A Joyful Family Visit

In late June, Thomas, my late cousin's son, and his life partner, Michaela, came to visit for a few days. 

As always on such occasions, the photo albums came out. 

Good food was served, well, in this case, restaurant food. It was interesting to find a Latin Fusion restaurant in our town. The food from all over Latin America looked fabulous, the place was crowded, and my salmon dinner delicious.

The next day, we started with a trip to K-Mart to buy a present for Thomas's nephew, Oliver. There I found another Thomas, the little engine that could. And in this version, he will blow soap bubbles as he choo-choos along.

Swedes cannot live without their coffee. Every afternoon, they are kaffe sugna and must stop for a coffee break. The German bakery, where I sinned and had a huge eclair, was just the place. 

After that, we stopped by the Mountain Spirit Center. 

Like everyone else, Thomas and Michaela were surprised to find a place like it right here in the canyon. 

Thomas dreamed of refried beans. Imagine that! So we went to a Mexican restaurant at the other end of town for dinner. On our way home, we had to stop to take pictures of a glorious desert mountain sunset. You can see my pictures here.

A brief visit that felt so rich. A certain understanding that you only get with the family you are born into. And that, of course, is something I left behind, without much of a second thought, when I came here as a young woman. 

Three Months....

Today, it's three months since Errol died. 

Yesterday, one of his old school friends called; Harold his name is. He said, you know it's hard for me too, I have known Errol since grammar school and when we talked on the phone, we could relate to stories, people, events from a long time ago, instantly. He said, I miss that so much. 

After I let my dogs speak for me, things got a bit easier. I have offers of help and I have taken a few steps to help myself, as well.

I have also read your blogs. I found myself curious about what may be going on in your lives. I didn't have the energy before to even wonder how you all were. This time, I enjoyed visiting so much.

My Canon Power Shot has broken. I can't open the place where you insert the batteries. It's stuck. The silver lining is that I am now using the Samsung phone. And I have felt a few stirrings of creativity. I'm just posting that one photo today, but I have two more posts that I'm working on. 

I could/should, of course, be working on the Living Trust and the LA house, but today I got seriously sidetracked by blogging. A good thing, yes?

Thanks for your support. ~ More soon.....

Update From Samson and Faith

Samson Says: Hello everyone! I thought I better let you all know that mommy is OK. She's just fretting over this thing called a Living Trust she's trying to put together and this house in Los Angeles she has to deal with. She mutters that it's hard to ask for help, she has no kids, no blood relatives in this country, she says her friends are all too old to ask (except auntie Rachael), or dead; she cries, she frets, and she definitely forgets to take us for our walks. Finally, she decided what to do: See the attorney again next week and either do this thing or some other thing that's easier for her. And ask for help with the house too. Phew, sometimes it's hard living with mommy.....

Faith: Mommy also got in her head that she won't blog until she's seen all your latest blogs and made her commentary. What, Samson? Oh, her comments. So since that may take a long time, we thought we better let you know she's OK. Fretting, but OK. 

On July 7th, Samson was 6 years old! Mommy sang Happy Birthday and Samson joined in. Between you and me, he sings better than her. We ate duck cookies and had a fine old time. Guess what his present was: 

A trip to the spa where they blew out all his undercoat, gave him a bath, shaved his belly, and cut back the rest of his fur. Including the mess on his tail. Eat your heart out, Gracie Phillip!!! Just kidding, Samson loves you.

Samson Says: Yea, it took them two hours and twenty minutes. Mommy was exhausted from just watching. Afterwards, she said I was her Prince, I was that good and well-behaved. But did I get cookies, dog biscuits, chicken, people snacks......?

Faith: When mommy took me in the Jeep the next day, I thought I was getting a spa treatment too. After all, my second name is Stinkerbell and I roll in dirt and other unmentionables. But no, off to the vet I go to get my ears examined (ear infection), toenails trimmed, and GET THIS: a microchip stuck in my neck. Just in case you get lost, mommy said. Who me? Get lost? I guess she doesn't know, I'm herding them every time we go out. I keep both eyes on the two of them. I ALWAYS know my exact position and when mommy yells: GO HOUSE, I'm the first one home. And that's a fact. Humans.........

Other than that, it's rained a LOT! Yesterday, we had flash flood warnings on mommy's phone, but all we got was another little mudslide. Nothing big, you just need a Jeep to get around in the mess. 

Mommy has lots of stuff to tell you about, so Samson and me will bug her to get back to blogging soon. 

Have a nice day, everyone!

Samson & Faith

Mountain Sunset Or

how I may end up liking my Samsung Galaxy S6 phone after all...

Driving home after a dinner in town with Thomas and Michaela, my relatives from Sweden, the sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the highway signs.

My new phone came up with some surprisingly great pictures (from a moving car at that) of the wind turbines that are by now taking over the mountains around here.

The barren hills at the beginning of our canyon glowed red in the setting sun.

Further into the canyon, clouds added to the spectacular beauty of a desert mountain sunset.

Earlier, I tried to explain to the Swedes how I fell in love with this area after I saw the sun rise over the horizon in the Mojave desert, one morning about nine years ago.

My words were not enough, they never are. I'd have to be a poet.... But after they experienced this sunset, they may have understood a little better 

my love for this mountain canyon. 

A beautiful ending to a great and fun day, which I will write more about soon. 

Just had to show you this and let you know my second thoughts about this new phone of mine. Who would've thought it could take pictures like this?