MAY 2025

May started with an aikido seminar. Not particularly exciting for Rog. I guess that means that he is getting to a point where new info is harder to come by. We finally got notice that Keith was done converting the Shay locomotive so we headed over to the clubhouse to pick it up. Rog was thrilled. Keith was able to get everything inside the locomotive; no need to put a cab on the back. Rog can now use lights, horns, engine sounds. He has started wiring the layout. The switches require a lot of work.

We are losing another friend from Auburn. Nordstroms are moving to Georgia. Which means we also lose our dentist. We met with Jim for a final cleaning/checkup and even got in an evening for cards. If their house doesn’t sell quickly we will squeeze in another round of 64 with them. Karissa had a school drama performance. She was in 3 of the numbers which included solo speaking as well as solo singing!! She did super well.

May is birthday month for the Blooms so we took them to a breakfast at Mimosa House. Rog finished the bench/cabinet for the bathroom. I painted it and ordered some baskets for it. I love it!! Works perfectly.

On Mother's Day, we headed to 2BGlass in Cameron Park for their "Big Event". We met up with the wole family, including Mary. We watched a couple of demonstrations of them making plates and wandered through their gift shop. Fascinating. Then we headed into Folsom for lunch at The Melt. Both kids gave me gorgeous bouquets as well as a Handel's gift certificate. Great Day!!

I spent a lot of time in the garden this month. I got the rosemary trimmed, the hill raked and cleaned out under the playhouse. Lots of trimming and weeding as usual and I started the bimonthly fertilizing schedule. The hydro system is planted.

We ended the month with a snack potluck at Blooms to welcome Max home. He spent 3 weeks in Thailand: 2 weeks getting scuba certified and working on the coral reefs and swimming with sharks. Then a week in northern Thailand working with elephants. He had a fabulous time and will spend the next 2 ½ months here in Rocklin, working at REI, and saving money to buy a car.

April 2025

The weather has turned quite nice so getting lots of outside projects done. But first on the agenda was a trip to Long Beach for our annual Indy race with Ryan and Beth. I was going to rent a motor scooter for the weekend but decided it would be easier to just buy a used one. I found what I wanted right here in Rocklin. We drove a mile away and picked it up. It is a VIVE. It folds up and fit easily in the RAV. But for this trip, we are using Tess.

It took us about 10 hours to get to our destination, the Elks Club in Oceanside. On Sat morning, we headed to the Marriott where the kids were staying and found a parking spot right in front…and with my disabled placard, we parked for free with no time limits. Good thing…the parking pass I had for the race was in a garage and Tess would not fit. Nor would she fit in the Marriott garage.

We spent Saturday touring the venue and doing some reconnaissance on how to get to our seats on Sunday. On Sunday, we got to the Marriott early enough to get one of their outdoor parking spots. We took the kids out to lunch for their March birthdays, then headed over to the race. Our seats overlooked the pits so we were able to watch their pit stops and caught glimpses of the cars as they whizzed by. Crazy trying to keep track of who was who and what places they were in. We didn’t have much trouble getting out after the race. We headed to Van’s for some ice cream and decided to spend the night in our parking spot. We got up the next morning at 3am and took off. The trip home took about 7 hours so we were home by noon.

When we got home, the roofers were hard at work. The old roof was gone. It took them about 2 ½ days to complete the job and we love it! The new gutters really topped it off. They did a great job of cleanup but my hydroponic system was pretty sad. Full of asphalt.

Karissa and Michelle came over to color eggs for the Easter hunt and it sounds like they had a super camping trip as well. Easter morning, everyone came over for brunch and the hunt. I tried to help the Easter bunny out by tracking the location of each egg, but inthe end we were still one short. Oh well. The day was so nice we all relaxed on the patio and chatted.

Rog and I did a power wash of the house and replaced the shade covering on the patio and that got rid of most of the remaining mess. I cleaned up the hydroponic setup and ended up emptying the tub out and using the wet vac to get all of the grit off the bottom. All clean now and the basil is in. I also got the tomatoes and zucchini planted. Meanwhile Rog worked on the bathroom tub bench.

Spring has brought out the wildlife in Rocklin. A hawk visited us one morning, then a pair of ducks that Rog had to shoo away. And we have a dove sitting on a couple of eggs in our patio. We are hoping the deer stay away this year!

NEOS LOG March 2025

We spent a lot of time planning our next project. Time to replace the roof. We got bids from 5 roofers and made our decision. It will be done next month. Rog also finally got started on the tub seat. This project has been a tough one for him. Pretty intricate, so he has been doing more thinking and planning than executing. But he bought the wood he needs and will be working on it next month. There was an aikido seminar so I had a weekend to do a special messy project. I washed the upholstery of Rog’s recliner. It turned out so well that I tackled our leather loveseat. Unfortunately. 😮‍💨 It actually scuffed the leather. My options ranged from making a slipcover to hide it, to buying a new couch, to trying to fix it. I decided to buy some leather dye and if it didn’t turn out, I would make a cover. I ended up buying a darker dye and blending the colors and I am pleased with the result…also pleased I don’t have to make “old lady” covers!

On St. Patrick’s Day we headed to Pt. Reyes on the coast and stayed in Olema Campground for 3 nights. Max had traveled down from UM with a group of volunteers and would be spending the week removing vegetation and cleaning up trails. The campground had been flooded with the rains the previous week but our spot was fine. Other than a bit of mud and puddles (and constant generator noise of their pumps during the day) we were fine. We toured the entire peninsula from top to bottom. We were really impressed with the Bear Valley Visitor Center and spent almost an hour with a fabulous docent at the William Patrick Visitor Center who gave us a great education about the elephant seals. We never connected with Max but he told us where they were staying and we were able to drop off a batch of brownies for them.

The rain stopped and we had some nice weather for a few weeks. We trimmed bushes and trees, filling all 3 trash barrels for a couple of weeks. The rain returned at the end of the month and I was able to get chicken compost spread in the whole yard.

Rog and Jay headed to Redwood City to visit their retired sensei. They also had an outstanding meeting with Manfred, their senior mentor who lives in Roseville. Happy birthday month for Ryan and Beth. We will celebrate with them when we get down to Long Beach with them next month. We ended the month with a WSCA play. Karissa was stage crew for a play written by one of the seniors. Well done, as usual.

February 2025

Rog did some intensive planning and we were able to install the new carved tree in the bedroom window. It looks absolutely awesome!! And it changes when the light behind it changes. We love it.\

We started and ended the month with a visit from an old high school friend. At the beginning of the month, Dick came with his wife Judy. After catching up on what’s been happening, we headed over to KT Noodles for lunch. At the end of the month, Dick came back with his sister, Nancy and brother in law, Marty. They wanted to see what we had done around the place since we bought it. I even pulled out the video I made of before and after pics. Then Marty gave us a spin in his cyber truck. It’s wrapped in red and looks so awesome!

Rog headed down to Santa Barbara for his annual Shotokan Black Belt Meeting. He drove with Jay, leaving early Friday and returning Sunday night. He had some great one on one training. We took Karissa to Petroglyph for her date with us after lunch at Olive Garden. The place was packed and there was a waiting list of an hour and a half. So we went back a few days later when they opened and were able to get a table right away. Got to have lunch together again at Panda Express and followed it up with ice cream at Handel’s. We picked her mug up a week later. Looks great!

Our home project this year is to replace the roof. We had a number of contractors come to take a look and we will make the final decision next month. We had a few weeks of great weather and I took advantage of it, trimming and cleaning under all of the plants. Major trimming will be next month, but the plants are happy for now.

January 2025

Welcome to 2025! Rog and Jim tested for their first degree brown belt in aikido. They both did outstanding. Now Rog is looking forward to testing for his black belt in another year. He got a good start with a seminar that his dojo put on with Kimberly the following weekend. Rog picked up a lot of style ideas that he is anxious to work on. Unfortunately, most of his January training was on the sidelines because of multiple skin cancer removals that required stitches. He still learned a lot and is anxious to put it all into practice.

We both survived our annual physicals with passing grades…still plugging along! Max headed back to Missoula and was able to use his fast pass for the first time. It was nice knowing he was just a few blocks away for a few weeks. Miss him already!

Project-wise, Rog continued work on the tree for the bathroom window. He has all of the wood glued together and braced, everything is sanded and all is ready for stain and varathane.

The weather was awesome this month and I got a lot of yard work done. I trimmed the front yard and got most of the leaves out from under the plants. I filled all 3 organic waste barrels and it looks pretty spiffy. Rain is forecast for the beginning of February so it will be at least a couple of weeks before I can finish. I also completed the photo books for Max and Karissa and was able to get Max’s shipped for his birthday. In the evenings, I knit scarves for Ryan and Beth and finally finished the most difficult sweater ever for myself. It actually fits and is super warm but it was a real challenge! I spent a lot of time with our Long Beach Grand Prix trip in April. After a few phone calls, I was able to get tickets and a parking pass purchased. I tried to get reservations at the campground adjacent to the race, but they were already sold out. Next try was the army RV park at Seal Beach. This required a military ID which was a bit tricky. After trying for a week on the VA website and getting the message “unable to access data, please try again in a few moments” we drove to Mather and tried to get an ID card in person. Turns out they only give cards to disabled vets and active duty personnel. Not willing to give up, I sent an email and got a pretty quick response that was super helpful. Turns out that I just needed to log off the VA website (closing down wasn’t enough). With their new detailed directions, I was able to complete the application and the digital ID card was emailed back to us within days. We now have reservations at the Sea Breeze RV park at Seal Beach. We ordered stadium seats and I am working on renting a scooter. We will be all set! We hosted the card game this month. Debbie and Kathy missed it again for a sad reason. They got back from a trip to Tahoe and found that somebody had broken into their house, ransacked the place and took jewelry and cash. They had to stay home and wait for the cops to show up and for someone to fix the broken window. So sad. But the Nordstroms made it and the four of us had dinner and two games of 64.

December 2024

Rog started the month with a trip to San Francisco to visit his karate mentor, JIm Sagawa. What should be a 2 hr trip took them 4 ½ hours to get home, Exhausting. But he cherishes his limited time with Jim. The Kings had their annual Christmas party. It is my chance to catch up with my cousin, Paul, and his wife, June. I also got to know Brian’s cousins. And the house was beautifully decorated, as usual. We went to Nordstrom’s for dinner and cards. It was our lucky night…I won the first game and Rog won the second. We went home with the trophy. Mid month, Karissa performed in her school play, Beauty and the Beast. She had a number of parts and did such an awesome job. We went to her final performance on Saturday night and brought along a surprise. Max had flown home that morning, after Karissa had already left for preparation for the matinee performance. She certainly didn’t expect to see him. A great ending to a week of very hard work.

Rog continues work on the tree he is carving for the bathroom window. He is so doggone artistic. It takes incredible patience and talent.

On the 21st, the rain let up and let us enjoy the Solstice bonfire at the Blooms. Great stew, homemade bread and yule log. A perfect evening.

The next morning, we returned to the Blooms for gifts. Always fun to watch the kids open their gifts. Of course they had their usual scavenger hunts for their main gift. Because Solstice was on a Saturday this year, Ryan and Beth were able to join us. So, fun for all.

That afternoon, we all got together with the other Lloyds for the annual holiday lasagna dinner.at our place. There were 15 of us, so quite the crowd. After dinner, Beth had organized a couple of wild games for us. Quite the chaos and a lot of fun.

On the 23rd, we drove down to Modesto to meet our old cruising friends, Ken and Roberta, for lunch at Mimi’s. They drove up from visiting family in Fresno. It was so good to see them. It was like there has not been a 10 year period since we last saw them. They haven’t changed a bit. Rog and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve with popcorn and cheesy Christmas movies. On Christmas morning, we had breakfast at Ryan and Beth’s. Mary joined us and we enjoyed a delicious meal of breakfast croissants. In the afternoon, everyone came over for Christmas Dinner at our place. I cooked a prime rib in the oven while Rog cooked the turkey on the grill. Beth brought the saran ball for a wild time and we also played Reindeer Paws.

We said goodbye to 2024 at Aikido with a potluck get together. On to 2025!!!.