Friday, November 27, 2015

Black Friday, Not

Friday: (11/27) No way we go shopping today, at least not where everyone else goes. Leftover hash and eggs for breakfast. I spent the morning in the office. Among the details I spent a half hour on the phone getting my Vonage phone account closed, easy to join, really difficult to quit. Later, we all took a short walk, Lou and Dawn to our nearby thrift store and me on down to the San Antonio Mall area. I checked out restaurants and grocery stores then caught the bus home. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. A couple of jobs in the afternoon. One, I’ve deferred for a long time. I needed to glue Velcro onto my hiking shoes so my gaitors have an attachment in the rear of the show. I also cleaned up some leaves and debris I piled up yesterday. Our compost bins were full yesterday, they were emptied this morning so there was room this afternoon. Not a really productive day but i considered it more of a day off anyway.
Saturday: (11/28) Leftovers for breakfast. We were all off to the San Jose Flea market this morning. We took a look around the many booths. We were mostly looking for shelving and a new cover for our storage tent. Nothing found. We returned home for lunch of leftovers, In the afternoon we drove up to Redwood City to the bigger Costco there and bought some industrial storage racks. Dawn visited their library. When we got home Lou and I assembled the shelving in her shed. We still need some more but then shelves we got fit nicely. Lou made biscuits and gravy for dinner. While it was a really cold day it was nice and clear all day today.
Sunday: (11/29) Lou and I started the day with our weekly shopping run which was delayed due to our visit to the Flea Market yesterday.
Wilton Lou's Shed 1129151537_HDR Wilton Lou's Shed 1129151624_HDR
I cut plywood for the shelves in Lou’s new shed. I set the table sa up with a table behind to catch to outfeed when i ripped the 4′x8′ sheets of plywood. I used all the scrap wood I had then visited Home Depot to get more plywood. Lou was busy setting up her shelving and moving molds. Leftovers for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Dawn made macaroni and cheese for dinner.
Monday: (11/30) We had a little rain today. We were right at the Southern edge of the storm so not much rain. We all went up to Redwood City. Dawn visited the Barnes and Noble store and Lou and I visited the Costco store to get another shelving unit. When we got home Lou was busy moving her molds from her old shed to the new shed. I tinkered with computers all day. Breakfast at A Good Morning Restaurant. Ham and cheese sandwich with tomato soup for lunch. I made Spanish rice with pork for dinner.
Tuesday: (12/01) Leftover peach blintzes for breakfast. I worked on the lights and power for Lou’s shed. I had to get a few things so I made a run to Lowe’s in Sunnyvale to get the few electrical parts and picked up more plywood to rebuild the roof to Lou’s old shed now to be Dawn’s shed. It’s a tin building that drips condensation from the inside of the roof when it’s cold. I’m adding plywood under the tin to eliminate the cold surface that creates condensation. I just stowed those materials away and I’ll get to it tomorrow or later after a rain we expect Thursday. Lou and Dawn had their exercise class in the morning and spent the rest of the day with appointments and shopping. I had dim sum from the Dim Sum King in Sunnyvale. My favorite pork footballs and shrimp balls. For dinner a ham and cheese sandwich with leftover Spanish rice. It was a nice warmer day today.
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Wednesday: (12/02) Granola for breakfast. I spent the day completing the wiring and troubleshooting it and eventually completed it. I’m glad I don’t do this for a living anymore or I’d starve. One of the light fixtures was missing parts so I returned to Lowe’s in the afternoon to get it replaced. I also returned leftovers. Next stop was Harbor Freight to get a tarp. I had checked at Lowe’s but they didn’t have a close enough size to what I wanted. I want to make a curtain in the greenhouse to protect the nonliving materials on one side of the shed.  On the way home i picked up Chinese food at the China Wok in Sunnyvale. This morning I announced my Pinnacles NP hikes at the end of the month. What i intended as an announcement only mistakenly had an RSVP button and there were 35 attendees by dinner time. I had also announced a hike this Friday at Los Trancos Preserve and inherited a hike next Wednesday from a leader that had to leave town suddenly. So, having enjoyed doing little leading for the past couple of months changed to really busy. After dinner I prepared the actual hike events on Meetup and announced those to the people that signed up previously. I really have never liked being a “leader” but seems I am doomed to be one.
Thursday: (12/03) Granola for breakfast. I slept in but just after waking Ernie woke me with a call that the gardener was here and that the wind had blown down a trellis for some berries in the back yard. The metal stake had rusted through. I fixed that and installed the replacement light fixture on Lou’s shed as it started to rain. So now I have a better excuse for doing nothing the rest of the day. Lou’s shed is complete now it is just setting up the remaining shelving and Lou completing the move in. For lunch I had white chili and spam. I have several rebagged meals that should be used up before I head out hiking late next year. For dinner I prepared asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, baked potato and a sausage. Lou and Dawn are in Bakersfield visiting Aunt Helen.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving Day

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Friday: (11/26) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for my breakfast. Lou and Dawn were sneaking dressing and ? for their breakfast. I worked on cleaning out the greenhouse and moved the plants inside. We had dinner sometime after 1400 joined by Cecelia, Courtney, and Meili. As usual, it was too much of a feast even when pared down as we did. We had roast chickens from Sprout’s Market, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes green beans, two kinds of dressings (gluten and non), fresh cranberry sauce, Chinese rice noodles, and more. All that followed by various pies mince, pumpkin, and apple all in gluten and non gluten.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A Day At The Movies

Wednesday: (11/25) Dawn and I went to see the movie “A Good Dinosaur” at the Plaza Theater in Campbell with my hiking Meetup group. A pretty good flick. This was the first day of the showing and we were surprised to see buss loads of school kids arriving for the show. After the movie we walked downtown for lunch. Lou and Ernie were both busy baking pies and doing other fixings for the Turkeyday feast. Peanut butter toast for breakfast. Lunch at Brown Cow Brown Chicken restaurant in Campbell. I had an outstanding bacon lettuce tomato avocado and cheddar sandwich. Dawn had a psychedelic goat cheese hamburger. I made corned beef hash and eggs for dinner.
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We saw this tree on our walk from lunch back to the theater. Must be a Halloween leftover, a bunch of severed heads hanging in a tree.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Another Rainy Day

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Tuesday: (11/24) Granola for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off to exercise class and some final Turkeyday shopping. I worked some more on blog photos this morning but finally got out about 1000 and cleaned up the shed putting away the drop clothes and removing masking tape. I had a chili size for lunch while Lou had leftover BBQ ribs. In the afternoon Lou laid out her shelving and I started installing lights. Dinner at LUU Noodle House. We had enough rain around noon to soak things and make the sump pump run a while.

Finally Some Photos

Tuesday: (11/24) I finally finished adding photos from the past month to the blog early this morning.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Final Touches On The Shed

Saturday: (11/21) Weekly grocery shopping run. I was busy all day but not too effective. I cleaned out Lou’s shed so she can paint it. She did put a first coat on the ceiling. Due to a change in the East wall I ended up with a couple off cement wall panels extra. They aren’t light so I wanted to only move them once. I ended up moving them three times because my mind wasn’t working, evidently. With all that fun done, I started building the door for her shed. I got all the pieces cut before quitting for the day. In the evening we all attended the 2015 Tellebration, a storytelling even here in town and around the world today.Breakfast at McDonald’s. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. BBQ ribs with spaghetti squash and asparagus for dinner.
Sunday: (11/22) While Lou was painting the second coat on the ceiling in her shed, i assembled the door, hung it, installed the lock set. I also painted the door and the wall inside the green house. Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Waffles and sausage for dinner.
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The new door drying.
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Ceiling painted and wall painting started. The paint really brightens the room up.
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Monday: (11/23) Lou’s birthday today. We’re delaying celebration until next week. I rekeyed the new lock for Lou’s shed and reinstalled it now that the paint is dry. I did some other finishing up and also cut and painted some panel pieces to cover some holes created by the ribbing in the shed that makes up the east wall of the new shed. Lou was concerned about critters finding their way in. She painted two coats on the walls which nearly finishes the building. While Lou painted i headed off to Lowe’s for more paint for her and to get some electrical parts for the lights and outlets. Granola for breakfast. Gnocchi and hot dogs in home made tomato sauce from the garden for lunch.Enchiladas for dinner.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Stevens Canyon Hike

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Friday: (11/20) I had my usual hiking breakfast from L&L Hawaiian, sort of. Again they didn’t have English muffins so it was a croissant sandwich which is twice the size. The other half became part of dinner with leftover pork and beans and a wiener. About 21 of us did the 6.7 mile hake around Steven Creek reservoir and up to Maisey’s Peak in Fremont Older Preserve then back. Nice weather and nice fall colors. Several of use met at Aqui’s Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Cold And A Cold

Saturday: (11/14) A cold morning. Lou and I did the weekly grocery shopping run in the morning. I spent the day in bed with my cold. Really only some congestion but any excuse for a day off. I did make a late afternoon run to Lowe’s in Sunnyvale to get some drip edge for Lou’s shed. I then installed it so the rain expected tonight drains off without any problems like wetting the plywood roof deck. All of a little over an hours work today to get the material and install it. I made chorizo scrambled egg hash for breakfast. Hot and sour soup with a chicken breast for lunch. I made spaghetti for dinner.
Sunday: (11/15) We finally got some more rain last night and into the morning. Today was movie day. We drove over to Campbell to a cheap theater where I saw the new Bond movie Spectre and Lou and Dawn saw the new Peanuts movie. After the movie was stopped for lunch in downtown Campbell at the Aqui restaurant. Then dawn visited a used book store, Lou Whole Foods and me the Sports Basement. Then we went to see the new Bass Pro Store in South San Jose sort of nearby. Leftovers for breakfast. Lunch at Aqui’s in Campbell. Lou’s chicken hot and sour soup for dinner.
Monday: (11/16) Very windy today. I relaxed in bed most of the day. I did bring out the table saw and cut some lumber to make a door and some furring strips  for a wsll in Lou’s shed. That didn’t take long and i then quit for the day due to the heavy winds. Leftover spaghetti for breakfast. Sauerbraten and baked potato for dinner.
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Tuesday: (11/17) A pretty nice day. No wind and mostly sunny. I went to Lowe’s in Santa Clara to get some materials for Lou’s shed. Among them was some paint which I then used to paint the front of Lou’s shed. Leftover spaghetti for breakfast. Donuts for lunch. Sauerbraten and baked potato for dinner.
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Wednesday: (11/18)  A nice warm clear day. I installed the gutter and downspout on Lou’s building. I also worked on the wall by the fence sealing and furring it getting ready to install paneling. I made myself a egg cheese and sausage sandwich for breakfast and made not sandwiches (no bread) for Lou and Dawn. For lunch we had Lou’s hot and sour soup and a sandwich for lunch. Dawn made quesodillas for dinner.
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Thursday: (11/19) I made a return run to Orchard Hardware and Harbor Freight this morning. I returned a faulty air stapler to HF which they exchanged with no problem. About 1100 I got to work on Lou’s shed and finished installing the panels to the rear wall. Granola for breakfast. Chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chili sizes for dinner.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Butano Ridge Hike

Friday: (11/13) The usual breakfast from L&L Hawaiian, almost. They were out of English muffins so I had a croissant sandwich instead. Way to big for me to hike on so i only ate half.I picked up Jessica and we met the other 12 hikers at Portola State Park just over the hill from home. We enjoyed a nice 14.4 mile hike with 1600 feet of elevation change and 4496 feet of climb and descent. While the distant views are minimal the trails meander through much of the beautiful Pescadero County Park. We started from Portola Park but most of the hike is in Pescadero Park next door. Nice weather though most of the trails were wet. Leftover breakfast sandwich and hot an sour soup for dinner.

Butano Ridge Loop Trail By Cliff 600_444132168 Butano Ridge Hike Don with orange shoes 600_444132127
Interesting trails. On the right is a photo of me in my orange shoes. I’ll never be lost for long.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

A Race With The Rain

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Saturday: (11/07) I got to work on Lou’s shed again today. I finished the wall by the green house. It’s a wet wall because of the watering of the plants so it’s made differently than the rest of the walls. I also wanted to close the green house wall first because we may have a freeze soon and the plants need a sanctuary. I also spent some time finishing the roof framing. I had hoped to get the roof plywood on and some tar paper on because we had rain forecast for tomorrow morning but time didn’t allow for it. Earlier sunset and needing to put things away necessitated a change of plans. Ernie assisted moving the heavy cement panels. On the right above is the way I get them off the roof of the Jeep. They slide down safely then get picked up and moved. Trying to lift the off is not fun.
Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich on onion bread ala Lou for lunch. Dawn made Shepherd’s pie for dinner.
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Sunday: (11/08) Rainy day. Lou served some peach blintzes from the freezer for breakfast. I was off to try to find some lath screws to attach the siding. They are self drilling wide pan headed screws with a low profile and don’t pull through the cement panels. That took a while because they aren’t easy to find. Lowe’s had some, not as long as I wanted but close enough. I also stopped by REI for a look. I found a nice web belt. I find them nicer because they don’t have holes and are infinitely adjustable. Unfortunately my existing belt has become too short. As a weight conscious hiker I trimmed my existing belt to be just long enough, which now it isn’t due to some returning weight now that I’m off trail. I enjoyed some dim sum for lunch on the way home. Otherwise a inside activity day. Leftovers for dinner.
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Monday: (11/09) Rainy day. Leftover Shepherd’s pie for breakfast. We headed out to buy a tarp to cover Lou’s shed so it will be drier after the rain stops and be nicer to work on. After  a sandwich for lunch we decided to head over to Santa Cruz for Dawn’s birthday outing and dinner. Her BD isn’t until tomorrow but if the rain has stopped I need to work so today was better to visit thrift stores and book stores there. We had dinner at the 99 Bottles Of Beer restaurant. That was my choice for my last birthday dinner. We made it home about 1000. A while back I bought a light down jacket for my hikes from Uniqlo. I rarely wear jackets but today I tried it out and it was pretty nice not too warm but feels like it would be when needed.
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Tuesday: (11/10) No rain but intermittent threatening clouds. I installed the roof deck and tar paper today. Now there is a waterproof cover over the project. Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Lou’s clam chowder for dinner.
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Ready for more rain.
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Wednesday: (11/11) I prepared sausage, eggs and home fried potatoes for breakfast. I installed the front siding on the building and the rolled roofing today. Hot chicken sandwiches for lunch and Dawn mad portabello mushroom stir fries for dinner. In the evening Lou and I went to Costco, Home Depot and Orchard Supply Hardware. I picked up drip edging and leaf guards at Home Depot but their gutters don’t match the leaf guard so I stopped by OSH to get the gutters.
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Thursday: (11/12) A nice sunny warmer day. I seem to have come down with a cold. I hope it doesn’t last too long. I installed the drip edge around the roof. I also installed the East wall, only a 2 foot wide section to close off between the fence and another shed. And finally I finished to small trim and fascia pieces of siding on the front. Lou and Dawn had their exercise class. Lou also received her cell phone back from LG unrepaired. They claim the one year warranty is expired even though it is less that two months old. Granola for breakfast. Sausage eggs and potatoes for brunch. Shepherd’s Pie for a late lunch. Hot and Sour soup for dinner.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Arastradero Preserve To Foothills Park Loop

Friday: (11/06) Breakfast at L&L Hawaiian, a nice sausage egg and cheese English muffin. Jessica picked me up and we headed up to the Arastradero Preserve for our hike. This is a new hike he had planned through the Arastradero Preserve and into Foothills Park to the panorama view point. On our return we stopped by the Alpine Inn in Portola Valley. This was a 10.4 mile hike. Lunch at the INN was a nice hamburger.
After cleaning up at home, I headed off to Harbor Freight and Home Depot to pickup tools, supplies and the panels for Lou’s shed. Lou made hamburgers for dinner. Since we were out of my bread (Lou and Dawn use gluten free bread, myself regular bread) Lou used tortillas so mine was more like a quesodilla.