Sunday Salon---California Dreamin'

Our grandsons playing together on the Lil' Climber. This photo collage is so cute showing their brotherly love.

Weather in San Francisco, CA.: 65 degrees and sunny. It is lovely.

California Dreamin': Here we are in San Fran after a long-g-g-g-g drive from our home in Washington State yesterday. We are here helping our daughter get resettled after her hiatus with us during COVID lockdowns. Now she returns to work in person, at least part-time. We head to the east side of the state tomorrow to visit family and take a little vacation. Looking forward to it after the long drought from seeing family. California Dreamin' with the Mamas and Papas:

Roses: Our rose bushes have just started their first bloom. We are going to miss the peak of their bloom while we are gone. Here is what I found as I took a look with my camera before we left:

Left to right, top to bottom: Cecile Brunner climber; Peace; Habitat for Humanity; Eyeconic; Pope John Paul; Abeye du Clooney; 4th of July; Midas Touch; Voodoo.

Love rose

California Dreamin' with the Beach Boys (What is more Californian than the Beach Boys?)
 

Potatoes, fruit flies, and silver linings: When Carly left San Fran last August in the middle of lockdown, she thought she'd return within a month or two. It was actually nine months. She quips that she paid for the world's most expensive storage unit since she paid for rent every month she was gone. In August I flew down to help her move back to our house, bringing her cats with us. Prior to leaving we zoomed around her apartment, emptying garbage, getting rid of perishables, and doing what we usually do when we leave for long trips. Unfortunately, a bag of potatoes hid from our view. Over the past nine months all the potatoes rotted and provided a gross breeding ground for fruit flies. Carly's friend, who was collecting mail, alerted us that there was a problem but we had no idea to what extent. Fruit flies and dead fruit flies were everywhere. What is the silver lining, you ask? Once we started cleaning up the potato mess we didn't stop. Her kitchen is probably cleaner than when she moved in. And by doing such a deep cleaning we think we found and wiped away most of the fruit fly eggs, so there will be no further outbreaks. Keeping fingers crossed!

California Dreamin' with Sia (I haven't watched the movie San Andreas, but I enjoy her version of the song.)

Books:

• Audiobooks we were listening to as we spent 12+ hours in the cars yesterday:
• End of Watch by Stephen King---Don and I listened to this when we were together in one of the vehicles, the third book in the Bill Hodges series. Progress- 58%.
  
• The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green---Carly and I listened to essays by a favorite author about modern life and our future as members of the human race, with reviews. Very clever. Progress- 20%.
• Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford---an upcoming book club selection set in Seattle during both World Fairs in 1909 and 1962. I listened to this book the one time I was alone on the drive. Progress-20%.
  
• Print:  
• Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri---in the style of the tales of Scheherazade, Daniel tells his classmates about his life before coming to America. I am LOVING this book. Progress-25%.
  

California Dreamin' Comedy -The Sketch Show (Very funny)

When I come to San Fran I dream of pastries from Arsicault Bakery: Today, since there was no food in the apartment, we had to go to it. We stood in line for over a half hour to get delicious ham/cheese croissants and chocolate/almond croissants. We ended up running into a farmer's market en route so we stopped and bought strawberries. Yum!

Chocolate/almond croissant with fresh California strawberries

Avocados and artichokes were everywhere at the farmer's market but I was fascinated by the yellow cauliflower.

Oleander: As we drove down I-5 in Northern-Central California the median strip was festooned with huge, colorful (white, red, and pink) bushes of oleander. I gawked and gawked as these beautiful, poisonous plants. Nowhere else that I've ever traveled has such beautiful plants between the freeway.

California dreamin'---imagine miles and miles of these oleander bushes along side the freeway in white, red, or pink blooms. Lovely! (Photo courtesy of Proven Winners)

Heading out to dinner and to shop for food to replenish all the outdated foodstuffs we had to throw away!

-Anne