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Ready for spring!

The winter weather that brought snow on both sides of the bay also brought lots of wind and rain, and our house and garden have taken a severe beating the last couple of weeks. Last Monday, one of the city’s trees couldn’t take it anymore and fell, taking out a good chunk of our fence. Unfortunately, it also hit our new shed and damaged its roof and sides. From looking at the tree trunk, the tree was unhealthy, leaving the city to cover the repairs.

John and Olivia managed to get away for a weekend in Carmel while Adriana skied the slopes of Lake Tahoe. They had a great time, but it was cut short by the fallen tree and the risk of more coming down.

We have had a lot of activity around the pool and spa, and things are moving in the right direction but not without work and coordination from several parties, including us. We emptied the pool on the 23rd, and the sides were washed, cleaned, and treated with acid the day after. It took 24 hours and a lot of water to fill it again, but the ~72 hours were well spent, resulting in a pool that looks much better.

The spa also got some love. It’s been acting up several times, leaving us unable to heat it. Luckily the system set out while one of the pool technicians was there, so not only did we confirm that we were not crazy, it brought a good indication of which piece of hardware needed to replace. The pool company took care of that on Friday, and we’ll run tests in the coming week.

Last Sunday, most of the family – 16 of us – met at Kokkari in San Francisco to celebrate Adrian. Another corner turned. He came by for a birthday café latte the day before, but it was good to see everyone and give him that present – that’s what he treasures the most.

Downed tree that hit our new shed
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First Car for Adriana

Last weekend John and Olivia went to pick up a new car for Adriana. Olivia kept it hidden for a few days, but it was too much of a secret once Wednesday came around and sat in the garage when Adriana came home from school in the afternoon. Like with her sisters, this will undoubtedly free up Olivia’s time, and Adriana is already a self-proclaimed “great driver.”

John spent the weekend in Denmark while chasing that 3MM award with United. He spent time with his mom and saw great friends on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, Denmark had some of the worst winds in six years while he was there, and it was sometimes hard to walk outside when not protected by buildings. Still very cold there, but lovely to be out after 15+ hours on planes.

The winds have also been strong at home. We cleaned the yard more than once and are still looking for an excellent leaf vacuum for all the oak leaves that lands on the turf. Unfortunately, the pool sage continued, and we had to write a stern letter to get the acid wash of the plaster scheduled. We will have an update next time. The hot tub is also giving us trouble, and we can’t wait to get is all fixed. The pool cover is also acting up. “Aicham!” to quote Mr. Kim from Kim’s Convenience.

20230219: View from 8F – Copenhagen to Frankfurt
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Pre-Formal Dance in the Rain

The weekend brought more wind and more rain. We have reached what we usually get for the entire year, but everybody reacts with “we need it” when it is brought up in conversation. And while we have had damage two times so far, we’re delighted California is getting soaked, and the reserves are full.

On Saturday, we had 30 teenagers and 15-20 parents over for a couple of hours before the party bus took them to the Notre Dame formal dance. Very lively but well-behaved. The weather, unfortunately, wasn’t cooperating, and only one photo was captured outside.

John And Adriana prepared a bunch of balloons on Friday evening. Little did they know that they would start popping in the middle of the night and set off the house alarm that has a built-in gunshot detector… Luckily they didn’t all pop ahead of time!

Balloons galore!
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Mouth surgery for Adriana

The rain finally seems to have stopped. There’s more in the forecast, but nothing like what we got the first couple of weeks of ’23. The water was hard on our landscaping, and there will be lots of repair work over the next few weeks. The back fence also took a beating but overall, we were lucky compared to many other places and homes throughout California.

On Monday, Adriana had four wisdom teeth removed. It was a rough three hours, but she did pretty well once home. At least for the first two days while the strong medications were still available. She had a dry socket treated Friday – cloves brought almost instant relief. She’s delighted it’s a closed chapter.

The surgery coincided with the Hillsborough Water Works making good on their promise to tear down the two old water tanks in our backyard. Unfortunately, the demolition was not for the faint at heart, bringing an almost unbearable noise. How Adriana slept through some of it is a testament to the effectiveness of the medicine. The noise lasted all week and left a big pile of twister metal and iron that needed transport away from here.

Over the weekend, John spent 24 hours at the condo in Hawaii fixing TVs, Internet, and appliances. The weather wasn’t too inviting, so staying indoors and crossing things off the to-do list was easy.

2023-01-22 | One of the two water tanks being torn down
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Weekend in London

John spent the last few days of last week at the Fastly office in London. Hoping to escape the Bay Area rain, he quickly realized it had followed him to Europe. There were even hints of snow on the first day.

Thursday evening, John met with Penny’s sister Olivia, her husband George, their daughter Alice and Alice’s husband Dickie. Alice and Dickie had just opened a cocktail bar – Maremmano – in London in addition to their restaurant. A super lovely place built on the tapas concept but for Italian food. After drinks, John, Alice, and Dickie went to the restaurant – Maremma – and enjoyed Tuscan food until only one server was left in the whole restaurant. Lovely food – even better to catch up!

Friday afternoon was spent visiting Shackleton to discuss gear for John’s upcoming trip to Antarctica. It was followed up with afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental – an absolute must when in London. The evening entertainment was delivered by The 1975 at the 02 arena. Fantastic band and show provided by a band celebrating their 20th year together. 

John spent Saturday in Paris after a quick train ride across the channel. It felt good to revisit the riverside where John and Isabella spread Lyne’s ashes. But other than that, Paris was a cold and wet affaire this time, and John returned to London once his clothes were soaked, although not until he made it to the Eiffel Tower.

After packing Sunday morning, John went to see the “Slough House” building featured in Apple TV’s Slow Horses. Fun to see and great to be out on what turned out to be the only day with a blue sky and sun.

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Fifteen Years

Today, it’s been 15 years since we lost Lyne. There’s not much to write that we haven’t mentioned in years past. She’s forever present in our minds and hearts, and we continue to feel blessed that we got to know her.

Let this instead serve as a reminder that overall, the average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer. It also means there is a 7 in 8 chance she will never have the disease.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Only lung cancer kills more women each year.

Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. This means half of the women who developed breast cancer are 62 years of age or younger when they are diagnosed. A very small number of women diagnosed with breast cancer are younger than 45.

Breast cancer death rates have been decreasing steadily since 1989, for an overall decline of 43% through 2020. The decrease in death rates is believed to be the result of finding breast cancer earlier through screening and increased awareness, as well as better treatments. However, the decline has slowed slightly in recent years.

(in large parts from cancer.org)

Lyne’s memorial site remains www.lynepilon.com

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Done and Doner

We are closing the books on our pool and backyard project after five months and three weeks. That’s not counting the weekends spent on setting back the two retaining walls.

There is still an issue to be worked out with the pool, but as we can file it under regular maintenance, we’re not counting that as part of the project.

We are thrilled with the result, and it’s strange to look at the before and after pictures, realizing just how much has changed since June 6.

We’re still waiting for a pergola from Italy. It is scheduled to arrive in late February.

Here’s a before photo – working on some nice ones of how it looks today

545 Darrell Road – listing. Formatted for iPhone X

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One thing remaining!

Our landscaper – Erick Jacinto – and his crew have been working hard for the last three weeks. On Friday, they finished the last thing they could. We’re still waiting for one olive tree for the back patio, but all the prep work is done, so we’re willing to look past that to put a checkmark next to the to-do item.

It is great to see all the new plants and trees. The whole lot looks great all cleaned up with new mulch. In addition, we installed almost 40 new lights, and the backyard looks fantastic at all hours.

The pool bottom is looking better and better, but still not great, and we still don’t quite understand what happened. Given how much it’s changed in the last few weeks, there’s no reason not to think it’ll eventually be even, but it’s darker now compared to when it was first poured.

Work has started to tear down the water tanks next to our lot. That is excellent news, but the sad fact is that they will be replaced by a massive two-million gallons tank built right next to our lot. We sent the city a letter last week, which has resulted in a planned meeting on Tuesday. We are hopeful they will work with us to find a solution.

Landscaping almost done!