CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', Day 3, July 26

One more note from yesterday after dinner--Maureen and I took a long walk in her neighborhood, checking out the beautiful yards, the Mountain View Library, several parks, City Hall and the Performing Arts Center (all in the same complex), and the community swimming pool, a beautiful Olympic-size pool. I took some good pictures, as the light was very mellow and almost transcendent. After we got home, Maureen took care of her emails while I watched several Britcoms on PBS, including "Keeping up Appearances," one of my favorites, as well as two "Mr. Bean" episodes with the inimitable Rowan Atkinson. At midnight, we both went to bed. Today, we had pancakes at about 9:00 a.m., then discussed our future plans. We had talked to Alexandra about her birthday dinner. She mentioned fish, but Maureen never eats fish, so Alexandra asked for chicken a la king, for which Maureen has a recipe. She will fix it for Alexandra's dinner on Saturday night, over rice, with chow mein noodles on the top. We are also going to have broccoli as well as a green salad of some sort, and of course will have the Chinese mocha / almond cake we are picking up on Saturday. Sounds like a fine combination. After discussing our plans for her birthday as well as our upcoming trip to Mendocino, we both got ready to be gone for the day. Maureen had to go in to work for five hours, while she dropped me off at the Allied Arts Guild, complete with historic Spanish Colonial architecture, unique shops and artists' studios. It also has a restaurant and hosts private events. All of its Spanish Colonial buildings sit amid lush, seasonal gardens. In 1929, the Merners, along with architect Gardner Dailey and their artist friends, the deLemos, set out to realize their dream of creating a European-style craft guild on 3.5 acres of land purchased from the Rancho de las Pulgas. Their purpose was to create and foster appreciation of the development of education and promotion of the arts and handicrafts of California. Original buildings were preserved and new ones constructed in traditional Spanish Colonial style. Unique art work was added, such as tile and cement murals by Pedro deLemos which enliven Cervantes Court, and fine frescoes by Maxine Albro, student of Diego Rivera. Allied Art Guild's reputation as a showplace is equaled by its philanthropic purpose: the care of critically ill children at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. The gardens were so breathtaking, interspersed with fountains and always backed by the warm and mellow ocher of the Colonial architecture and its lovely tiles, iron grillwork, and innumerable other decorative touches. I took an initial saunter through the gardens, snapping photograph after photograph, and then visited the following shops throughout the day: the Artisan Shop, Special Handling Pottery, Esther Baran Artwork, The Barn Woodshop, Portola Art Gallery, and David Bagazzi's Jewelry. I actually bought a glass pendant by Carolyn Wang from San Francisco, who will only be displaying her work at the Portola until the end of August. It is a lovely pendant, oval in shape, with gradations of yellow and orange striated throughout. It is a lovely acquisition! While there, waiting for Maureen to finish work, I had lunch at the Blue Garden, outside and by a fountain. The breeze was stirring lightly and the temperature was a perfect 72, with not a cloud in the sky. I had what was called a Mediterranean Sampler, which consisted of pita bread and dollops of hummus, ziziki, and baba ganesh. The first I loved, the second, liked, and the third I tolerated. While there I read and made some phone calls to several people, among them Rusry, Alexandra, and Alice, all of whom wished they were there with me. What a lovely morning and afternoon! At about 5:00 p.m., Maureen came for me and we went to Max's Opera Cafe and had sweet potato fries and nachos, both of which were very good. Afterwards we bought produce at the Milk Pail and a few groceries at Safeway before returning home. At this moment, Maureen is preparing eggs for egg salad tomorrow afternoon (we are going to have a picnic on the grounds of the de Young Museum in San Francisco tomorrow with the three I's and Alexandra). Additionally, she is making a batch of brownies for the occasion as well. Besides the picnic tomorrow, we are also going to attend a Tango performance there, so it should prove exciting. More tomorrow! Toodle-oo! SV