May 28-June 6
written June 2+
This diary promises little. We are back home in Fresno, in a break with very little planned. Nonetheless, I want to keep a record and maybe someone out there needs to know that nothing is happening with the Fresno Trotters (in case they want to drop by -- hint, hint).
We drove back to the San Joaquin Valley Monday (26th) after our stint as babysitters, returning to the normal routine of house work, personal maintenance (doctors, physical therapist, nails -- Marianne's kind --, etc.) and local family.
Starting with house matters, we met with Gary our contractor, and discussed moving ahead with the garage enlargement and the bocce court. We hope to finish by mid-August and will have a series of diary posts of good-news/bad-news, I'm sure. Martin, the air conditioning service guy, uncovered the problem behind the non-functional register in our bedroom - the specific basement ducting had been removed in years past! Next week he'll fix it. Bobby, the gardening company supervisor, came over to look at the semi-functional sprinkler system and we noted a half-dozen required fixes, some of which may expand as he tries to disconnect ancient iron pipe to make repairs. Next week, he'll do his fixing too. Joys of older houses.
Saturday
was a bit more interesting. We started with a 7am stop at the
Fresno State University student-managed market and picked up a couple
of pounds of raisins. They really are worth the effort.
While there, we saw a dozen folks already lining up for FSU corn,
reportedly the sweetest in California. The first delivery truck
was due in two hours, so these people must really be
corn-addicted. After that, it was over to the regular Saturday
farmer's market. Cherries are on their way out but still tasty;
Blueberries, blackberries and boysenberries are at the peak of their
short season as are apricots; Peaches, plums, and crosses (nectarines,
for example) are starting to show up. The San Joaquin Valley
ships these fruits around the world and our farmer's markets are
authentic. That evening we joined the family and celebrated Henry's 24th birthday. It was another great Rubin BBQ, aided by green and potato salads from Marianne and Babs.
Cup cakes, a giant margarita kit,     and BBQ chicken and sausage.    |
Sunday
was a home day, not a single errand. Marianne finally had enough
painting time to finish her "angels" canvas, a project that has been
under way for months. While she was being creative, I worked on
backyard irrigation, another project that has been pending for a long
time. Unfortunately, irrigation fixing may continue forever and
I'm sure it is not nearly as satisfying as painting.
It's
Friday morning of a week mostly devoted to repairs. The
biggest deal was oil leaking from the almost-ten-year-old Audi.
These things always seem minor, but they had been growing for about a
year, so it was time. I tell myself that thousands of dollars on
repairs is no different than thousands of dollars of new car
depreciation - my story anyway. House repairs hit too: a clogged
toilet; a missing air-conditioning duct; failed outside lights (20 feet
up on the house); and broken sprinklers. It would be OK, if I
thought that was all there would be for a few months, but both the car
and the house are old, after all.However, on Thursday Kenny and his crew showed up to start some new construction. Gary, our architect, had said his concrete guy was coming by to take some measurements, but things went well beyond a few measurements. It turns out that the bocce court needs to go in first, for access reasons but, when the guys checked with the bobcat operator about how much space he needed, our original access route proved too narrow. The solution was to punch a big hole in the garage wall, a solution that caused me to scramble moving things off that wall. In any event, it is fun to see real progress.
   
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1821 Gallery, pretty normal contemporary art  A younger, Hispanic-flavored scene around the corner.     Silva/Salazar Studios, a pair of more seasoned artists.  
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Planning the dig, donating dirt for the front garden, roots, cellar.    At the end of the half-day  |
Anyway, we might add a bit to this diary, or not, but we will have a whole new grandparent story starting Saturday(7th).
John and Marianne