The two Fs: FOPAL and Filoli

Good morning, alliterative reader, because we find ourselves in a phase of matching initial letters. In the mornings I find myself running through the 3 Cs (coffee, cornflakes, Calm), and this week's excitement has been provided by the titular Fs.

FOPAL is the Friends of Palo Alto Libraries. Helen helps out here as a volunteer, sorting and pricing books for their monthly booksales. Now of course, those have been cancelled since the days of COVID, but just recently they've started to accommodate customers through appointment slots, ensuring there's a continuing throughput of newly donated books and items for sale, as customers come and fill up on the various treasures found in the sale.

As with anything based on donations and folks clearing out their attics, there are the occasional gems. And as you might expect, a few of those find their way to our house. This week, Helen's picked up a massive 'USA Cookbook', as well as this rather splendid poster:

Now this has a lot to recommend it. Firstly, it was a bargain at just $7. Secondly, it talks about the "Rock Island System", which immediately conjures the spirit of the great Lonnie Donegan. And finally, well, it's a railway poster - what's not to like there?

We also visited our local stately home, Filoli, last week. Filoli has what's called a "gentleman's orchard", and despite sounding like a bizarre euphemism, this is actually a collection of fruit trees which are more for enjoyment and study than for ruthless production. I have to say, there's a lot of trees there:

We enjoyed sitting under a tree here, eating a picnic and drinking apple cider (which, as I've mentioned before, is by default a non-alcoholic drink here - America, we still need to talk about words).

This week has felt a lot more like Autumn here, with temperatures dropping and the days shortening. As I write this, we're preparing to head up to Seattle, which we expect to be a little more like Autumn in the UK, weather-wise. Unfortunately, we're not taking the Rock Island Line!