Salsa and Soul: November 2010

We had to get our last projects done before the end of the year. Here are a few: We:
Built Shed, Built desk/cabinet and shelves for sewing room, Cleaned garage, Organized pantry,
Organized tools/shed, Organized drawers in Bathroom,/Bedroom,and Organized closet.
We still have to go thru thousands of pictures, have shelves built in Master bathroom
Some of these were completed this week and have posted a few before and after photos of those projects

Freddie is trying to figure out how we are going to get Mason's bed and TV in this tiny 4x8 foot shed - no lights yet - no bathroom - well, there are a lot of pots out there, flowers will be happy, ;)

Mason's getaway house (when he's in the dog house but since we don't have a dog, Mason will have to be it)

After desk was built, I realized it was too high so we had to cut into it and drop a box to fit my sewing machine so when I sew, the desk and sewing surface are flush with each other. Amador is amazing and so inexpensive. We love him.

Ahh, organized!

New cutting area

Ready to sew

And this is the entrance to the Sewing Room

It says, " When life throws you scraps, Make a quilt"

Garage doesn't usually look this bad but between trying to decide what goes in the shed and what stays in garage - well, it was a disaster

clutter - these are some of the boxes that hold the thousands of pictures we have to go thru - thats a project for 2011

We even have empty shelves and I can get to my fabric- all 17 bins(they are color coordinated- sort of) and the cedar closet has more sewing stuff

This closet got out of control - looked like it threw up purses, scarves, shoes, camera cases, hats, and tote bags (who needs 22 tote bags)

Every thing in its place and sorted by color - We didn't know we had so many hats, purses, shoes and we even got rid of lots of them

Picture doesn't do it justice. It really looks good! and... we can find stuff now and Goodwill is happy too.

We arrived in San Jose on Wed the 27 @ 8:30 after a long set (3) of flights. We were met by our friend, Reiad Chikhani and as soon as we got to their home, Sylvia immediately set to making green chili stew and sopapillas. Nancy, who works at Weight Watchers, arrived later. They woke up the next morning to a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and green chili stew. We took a drive to Carmel and stopped along the way at Hecker Pass Winery where we sampled and bought some wine, saw the harvest of green olives, and witness a dog giving 2 cats buddy massages with his mouth. The cats were in heaven. As we passed the wine country, we stopped at an outdoor fruit and meat market and purchased lots of produce. We stopped for lunch (some of the best fish and chips we have ever had) in Monterrey as we did a little sightseeing in Cannery row. When we got to Carmel, Mason met a realter who wanted us to buy a home there (houses run in the millions). Remember that Clint Eastwood was the mayor there at one time and its where the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course is. We told him we'd think about it - not!

Back in San Jose, we got to meet the Chikhani's daughter, Marla and her 1 year old son, Nathan. He is such a great baby and is so handsome. He entertained us for a while. Then we went home and made 3 apple pies before we went to bed. On Friday, we cooked some more and they invited some neighbors and their son Stephen to come for dinner. We had pico de gallo and salsa w/chips, sopapillas (for stuffing) taco meat, spanish rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese, also empanadas filled w/beef and potatoes, red enchiladas, carne and papas adovada, and torillas. We also made some Chicarones but they were gone before we finished cooking the rest of the meal. Reiad watched and learned how to make everything so we know he'll be making more chicarones, tortillas and sopapillas soon. There were a total of 11 of us at the dinner party and all seemed to have had a good time - We know they enjoyed the dinner. There were a lot of leftovers!

It gives Sylvia such pleasure to cook for others and Mason such pleasure to see her in her glory as well as cleaning up after her and taking as many pictures as he can. We can't wait to go back when it warms up to go visit them at their house on the Delta.

We hope to stay home for a few weeks before we set off again.