13 December 2013

December 11ths past

Sometimes when I don't have anything better to do, I snoop around on my own computer to look at different photos I've taken over the past 11 years. Yes, yesterday marked the 11th anniversary of the day we saw this house for the first time. Six months later, we crossed the Atlantic and moved in.

December 11, 2013: Leek and bacon pizza — pizza aux poireaux et aux lardons

On Wednesday 11 December, two days ago, Walt was in the kitchen making us a couple of pizzas for lunch. They were going to be leek and bacon pizzas, one of his favorites. We hadn't had leek and bacon pizzas in a while. Walt first started making them some 15 years ago, when we still lived in San Francisco.

To dress up this year's pizza, we liberally sprinkled on grated parmesan cheese at the table.

Since I wasn't working in the kitchen, I opened up a folder of photos from December 11, 2004. What did I find? Well, on that day, nine years ago, Walt made leek and bacon pizzas too. It was a funny coincidence.

On December 11, 2004, we had the same kind of pizza. It wasn't the first time, or the last.

This morning, I had a look at the photos I took on December 11 in 2003 and in 2005. Here are two of them.

On December 11, 2003, we were amazed by one of the first winter sunrises we saw from the kitchen window of our 'new' house.

Collette was Callie's predecessor in our household. The photo dates from 11 Dec. 2005.

Collette was a dog we rescued from the Humane Society shelter in Santa Clara, California, in 1992. She was six months old and had been found wandering the streets with no collar or tag. She moved to France with us in 2003, at the age of 11½. And then she passed away at the age of 14, three or four months after I took this photo.

P.S. Today is CHM's birthday. Happy Birthday to him, and many happy returns of the day.

17 comments:

  1. Those pizzas look really tasty! And what a lovely coat Collette had. What were her views on brushing?

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  2. Morning Ken...
    a great way to pass the time...
    but I note that pizza presentation seems to have improved!

    I agree with t'wife about the pizza...
    and Collette looks a lovely hound...
    glad she was rescued!!

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  3. Old photos always bring back old and treasured memories.
    Love Collette's photo.

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  4. Tim, I think the photography has probably improved some in nine years — both the photographer and the cameras.

    Pauline, Collette got less and less tolerant of the brushing as she got older. One groomer told me she had to put a muzzle on the dog before she could do a deep brushing.

    Virgina, Collete was a very pretty dog but she was very suspicious of strangers and would let only half a dozen people even touch or pet her. We think she had been mistreated before we got her, and had probably run away from home to become a stray.

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  5. Sweet Collette :) How nice for you to have both Collette and wonderful Callie in your lives.

    The coincidence of the leek and bacon pizza photos is something else! And, it looks great.

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  6. beautiful sunrise! and how fun about the pizza.. we had that for supper last nite. bacon and spinach tho
    ;-)

    happy birthday to CMH!

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  7. I love all the past and present photos.
    Happy birthday CHM!

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  8. Jaques Pépin says there is nothing like a leek. I am so happy to incorporate them into my food. I will be using them in my next pizza.

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  9. Happy birthday, chm!

    When are you going to start your own blog? We are waiting.

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  10. Happy happy Birthday, CHM! I hope your weather is improving.

    Another great post, Ken! Nice seeing Collette again- she was a beauty.

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  11. Second try at a post:
    Lovely sunrise from earlier times! Being a morning person does have it's benefits, n'est-ce pas? I love both sunrises and sunsets that are just filled with color.

    Collette's fall coloring was stunning which is more striking next to the browns and golds in the leaves around her.

    Now I really want to have a leek & bacon pizza. The parmesan cheese must have been a wise choice.

    December birthday wishes, CHM! Mine is coming up next week. It's nice that everyone always decorates for our celebrations (!)

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  12. Collette was a lucky dog to have been given a nice house by the both of you. A+ for getting the chance to be an expat on top of that :-)

    Joyeux Anniversaire Cher Cousin

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  13. Thank you all for your good wishes. It's been a busy day, sunny but rather cold. What can you expect in mid December?

    Carolyn, I'm not a gifted writer like my friend Ken, besides I have nothing of interest to talk about. So, I'm sorry to say, you may have to wait much, much longer. :—)

    Mary, have a nice, pleasant and happy anniversaire next week. Hope the weather will cooperate in your neck of the woods.

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  14. When you see these old photos of previous dogs, do you miss them?

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  15. Yes, Starman, I do miss Collette. Her nature was completely different from Callie's.

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