Purple Bicycle Book Club and Terrorist Society

Howdy Doody,   Apparently it has been 6 years since my last confession, I mean, post.  This is a test to see if I can still operate on this site after such a long delay in cyberspace. I am considering starting a virtual book club for my three very adorable grandchildren where we might converse about books we are reading. SSSSHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh! They are getting lots of books for Christmas, complete with book marks where they can give a rating for each book.
     Whadaya say Amber, Owen and Isaac. Are you interested? I can't HEAR you. That must be because it is not yet Christmas and you have not received your book marks. I'll just have to be patient, won't I? I still have a few books to read before Christmas and some book marks to make, so I'd best be peddling away now.

Happy Trails

I had 2 very nice bike rides this week on Tuesday and Friday to get back and forth from the Rec Center so I could attend my arthritus exercise class. On Tuesday as I peddled into the home stretch I was congratulating myself on making the trip safe and sound. Then as a started up the driveway I fumbled and fell off my bike. I just got a scrape on my left elbow and left knee so am not much the worse for wear. It was the 1st time I had been on my purple bike for several months. The weather is perfect for riding - about 72 degrees. I've found a route that has quite a bit of shade so that is very pleasant and should help when the weather turns hotter.

Like Riding a Bicycle

I got back on my Purple Bicycle yesterday after who knows how long without riding. Was meeting friends for lunch at San Martin Cafe. It was a gorgeous day (sunny, 72 degrees, not windy) so I pumped up my two flat tires and took off for San Martin. I was definitely out of shape in the bike riding department, huffing and puffing by the time I got around the corner while still on Easy Street. My bike odometer battery was out of juice so mercifully I could not tell how slow I was going. It did feel good to be peddling again and I do intend to make it a more regular occurance than it has been during 2010.
San Martin Cafe has reopened with its new owners and my chicken soup was excellent. And the visit with friends was great. They were all overly impressed with the fact that I had riden my bike to lunch. It was really close but a very reasonable distance for my first bike ride in months and months.

A Photo of the Photographer and Her Photo

So what has Purple Bicycle been up to lately? Well, obviously, not much
Purple Bicycle blogging and not a lot of PB Riding. This was taken at the
opening of a photo show at The Morgan Hill House. I had 3 photos accepted
and this one, my favorite, actually ended up being sold (my first sale of a
photo). It is of El Toro Mountain with Llagas Percolation Pond and
California Poppies in the foreground.

This is our grandson Isaac on an early Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny hid 13 eggs for him in our back yard and he found all of them. For now he has no competition so he stops to examine and taste the contents of each egg before proceeding to the next find. Inside the eggs were loquats, cumquats, Cinnamon Toast cereal, a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie and a tiny bunny in a basket. Once Amber and Owen have a few more years of experience they will give him a run for his eggs and I suspect that he won't stop to examine and eat the contents of each one during the hunt. Only time will tell. But for right now, at 8 and 1/2 months Amber and Owen aren't that mobile yet.

Compost Happens

Here you can see an Official CBT for Recology (formerly South Valley Disposal).
Oh, don't know what CBT is? It's Compost Bin Tester. I volunteered
about two years ago to be a CBT and it has been a very rewarding
experience. The bin came with some assembly required. Son Jay
willingly helped me with that. I have been composting for many years
but never in an Official Bin. It has a door on the back side that you
can pull up to get out compost that has been in the bin the longest
and thus it is the most "composted". My plants are happy, I am happy
and Julie from Recology is happy.

Tree on Tree

Here is the tree I made out of about 100 pieces of 24 gauge steel
wire. The tree is mounted onto a piece of petrified wood that my
nephew Gordon gave us when we were on our Arizona road trip November
2009. The trees were silver until our teacher Earnest "cooked" them in
the oven at 550 degrees until they turned bluish black. Then he
sprayed them with cold water to finish the tempering process. The
trees will gradually turn a darker black as it ages. Everybody's tree
is unique and each person is proud of their own tree and is so glad to
have gotten to participate in the class. If you want to see some of
Earnest's trees go to www.nanajos.com.