The holidaze 2006

Tim & Leslie sit near me-in-hat and my friend...not sure which friend this would be...she's too hefty to be Angela and her hair isn't cute like Karen's. She's wearing little heels so it can't be Penny with her bum foot. Chris never wears dresses. She is too sedate to be any of the Lynch Sisters. I guess she's just some woman who happened to be sitting on the bench when we swooped in.

Mark and Jennifer joined us next. If the day hadn't been so cold we probably would have had even more fun with the camera. 

Its beginning to look a lot like...I'm running out of time

No way am I gonna' get everything done before the kids start arriving next Saturday! Too many interruptions; practice taking pictures with new camera, decorate Xmas tree (the one in the house), wrap presents, find lump of coal for brother, prune Lantana (WHY does that stuff smell so awful?!), find glasses which fell off head somewhere on this 2.5 acres, clean kitty litter box, play with camera, write notes in Xmas cards...try to remember how to draw letters....e-mail does terrible things to one's use of English as well as one's penmanship...gather egg...(yes, that's right. One hen is laying an egg every other day in the box by the patio door. I have no idea where the other hen is depositing her eggs.) , Order one more thing from Amazon.com....Who has time to clean the house? A coating of dog hair is a good thing. It will insulate us from the cold. We will gain more fiber in our diets. We will all become blond. Washed one window. Dusted one room.
Had to take another picture of the Christmas cactus. In my defense, it was slightly windy out today. That and I can't seem to hold the camera STILL. But, if you click on the picture to enlarge it, it isn't that bad! 

Mother Nature's Christmas colors

I can't think of one clever thing to say about anything so you'll just get to look at the pretty plant life and make up your own story. 

winterized

Oops. Someone gently reminded me this morning that it was the WOLF who huffed & puffed. NOT the 3 pigs. Hey, I was tired. ;>)


Good thing Maud got her rain poncho on today because the storm blew in at 6:50pm and it is a wet one. It felt like the Three Gigantamous Pigs were huffing and puffing and about to blow the house down for a few minutes but it seems to be more rain than wind now. Odd to have wind gusts from the sw. I hear an overflowing gutter outside the den window. Overflowing or has it too rotted through? I'm just not real brave about climbing up ladders any more. Did get the front gutters and the south gutters de-leafed recently
but sort of, um, forgot, about the gutters on the north side.

Fall color

I'm wondering what this coleus looks like after last night's frigid temperatures. It didn't occur to me to look at it this morning and it was dark when I got home tonight. Guessing it either looks like mush or a bunch of leafless stalks. There was also a beautiful purple potato vine to the right until the deer discovered it.

Its only 3 weeks until Winter Solstice. Happy, happy, Joy, joy! The daylight hours will be stretching out again! Even though my body won't actually start feeling that change until late January, just knowing that the daylight hours are soon to be incrementally longer puts me in a better mood. I don't do winter well. 

tree dahlia envy

Though my tree dahlia is 13' tall, it has nary a bud. It really does not get enough sun and yes, it probably could use a dose of fertilizer. So far, it has not been nipped by Jack Frost.










Angela's tree dahlia is only about 10' tall but has this lovely, lovely bloom plus many more buds. Her's does get more sun but did get nipped by Jack Frost in spite of being next to her warm stucco flavored house. Go figure!

BURP!

This is a photograph of my stomach after yesterday's wonderful Thanksgiving meal at Friend Karen's. I thought I'd filled my plate with demur helpings but once eaten, the helpings felt more like 4 fist-fulls. Oh my! Her son, Brett, had smoked the turkey in the bar-b-q and it was PERFECT; just smokey enough and not too smokey, moist, and super flavorful. Karen had sliced the sweet potatoes and baked them with walnuts and other magical ingredients (sorry, can't remember the details. Brain was in slow mode aka digestive fog), the dressing included mushrooms and pine nuts. There were cold green beans with bacon and tomatoes, smashed potatoes with gravy, cole slaw, whole berry cranberry sauce with more magical ingrediants and then there was dessert! Friend Al had made a wonderful pumpkin cheesecake which he'd delivered the day before owing to previous commitments for Thanksgiving Day. There were also unapproved-by-Jenny Craig choices of pecan pie and ice cream. Nobody was counting points either! Chips and dips and chocolate and crackers and goat cheese and even a little veggie tray were keeping fingers and mouths busy. I'm still full this morning. We are thinking that it really ought to be Thanksgiving Breakfast. Then everyone could spend the rest of the day walking all those calories off. 

succulentaholic

IF you were reading the blog of an organized person there would be a nice & tidy list naming all the plants in the photos. Well, you aren't! I know that the little blue tag belongs to something from Annie's Annuals...hmmm, wonder which something. Oh yes, there are books in my personal library which would tell me who's who (whom?) and what's what but that would mean taking the time to research, and write down, and...well, its just more fun to grow the darn things. Besides, it would get written down and then misplaced, only to surface some day when the kids have to plow through all my stuff after I've been composted, and by then the plants will have been transplanted into other things..maybe the ground even. Yeah, just easier to plant and enjoy.
The middle collection is actually a pre-planted pot from Home Depot. It is nestled in one of those fake urns one can buy at discount stores and then paint with amusement and abandonment. Golly, I do love spray paint!

The bottom photo includes the cool Cheshire cat planter that my daughter bought for me when we went to Mendocino about a bazillion years ago. Its plant is a Lewisia! (found the tag) There is also, in that photo, the ginormous aloe vera that I bought at the 99 Cent Store! And yes, it was dang near this big when I bought it! ('tis a wee bit tattered due to some chicken activity last spring) Anyhow, this is only part of the collection. I am afraid there is more...

Totally off the subject of plant life and spray paint, I am delighted that Fox decided against airing oj's story and book promotion. That is one sick man! I won't dignify him with caps.

I was supposed to play with my new camera but the grismalness of the day (fog. gray. dismal) turned me into a slug that alternately munched through the contents of the fridge and oozed into the cushions of the sofa with the dog and the cat.

Toodles~ 

etcetera

Having fun with new camera! Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

Autumnal colors

Scarlet the Oak is beautiful this time of the year but then, she's beautiful in her summer greens too. She's not so very pretty in the winter when she's clad in a dull brown though. She has grown at an alarming rate in the 8 or 9 years she's been planted here. She cost a small fortune...then a volunteer red oak came up near by and though slimmer, is almost as tall. And free. (she's the one in the orange/yellow/green duds in the 2nd photo) My brother and I planted Scarlet in memory of our parents...with the thought "its an oak! Nobody will be able to legally cut her down." Flawed, that. She's not a native. Our thoughts were pure.
Still, I hope that whomever buys this place someday does not bulldoze the entire 2.5 acres to build McMansions. Earth friendly "green" homes would be nice, especially if the builder left as many trees as possible. I just can't believe that there are not still folks out there who want a yard along with a house! If people don't want yards why don't they live in condos or apartments? I can't imagine being yardless! 2.5 acres, however, is a bit much.
The fawn was wandering around the yard by itself today. Mom was probably here too but I didn't see her. Note; Deer do not seem to care for coleus, begonias, lamium, kangaroo paw, vinca, iris, ginger, nor canna. Wouldn't it be nice if they "just loved" to eat Bermuda grass?

 

Gotta' love Ikea!

Its SO 60's! Found this at Ikea and just HAD to have it. It gets rather lost in the business of olive trees, pomegranite trees, Sycamore trees...but hey, I like it. Of course, you have to know that I broke one of the red discs off while trying to assemble this thing. It was repaired with "Clear Victory 1991*1A*" which is a strong contact adhesive. The mobil has been hanging outside for a couple of weeks now, in sun, wind and rain, and nothing has fallen off.

The flag looks untidy because it was at "half mast" in honor of Deputy Jeff Mitchell, who was recently gunned down in the line of duty. 

Merry Marigolds

Marigolds make me think back to the California State Fairs of the 1950's. The old fairgrounds off Broadway were shady. We used to picnic on the big lawn in front of the wonderful Counties Building. Meeting by the Golden Bears was standard proceedure. There were young boys wandering around the fairgrounds selling the Bee with their singsong call of "Sacramento BEE Pay-per!" Those were the days when the counties went all out with marvelous moving displays and fresh fruit and veggies. Today's displays seem to lack imagination and often contain plastic "crops". There was a huge greenhouse to walk through, with waterfalls and tropical plants. The racetrack was lined with eucalyptus trees and I so envied the little boys who got to work in the stable areas. The state fair of yesteryear was all about crops, both livestock as well as edible and wearable (cotton). It helped the city folk connect with the bounties of the earth and gave the country folk a place to admire and/or show off their produce. Today's state fair seems to be more about manufactured "things". There is more space given to "stuff" than to livestock and produce. Personally I think that the farther we get away from dirt and growing things, the more we lose touch with reality. I'll get off my little soap box now. 

Fall colors

so this is some of the October color here on the homestead. OK. I'm ready for spring now.

dancing bones

I must admit that I hope for a red light when I reach the intersection of Arden and Watt just so I can watch this skeleton dance. It really boogies! No wonder its so slim. On the backside, the bones are green. This side is much cooler.

This is a great reminder of what good exercise dancing is. 16 years ago when I was going out dancing every weekend, I too was skinny! Its pretty obvious that this body has not danced in a long time.

Somebody throw a big dancing shindig and invite me! ;>) 

Maude on guard!

Maud is now keeping an eye on who might be coming up the driveway. I don't think she'd really toss that rock but then again, I'm not entirely sure what she's drinking from that Margarita glass. Kinda wish she'd get off her lazy duff and rake the leaves or at least water the thirsty plant life. No rain and a pretty good breeze this past week have dried things out quite a bit. Good thing the temperatures have been cool. People who have real jobs and no automatic sprinklers are often watering in the dark this time of the year. Fall rains will be welcome, even if I loathe the shortness of daylight. Fall? Bah! Humbug! 

Happy, Happy, Joy! Joy!

Mel Brooks must have picked up my life script again because today I got a call from the security dept at the local large mall, stating that they had my wallet! I drove the 7 miles over there in a very skeptic (skeptical?) frame of mind....but there it was! My missing wallet. Containing all my missing credit cards, driver's license, notes, cards, frequent shopper cards, and my LIBRARY CARD! No cash of course but there was less than $20.00 in there when they took it. All the checks are there. Why the thieves scribbled on two of the checks is beyond me. Doesn't matter since that account is closed. Nice to have the check register so that I can see which checks did NOT clear before the acct was closed. I'll have some explaining to do for 6 of them. It could have been much worse. As for the thieves, I hope that their lives/circumstances improve so that they don't have to steal to survive. They can't be all bad; they did make it possible for me to regain my stuff. Perhaps the little silver "lucky frog" that lived in my coin purse will bring them good luck. 

Frazzled

Ladies, know where your purse is at ALL times and if you have to put it in a safe place while you work, put it under lock and key! On Wednesday, while my boss and I were busy with customers, a "lady" took advantage of the situation and helped herself to my wallet. Mind you, my wallet was in my purse which was IN our back room, IN my locker, which was NOT locked. She managed to sneak back there, get the wallet, HIDE the purse on the OTHER side of the back room (!) and saunter out without either of us noticing her. I had no idea that I'd been victimized until a "police officer" called me at the store and said that he had a young man under arrest for "trying to cash 3 checks at your credit union and claiming to be your son." The red flags were popping in my brain like beans in a microwave. He also gave me "his" name and badge #, told me that there were 3 more officers searching the car in which this young man had been seen, and would I please talk to the teller at the credit union for a moment." The lady told me about "the three checks this young man had tried to cash" and then asked me to stay on the line "because the officer wants to talk to you again." click. Hmmmm. You got it! They hung up. So I called Sac. City PD and found out there was no officer by that name and that their badge numbers don't even go that high. Then I called the credit union's service center. The nice man there called 6 different branches in Sac.; nary a one of which had had any police activity. Also, there had been no electronic notations made on my account by credit union employees. Apparantly this couple thought that if I thought the police were already involved, I would not call my credit union nor stop my credit cards. Boy, were they wrong! there was a theft report filed with the county sheriff right away. The cards were cancelled. My bank account numbers were changed. Today the nice man at the Sheriff's Dept. Service Center gave me a number to call that I want to share with you. I not only got my credit history, I was also able to put a 90 day Fraud Alert on my SSN. There was no charge. The company is Experian. Their phone number is 1-888-397-3742 or you can do this all on line at www.Experian.com/fraud . There has been no "activity" on any of my cards. I did have to go get a new driver's license today for $20.00 and what is certain to be a horrific photo. oh well. I did not know that my purse had been hidden until one of my co-workers discovered it this morning. So the wallet (new, but cheap) is gone, the pictures of the kids are gone, an assortment of business cards, small change and maybe $15.00 is gone along with the driver's license and the credit cards but there may still be treasures in the purse itself. I didn't go fetch it because I was too busy talking to police, credit card people, the DMV, and warning a lady in PriceLess that she should never leave her purse unattended in the shopping cart. I will fetch the purse tomorrow when I return to the real world. Be careful, not everyone is nice like us! 

Kazatska

This sculpture was my favorite thing at the Calif. State Fair this year. Well, next to attending the fair with my forever friends, Chris & Tom, it was my favorite thing. I have tried to find out more about it but it seems to be elusive. I think it was created by Gene "Red" Estes from Clovis. He was/is a famous coach at Fresno State....I can't find anything refering to his art! This fabulous collection of used car particus and ventilation "spinners" and whatnot is probably at least 10' tall and yes, it does move. It would look absolutely fabulous in my garden or under Angela's big oak tree. 

Random thoughts

I can not believe that today is the last day of August! It must have flown due to #1. my Dental Adventure, #2. The possibility that I might actually get to move to Corvallis, OR., and #3. My back spasms which have me walking like a troll.

Now I just need my very own digital camera so that current pictures can be posted.

There are two beautiful Bantam (Banty) roosters wanting new homes here. One is red and the other is black and white. I do not mind crowing and thus far, the neighbors have stated that they enjoy hearing the "boys" (there have been roosters crowing here for the past 8 years) but fertile eggs, if not discovered, result in even MORE chickens and MORE roosters and, well, I've had enough. Chickens are the most wonderful garden helpers (if one doesn't have too many of them). There are virtually no snails on this place any more. There is an abundance of fresh fertilizer. There are delicious fresh eggs to eat. I do not want to be henless, just roosterless. Anyhow, these fellows are penned and/or caged now and really, really want to wander around someone else's property. And, they're FREE!

#^*!#!! deer

The black potato vine was showing itself off nicely last month and laughing at its chartreuse cousin who'd just had all its leaves eaten off by Bambi and friends. Naively, I thought "Well, at least they don't like the black ones nor the pink and green ones." The deer came back to prune another of the chartreuse potato vines before I got "clever" and hung them higher and closer to the house. Or so I thought.

Since they had not bothered this black one, it got left out in the middle of the front lawn. It was quite pretty and growing quickly until....



a few days ago. Now it is a vine of sticks too. The vines DO grow back nice and thick so there is a good lesson in pruning here, but golly gee whiz! After tasting this one, they sampled the pink and green one too. Wish they'd just stick to defoliating the perennial morningglory.