SUNDAY DRIVE

WHAT WERE YOU UP TO last weekend? Tim came over on Sunday and we had Mr. Bob decide where we should eat......in the Manor dining room or at a nearby In-N-Out. He chose the latter, even though the Manor food is outstanding. 

I don't know how this how this hamburger chain can keep their prices so low. Tim  assures me it's a matter of volume and theirs is high. Sunday was no exception. Every seat was taken; therefore the trick is to eye a table where the diners are almost finished and then leap upon it at the precise moment it's vacated. 'Twas good. Our order number was 49 and before we left it was well over 100.

With Tim at the wheel, we decided on a Sunday drive (shades of my childhood) and headed for  Sierra Madre.

With the help of a GPS we found the canyon where there's a little market/restaurant that I want to visit someday. The one time Mr. Bob and I decided to have breakfast there, a group was using the canyon locale for plein-air painting and the parking was completely used by the artists. Our plan was thwarted so we have yet to eat there, but it's still on my "Bucket list".

The houses in the canyon are interesting and this is some of what we saw.

Before heading home we searched out E. Waldo Ward.
You just have to know that it's there, for in a residential area, there is no sign or at least I didn't see one in front of this house. We

passed it by before I realized it and backed up to go down the dirt driveway to the left where we could see the sales office (up the steps to a small showroom). Of course they're not open on Sundays, but we were sight seeing rather than planning to shop.

Continue on around the circular driveway at the back of the house and see the packing shed. I didn't photograph the kumquat orchard next to the house.......you'll have to take my word for it.

On the way home, as we passed Catherine's, the "large ladies' store where I shop", Tim asked if I wanted to stop. In unison, Mr. Bob said, "No" and "Yes" came out of my mouth.









P.S. We stopped and I bought 3 shirts which will alleviate my closet boredom.

“When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking.”

Elayne Boosler

PEDALS AND PRAYERS

NO ONE FROM THE MANOR took part, but yesterday 7.5 miles of Los Angeles streets were closed for a few hours and turned over to people riding bikes, skateboards, roller skates, what have you. It was known as cicLAvia 2011. Our son, Tim, decided to take part, although he'd not trained for such a lengthy ride on his vintage bicycle. In addition to riding along the prescribed route he had to get to the starting point, so it was quite a workout. He enjoyed it and reported today this his nose is blistered because he'd forgotten his sunblock.

There were plenty of places to stop along the way and things to do.
Great possibilities for family fun.

Meanwhile, as Tim pedaled through the streets of Los Angeles, his pious mother was going to church, invited by our next door neighbor and driven by the man who I want to do my memorial service when the time comes. The service took place

in North Hollywood which is beyond my driving range and I enjoyed the whole hour of worship, but best of all was when a tiny girl was baptized with extended families present at the blessing, after which the co-minister took little Lily in her arms and walked her down the aisle to introduce her to the church members and then to the choir. Note the expression on the faces of the onlookers.

The music was unusually modern, but not in a noisy, disturbing way, the sermon was succinct and inspiring, the people were friendly and genuinely welcoming. 

Mr. Bob stayed at home snugly in his comfort zone and I never in my life learned to ride a bike. Everyone was in his right place last Sunday.

"For instance, the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created:  Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon."  ~Bill Strickland, The Quotable Cyclist