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 !

In Asking Around...Results on Favorite Saints...

I asked my boys who their favorite saints were, and no surprises there...St. Patrick for Patrick, my youngest...and a fine saint!
As well as Michael's favorite, which is one of mine too! I always seem to be praying to Saint Michael, especially in times of severe stress or fear. I try to offer up intersessions in his name for more ordinary things....

One of my favorite saints is St. Helen of the Cross, not just because of the name, but because she was determined to find the true cross and brave! As well, St. Francis of Assisi is another favorite, he seems to have figured in my life since I was very small. I was born in Carmel, CA when it was a real town :) and there is a mission, a presidio cathedral and more located in the area, all founded by his order. Additionally, the Franciscans, Poor Claire's, Carmelites, and Capuchin orders have at some point or another all had an influence in our life. It would take too long to explain here, but somehow those brown habits have a way of appearing in times of need and comfort.

We have been extremely thankful for the graces experienced by my family by the intercession of the saints.
Leonie, I like St. Teresa of Avila too. She is a favorite of my friend Theresa in the Pacific Norhtwest along with St. Therese of Lisieux. Once Theresa even dressed up as her for All Saints! Here is her icon just for you- :)

A Good Long Time Has Passed...

Since I have blogged, obviously! I have no idea if anyone even checks my blog out, but I like using my links and if I had blogged more, fewer of my photos would Lost. That's right, lost. Me -who knows better- lost a ton of photos, data, and what not, on a M*x*r drive that failed. First of all, I know these particular hard drives are bad news, and secondly I know to BACK UP all data. I have not really done that since 2005 (fall). Some photos etc are on the home computer, so not all is lost, but enough that it was devastating. I ended up utilizing a local firm to help me out (since this is way beyond my brother's or my computer expertise) and the drive had to be sent to L.A. :(

I still have not received my pictures back-well, they were on the disk but my DVD drive malfunctioned and destroyed the file (anyone see a pattern here? As well, our Dish receiver died, as well as my son's car-which may be an electrical problem...). All the other retrieved files are there, even if some are corrupted...which is okay, I think most of the zip files are unneeded. (They were most likely business files which would have been backed up elsewhere. Of course.) My tech will be getting another DVD for me, and I ordered a new DVD drive from Sager Notebooks (my laptop is from them, they originally were one of the few firms that did "build to order".)


While is seems crazy that a DVD burner would kill a file, consider that the back up I attempted with it actually erased the disk, and all the other computers read it as unusable! It has stalled out on burning Cd's more and more as well. I now refuse to use it -what will it do next? I am not finding out!

Needless to say, there are lots of photos and ideas and discussion that could have taken place, which because I was waiting for the perfect time-to blog, to back up, to share...might never take place:( So take note of my advice below, which comes not just from this experience, but multiple occasions (we utilize computers at work for many things and one sure thing is that something will fail.).

1. Back up weekly all data that is important or even just a little important to you; favorites, files, photos, even downloads (create a download file and always send everything there every time). Use DVDs or Cd's that are made to last a long time. Some cheap ones may not. Archival quality disks are available for modest prices.


2. For photos you can buy storage binders, print a proof sheet, and insert that along with the DVD on each page. Don't for get to note date, place, people and so on. So helpful later when all might become less obvious!


3. Do not depend on external or internal hard drives! Keep things on several operating systems or in several different places. See no. 1, back up stuff, it is less heartbreaking and cheaper than trying to recreate it all! (I need to find maps and sites that I use in my work, not fun!!!) (As well, if you copy your DVD's/Cd's and store them in a different location and/or fire proof safe you will be able to preserve the data much better.)


4. Research new operating systems before installing, and check to see if your machine is proprietary. We almost lost a huge portion of data because Compaq is proprietary and if you install Windows XP on 98 that is not a Compaq "approved" disk, it can really mess stuff up. Fortunately in those days we backed up! And did so until I obviously became a flake :p

Another thing, research before purchasing software, hardware or computers! We do that a lot around here, but even I took a chance on the M* drive which I knew to be suspect. Moral of that is don't trust that hardware can change it's ways (tong in check here..). We have all worn out a variety of hardware, most commonly the hard drives, but also lots of key boards, keys, mice, etc. So a better quality product is a good idea.

So there is my helpful Helen hint for today! May you have a good November, with today being All Saints Day. If you were to choose a favorite saint, who would it be?

One of the last Peace roses in my garden before chilly fall weather!