Good Signs

On Thursday I did indeed light a candle, for my baby.

I was surprised that on the fireplace, I found a very nice candle, that had never been used.

It got used for the wave of light, and it did a magnificent job (look at the beautiful colors).

I lit it a bit early, but let it go until 8PM, so it covered more than the minimum time.

I took this photo in the dark, but the camera shows off more details than I could see.

One of them is the fact that over on the far right, is a picture of us with our newborn son. I didn't realize that was showing.

Our wedding glasses, for all three weddings, our napkins for our first wedding, and a tray given as a gift, for our first wedding (with our names on it). In addition is the wedding invitation, over on the far left.

I did not deliberately set it all up, it is just there on the table.

The next morning, we ran the sprinklers, and suddenly I saw a rainbow.

I have never seen that on my sprinklers, so it was a good sign from above (IMHO).

I have recently learned that a mother carries a small number of her child's cells and DNA in her body long after pregnancy, a phenomenon known as fetal microchimerism. I never knew that.

Art Happens Here

My Ceramics building is right next to this one, and it always brightens my day.

This is the Santa Clarita Artists Association (SCAA).

They support artists who paint, and I am sure other things.

I painted through a school, so I never saw this place.

Though I am glad it is here, and available to creative people in the SCV.

Sometime, maybe, I will walk through it again, and see what they are.

Pregnancy And Infant Loss Day 2026

"The 2026 "Wave of Light" refers to the global, annual event on October 15th, which is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. To participate, people around the world light a candle at 7:00 PM local time and keep it lit for at least one hour to honor babies who have died during pregnancy or infancy. This creates a continuous "wave of light" that spans across time zones, symbolizing love and remembrance."

In the spirit of that, I will once again light a candle, for my baby who did not make it. My Son did, but the other baby did not.

It has been 36 years, but I remember, and send good thoughts to the baby who didn't get a chance.

We love you, and miss you.

My Ceramics II Class

Week 2 of my Ceramics II class brings me trimming of the pots I made in week 1.

The one I am most proud of, is the pumpkin.

It was another that used left over clay, after I had finished other pots.

We will see if it makes it past first firing.

As it ends up, I am not the only person who is in the Halloween mood.

I am seeing some cute things coming out of the classes.

I do believe this will be my last class. I do not seem to "get" making thin sides of pots. Mine are always very thick.

I am glad that I gave it another shot, though.

Things Seen While Shopping At Vons On Friday

We went shopping on Friday, and there seemed to be trouble, where we usually park.

We couldn't see what exactly the problem was, until we parked further out.

We have no idea how this happened, since we don't think anyone hit the vehicle.

I have never seen a tire assembly literally fall apart before.

The truck was still there, when we left, an hour later.

My Husband thought it might have needed a special vehicle, to get it onto a flatbed.

So sad to see, since the vehicle is obviously someones livelihood.

Pyramid Lake, Support During Fire Season

My Water Post For Today.

We have a fire going on, as I write this post.

The Super Scoopers are in the air and dipping out of Castaic Lake.

This lake, Pyramid, sends water down to Castaic, during the day, and I hope they are doing that, today.

We appreciate the fact that we have large bodies of water, for the planes, and helicopters to dip into.

It's a beautiful lake, and I hope you enjoy.

The Fall Pottery Sale

I have not gone to the Pottery Sale, since last Fall.

Off I went, because I can't resist, and I wanted to see some inspiration for my own pottery work.

Here are the two pots that I bought yesterday, and you can see I will never get to their level of talent.

The top photo is a pot that is somewhat similar to the one I bought last Fall. You can see it in THIS post.

It has a Native American look to it, and being that matches some of my home decorations, I immediately went for it.

It was made by Pottery by Naoko Kubo.

The second photo is a pot by a good friend, who I have bought pots from in the past, Michelle Marie Maga.

I usually get pumpkin/Fall creations from her, but this pot was so beautiful.

It looks like the sea shore, and there was no other like it, in her display.

I was so lucky to purchase it.

Is Anyone Else Having Problems With Using Their Credit Cards?

Our Family was recently purchasing our train travel trip in Canada.

We were using a card that offers travel purchases at 3%, so it was important to us, to use that card.

Nope, we had to go through multiple hoops to make it work for us.

Though we finally had success, and immediately sent the proof of what rooms we had booked, to my Son.

That's when he told us that the website rejected all three of his credit cards. He was very disappointed.

He ended up calling them the next morning, which was a good thing, because the representative booked him within 2 rooms of our room, same car and everything. We are all very happy, but that does not take away the fact that it was so much more complicated then it needed to be.

On top of that, the card we used, only gave my Husband a card, not me, though the card has me as an authorized user. We have had this card since the '80s, and we think that might be part of the problem.

We are working on that, but sheesh!

It should not be this hard.

Cheese, Sausage, And Potato Soup

This recipe came up on my email the other day, from Wilson's Cheese Shoppe (In Pinconning, Michigan)

We visited it, the last time we were in Michigan, and have eaten their cheese, upon occasion.

I thought it sounded good, so I bought half and half (instead of heavy cream), and had everything else "in-house".

FYI, I added Chinese noodles on top, for a bit of crunch.

Cheese, Sausage, and Potato Soup

Ingredients

1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced
4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded Pinconning Cheese, Mild or Medium works great
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup corn
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste
Chopped green onions or parsley for topping
Extra shredded Pinconning Cheese for serving

Directions

Brown the sliced sausage in a large soup pot. Remove and set aside.
Add butter and onion to the same pot. Cook until softened, then add the garlic.
Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
Slowly stir in the chicken broth. Add potatoes, thyme and smoked paprika.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Stir in the sausage, corn and heavy cream. Reduce the heat to low.
Add the Pinconning Cheese a handful at a time, stirring until creamy and melted. Avoid boiling once the cheese is added.
Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle into bowls and top with extra Pinconning Cheese and green onions.

Make it extra cozy: Serve it in a bread bowl or alongside thick slices of crusty bread for dipping.

For a sharper, richer fall flavor, use Sharp Pinconning Cheese instead of Mild, the aged cheese gives the soup a stronger cheesy bite.

New Roofs Are Happening

This is the second new roof on my block.

My next door neighbor did his a week earlier.

Yes, we are getting ready for El Niño, here in Santa Clarita.

We really should contact our plumber, to get our outside drains cleared.

Our roof should be OK right now, since we had it repaired in the Spring.

In the meantime, fires have been breaking out, north of Santa Clarita. Always a fun time...not.

There Was A Time In This Fair Land When The Railroad Did Not Run

"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real…"

I always loved this song, by Gordon Lightfoot. He was comissioned by CBC for the 100th Anniversary of Canada.

It brought me a wish that I have had for decades. I have always wanted to ride the railroad, across Canada.

Finally, we are trying to make that happen.

There is a big sale going on, right now. Similar to our once a year sale.

It is called the Canadian Black Friday sale, and if you go to the VIA website, it shows you different discounts.

30% off is the sale for the cross country trip. Through the rockies, and all the other places along the way.

Vancouver, Canada, to (in our case) Toronto, Canada.

The price given is in Canadian, so you need to convert it to US Dollars, to find out what you will be charged.

If you have ever wanted to book this kind of trip, now is the time to do it.

The sale lasts through this weekend.

Interested, check it out.

PBS Is 56 Years Old

PBS is 56 years old (as of yesterday). An old PBS logo for you to view, is HERE.

A year or so ago, you would not have bet on us surviving...but here we are.

Holding our own in a crazy world.

Keep sending money their way. Buy a shirt or something.

It doesn't hurt, and it helps them in more ways then you know.

Tiburon

My Water Post For Today.

I bring you back to Tiburon, in the San Francisco Bay.

Cute houses line the shore (I would like to live in one).

Waves crash onto the rocks, to hopefully protect them from damage.

Though they are a bit away from the shoreline itself.

I hope you enjoy.

Newhall Crossings

We bought tee-shirts to help support the recent fire in Downtown Newhall.

The pick-up location was our Newhall Farmers Market.

Not an easy place to find a parking space, so we finally ended up in the parking structure.

We had never used it, so this was a first for us.

It is part of a complex called Newhall Crossings.

It contains the Laemmle Theater (which we have never used).

Adding to things we could use it for, it is right across the street from the Newhall Metrolink Station. Unfortunately, no overnight parking.

We are not pub goers, so Maginns is not for us.

It was an interesting experience, so now I can say I saw it.

Chop Suey, Without A Recipe

I saw they had cut beef for stir fry, 30% off. I had a 20% off coupon for everything in the store, so with both coupons, I bought it and decided to make stir fry, once again.

The legitimate recipe from 2025 is HERE.

I just did what I expected it to need, and after looking at the recipe, I was very close.

I did not put bean sprouts in it, and it actually did not need it.

I put a can of water chestnuts in, and that gave it a bit of crunch, as did my caramelized ginger.

All in all, a nice dinner, which I paired with fried rice, egg rolls, and crispy noodles from Grand Panda.

If I had bought everything there, it would have been close to $50. Instead, it was $27 and I have lots of leftovers.