IT TOOK ALL DAY BUT....

as they say, "at the end of the day" ...

Stacey had accomplished the impossible ... assembling and decorating the Christmas tree in the downstairs entry.

Now before you say, 'bah humbug' permit me to give you a little background on this task. Just getting the tree and all the ornament boxes out is a major task.

The tree (plastic/pre-lighted) is kept in a very big, very heavy box and fitting the pieces together so all the lights work is no small task. Patience is the #1 requirement.

Now for the creative part....who better than Stacey to do a magnificent, artistic job ....flourishes that I could only dream of. She even made beautiful bows from assorted holiday ribbons to fill in the 'empty'(where?) spots.

Since this was her second tree trimming experience after major advice from hubby Joe, she could now be in the...don't try this, I'm a professional class.

All we have to do now is keep Yuki from thinking this is one big doggie toy!

CHARLES, DO YOU SMELL SMOKE?

It was most strange, something like burning paper, just in the living room. Did I burn some pre-Thanksgiving dish? We searched and searched ... nothing but this strong smell of burning paper. O.K., call the fire department!

The sirens were coming closer, would the massive engines make it up the hill, would they be able to park, would they discover the source of our anxiety? We were told to get everyone out of the house ... at the time the nose count was seven for lunch plus one 95 pound fluff named Yuki! Charles grabbed the dog, I grabbed the guests and out we went.

What heros our firemen are. Have you seen up close all the garb they have to wear? And the hatchets, the odds and ends they have strapped to their belts ... don't forget the handy portable fire extinguisher.

I couldn't miss anything so back into the house I went, followed by everyone including the dog and round and round we all paced, sniffing. Even Yuki was sniffing!

Nothing ... out came the strange device with which they can point to ANYTHING to see if it registers HEAT! ... NOTHING.

Up to the studio they trudged ... nothing. Downstairs ... nothing. O.K. we're all relieved but as they were exiting, one very, very smart fireman lifted a cocktail napkin off a glass table next to the window...waved it about and said, "I always carry one of these about when we can't find anything." We all laughed and sighed with relief...the napkin had been burned on one side!

How could this be? Well, for all you Boy Scouts out there, when you're in the wilderness you know how to start a campfire. Two sticks rubbed together or by pointing the sunbeam through a glass sphere into something flammable. Who knew?

OH HOW WE LOVE CHRISTMAS...

I know, I know, we grumble about seeing Christmas decorations going up BEFORE Thanksgiving but honestly, I HAD TO DO IT!

Thanks to Stacey Rosenbaum (who got her tree trimming advice from hubby Joe) the tree was up in the studio with all the toys scattered about in time for Saturday's class.

So, with Christmas CD's joyfully playing everyone was caught up in the festive atmosphere and inspired to create their holiday cards!

Charles now has his assignment...scanning the wonderful images which will delight all recipients.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

WISHING YOU A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

PLEIN AIR IN SAN GABRIEL

Besides being a joyously loving, caring person, Carol O'Toole is a gifted fine artist so when the invitation to see her work at the SGFAA Gallery opening reception arrived we marked the date in red! The members of the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association were exhibiting their paintings of the San Gabriel Mission and I was thrilled to see that all of Carol's lovely paintings had red sold stickers. No surprise there.

Here I am with the 'Sold Out' artist.

Carol O'Toole, Alfred Tse her teacher and you know who. Guess who's the Chinese Brush Painter!

It was a delightful surprise to see lovely Alison Slattery, also one of the Pasadena Jr. Phil's, which brought back many wonderful memories.

For more information:
http://www.sgfaa.com/

BACK IN CHINA

We asked Alfred Tse for a restaurant recommendation and he suggested 'Mission 261' on South Mission Drive. It's right across the street from the wonderful San Gabriel Mission.

Along with the Mission, the historic building housing the restaurant is worth a trip to San Gabriel. Besides, it's a charming little 'arty' community. Walking in, past the arcade of amazing Bouganville, probably as old as the Mission, we entered to find a wedding party in full swing. For those of you who were on our amazing trip to China, you'll appreciate hearing about the huge framed photograph of the bride and groom (on an easel) that greeted us along side the very same happy couple.

We were wisked away to an inner courtyard where we quickly discoved that amongst the 800 or so people (three wedding parties) we were THE ONLY NON CHINESE. Everyone looked at us as if we had taken the wrong turn on the road somewhere.

It's worth a trip to '261' to see the grapevine in the center of the open air patio where we were seated all by our lonely selves. Planted over a hundred years ago, it's probably 30 feet high and had clusters of beautiful purple grapes. Heavenly!!!

Ordering was again just like being in China and the menu was certainly not Panda Inn variety. I was salivating for Peking Duck and Charles being the kind hearted gentleman that he is went along. Soup is always a big winner with me and here we encountered our first problem as Charles understood it to come in two small bowls which would have been perfect. The Olympic sized bowl that arrived had us shall I say, overwhelmed? Ordering vegetables is not an easy matter. Again, no mixed veggies as at the Panda, no, you get one pick and again Charles wanted brocolli. The waiter seeing a Chinese 'Gringo' informed us that it was 'Chinese' brocolli. "Fine" says C.P. When it arrived we thought it was all the C. Broccoli in San Gabriel!

Now I have to tell you that I LOVED the Peking Duck. Poor C.P. was not so inclined even with all my encouraging to "here, you must try the skin...it's wonderful". Well, let's remember that duck's are fatty little creatures and that was just too much for Charles as he declared the whole meal to be "perfectly awful!" (Up all night to prove it.) Remember, he subsisted on rice only throughout China!

Well, we (I) did our best. Considering that there was enough food for eight people (the duck even had four legs...so that's some duck!) there was quite a bit remaining. We were given the check and NO FORTUNE COOKIES. Don't be surprised. Did you ever see one in China?

For more information:

http://www.sangabrielmission.org/

http://www.mission261.com/