Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

This year was another very Merry Christmas here on Mars! 

We started the day by making these maple cinnamon swirl things for a breakfast treat:

While they were in the oven, Lorraine put on her Christmas pajamas:

As you can see, she was a little indignant at first, but once she got nice and toasty, she understood the wisdom of pajamas. 

After she helped unwrap some presents, she succumbed to a nice nap:

Susie came over for lunch midday. Like last year, AJ put together a chaat bar -- samosas from a nearby restaurant, with all kinds of of curries and pickles and crunchy things to throw on top:

Between the excitement of presents and seeing Susie and just generally being in the Christmas spirit all day long, Lorraine wore herself out - after dinner, she crashed on the couch under the blankets:

While Lorraine snoozed, we watched To Catch a Thief, and had a relaxing evening.

A good time was had by all!

From all of us here on Mars, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was a quiet Thanksgiving here on Mars.

Lorraine slept late, storing up strength for the vigorous day of begging ahead.

Then she put on her best seasonal finery and waited for Susie to arrive.

When Susie arrived, we started a fun baking project: soft pretzels!

Pretzels are a yeast dough, so first step after making the dough was to let it rise. After rising, dividing it into eight pieces, and then letting it rest, we could get to work making long ropes that we could then twist into the classic pretzel shape.

After shaping the dough -- which is not easy! -- the next step is putting each one into a baking soda bath. This is supposed to give the pretzel its shiny, dark brown finish. 

Then, somehow you are supposed to take this soft, slippery, dripping wet dough and transfer it to a baking sheet. Also tricky! But we managed pretty well.

Then off they go, into the oven for just a few minutes.

While the pretzels baked, Susie made a delicious beer cheese to dip them in:

They came out pretty well! Not as dark and shiny as expected, but still tasty.

Here they all are, with the beer cheese and two kinds of mustard. 

Hey, not half bad!

After we enjoyed the fruits of our labor, we move on to cooking the main event. 

We had AJ's grandmother's mac and cheese, my grandmother's stuffing with chestnuts and sausage, shaved brussels sprouts salad, and roasted acorn squash stuffed with lentils and pecans:

For dessert, Susie made a delicious apple crisp, served with salted caramel ice cream:

Lorraine was outraged at not getting any butter, but she did manage to snuffle up a slice of apple covered with caramel sauce that fell on the floor before we could grab it, so I guess we all won.

It was a wonderful, relaxed day.

Still, hours of demanding people give you bits of what they're cooking will really take it out of you. Lorraine is spending Friday morning recuperating in bed:

Todos Santos

Today we are celebrating Todos Santos, or All Saints Day.

On Todos Santos, we pause to remember our dear, departed loved ones by setting out pictures and mementos, and sharing our memories. 

This year has gotten very busy, once again, so we're skipping the baking projects of years past. We’re just focusing on our altar, and spending time with the memories of our dearly departed, welcoming them into our home and remembering how much we love them.

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween from Dame Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter from that classic masterpiece of 80s television, Dynasty.

She would like to invite you up to the penthouse for a brunch of cantaloupe, cottage cheese, and lobster, but alas, she has to get over to the mansion to throw Krystal in the lily pond.

Who wore it better?

It’s Panda-monium!

It’s been over a year since the original panda mural from December 2011 came down, when the back fence was replaced last March.

In June, I had the day off for Juneteenth — perfect time to get crackin’ on some new panda murals!

First stop: the white wall that went up on the back neighbor’s deck area, as part of that March 2023 project:

Lorraine was a bit nonplussed by it. When she first saw it from the yard, she growled at it — squirrels and cats run across the top of that fence all the time, so I’m guessing the legs look a little to her like animals (it does keep catching my eye, too, as if there’s a cat peering over the fence). And then, when she saw it from the kitchen window — which is a straight eye-line, so the face probably looked more like a face to her — she started barking her head off. Always on duty for perimeter violations!

Next, the fence itself, behind the egg chair:

No growling or barking at this one.

The idea is they are both reaching into the camellia bush, as if it were bamboo instead of camellias. Here’s how they look together, from the kitchen window:

And then, because two pandas are not enough, a third one by the front door:

No growling or barking at this one, either.

AJ was out of town that week, so she was surprised to see these new friends when she got home.

I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. And I have plenty of paint left…I am tempted to do more!

Spring Turns Into Summer

I've been hoping to post more this year, but once again, life has gotten busy! We're working hard, we're traveling, we're doing a few things around the house, and now all of a sudden it's the end of June.

So here is a short update, before any more time gets away from me!

The house thing we did this spring was new gutters and putting a silicone coating on the flat part of the roof, above the kitchen. The roofer sent me pictures...but I'll spare you. Nothing is more boring than pictures of gutters and a silicone coating.

Ok, one picture:

This is the roofer applying the silicone coating. This photo makes me happy because we won't have to think about that roof for another 20 years or more. Same with the gutters -- those should have at least 20 years on them, probably 30.

More house projects to come soon (if we can sit still long enough to do them). 

In the meantime, the back garden is going nuts after all the rain we had last winter...

The first California poppy of the spring, on May 2:

Here they are now, on June 25:

Giant hollyhocks growing in the middle of the Monster Rosemary:

The back neighbor's rambling roses (view from the kitchen):

View from the yard:

The succulents are blooming: 

Bumblebees love these. And Lorraine likes to chase the bumblebees.

The Mexican Sage is once again completely out of control:

Hummingbirds love these. Lorraine ignores the hummingbirds.

We had a volunteer Columbine pop up:

The unruly and impossible camellias managed to flower:

And our roses are exploding:

That's all for now! More to come soon!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, &...Happy New Bathroom Floor!

Another busy year for us over here!

Lots happening at work for both of us, and Lorraine has been very busy patrolling the perimeter, watching for Squirrel Intrusions.

As always, we were sure to take some time out for the holidays.

This year, AJ found this great little advent calendar for us. It has tiny drawers that you can put little treasures and treats in:

AJ was in charge of the odd days, and I was in charge of the even days. It was very fun.

Other than that, we concentrated on putting up our most favorite decorations:

Christmas Day was lovely. We spent a leisurely morning drinking coffee and opening presents. It was chilly, so Lorraine put on her Christmas jammies to stay toasty warm:

She took a break from her napping to model the new raincoat Mother O'Brien sent:

For lunch/dinner, AJ set up a little chaat bar -- we got a pile of samosas from a local restaurant, and laid out all kinds of things to throw on top:

It was delicious! We spent the afternoon watching movies, and Susie dropped by for a samosa and the end of North by Northwest.

The next day, Susie came by again for another End of Year Cooking Project! Last year, we did a giant cookie baking party on the 29th. This year we made tamales!

The variety of fillings included mushrooms, sweet potato, corn, chicken, black olives, cheese, and roasted red peppers:

AJ made up two big batches of masa (corn dough), and we jumped right in. 

Spread the dough on a wrapper (usually a corn husk; here we are using parchment paper), and fill it:

Then roll it up:

Now Susie's turn:

Ready to steam:

We used parchment paper for a long and not very interesting reason. Corn husks impart more flavor and smell wonderful as they steam -- these turned out pretty tasty, but I think husks are really the way to go.

Delicious!

In other news, I have been wanting to give the bathroom an update. We need new bathroom cabinets because the ones we have are old, cheapo particle board things that are starting to fall apart. The weird mauve floor tiles are kind of off-putting, and why are there big yellow tiles on the walls? The grout in the shower is old and falling out in places. And we have never actually painted this room in all the time we have lived here (12 years!), and it's looking scuffed and tired.

At first, I started thinking about doing a big project next summer. This bathroom was redone about 20 years ago, so there shouldn't be any weird old-house surprises (like what we found when we opened up the kitchen in 2016), meaning we could basically do everything ourselves. I was thinking about going with a classic kind of feel -- pull the tiles off the wall and replace with wainscoting, pull up the mauve tiles and replace with cork (look and feel of wood, but more sustainable; and warmer on the feet than woodgrain tile), new sink and fixtures, new lighting, new cabinets, etc. etc. 

Doable, and it would be fun. We had a great time doing the kitchen together. Then...boy, that's a lot of work. And wrangling a contractor is a lot of work, and so much more expensive. Hm. And really, all those tiles are in good shape -- nothing is chipped or broken. Is there something I can do to give them a refresh without having to rip everything out?

After a little research about refacing tiles, painting tiles, etc. I found a few companies that make decals that sit on top of existing tile. Not the "peel-and-stick" tiles that have a few millimeters of thickness and permanent adhesive (which would require me to cut into the door jambs/trim, do new floor transitions, and remove the sink and toilet during installation), but vinyl decals that are a little thicker than a bumper sticker, with temporary, repositionable adhesive. They come in great patterns, and are pretty straightforward to use. And supposedly they will stand up to a decent amount of everyday wear and tear. 

Between scrubbing the floor really well beforehand, and the work to stick 30 of these bad boys down, I think I spent about four hours on this project. I found them a little fiddly to trim around the curved foot of the sink and toilet, but it really wasn't too bad.

Very happy with the result, and an added bonus is that the floor feels less cold -- the vinyl isn't thick enough to be adding insulation per se, so it's just something about the surface of the vinyl versus the surface of the tile. Whatever it is, it's very welcome, now that the temperature is starting to drop in SF.

And, with a little research, and I figured out that I can just repair the broken grout in the shower. Of course! No need to replace the whole thing. I did that last weekend.

A coat of paint is in store when the weather warms up, and we'll start looking for cabinets in the new year. And with that, we'll call the bathroom done for now. 

In the meantime, we hope that you are enjoying the final hours of 2023, and are looking forward to great things in 2024. Lorraine wishes you fuzzy blankets and belly rubs for a lucky new year!