Halloween. October 31, 2017

The weekend before Halloween we spend some time with Nathan and Sam and have dinner at Jon and Ryan’s. The kids are excited about trick or treating soon and we add to their excitement with a bag of candy and a little money gift in their card. Here is what they are wearing on Halloween.

Sam in green is an Entbrat from My Singing Monsters and Nathan is a P.E.K.K.A. from Clash of Clans

Of course I have no idea what these characters are although I have heard of Clash of Clans. The fabulous costumes were made by Ryan and Leigh.

At home on Halloween we will have no costumed children at our door since we are too far out of the area of maximum candy procurement in the minimum amount of time. Sarah, though, is dressing up and spending the evening with some friends at a high traffic house.

Sarah as Trixie from the TV show Call the Midwife

While all the Halloween festivities are happening we are having Karen and George over to dinner. We have been cooking for a couple of days while we try to perfect our dinner dishes. Wedge salad, beef Burgundy, mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots and onions are on the menu. Karen is helpfully bringing dessert.

Festive Halloween table setting

October in Utah and Jon’s visit – October 7-20, 2017

In October we embark upon a lengthy stay in St. George. We were in Utah in September, now this month, and we hope to go again in November. As the holidays approach it becomes more difficult to get away for more than a few days so December is definitely out. We are enjoying our time in Utah and as the weather improves it will be even better. Highlighting this stay is a visit from Jon for a long weekend. His work obligations have given him less time than usual to come and relax and play tennis and golf.

Before he arrives we have a little quiet time with just John and me. It is hard not to spend some time every day looking out the window.

Looking out over the pond at sunset
A great white heron on the rock outside the window

We meet Jon at the St. George Airport on October 12th. Before you know it he is ensconced in one of his favorite spots.

Jonathan reading a book on the couch

But he needs to cram a lot into 4 days so the next morning we are all out on the tennis court. We manage to squeeze in three sessions while he is here.

Jon on the tennis court

He tries to do all his favorite things –  go shopping, eat at our favorite restaurants, play golf and still have time for reading and arranging music. He manages to do them all!

Jon and John at Mongolian BBQ

But all too quickly his time here is over and after many hugs we drop him off at the airport.

Mom and Jon before going out to dinner

We spend another four days in St. George and after an overnight in Bakersfield we arrive back in Pleasanton on October 20.

October 1, 2017 – Neighborhood turkeys

We have a rafter of turkeys in our neighborhood. Rafter is the official term for a flock of turkeys. Every morning they come down from the ridge, cross Foothill Road, walk while grazing through our neighborhood, and end up at the arroyo. Around 3 PM they make the return trip. They started out with two adults and fourteen babies but now the babies are almost as big as the adults. They have lost only two members during the last couple of months. I think it was probably due to a predator when they were little. I have not seen any turkey carcasses in Foothill Road and the people in our neighborhood are pretty careful about not hitting them. Cars do not seem to frighten them at all as you practically have to nudge them out of the way. Dogs, however, can make them squawk and fly which is quite exciting.

Our rafter of turkeys, fourteen strong
The chicks are now as big as the adults