My parents will celebrate their 59th wedding anniversary this Sunday. My father recently had a bad fall and has been in the hospital – we are thankful that he got back home today. Happy day folks!
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 1951-2011 by Katy Dickinson
Category Archives: Home & Family
Wedding Shopping
We went shopping on Sunday for wedding party outfits. The Mother of the Groom, the Bride, the Maid of Honor, and I went to the Valley Fair mall Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. This post is partly to celebrate the girl fun we had and partly to publish the colors we picked (teal, hot pink, white, black) so that the rest of the wedding party can coordinate if that is their desire.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Wedding cake, flowers, catering
My daughter Jessica just paid the deposit on her wedding catering. Mimi Chiang-Brown at Flower Flour in Willow Glen is providing both the flowers and the food for August’s big event. Costco is providing the cake (Bride’s choice!).
Jessica and Matthew (The Couple) and Paul (Groomsman) and I (Mother of the Bride) went last Saturday to Flower Flour to look at pictures and discuss plans. The same day, Jessica and I also visited the deliriously colorful Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to buy 2-1/2 yards of pink-violet raw silk for a sash for her dress for the reception.
Tomorrow, the Mother of the Groom, the Bride, the Maid of Honor, and I are going shopping to buy the Mothers of the Couple their dresses. I am torturing Jessica by saying that we will be looking for matching polkadot miniskirts…
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Win Ng Chicken, Cube
In 2008, I wrote a blog entry about the hand-made ceramic Win Ng Chicken cooker my mother gave me. This year, she gave me the Win Ng ceramic cube that used to grace her back deck in San Francisco. This is a handsome and exceptionally sturdy sculpture, used as a favorite family seat since I was a child. It continues in this beloved and useful role in my San Jose living room.
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Arduino vs. Tino
 |
. |  |
My husband John is spending his free time preparing to give several talks at the National Model Railroad Association convention in Sacramento California early next month. He has been working for months on a demonstration unit to support his presentations – showing what a model railroad would look like of it was designed and wired as a series of control points connected by a codeline instead of in the usual arbitrary, hodgepodge ways. (A codeline delivers indications from the field to the train dispatcher, and sends commands from the dispatcher to the field.) John models in HO Scale when he is not working on our “prototype” caboose WP 668 in the back yard.
John’s project mostly looks like lots of blinky lights – especially when his office is dark. However, he tells me that this is state-of-the-art for model train layout wiring. John is in a running battle with our cat Tino, who likes to chew on little wires and keeps sneaking in to disable the Arduino.
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
Negotiating for an Old Brass Pot
About two years ago, I took a liking to a large old brass pot in a local shop here in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). 2′ tall, with three feet ending in big claws, and two faces with rings in their mouths for handles, it had charm. I started negotiating. Having successfully purchased items in the souq in my travels in the Middle East, I enjoyed the slow negotiation here at home.
The store owner said that the pot was a genuine antique, valued at $5,000 but it had been in the store for a long time, so she was willing to part with it for $2,000. I was not interested and left that day. A few months later, I was back in the store admiring the pot again. The owner said she might come down a bit from her original price: was I interested in paying $1,500? Nope – I left that day too. The next year I went back and asked if the pot (which was not by the front display case any more) had sold? No – it was now in the basement, marked down to $1,000. Still I was not interested.
Then, a few months ago, I saw that the store was moving. I went in to ask about the pot. The owner’s brother was in charge. He said the price was now $500 because they needed to clear out the store quickly. I was interested but not willing to pay that much. I offered $200. We settled on $250. I am now the owner of an old brass pot, provenance unknown, value unknown, original purpose unknown, but an enjoyable new feature of my living room nonetheless.
Please leave a comment if you think know anything about my old brass pot: Where did it come from? What was its intended purpose? Who made it? The stamped mark on the bottom (pictured below) has 3 intertwined initials with an ampersand: SW&S or S&WS or S&SW or W&SS ? (hard to read).
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Interviewed on TV about FEMA Flood Refund
Update: The San Francisco Bay Area CBS News affiliate ran a version of this story called ConsumerWatch: Storm Brewing Over New Flood Maps on 8 June 2011.
 |
. |  |
I was recently interviewed in San Jose California for a CBS news story that ran today in Cleveland Ohio about getting a refund for FEMA flood insurance last year. It seems that very few homeowners have been able to actually get a refund for wrongly-required home insurance. Here is the interesting video story by reporter Danielle Serino (CBS 19):
Danielle’s Doghouse: FEMA
With all the flooding we’ve seen there are probably a lot of people thankful they have flood insurance. But what if you know you don’t need it, but have to buy it anyway? It’s happening thanks to FEMA, that’s why the agency is in Danielle’s Doghouse.
Last Modified: // May 20, 2011 8:16 PM
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
KatysBlog 