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Swap Meet - 08/02/2026
2 hours ago
Thursday, April 9, 2009
A Rainy Day
It has rained continuously all day today. I needed to go to Bel Air for some groceries; getting dressed and going out in the rain just wasn't too appealling. Gerry had to go out for a few errands so he stopped at Bel Air and WalMart on his way home for a few things we needed. Hopefully, we can go out tomorrow or Saturday. Gerry is not going to ride tomorrow if it's raining and ride on Saturday instead. Saturday its suppose to be a nicer day. Sure hope so.
Wednesday Ride with San Luis Obispo Bike Club
Gerry and Joe met up with the bike club members from San Luis Obispo Wednesday morning about 8:30 am. Seven of them went with Gerry on the short ride which turned out to be a total of 50 miles. The other 8 riders went with Joe on a 60 mile ride. There were actually 15 people that rode. The wife of one of the riders took the train to Truckee Wednesday morning and then rented a car and drove over to Lake Tahoe.
The American River Bike Trail is a total of 33 miles. It starts at Discovery Park on the banks of the Sacramento River and ends at Beals Point which is at Folsom Lake. Gerry told me his group rode at about 10 to 12 mph which is a lot slower than he normally rides. He said he enjoyed it though because he got to see parts of the trail that he hasn't really seen because he is usually whizzing by. He thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the SLO club members did too.
There were some concerns that it would rain, however, Gerry told me they just got a few sprinkles. Nothing to be concerned about. His group returned to the LaQuinta Hotel after 3 pm. Joe's group had gotten back earlier. One of the guys in Gerry's group is a diabetic and he got to not feeling well on the ride back. He was expecting to go no further than 20 miles. When the group got up to where they were going to get off the trail and go to Bella Bru's for lunch, it was a little after 10 and too early for lunch. So they decided to ride a few more miles over to the fish hatchery. That was probably too much for that particular rider to do. His wife was with the group on the long ride. One of the ladies in Gerry's group stayed with him and made sure he got back okay. His blood sugar was high when he got back so after taking his insulin, he slept for awhile.
The group invited Gerry and I to have dinner with them. They called Joe too and he met us at the restaurant. They had "happy hour" first at the hotel and then we walked over to El Coyote Junction restaurant just down the street from the hotel. The food was very good, I had a Taco Salad and Gerry had a combination dinner, chicken enchilada and something else (I don't remember). One of the couples had bought Gerry's lunch and the couple who sat across from us bought our dinner. They are a nice group of people. A couple of them invited us to come visit.
One of the couples has 5 acres outside of SLO and grows apples. They brought a big ziplock bag of dried apple slices. I was enjoying them so when we left the hotel to go to dinner, they gave the rest of them to us to bring home. They are really good and Gerry and I have been enjoying them.
The SLO club does a fundraiser the end of April called the Wildflower Century. I've mentioned to Gerry a few times he should do it because I want to go to Solvang which is south of SLO. For you that don't know, it's a Danish town situated in the Santa Inez Valley. Lots of neat shops and bakeries with the fantastic Danish pastry. That's really what I want. :)
The American River Bike Trail is a total of 33 miles. It starts at Discovery Park on the banks of the Sacramento River and ends at Beals Point which is at Folsom Lake. Gerry told me his group rode at about 10 to 12 mph which is a lot slower than he normally rides. He said he enjoyed it though because he got to see parts of the trail that he hasn't really seen because he is usually whizzing by. He thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the SLO club members did too.
There were some concerns that it would rain, however, Gerry told me they just got a few sprinkles. Nothing to be concerned about. His group returned to the LaQuinta Hotel after 3 pm. Joe's group had gotten back earlier. One of the guys in Gerry's group is a diabetic and he got to not feeling well on the ride back. He was expecting to go no further than 20 miles. When the group got up to where they were going to get off the trail and go to Bella Bru's for lunch, it was a little after 10 and too early for lunch. So they decided to ride a few more miles over to the fish hatchery. That was probably too much for that particular rider to do. His wife was with the group on the long ride. One of the ladies in Gerry's group stayed with him and made sure he got back okay. His blood sugar was high when he got back so after taking his insulin, he slept for awhile.
The group invited Gerry and I to have dinner with them. They called Joe too and he met us at the restaurant. They had "happy hour" first at the hotel and then we walked over to El Coyote Junction restaurant just down the street from the hotel. The food was very good, I had a Taco Salad and Gerry had a combination dinner, chicken enchilada and something else (I don't remember). One of the couples had bought Gerry's lunch and the couple who sat across from us bought our dinner. They are a nice group of people. A couple of them invited us to come visit.
One of the couples has 5 acres outside of SLO and grows apples. They brought a big ziplock bag of dried apple slices. I was enjoying them so when we left the hotel to go to dinner, they gave the rest of them to us to bring home. They are really good and Gerry and I have been enjoying them.
The SLO club does a fundraiser the end of April called the Wildflower Century. I've mentioned to Gerry a few times he should do it because I want to go to Solvang which is south of SLO. For you that don't know, it's a Danish town situated in the Santa Inez Valley. Lots of neat shops and bakeries with the fantastic Danish pastry. That's really what I want. :)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Gerry
Yesterday Gerry wanted to go for a ride since he had missed his ride on Friday and Monday. Rain was predicted for late afternoon. He left home about 10 or so after of course, checking Accuweather. It was overcast a little.
Well, about 1 pm or so I noticed that it was getting darker outside and sometime before 2 pm I thought the wind is picking up and it sounds like its raining. I looked outside and sure enough it was raining buckets. According to Accuweather it wasn't suppose to rain until 4pm. A little after 2pm Gerry calls wanting to know if it was raining here at home. He was on his way home and had stopped at American River College which is about 3 or 4 miles from home. He said he was standing in a dry spot. Well, it was obvious the rain was not going to stop any time soon, so he said he was going to make a mad dash for home. I got him a towel ready to dry off and when he came in, he was drenched. So much for Accuweather's predicting when the rain is going to start. One of his shoes was filled with water. He went in and took a hot shower right away. Lord willing he won't be getting sick.
Last evening he was meeting a group of bicycle riders from a club in San Luis Obispo. They were coming to Sacramento to ride the American River Bike Trail. Gerry and another guy from the Bikehikers were going to lead the group. They were meeting at LaQuinta Hotel close to Discovery Park where they were going to start their ride this morning so they could get acquainted. Gerry wanted me to go with him so I tagged along. I think there were about 18 riders. Gerry was going to lead the short ride and Joe Perfecto was leading the long ride. There was much discussion about the rain today and whether they'd ride in the rain. They were meeting at 8:30 this morning.
The short ride was going to Bella Bru on Arden Way and Fair Oaks Blvd for lunch, about 14 miles from the start at Discovery Park. The long ride was going to Karen's in Folsom for lunch which is about 20 or so miles. Joe is one of the fast riders in the Bikehikers. He asked how fast did they ride and they told him 12 to 13 mph. They also wanted him to be in front so they could follow and not get lost. In the Bikehikers the leader of the ride rides in the back so a sweep can be made, making sure no one gets left behind. In the San Luis Obispo club, the leader rides in front and they regroup every so often. I was teasing Joe later about having to ride so slow and he said he was going to have to tighten down the brakes to hold him back. LOL!! He's a nice guy, a little strange.
The group that came seemed like a nice bunch of people, all about our age and older (60 to 80). They were going to Tower Cafe downtown for dinner. Several asked if we were going and we said no. It was a little after 6 by then and it was pouring buckets. Hopefully, they all found their way and didn't get turned around downtown. One of the couples wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant next door to the LaQuinta and asked us to go with them. They had all been drinking wine and driving around in the rain didn't sound like a good thing to do.
After Gerry and I left there we drove over to a Japanese restaurant on J Street, downtown, across from the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. A couple of years ago or so, this restaurant had a fire and was closed for a long time. We tried to go another time after they had reopened and couldn't find parking close by. It is very nice inside and looks like maybe run by Koreans. Gerry and I both had donburi, oyakadon for him and guydon for me. His was chicken and onion mixed together in an egg omelet over rice. Mine was beef, onion and green onions mixed together over rice. We also ordered a Philadelphia roll which is smoked salmon and cream cheese. The dinner was very good and we were stuffed. It is not a very big space so the tables are pretty close together. The table set up's were pretty interesting, they had upholstered love seats like against the wall for each table and then upholstered chairs on the aisle side for each table. They were very comfortable.
Well, I hope the ride goes well for the SLO club today. So far there's been no rain and that's a good thing for them.
Well, about 1 pm or so I noticed that it was getting darker outside and sometime before 2 pm I thought the wind is picking up and it sounds like its raining. I looked outside and sure enough it was raining buckets. According to Accuweather it wasn't suppose to rain until 4pm. A little after 2pm Gerry calls wanting to know if it was raining here at home. He was on his way home and had stopped at American River College which is about 3 or 4 miles from home. He said he was standing in a dry spot. Well, it was obvious the rain was not going to stop any time soon, so he said he was going to make a mad dash for home. I got him a towel ready to dry off and when he came in, he was drenched. So much for Accuweather's predicting when the rain is going to start. One of his shoes was filled with water. He went in and took a hot shower right away. Lord willing he won't be getting sick.
Last evening he was meeting a group of bicycle riders from a club in San Luis Obispo. They were coming to Sacramento to ride the American River Bike Trail. Gerry and another guy from the Bikehikers were going to lead the group. They were meeting at LaQuinta Hotel close to Discovery Park where they were going to start their ride this morning so they could get acquainted. Gerry wanted me to go with him so I tagged along. I think there were about 18 riders. Gerry was going to lead the short ride and Joe Perfecto was leading the long ride. There was much discussion about the rain today and whether they'd ride in the rain. They were meeting at 8:30 this morning.
The short ride was going to Bella Bru on Arden Way and Fair Oaks Blvd for lunch, about 14 miles from the start at Discovery Park. The long ride was going to Karen's in Folsom for lunch which is about 20 or so miles. Joe is one of the fast riders in the Bikehikers. He asked how fast did they ride and they told him 12 to 13 mph. They also wanted him to be in front so they could follow and not get lost. In the Bikehikers the leader of the ride rides in the back so a sweep can be made, making sure no one gets left behind. In the San Luis Obispo club, the leader rides in front and they regroup every so often. I was teasing Joe later about having to ride so slow and he said he was going to have to tighten down the brakes to hold him back. LOL!! He's a nice guy, a little strange.
The group that came seemed like a nice bunch of people, all about our age and older (60 to 80). They were going to Tower Cafe downtown for dinner. Several asked if we were going and we said no. It was a little after 6 by then and it was pouring buckets. Hopefully, they all found their way and didn't get turned around downtown. One of the couples wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant next door to the LaQuinta and asked us to go with them. They had all been drinking wine and driving around in the rain didn't sound like a good thing to do.
After Gerry and I left there we drove over to a Japanese restaurant on J Street, downtown, across from the Spaghetti Factory for dinner. A couple of years ago or so, this restaurant had a fire and was closed for a long time. We tried to go another time after they had reopened and couldn't find parking close by. It is very nice inside and looks like maybe run by Koreans. Gerry and I both had donburi, oyakadon for him and guydon for me. His was chicken and onion mixed together in an egg omelet over rice. Mine was beef, onion and green onions mixed together over rice. We also ordered a Philadelphia roll which is smoked salmon and cream cheese. The dinner was very good and we were stuffed. It is not a very big space so the tables are pretty close together. The table set up's were pretty interesting, they had upholstered love seats like against the wall for each table and then upholstered chairs on the aisle side for each table. They were very comfortable.
Well, I hope the ride goes well for the SLO club today. So far there's been no rain and that's a good thing for them.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
My Mama's Fried Rice
Fried Rice is the absolute comfort food. Gerry and I both love it, however, I don't make it often enough. This was dinner one night last week. I make it the way I remember my mom making it. When its ordered in a Chinese restaurant, it usually has peas and carrots added to it. I don't like it that way. I believe in my mom's later years, she got to where she would add other things to her fried rice.
So here's how I do it. First, of course I cook the rice, usually 2 and a half cups for us. Then I chop up half of an onion and slice 5 or 6 strips of bacon. I start cooking the bacon and half way through add the onion.
When the bacon is cooked, I drain off most of the grease, leaving a tiny bit to scramble the egg.
I beat up 2 or 3 eggs, then add it to the pan with the bacon and onion to scramble. First I push the bacon and onion to the side. Some of the egg will run into the bacon and onion.
When the egg is just about cooked then I incorporate everything together.
Next the hot rice is added. At this point the fire can be turned off. I leave it on to make sure the egg is completely cooked.
Then I add salt, pepper, some garlic powder and shoyu and mix that together. As I mix it, I will add more shoyu so it has a nice brown color.
After that is all mixed up, then I add some chopped green onions. By this step the fire is off. The green onions are just gently folded through the rice mixture.
And the finsihed dish. We eat it in bowls with chopsticks. We do use bowls to eat from often and they are mostly bowls we've gotten from an Asian store somewhere. This one is a bowl I found in an Asian store at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.
On several trips to visit my daughter and family, Denise has requested that I make fried rice for dinner. One funny story about my sweet girl. She has not always been fond of eating rice. She, of course, endured eating it through her growing up years. Usually on her birthday I would fix potatoes for her. She and her husband went to Germany, Stephen's first duty station while he was in the Army. One Sunday morning Gerry and I were getting ready for church and the phone rang. Gerry said it was Denise. When I got on the phone, she wanted to know how to fix fried rice. Stephen was wanting some. So long distance I went through each step with her so she could make fried rice for their dinner. :) I do believe they have rice for dinner once in awhile.
So here's how I do it. First, of course I cook the rice, usually 2 and a half cups for us. Then I chop up half of an onion and slice 5 or 6 strips of bacon. I start cooking the bacon and half way through add the onion.
When the bacon is cooked, I drain off most of the grease, leaving a tiny bit to scramble the egg.
I beat up 2 or 3 eggs, then add it to the pan with the bacon and onion to scramble. First I push the bacon and onion to the side. Some of the egg will run into the bacon and onion. 
When the egg is just about cooked then I incorporate everything together.
Next the hot rice is added. At this point the fire can be turned off. I leave it on to make sure the egg is completely cooked.
Then I add salt, pepper, some garlic powder and shoyu and mix that together. As I mix it, I will add more shoyu so it has a nice brown color.
After that is all mixed up, then I add some chopped green onions. By this step the fire is off. The green onions are just gently folded through the rice mixture.
And the finsihed dish. We eat it in bowls with chopsticks. We do use bowls to eat from often and they are mostly bowls we've gotten from an Asian store somewhere. This one is a bowl I found in an Asian store at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.
On several trips to visit my daughter and family, Denise has requested that I make fried rice for dinner. One funny story about my sweet girl. She has not always been fond of eating rice. She, of course, endured eating it through her growing up years. Usually on her birthday I would fix potatoes for her. She and her husband went to Germany, Stephen's first duty station while he was in the Army. One Sunday morning Gerry and I were getting ready for church and the phone rang. Gerry said it was Denise. When I got on the phone, she wanted to know how to fix fried rice. Stephen was wanting some. So long distance I went through each step with her so she could make fried rice for their dinner. :) I do believe they have rice for dinner once in awhile.Another Version of Sweet & Sour Spareribs/Pork
I made this for dinner one night last week. This recipe has evolved over the years. In the mid '60's my ex and I moved to Oceanside, CA where we bought our first home. We lived in an apartment until our house was finished. Most of our belongings were in storage including pots and pans. We bought an electric fry pan to do most of the cooking. A recipe book came with the pan and there was a recipe in there for sweet and sour spareribs. One of the ingredients was corn kernels. It was good and I made it often. I did use spareribs although recently Bel Air Market when I shop has not had the spareribs and have resorted to using the country style pork strips. They have a lot more fat on them which needs to be cut off. So here is how I do this dish. I don't measure ingredients so I can't tell you exactly how much of what I use. I can just tell you how I do it.
After cutting up the strips in smaller pieces, I brown them in butter. Part way through browning the meat, I add a half of an onion, chopped. After the onions are translucent and the meat browned, I drain off the grease that has accumulated.
Oops, I forgot one of the pictures! Oh well, then I add about a 1/2 teaspoon of fine ground dry mustard and celery seeds; salt and pepper; a couple of heaping tablespoons of brown sugar and lemon juice. I use the soup spoon of my silverware set. The lemon juice is Real Lemon in a bottle. Then I pour in some ketcup, I can't tell you exactly how much, maybe 2 cups. Add water until it comes up to the top of the meat and stir everything together. Then turn the fire down, put a lid on and let it simmer for a couple of hours or until the meat is fork tender.
As you can see, grease does accumulate and it needs to be skimmed off.
And here's the finished dish. It really tastes better the next day. Asparagus were still on sale so we enjoyed some with this dinner. I should say because I don't measure the ingredients before I add it to this dish, it comes out different each time. So if you should want to try this, I guess you will just have to experiment. Anyway, Enjoy!
After cutting up the strips in smaller pieces, I brown them in butter. Part way through browning the meat, I add a half of an onion, chopped. After the onions are translucent and the meat browned, I drain off the grease that has accumulated.
Oops, I forgot one of the pictures! Oh well, then I add about a 1/2 teaspoon of fine ground dry mustard and celery seeds; salt and pepper; a couple of heaping tablespoons of brown sugar and lemon juice. I use the soup spoon of my silverware set. The lemon juice is Real Lemon in a bottle. Then I pour in some ketcup, I can't tell you exactly how much, maybe 2 cups. Add water until it comes up to the top of the meat and stir everything together. Then turn the fire down, put a lid on and let it simmer for a couple of hours or until the meat is fork tender.
As you can see, grease does accumulate and it needs to be skimmed off.
And here's the finished dish. It really tastes better the next day. Asparagus were still on sale so we enjoyed some with this dinner. I should say because I don't measure the ingredients before I add it to this dish, it comes out different each time. So if you should want to try this, I guess you will just have to experiment. Anyway, Enjoy!Monday, April 6, 2009
Doctor Appointment Today
I was able to get an appointment this morning with my doctor. My appointment was for 10:20 am and the advice nurse told me I might have to wait. I had no sooner sat down, Dr. Huey's nurse was calling my name.
The diagnosis is that I have a serious case of vertigo. The official name is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. It's an inner ear problem that causes a spinning or whirling sensation when a person moves their head. Evidently I have had it for a while in describing my symptoms to him and this past weekends episode was the worst that I've had. It does clear up in a week or so, unfortunately once a person has experienced it, it will occur again. There's really no treatment for it. He could have given me a prescription for Valium, however he said it would just make me sleepy and mask the problem. He gave me some head exercises to do and doing them supposeldy helps in clearing up the situation. I'm suppose to sleep with 2 pillows propped up and not do any sudden turning of my head, or looking up where my head is tilted back or looking straight down to pick up something. I can take Tylenol for the headaches. I felt better this afternoon that I've done some reading and my head hasn't been spinning. I've also been up all day.
My dear husband didn't go on his bike club ride this morning so he could take me to the doctor. He doesn't want me driving until I feel better. I'm not sure I want to do any driving until I do feel better.
On Saturday, his bike club did their annual funraiser with a century ride along with shorter rides in the hills surrounding Ione. Ione is a town north east of Sacramento. He was gone all day and kept calling me to make sure I was okay. Tonight they had a pizza party for all the volunteers. He was gone for a couple of hours or so.
One of the youth leaders from church asked to borrow one of our vans to take the youth on an outing tomorrow. Gerry was going to go and drive, however I asked him not to go in case something happened. I didn't want him to be far from home. The youth had planned to go to Santa Cruz, however its raining on the coast and will be tomorrow too. Shawn and his wife just came to pick up the van and they are going to San Francisco instead and do a scavanger hunt in a mall somewhere out there.
Well, I better get off the computer for the night. We stripped the bed earlier and need to get some clean sheets put back on. Talk to you all later.
The diagnosis is that I have a serious case of vertigo. The official name is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. It's an inner ear problem that causes a spinning or whirling sensation when a person moves their head. Evidently I have had it for a while in describing my symptoms to him and this past weekends episode was the worst that I've had. It does clear up in a week or so, unfortunately once a person has experienced it, it will occur again. There's really no treatment for it. He could have given me a prescription for Valium, however he said it would just make me sleepy and mask the problem. He gave me some head exercises to do and doing them supposeldy helps in clearing up the situation. I'm suppose to sleep with 2 pillows propped up and not do any sudden turning of my head, or looking up where my head is tilted back or looking straight down to pick up something. I can take Tylenol for the headaches. I felt better this afternoon that I've done some reading and my head hasn't been spinning. I've also been up all day.
My dear husband didn't go on his bike club ride this morning so he could take me to the doctor. He doesn't want me driving until I feel better. I'm not sure I want to do any driving until I do feel better.
On Saturday, his bike club did their annual funraiser with a century ride along with shorter rides in the hills surrounding Ione. Ione is a town north east of Sacramento. He was gone all day and kept calling me to make sure I was okay. Tonight they had a pizza party for all the volunteers. He was gone for a couple of hours or so.
One of the youth leaders from church asked to borrow one of our vans to take the youth on an outing tomorrow. Gerry was going to go and drive, however I asked him not to go in case something happened. I didn't want him to be far from home. The youth had planned to go to Santa Cruz, however its raining on the coast and will be tomorrow too. Shawn and his wife just came to pick up the van and they are going to San Francisco instead and do a scavanger hunt in a mall somewhere out there.
Well, I better get off the computer for the night. We stripped the bed earlier and need to get some clean sheets put back on. Talk to you all later.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Just Checking In
Hi all, I have not been feeling well so haven't done any posting for a few days. I'm dealing with dizzy spells, headaches and nausea. I will be calling the doctor in the morning if I am not feeling any better. I have several posts to do and hope to get to them this next week. Also, need to be at my craft table getting some cards done, have some deadlines coming up. I had planned to stamp all day yesterday (Saturday). Unfortunately, it did not happen.
Gerry has been taking good care of me. This morning he said I was terribly spoiled as he fixed waffles for breakfast. Maybe so, however, it does him good to do for me once in awhile. :)
It is a beautiful day here in Sacramento, a little on the warm side. It's suppose to rain Monday and Tuesday according to the weather report on the MSN home page. Will see if it actually happens.
Trust you are having a great day whereever you are.
Gerry has been taking good care of me. This morning he said I was terribly spoiled as he fixed waffles for breakfast. Maybe so, however, it does him good to do for me once in awhile. :)
It is a beautiful day here in Sacramento, a little on the warm side. It's suppose to rain Monday and Tuesday according to the weather report on the MSN home page. Will see if it actually happens.
Trust you are having a great day whereever you are.
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