JouJou!!

Iron Works

Well, last week we joined the local rock climbing gym in Berkeley. It's called Iron Works.
It's has been really...really fun, but we are TOTALLY out of shape!
Ouch! is all there is to be said.
Today we took our niece, Nicole, for some time on the artificial holds.
She did a great job!
Here's some pics.....

The Grape Escape!

Last Saturday my sister Nancy and I went to Sacramento to attend The Grape Escape.
It is a wine tasting, food sampling festival in honor of all the Sacramento Valley has to offer. It was really fun, even though it was 90F at the hottest part of the day!
The highlight of the gathering was Nancy's joy when she found out that I had treated her to this event as a surprise because one of her favorites was going to give a concert that evening. It was Michael McDonald....you know, the guy from the Doobie Brothers, and a bunch of other musical stuff?
Well, anyway, she had no idea that one of her favorite singers was going to be there. I purposely didn't tell her so she would be surprised at some point during the festivities.
Well, she found out when we went to park the car and the attendant spilled the beans by telling us that since we were early we could hear Michael McDonald rehearsing the show. It was so funny! Nancy said "what??? who???" And he repeated, and I burst out laughing and Nancy burst out crying!
She was soooooo surprised.
Here's a few pics of the event. We took a couple of "selfies" while we were tasting wines and then there's Nancy at the concert.
And I've also included a little YouTube video of Nancy having fun.......after all that wine!!

Backyard Camping

So for the past two nights we have been camping in our backyard. The weather has been gorgeous and the grass is soft and green. The first night, our new puppy, Trogon, joined us. He was so much fun and was really good at snuggling. Here's a pic of him in the morning.



He didn't want to wake up!

We woke up in good spirits, but planned for more cushioning for the next night. Which we did, and it was great! We highly recommend it to everyone. It's a wonderful new perspective of your home and the surrounding area. The nightime and early morning sounds, owls, birds, etc were magical.
So, get your camping gear out and throw down a tarp under the stars.
Tonight we're taking the laptop out with us to do some constellation identification.

love you all and sweet dreams!!

The Spa Guy Came!

Yep. He did.
He assessed the sickly spa and diagnosed it. And the news is not all that bad, just a little expensive. All the spa needs is a new heater and some kind of pressure device that goes along with the heater. And, of course, we had to purchase a new lid. But, it'll be very beautiful. The color is called "wildwood." I'm going to freshen-up the sides with some stain after the new lid comes.
The doc said it should all be fixed in about two weeks!!!!
Then we will be the best vacation destination in the Bay Area!
So, everybody get over here!!!!
More spa updates soon...

Spa Update....

Well, We still haven't learned the illness of the spa. The doctor comes on Thursday to diagnose. I will keep you posted as soon as I haer anything. Until then, we watch and wait. And the spa sits outside, empty, cold and lonely. :(

The Spa Cometh!!!!

Finally we did it! We went up north and stole away the spa from Ione and Mike. Actually, they generously bestowed the spa upon us with their love.
After loading it and driving six hours south, we rolled it into our back yard.
Isn't it beautiful?!!!
We're getting warm already.

(if you click on a pic, you can see a larger view)

Puppy-Lag

Well, all but four of the puppies have gone on to their new lives. We have found ourselves with a bit of "puppy-lag." It's a lot like jet-lag.....we have been wandering around the house wondering why we have so much time on our hands!
You can see how cute they are. That's why we're in a funk.
Now maybe we'll have to get our lives put back together again.......admittedly though, it's nicer to have the puppies around to prevent us from such thoughts!!!