My Mother's Wisteria

...in all thier glory; cascading, dripping, filling the air with their fragrance, and the hum of busy bees working over every flower.





My Mother's Wisteria. My father and mother have...had the greenest thumbs of anyone I have ever met. Where ever we lived, they left the ground and explosion of life. They did that in their professions too. Then my father, and her father, both died 10 years ago. Her brother a few after that. She's pretty much alone. And as health issues have left her crippled and nearly blind and retired at far too early an age, she is having to sell her home in order to consolidate her funds. This means leaving the property where she shared her life with my dad, and raised my sister, myself and most of our friends. This will be her last year with the Wisteria, the pond and the birds that call her yard their home.

Meetin' AnDanna in SanFranna

Every fabulous couple deserves a condecending, snarky nickname. BrAngelina, TomKat, HillBillary...or at least that's the perception of those of us whose brains have been pulverized to mush by LA's mindless "newsertainment". (I know more about Celebrity Gossip than the average middle-american teenage girl, and I learned it all on the 10 o'clock news!). I only say this because I want to explain why I have an uncontrollable urge to refer to our friends Anna and Daniel by an adorable nickname like AnnaDanna (or perhaps BananaDana?). So, all tangents aside, guess who's in the states on a whirlwind tour? Yes, our good friends from Scotland, Dan and Anna. You may remember them from such previous posts as :Daniel and Anna's Wedding in New York. If you don't. Scroll down, or back, or whatever and check out the pix. They are adorable. And you'll find the "Joe meets food" pictures" strangely familiar!

OK - on to our tale. Bananadana were supposed to come stay with us last weekend, but due to some scheduling conflicts or outstanding warrents or something, they could only come as far South as San Fransico. So we decided to meet them for a lovely weekend in the city. And lovely it was!



We found a lovely B&B 2 blocks off of Market on Castro (that's the actual Gay center point of the United States) called the "Whelan House" (http://www.homeguest.com/) where Andy took great care of us. But Modernists, beware. This ode to excess is not for the faint of decor-heart. To say his Victorian is chock full of crap is an understatement. But somehow, it all works and makes for a lovely, homey place to stay.



Now, the real reason to stay in The Castro is because only a few stumbling blocks away are the best pancakes ever made...ever. We refer to them as Crack Pancakes. I know, not orignal, but aptly named. Crack Pancakes can be found at CrepeVine, which is just off Market on Church. 216 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114, (415) 431-4646 ) Offically named the "Swedish Oatmeal Pancake", these little dollops of heaven are crispy on the outside and so moist on the inside that they are almost like pudding! They have to be tasted to be believed. They must use Oatmeal soaked in condensed milk. I have no idea how they do it, but they do and you should. Eat them, I mean. Droooooooool.



Alright, so before we get to Anna and Dan, let me say they are nothing if not generous. They flew all the way from Scotland, drove down from Seattle, and still thought to bring us gifts from the far north, including this unusual tin of canned Haggis! Incredients are as you can see. Mouthwatering!



To make a short story short, for once, it was great to see Anna and Dan, if only for a short time. While in SF we took in some food, a little shopping,

Time to catch up...

That little nagging voice in Joe's head explained!

There, that ought to get your attention! Ok - we're back. Ever since we returned from New Orleans we've been in a dead run. So many projects, so little time. Even so, we did have a little time for some fun. Let's take a look and see what we were up to!shall we?:



Our good friend Alexa (from New York) came for an extended visit (she was working in town, but staying with us). We promptly shoved her in a Pup-tent in the living room (actually quite comfortable) and made her feel right at home. While here, she and Joe (Joe and she? and Her? argh!)...they...the two blondes took a trip to Joshua Tree to take in the desert experience!







The following weekend we took her for a greuling hike up into Griffith Park to see the Batcave (yes "the batcave" from tv fame!) and the Hollywood sign. Lovely hike, but the toes paid for it! Ouch.







Finally, we took a tour of Watts towers. Look them up online. They are amazing! Like mini-Gaudi's, made from old pottery and cement, and yet incredible and magical. What a great experience. If you're in town, you must go see them!





And to wrap up - this last week I attended the wrap party for "My Friends Tigger and Pooh", the show I've been working on for the last year! It was great to hang out with all my T&P pals, including Angi (striped shirt), my AP and constant source of joy at work. Fun fun fun.





And as a bonus, we just found out that T&P is available as a free download on ITUNES - so GO GET IT! The first episode out the door contains MY show "Tigger's Shadow of a Doubt". Almost every shot, cut and gesture in there is mine, and I'm really proud of it. Check it out!

Thanks for checking in! More soon (and some updates on things I may have forgotten to mention!).