Harris Visit

 

Bob and Steffi stopped by last Wednesday for a two night stay with me on their way to see Alex and his family in Hawaii.

 

 

Besides lots of talk about politics (good talk!), we squeezed in a visit to the Huntington Gallery, ate lunch at the Chinese Pagoda,

 

 

and met this guide at the Japanese Gardens with his friend, the scrub jay,

 

 

 

 who comes on his call and enjoys a peanut for it's vigilance. 

Later we picked up Maddie and Max at their schools who had a lively conversation on the way home about which instrument was harder, the piano (Maddie) or the flute (Max).  

The flute won.

 

Tours...

of the Ronald Reagan Library with the Hike Group last weekend.  We went to see a wonderful Egyptian exhibit there but also got to hop on

 

Reagan's presidential airplane 

and helicopter.

Pretty impressive!

Then to the Santa Monica mountains for dinner at Saddle Peak Lodge where all sorts of animal heads adorn the walls.

(Dan mugging for the shot)

 

This last Wednesday my friend Karen and I toured the Pasadena Playhouse

 

which is in a lovely old Spanish style building.

Ancient lighting board! 

 

Cartons of accessories!

"Noises Off" played here once.

 

 

More January Happenings

 

 

Driving home from the quilt show I got behind this parade of  VW's!  So quaint and colorful.  They all pulled into a non-descript parking lot.  Don't know what they were all about but it was delightful.

 

 

 

 

And then this quirky pizza place!

 

 

 

 

Lea has been taking me to her favorite 2nd hand store near her studio--St. Vincent de Paul.

It's packed with interesting used furniture. 

 

 

 

 

We got this chair there, I painted it and found fabric.  

It's being upholstered now.

 

 

 

 

And we went out one evening to participate in the annual Burbank Homeless Count.  Meeting in this room then driving certain streets--not many homeless in Burbank, found only one.

Quilt Show

 

My friend Sally Ferejohn asked me to meet her at the annual quilt show in Ontario, CA.

 

Thought it wouldn't be interesting--old quilts are great, Gee's Bend quilts are great, but everything in between doesn't interest me much. 

 

But I was surprised....

 

by the  color,

 

 

 

the craftsmanship,

 

 

 

the originality,

 

 

and the neat designs!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to believe they're quilts! 

 

 

Best though was my 3-hour dinner with Sally, catching each other up on our lives. 

Lots of December Doings

 

 

 

Lea and Theo protest for Impeachment in Burbank.

 

 

 

 

Gwen goes to a school dance in Panama!

 

 

 

 

Max adores each small kitten every other Tuesday afternoon

 when we go to the Burbank Animal Shelter.

 

 

 

Rachel participates in a Smithsonian "Women in Science" panel discussion in DC. 

 

 

 

 

Theo wonders how to turn on MSNBC at Sam and Jess's.

 

Theo has lunch with the Caregivers' Group in Pasadena.

 

 

 

 

Sam and Jess decorate their tree.

 

 

 

Theo decorates her tree.

 

 

 

Maddie and Max in their Christmas pj's.

 

 

 

Sam and Jess open presents on Christmas morning.

 

 

 

 

Theo gets loot!

 

 

 

Can't beat those yummy cinnamon rolls Sam makes on Christmas morning.

 

 

 

Theo about to feed Toby a Christmas treat.

 

 

 

Page Bethel's late Christmas in Gamboa after returning from the Southwest USA.

 

 

 

 

One gorgeous cat!!

 

Duo

 

Lea Feinstein and I combined our efforts--her paintings and my furniture--in  a show in her studio here in LA.  We called it  

"Duo: Two Friends from Two Coasts Working Together"

 

The space looked ultra colorful and cozy when all put together 

 

 

and drew a lot of curious people on opening night.  

 

Think they liked our stuff but it might have been the cookies loaded with chocolate chips we made.

Even dogs came.

And later, it was delightful to get these neat cards from Linda

which she painted from photos of my furniture.

 

Last Day in Gamboa:

The kids enjoy the Resort's pool

with fruit smoothies.

 

With a truckful of happy kiddos

 

we go to Rachel's Bat Lab

 

where she shows us a fruit bat and mentions that a mold that clings to the parasistes that cling to the bats has been named after her!  Her claim to fame:  Gloeandromyces Pageanus.

 Sounds exotic but looks less than gorgeous. 

 

 

We get in a good selfie.

Gwen gets some homework time.

 

And the next morning we head to Tucuman Airport where, after waiting ages in the check-in line we learn that we've been bumped from the flight. 

Waiting in the airport lounge for 6 hours couldn't negate the terrific week we had in Panama.  Thank you to our Gamboa guys!