Randomness explained

A random list of photos, I know, but I am cleaning out my 'blog' file. These were meant to be posted a long, long time ago. Sigh, I have good intentions, but I just don't seem to put them at the top of my 'to do' list!

'Peace' in the garden, a gorgeous rose, originally named Rose d'Ore in France.

One of my favorite photos of Mike and Lefty at the Western Bonanza Livestock Show in February...Lefty was enjoying the people/cattle watching.

"The Wife of Bath" a lovely Austin rose, in full fig.

"Love-in-the-Mist" in a gorgeous blue, such a fun flower, with funny seed pods...a favorite as it will replant its self and come up over and over again.

"Peace" in Bud.

So there you have it, my collection of random photos...for now!

Just a Little Bit Behind....

Updated pictures of the garden

Looking towards the back fence and the garden shed

Looking towards the front, note morning glories I didn't plant!

Looking at the zinnias :) and Potatoes (a failure, just a pound for all the foliage) and the compost

A beautiful green tomato with 'glitter'-so pretty in the sun

Well, as you can see, I have not posted in a good long while...so many more important things to do and so, this blog has languished... However my garden did not languish. It grew and grew, especially the Italian squash, which went every where! Next year, I think I will plant one. Also, all the squash will go in pots! They need room to roam and I can put the beds to better use...
The tomatoes did well, even though they weren't ready until October. I just used the last of them up-after covering the plants against freezes and rain, I let them go and last weeks freezing did them in! Garden Clean up, here I come.

(More catch-up posts to come)

Just gotta catch up, some how!

Well, here it is the middle of August and I was going to try to post more often, well, at least weekly. Sigh. Today I haven't much time, we are off to see Randy Travis at the local fair. I love how he sings, and he is very nice and funny as well.

Our summer has been busy and the latest thing keeping me busy is my job, dog sitting Mike's new puppy (who is yet to be house broken, but we are working on that) and the garden. Darn fog has come in daily and the tomatoes are so slow in growing and ripening! I don't know about you, but I love good homegrown tomatoes-there is nothing like them! If I have extra I will freeze them...if I don't use them up in sauces or salsas that is :)

Here are some photos of the garden that I took before I traveled to San Diego to visit with my cousin Susan. By God's good grace, those plants have gotten bigger-I will have to take some more photos of them again!

Note the tomatoes in the buckets and bins-that is because they are heirlooms and I have bad luck with planting them in my soil. I followed the instructions found here and so far, so good. I only had about 5 die or simply disappear. :( And they left no forwarding address....
Okay, so I only have about 14 or 15 counting the volunteers...(why do they always do so well? I want to know the secret!!)


This is a shot of the zinnias, mint in pots, rhubarb in bigger pots and the potatoes (yes!) in the garbage can and the compost behind the barrel. The barrel will be planters for fruit trees next year, while the soil has been moved so it is not so unsightly.

A parting shot of the beautiful koi in a garden in Encinitas. With luck I will post more about that visit later...you should visit it if you are near there as it is both peaceful and beautiful.

Coming back from a Loooong Hiatus

Well, I am sorry for anyone with enough time to check my blog to see if I had ever added another post! I basically checked out and didn't check back in...sorry about that! Between pigs, steer, school, work, kids working, husband, house and garden I never seemed to find the time to blog! I do love reading blogs, and I have great ideas for this one, so I am going to start again!
Starting with the beautiful snowy mountains in the last post. They aren't so beautiful right now as you can see (or not see :o\ ) from this screen shot from a local camera mounted on one of our local tv Stations.

The smoke is from not just the Indians Fire (started by a campfire) in the Los Padres National Forest (southwest of King City) but also from the Basin Complex Fire (started by lightening) which was located in the area east of Big Sur. The fires have burned over 100,000 acres and are yet to be extinguished, hardly surprising seeing as this area has not burned since the Marble Cone Fire in the 1970's.

So as you can see, the mountains are not visible today, and we have had ash falling, black skies and red suns on and off since the middle of June. Ugh. I still have to wash my van-ash really isn't good for the paint, but I bet it is good for the plants. The smoke has also caused allergies to take off and asthmatics are not happy campers with this, but other than staying inside, there is not a lot we can do.

I will post about some of the events that have already taken place, and I will try to remember to bring my camera so as to share the fun! of summer. :)

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

For this part of California! Well, maybe all of California..no it is not the Golden State at the moment, it is the White State, and brrr, COLD! We are having day time highs of 46 degrees, haha. Not counting windchill. Well, it is winter. The photo above is one Mike took today of Mt. Toro and the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. There is over a foot of snow in places and when it clears and you look down the valley, there is snow along all the ranges. Wew, it was one of the bigger storms we have had in a while.

I was worried about the new piggies, they are fine, as well my lemon tree is enduring the confines of the garage. This weather can't last forever (can it?) however we do need to water, and even snow has an inch of water to approximately every foot. So far we have escaped much wind damage, compared to the last storm (several weeks ago), however they are calling for more rain, snow and high winds...so we shall see what tomorrow brings.

I do love the look of snow up on the mountain tops though!

Belated Merry Christmas and A very Happy New Year!

Hello all, so sorry to be so late with the good wishes...typical for me I guess. Today I sent out all of our thank yous for this year, and last year, and prior years. You see, it was good for my dk to write the thank yous mom requested, who of course then set them aside to send out some time...when the moon was in the perfect quarter and Martha S. came over to help do envelopes in Spencerian Script. Haha. (and don't get your knickers knotted. I like MS too...it was just fun to say that! )

So, the TY's are gone! And now I need to really get the rest of the Christmas cards out before Candlemas...February 2nd I believe...(I feel bad though, the tree is usually down by the 6th, Epiphany, but It Is Still UP. geesh. Even my dd has her tree down...never mind that she locked herself out in the process... but she even has it together!)

However here is my contribution to your seasons greetings-Wishing you blessings in the new year, may 2008 be good to you and yours and the grace and peace of Christmas be with you all.

~Helen and Family.

Raccoons and Rascals

Raccoons are not often seen in our neighborhood, however rascals are....one night my two rascals ran in the house out of breath and excited...they had Seen Some Raccoons! On one hand, I was not interested ( I grew up with the critters irritating the heck out of us) on the other hand, I was not sure the boys weren't just foolin' around and trying to pull the wool over our collective eyes.

Actually, they were telling the truth, as the photo below illustrates. There were 2 or 3 of the critters in the trees about a block away, and Rascal Mike got a picture of at least one...as well I have pictures of "eyes" but those aren't as cute as the little 'thief' below.

Incidentally we have not seen them since, so I suspect the raccoon crew decided there were a few too many rascals around and left! At least I hope so-they are not kind to ponds! Which I have...

in Getting Ready for the Day

I got sidetracked. Looking in the bathroom mirror at the holly tree. Which of course made me think about the birds that like to eat the berries, that haven't come yet...that poop on all the cars. That is the quandary. I love the tree and the birds. I like how the tree looks with the red berries and the bi-color leaves, I love watching the cedar wax bills wolf down the berries-I just don't like the mess they leave! :) Although it is amusing when they overload on the older berries and ahem, can't leave the premises...lol.

I also started thinking about the song "The Holly and the Ivy" which led to musing about a children's book, "Holly and Ivy" which led to another childrens book, "The Favorite Days" or something like that, and on to Christmas planning...

So I never got everything planned done that morning-because of dwadling in the bathroom looking at the holly tree thinking !