March Projects

I LOVE Johnny Jump Ups! We had a few peeking up through cracks or growing in a patch of grass last year, but there were enough this year that I dug them up and planted them in pots for the porch. This lattice was on the house when we moved in, but nothing was growing on it. We finally changed that! I planted a pink jasmine and let me tell you . . . what a heavenly smell! Hopefully it will be happy in its new home and flourish and climb!While I was planting, Erik was busy with a project of his own. The last of the "Reward Points" he'd been accumulating at work have been spent, and he is the proud owner of a gas grill! It came in a large, heavy box and had to be put together.Yes, we did already have a grill. A funny little charcoal smoker/grill that we also got through the rewards program. Erik was a purist and wanted that charcoal . . . until he cooked burgers for the ladies and kids at a swim day last summer on Phil's gas grill. Is it ok for a wife to think the words "I told you so" as long as she doesn't say them out loud? ;-)

You can see behind him a little sample of the weather we've been having lately--overcast and damp. Strange for Bakersfield, but very refreshing!Ta Da!!!! This is one happy camper.
Then came the real test. How would the burgers taste? (please ignore the fact that my husband looks something like a used car salesman; he'll get his hair cut eventually, I'm sure)

While the burgers are cooking you can take a peek at a finished part of the back yard. You can see our raised bed in the background, which has tiny bits of lettuce poking up from seeds and some green onions, peppers, beans, peas and strawberries in various stages of life. This is an experiment; hopefully we won't kill everything!

The half barrel has a couple of tomato plants in it, and there is some rhubarb and cantaloupe planted in the bare spots. The tiny plants along the fence are corn, and the three silvery plants are artichokes from friends of ours who culled the babies off of their own. The aloe has survived a year and seems to like that spot! We laid down weed paper and bark, hoping that the weeds would give up and stay gone--here's hoping! The trick right now is teaching the dogs about new Off-Limit areas in the yard . . .
The one little part that's done! ;-)
The burgers were delicious, by the way. Here's our totally indulgent meal: cheeseburger with mushrooms, cauliflower & broccoli casserole, and a clementine. Got to do it once in a while!
Pippin and Thomas posing in the afternoon sun
Jonah in the same sunshine
Thanks to everyone who was praying for smooth sailing on the Santa Maria house sale--it's all done!! :-D We're looking forward to visiting Patrick & Debra in their new home next Saturday.

Also thanks for all the birthday messages and love--it was a great day!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, apparently I was so hungry I didn't even check to make sure the picture turned out . . . but you can get the idea anyway. We celebrated the day with a dinner of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and colcannon, a concoction of parsnips, potatoes, kale, green onions, butter and cream. Yum!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of our Irish family and friends (and those that wish they were!)

May the blessing of the rain be on you—

the soft sweet rain.

May it fall upon your spirit

so that all the little flowers may spring up,

and shed their sweetness on the air.

May the blessing of the great rains be on you,

may they beat upon your spirit

and wash it fair and clean,

and leave there many a shining pool

where the blue of heaven shines,

and sometimes a star.

Dizzying Amount to Share

So I'll give you another snippet. :-)

Patrick and Debra, Erik's brother and sister-in-law, are in the process of selling and buying a house! Erik is selling too--it's their mom's house--but Debra and Patrick are the ones in the fray as they are living in the house right now. Prayers for smooth sailing from here on out are much appreciated--escrow is scheduled to be done at the end of the month!

Last Tuesday

Gas to Santa Maria: More than I care to think about . . .

Erik getting most of his sleep for the day in the car: Long night at work

The bump on my head from hitting the car as I got in: Painful!

Afternoon with sister-in-law after signing papers: PRICELESS :-)

In other (random) news, I have a zit on my chin rivaled in size and subtlety only by the city of Las Vegas . . . and it apparently has the longevity of Wayne Newton. Don't worry, I'm not going to show you. But seriously--it's been WEEKS! Is it rooted in my jaw?! *sigh*

We have been adopted. His week-long picketing of our front stoop finally paid off.

This is Jonah.
He spent a diligent week hanging out on the porch, trying to get into the house every time someone used the front door, rubbing against my leg as I went by . . . and flopping down on his back for a belly rub when I sat on the step. Purring. There was no hope for us.
We finally caved and took him to the vet. Our guess is that he was abandoned along with one of the houses in our neighborhood. He had a rough transition in some respects--apparently the pets he met through the screen so peaceably appeared Totally Different when he actually came into the house. But he has warmed up a lot and seems to be fitting in just fine.
Spring came early this year! It was mid-February when we started seeing blossoms on trees and barring a cold snap at the end of last month, it has only continued! Here's an almond orchard we passed the other day.
We've been trying to get out and enjoy the lovely weather as much as possible. It was fun to see some birds on a walk we took down near the riverbed. I was thinking about Grandpa as I cropped these--I would have liked to send them to him. :-)

Kestral
I don't know what this little guy is--and I'm too lazy to look tonight--but he was a darling!
A Meadowlark who sang his heart out!
You can see his open, singing beak in this rather dramatic shot--kind of fun!
One weekend when we went to one of our favorite hiking spots, we saw a whole herd of sheep--complete with shepherd and dogs. I meant to do a whole post about it, but we'll see if I ever get that caught up. I love this shot of the rather commanding sheep in front here, with the torn ear.
This is a new hike at an old spot that we recently discovered. A gate that wasn't open before has been open the past two weekends, and we've been enjoying it! You can barely see our car waaaay down where the main road, running right to left, intersects with the path (and pull-off) which heads down into the picture.
This past Saturday we were there again with some friends and having more time got even further up. And we saw ELK! I, being a dolt, didn't have my other lens along so couldn't get a closer shot, but you can see them on the horizon there. Barely, I know. I'm sorry! There were about 15 of them and it was such fun to see them!
Randomly switching topics here . . . just FYI.

This reminded me of Grandpa too! We got a bag of pecans from someone and I took them outside and banged them open to dig out the yummy parts. :-)
What else has been going on the kitchen? Waldorf Astoria cake . . . with a twist. I borrowed a friends checkerboard cake pans and made two cake batters--one with the requisite red food coloring and one with water instead. Fun! I haven't made this recipe in a long time--Erik had never had it--and it was well-received. :-)
Erik and I have been on a soup kick lately. This is the Chicken Tortilla Soup we made last week; this week we've been enjoying some Spicy Minestrone. What to make next?! ;-)
Look at what a handy guy I married!!
Erik after he changed the shocks on the pickup
Today we spent outside in the back yard. We made a dent in our weeding, and--even more exciting--we (finally) worked on the raised bed we've been talking about for a YEAR.
It's not finished, but it's close! Tomorrow we'll get the rest of the dirt in and then can start planning what to plant in it. :-D
And no, I did not just take pictures while Erik worked. I have the sore muscles and sunburned shoulders to prove it!! In fact, I'm taking my aching self off to read and then go to bed! Love you all. :-)

Where did February go?!?!

Oy vey. Seriously! How did an entire MONTH slip by??

I've been trying to sort pictures the past few days; they've piled up somewhat. :-/

So here is a quick post with some pics from Mom's visit to Sacramento last month:

The only thing better than the cheese curds she brought was that Mom was here too! ;-)

Mmm . . .
Mom got a break from the throes of Wisconsin Winter
We spent some quality time at the playground!
Erik was able to get a day, so we were at Noelle & Andy's from Saturday evening until Tuesday morning. That meant we got to see the kids on Monday. Who let them grow up so much??
I love Mom's suspicious look at Andy as he explained Munchkin Fu.
Her look changed when she won later though!
We also had fun visiting Warren, Judy and Ronda (forgot my camera), exploring an antique mall, and playing their Xbox Kinect. It was so good to see everyone! :-)

I'll be playing catch-up this next week--look for more posts soon!