A sneak peek at some fall foliage and Maryland

Sneed had some RROC Board Meetings to attend in Maryland and I came along for the ride, well grammatically speaking I tagged along on the flight as we flew up to B'more. We ate crabcakes at every opportunity and enjoyed Fall Foliage, something definitely missing in the warmer climes of the Houston area.

                 Cathie and Dan joined us on a trip to St Michaels for lunch at the Crab Claw and a walkabout the town

                                                                                  Scenes on our walkabout

                                    Across from the Crab Claw...interesting story about the Freedom's figurehead

                                                  Parasailing in the windy cold a little bit before the approaching sunset

These ladies came down from Boston to go to the Washington Mall rally.....Maggie (my Internet friend in Funster) and I had a great lunch and chinwag

Guiness Record? Penpals for over 50 Years!!

The time was 1957. I was in 6th grade at Desert View Elementary, Lancaster, California. Our class wrote the initial letter to the classmates of a school in Wisconsin. Mine probably went something like this....

Can you believe anyone would want to correspond with someone who wrote such a mundane letter? No imagination at all.

About a month later, I remember coming home from school one day in early December and saw a letter on the end table addressed to me. I looked at it and asked my Mom, "Why did I write a letter to myself?".  At that time I was using ball point pens with turquoise ink - the letter was addressed in the same color. And, oddly enough, the  handwriting was just like mine. What a coincidence, eh?

Upon opening the envelope, I was introduced to Julie Kay Steinbach from Mayville, Wisconsin. She had selected my letter as we both had younger sisters and our birthdays were 11 days apart. One of the first things I remember learning about her family was that their first names spanned the alphabet from H to M, ie, Harry, Irene, Julie Kay, Loris Mae.

Fast forward to today. Julie came in on the Sunset Ltd Amtrak Monday night for a 2 day visit.

We had lunch with Penny my longtime friend I first met in Iran in 1975.

We visited Taylor and her dogs, Teddy and Annie.

L>R Dylin, Erika, Aedin, Olsin and Julie. We had lunch in Sugar Land.

Anne and Julie with the Confederate Rose. It started blooming whilst Julie was here. White in the morning and pink in the evening.

Ciao, my good friend! "May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Aren't they the cutest?

It was such a nice day today. The wind was blowing more than gently causing the wind chime to tinkle out a tune, but not enough to deter a visit outside in the back. Just as I was about to go out, I noticed the cutest little critter on the arm of a chair outside. I carefully pulled the door to, not closing it all the way, and ran upstairs to get my camera. #1 waited for me to return, or thought it was safe from predators and stayed where it was. Then I espied its littler friend, #2, and got 2 shots of it. It was a little bit shy and didn't stick around for my photographic pleasure.

Another First

Today was the Houston British Motor Expo at La Centerra right here in Cinco Ranch - a scant half mile from where we live. How did we get so lucky?

Sneed and Marque left early as judging was to begin at 0930. I arrived a bit past 10 driving my Datsun and brought folding chairs. Two other members of the RROC brought their vehicles. All in all in the British Luxury class there were 2 Bentleys and 3 Rolls. One member brought his family's Vintage Bentley, a separate class. The expo was hosted by the MG Club this year, thus the overabundance of MGs competing along with lots of Triumphs, some Jags, a few Lotus', a singular Allard. All in all, about 60 cars showed which viewed in perspective was about all that could have been displayed in the limited area.

Sneed took a quick trip to Post Oak Motors, Houston's RR/B dealer as Bentley Crewe from England is touring the country with over 1,000 vintage parts giving RR/B owners a chance to obtain 'hard to find' parts as well as accessories for their motorcars. He returned after 2 hours not having found anything he could use.

A short hour later, the Judging results were announced. Marque garnered another First Place in his class.

A TR surrounded by MGs in both end photos

Top left clockwise: early 50s Jaguar, Allard, Lotus entries, 58 MG ZB Magnette

Top to bottom: Marque, tie-dyed St Arnold's Brewery Bentley, a RR; 2 more RRs; Vintage Bentley

High Rise Living

That's the way the Purple Martins like it...and we like that they keep the mosquito population down so we co-existed very nicely. Until...yesterday. The bird house came down, all the way down, as in it was laying on the ground looking forlorn and the Hummingbird feeder which was attached to the pole was drained of all its juice. A sad situation.

Anyway, since it was down, and the Martins have flown the coop, or the nest., or the house, as Sneed was cleaning the house, he  thought it was interesting how one set of Martins built their nest and wanted to share this with you. The photo above shows the entry from the outside, the main entrance and egress from the house structure. The nest filled up one entire 'apartment'.

It was constructed from grass, twigs, cellophane wrap, feathers, whatever the birds found nearby. Very clever, they are. There were a few babies born this year and I hope this nest was one of the ones comforting them before their entry into the world.

A Quadruple Event Day

The morning started out at Skeeters in West University for the second Saturday of the month breakfast of the RROC. John brought the plaque Marque had won at the ABCD in Austin.

Next up was Olsin's T-ball game at noon. He was suited up as the catcher for the first inning and did quite well tagging some runners out on their way home. Hitting the ball has never been a problem so he has that part of the game down pat.  He was playing shortstop and managed to get the rolling ball in his glove. As he was trying to retrieve it from said glove, the 'pitcher de facto' turned around and told him to give it to him so he could throw it. Well, that didn't sit well with Olsin (and rightfully so), so he fumed a bit on the field, then marched off, arms folded, and sat on the bench. Fortunately he got another turn at bat, and was welcomed at home by his coach.

Dylin's official birthday was 28 September. Her party was today at the Sugar Land Laser Zone. Several friends turned up to join her in enjoying pizza, lemonade, and the delicious cake that Aedin decorated. Two 20 minutes sessions in the Laser Zone highlighted the afternoon. The participants were padded up and equipped with laser guns with which to tag  one another. Only Erika and Terry remembered their aliases...

The final and big Event of the Day which had been on the calendar the longest was the wedding of Ricky and Natalie at St. Paul's United Methodist Church. Marque was a willing participant in their festivities after the ceremony. Dinner was great and the cakes excellent with just the right amount of sweetness. Dancing and visiting went on until half past the bewitching hour.

 
On a walkabout the Hotel ZaZa where the reception was held, Sneed found the photo machine. He came back and said there's no line. I said, "Let's go then". This one was different from last week's. We stood in front of the draped fabric which made me look as if I were camouflaged into the photo. I was switching sides when the second photo was snapped, but we wound up with one half-way decent one on the final shot. Later when we looked at the photos more closely, I realized that this was a photo booth for Ashley and Elias ~ there were 3 wedding receptions being held at the ZaZa simultaneously. Ooops!!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Do or Die game...Either let the Cubbies sweep the series and take 4th place in the NL East, or beat them one last time and secure 4th place for the season's end.

I bought tickets for the last game about a month ago. I've always wanted to sit in the Crawford Boxes behind left field and was lucky enough to finally get tickets there. Lo and behold, the roof was open too which was nice until we took our seats. The sun was beating right down on our legs and through our jeans. OUCH! That lasted through the 5th inning when the sun finally made its way further west and provided us with some shade. What a relief that was. Fortunately when we came in we were given a Thank you, fans (30 million fans in 45 years) 9x12 of next year's schedule which we used to cover our laps. It wasn't the panacea we had hoped for, but it was better than nothing.

Panorama shot from the Crawford Boxes

The beginning lineup ~ Fans singing "God Bless America" ~ Astros' great outfielders having a conference ~ The win 4-0