Berkeley Wednesday with Maddie

So Wednesday we went to Berkeley with Maddie. And what did we do? We drove around places we used to drive. We took her up to Smyth Fernwald where the eucalyptus was chopped down, the plantings and oak trees are filling in, and I still don't understand the people who would live there and drive a BMW SUV (who are these people?).
We went to Monterey Market to rejoice in their produce (there are two kinds of people in Berkeley: the Monterey Market kind, and the Berkeley Bowl kind -- we became the former when we lived on MLK and never did convert). Then we went to the Berkeley horticultural nursery where Rob was very good and didn't buy any live plants this year (it was a ticklish business getting home a clematis a few years back), but exulted in their water plants and bought some seeds.
We stopped by Mr. Mopps and checked out all of the classic and politically correct and environmentally friendly toys.
Then we drove down Solano and went to Sweet Potatoes where we managed to clean up on clothes for Omega and Maddie. It felt like a real Berkeley day.

Comments

Zina said…
Yep, sounds like a perfect Berkeley day -- only we're Berkeley Bowlers, and I'd also have to get in a trip to Stonemountain and Daughter and Lacis.
8:10 AM
Zina said…
And does that sign above the artichokes say .98 each? Wow. I haven't found them for less than $2.00/each in Utah this year, even though it's artichoke season. And usually they're more than that. Oh well, I guess the cost of driving to California would cancel out the savings on the artichokes . . .
8:13 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohr im Hemd

Image
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts,
Read more

The Trip Home: A Report Card

Image
Our Itinerary: Stuttgart to Atlanta and Atlanta to Salt Lake. It was a good schedule, flying out at 11:00am and getting in at 9:00pm on the same day (flying back across 8 time zones too, so about 23 hours of travel door to door). German taxi driver: A+. cheerful, knowledgeable, efficient and with candy for the kids Stuttgart airport: C-. inefficient, poorly-designed, and not very helpful; had to show our passports 5 times in 5 different places. took 1 1/2 hours to process us from curb to gate. ugh. Delta: B-. The flight attendants all looked "rid hard & put away wet" and the bare bones service just can't keep up with their [government subsidized] European counterparts with their dewy-skinned attendants, steaming towels, toys for the kids, and gourmet meals instead of astronaut food served in foil pouches. They got us there and did it on time, but it feels more and more like riding on a bus with a lot of rules. German Family With Four Kids Who Sat Next To Us On The
Read more

Blue and Gold Cake Contest

Image
Have we mentioned that Rob is now the Cubmaster? It was something of a shock, but it has been great for getting the boys excited about scouting (and let's face facts: Rob and I are lukewarm at best on a paramilitary, homophobic, psuedo-Hitler Youth organization, so our boys were destined to embrace it wholeheartedly from the start). One of the first arguments that Rob ever won with his parents was over scouting. They had moved into a neighborhood with no other kids his age, and so his eagle project would have been almost entirely solo (with some help from his younger brother). He proposed that instead of getting his eagle, he work towards becoming a Sterling Scholar in foreign languages at OHS. His parents finally agreed, and he did make Sterling Scholar at OHS, and went on to become the statewide foreign language Sterling Scholar. So my husband is one merit badge and an eagle project shy of his eagle, which just so happens (Freudianly?) to be exactly the same as my brother, Mr. T
Read more