behind my place. 

Scott, my wonderful landlord filled me in. Turns out there is such a housing shortage that the city is encouraging additional housing be built in peoples' backyards, The city even supplies 6 options of architectural drawings for free. Because the city provides the drawings, permitting, zoning etc. are a breeze.

Latest view 

As you can see, the backyard is quite small. There will be very little yard left. The owners bought the house as a rental investment so I am certain the investment return was the highest priority. I wouldn't care for how closed in everything will be but it does provide more housing for people.

Cabbage rolls

I started thinking about something fun and good to cook. I know Wendy likes my cabbage rolls so I settled on those. They turned out great! I use an entire cabbage so there were 18 cabbage rolls. They keep a long time in the fridge and also freeze well. We had a great dinner with the addition of golden beets and mashed potatoes. I remembered why I don't make them very often. They are very good but labor intensive and take a long time to cook. But they are worth it.

It was time to get back to bike riding. I like riding to the San Elijo Lagoon. When I first started going to the lagoon parts were closed and everything was just mud due to a complete renovation designed to return the lagoon to its natural state.

It has been fun to watch the successful outcomes over the last two years. Here is a picture from a couple years ago. 

San Elijo Lagoon during the renovation

There was a lot of new growth at the lagoon. A river comes down on the way to the ocean so there is water for the plants. The water goes up and down abut tree feet with the tides.

There are typically various birds hanging out in the lagoon. The bright white Egrets are almost always around.

Cindy sent me an aerial photo of the Island cottage site. It shows how beautiful Lake Temagami is.

 

She also sent pictures of the installed, sink with running water, and shower in the newly constructed guest house bathroom. 

I like the sink and faucet Cindy and Randy picked out. They have a great cottage look.

They are still waiting on delivery of the incinerator toilets. Here is more information than you probably want. How incinerator toilets work

 

People have asked what I've been doing. I've spent a little time working with Mychael virtually to get Yesterday's Dream turned over to him. He's been great about going thru everything to help me determine what I want to keep. There isn't too much, so Mychael said he would pack things up and ship them to me so I don't need to make a special trip. I might go for a visit sometime this winter but the work will all be done! I've also arranged the sale of my Nissan to Sailor Dave and his wife Kelly. Yet again, thank you Mychael. I was able to give him power of attorney to complete the paperwork.

I've also been catching up on some paper/computer work. Linda always took care of all our financial needs and I sure do miss that. But I'm getting there. I discovered that I made an error on my tax filing related to the required minimum withdrawal. I was able to take care of that with some help from a patient Vanguard representative. Now I know why Linda spent so much time on the computer! She enjoyed it, I don't. My tech people, Matt and Wendy are wonderful. I was saving a list of questions about how to do this or that and they graciously provide assistance. In my defense, I almost always try to solve problems myself before asking them for help. Its amazing how much I've learned by asking simple questions on Google. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my cousin Marialice is always willing to provide tech advice also.

It seems like I've spent an inordinate amount of time catching up on some overdue "body maintenance tasks". I've had an eye exam, which is leading to cataract surgery in 5 months, (I have to not wear my contacts for 5 months to let my eyes go to their natural shape), an annual dermatology screening, all is well there, several dental appointments for some old silver filling repairs, a hearing test which ended with me getting hearing aids and I travel to Cleveland next week where I'll get an overdue physical. I'm closing in on everything and its nice to be getting it done. So far all is good.

In my down time I have been working to complete the puzzle my sister Terri gave me. I started it last Winter and started working on it again when I returned in July. It was quite challenging due to all the blue and grey, but I finally finished it.

I was able to get a still picture of my hummingbird. This is a cute little female. A very colorful male comes by also, but no good pictures of him yet.

Moonlight Beach

Fortunately, I also am back to playing pickleball, walking the beach a lot and riding my bike. There are actually two beaches in addition to Swami's that I like to walk on. Here's a picture of Moonlight Beach, just north of me, and just south of me is Cardiff Beach.  Cardiff Beach pics.

I'm heading to Cleveland next Friday where I'll visit with family and friends. Then I'll travel to Burlington, VT to spend a week with the Scott family.