Yesterday was the free Fall Tea put on by the Locke and Noble Tea Company in the backyard of the Noble Home in Fullerton. Above is a picture L - R of Peggy, myself and Ellen. They had asked us to dress up for this event as they are doing a recipe book and would be taking pictures to put in the book. Only, no one was taking pictures. It was still fun to dress up and see how others dressed. Peggy wore a very old fox stole, Ellen wore a dress that she purchased some time ago from a thrift store and I went turn-of-the-century in a long black skirt, white lace blouse with a black cameo pin at the neck and a hat I decorated with netting and black roses.
These ladies are from the Santa Ana Historical Society. They regularly come to the teas and always dress up. As you can see this tea was held in the back yard under the trees. After a week of cool, damp, gloomy weather the day was warm and sunny. Just perfect.
This picture was taken inside the house of the kitchen. That is Mrs. Noble in white with her back to me and one of the young servers. They have lots of three tier servers on which they put the food and then it is carried out to us at our tables. This is a beautiful kitchen with marble countertops and to the left is an old stove but on the right is a large modern stove.
This shot was also taken in the kitchen. That is Mr. Noble in his chefs whites and a young lady server returning one of the serving tiers. Mr. Noble is a school teacher but his real passion is tea. Someday he would like to have his own tea emporium.
This is how the table is set when you arrive. I wish I had taken a picture of the food. Next time at the Christmas tea I will do that. The menu this time was Pumpkin Sage Soup (a small cup), Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Biscotti (one piece), Decadent White Chocolate Chip Scone (one medium size) with Clotted Cream and Jam (on the table as a help yourself item), Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake (one medium piece), Maple Porfiteroles (like a cream puff with maple flavored whipped cream inside) and Carmel Apple Shortbread (small piece). This is all free. All they ask is that you tip your server.
Left to right this is Carolyn, Ellen's youngest daughter, their friend Rachel and Jennifer. Jennifer is wearing her grandmother's dress (Paul's mother). This is the dress she was married in in 1929. Jennifer is also wearing a hat that belong to her, probably from the 40's.
Here is a photo of Ellen taken inside the house. She is holding a parasol that they had for sale. That is one way for them to make money at these events. They have lots of tea related and period related items for sale and they showcase them around the first floor of the home.
Here is a picture of Carolyn. She had on a lovely dress and had put her long, thick hair in a snood. I asked her to pose looking down and turned slightly to get the full effect of the dress and the hair. Aren't mother and daughter lovely?
Here is a great picture of Peggy with her fox stole on. Gives you a good view of the head of the fox. This stole belonged to her son-in-law's grandmother. She was going to throw it away put Emily, Peggy's daughter, rescued it.
This was taken out in front of the house and gives you a good full length view of their outfits.
And we have to have a picture of the three divas in our lovely frocks.
Finally a shot of me taken creatively by Carolyn.
I had heard on the news that the Hollywood Wax Museum located in Buena Park near Knotts was closing it doors on Monday 10/31 and admission was $5 a person. So on Thursday afternoon Jennifer and I went to see it one last time. I have only been there once, back in the 70's and Jennifer has never been. I was basically impressed with how good it was. Some figures look nothing like the person they represent but others were dead on. Many of the settings for the figures were very elaborate and very well done. Below is a link to my album with some of the pictures I took. Click on Hollywood Wax Museum to see them.http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4233026The other thing I did was last night my friend Carol and I went to see a play at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. It was "As It Is In Heaven" and was set in the mid 1800's. The premise was that of 9 women/girls living together in a Shaker community. The play is based on events that really happened and were recorded in journals by the Shakers. It was very well done. The actors were outstanding. The play was both humorous and sad. The set was very minimal and there were benches that were used and moved to form scenes in a very effective way. We had a really good time and afterwards there was a question and answer time between the audience and the actors/costume designer/and others. The price is only $10, $8 for seniors 55 and older. Can't beat that. We are going to two more of their plays this season.
Today is a "tea" in Fullerton. More on that later.
On October 4 Paul and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We went to Black Angus for a nice dinner and that was that.
Last Sunday, October 16, Paul says to me, "how would you like to take a little trip with me?" What?? How could I take a trip, I have a job. Well, to make a long story short Paul has been planning this little vacation for some time. We would have done the trip around our anniversary, but I was going to the Ladies Retreat so he planned it for this last week. He had made arrangements with the school where I work and the other aide, Kathy, would fill in for me. He had made reservations along the way and had everything planned out. I had no idea where we were going, but we were off and on our way around 3:30 pm.
We drove through the "grapevine" and down into Buttonwillow around 6 PM. Spent the night there and had dinner and breakfast at Denny's. Left Buttonwillow Monday morning and did not take Interstate 5 North but instead drove West out of Buttonwillow over to Highway 33. It is always more fun to take the road less traveled. You see so much more that way. It always amazes me that once you leave the Southern California basin how much of California is wide open and is farmland. Driving up Hwy. 33 we saw oil fields, cotton, pistachio trees, a low flying crop plane, vineyards, cows, horses, etc. Hwy. 33 takes you to the small town of Coalinga and then you could either take a narrow, windy mountain road West or get on Interstate 5. We choose Interstate 5 because Paul had contacted his cousin Doris and asked her and her son to have dinner with us that night. So traveled on 5 to Hwy 152 and then up Interstate 101 to San Jose. We met Doris and John for dinner at Home Town Buffet at 7 PM. After dinner we went back to Doris' house for a very nice visit.
Tuesday morning we went to the Winchester Mystery House. This is a very strange place. If you want more information go to this link
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/I felt very sorry for this poor woman and why she was building and building this house. You can read about her and you'll see what I mean.
After leaving the house we went to Subway for lunch and then continued into Santa Cruz. We took a little side trip to a place called Mt. Herman Christian Conference Center. Back in the mid 70's Paul and I both attended a conference here and it is where we first began to "notice" each other. I was walking back to my dorm room and he was on the path outside waiting for his mother and their friend because they were going to take a walk. I joked with him about watching out for falling acorns when one fell and hit him on the head. We both laughed and then he asked if I was doing anything and would I also like to go on a hike with them. Yes. And so we talked and got to know each and the rest, as they say, is history.
We left the Santa Cruz area and continued down to Paso Robles for our next stop of the night. In the morning we left and drove west over the coastal mountains. Paul had hoped we could tour Hearst Castle but in checking the 800 number that morning he found they were totally booked until late afternoon. So we went West along Hwy.1 admiring the scenery. We stopped various places and then reached Morro Bay and drove out and parked at Morro Rock. Morro Bay is where my Great Aunt Bessie lived and when I was a child we visited there many times. We walked around the rock as far as they will let you. Then we drove over to the parking lot on the North side and I fed the squirrels some nuts I had with me. Very cute.
We left Morro Bay and drove East on Interstate 101 and then got off at Hwy. 1 and drove South to Hwy. 246 and into Solvang. This is another place I have been, but I was disappointed in how commercial it has become. We only spent about 45 minutes there and then continued on 246 to 154 past Lake Cuchuma and down into Santa Barbara. We continued through Santa Barbara and into Carpinteria for our last night.
For dinner we drove back to Summerland and ate at The Big Yellow House. This used to be family style dining but they have changed owners and it looks the same but the menu is way different. The food was very good, though.
Thursday morning we had a great breakfast at IHOP and then drove home stopping at the outlet stores in Camarillo. I really don't see the saving there, but it was interesting. We saw the Blue Angeles practicing their formation flying out of Pt. Magu. That was cool.
All in all a very nice trip. A good time to be away and enjoy each other. Jennifer got a taste of being on her own. All was fine except that while we were gone Southern California experienced a real storm. Torrents of rain, thunder and lightning. Sunday night during the storm she was wishing we still had our cat to cuddle with.
I took a lot of pictures and have posted 61 in my Epson Album. I didn't feel like selecting only a few and dragging and dropping them here. Epson is easier. So enjoy. Click on No. Calif. Trip.
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4233026
Yesterday afternoon my friend Carol called me and asked if I would like to go see this musical at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Yes!!! So she called and got tickets for us for last nights performance. I'm sorry I forgot my camera as I wanted to take pictures of the center. It is beautiful. Here are two links. One about the musical and one about the center.
http://www.cerritoscenter.com/event_calendar/events_detail.cfm?id_event=20225587
http://www.cerritoscenter.com/general.cfm
We had the "nosebleed" section seats but they were good. The theater is small and so it is not like you are too far away. The costumes were beautiful. We had a really good time.
The story takes you through the life of Will Rogers as if it was presented by Ziegfield. Lots of pretty, scantily dressed girls! Great dancing and singing. Even a dog act show!
They have some other pretty cool events coming up there in the future that we might go to. We are also thinking of attending a couple of plays at a college out in Orange County.
Once again it is that time of year ... October 31st ... All Hallow's Eve ... and the children at our Christian school are allowed to dress up as something from the Bible (no scary costumes, please). As you can see the adults get into the act also. Above is my teacher, Catherine and myself. She and I are wearing dresses that one of our Moms got for us from Lebanon. Catherine is wearing a head covering I purchased two years ago at the gift shop in the Holy Land Museum which is located in Los Angeles.
Below are a bunch of pictures of First and Second Graders. Aren't they just the cutest? I love the angel girls. And the Egyptian Princess. They are all adorable.
