Christmas Morning

After we open the presents while drinking a sparkling beverage, The Mister was a sweetheart and made bacon and eggs. That's my new coffee cup. I think it's a "J" for joy, but I'll take "J" for Judy.

See Si licking his lips? Bacon stealer!

The theme this year is Yellow Submarine! We all live in a yellow submarine!

The Mister's stash.

The Mister's Yellow Submarine.

My stash.

Little green man.

That's an inside joke.

Sandy, our neighbor's cat, lonely and forgotten. We decided to save him this Christmas from the rain and wind, so The Mister put up the old pup tent we used to use for our indoor felines, you know for fun.

And it looks like he likes it!

So probably out of some guilt he buys Si an indoor pup tent for Christmas. Awwwww.

Silas really liked his fishy mat, although he smelled himself and subsequently sprayed the mat at a later time.

Look a solar power welcome kitty.

Merry Christmas!

More Tests For Si

Last night's Supermoon was quite impressive. I took a bunch of pictures but didn't like the way they came out. So I present this sunset photo. We have having lots of monsoonal clouds this summer which make nice cloud pictures, and the California fires help tint the sky as well.

Tomorrow I take Si to see Dr. Ann. He continues to shrink despite a good appetite and good digestion. Yesterday was a very good day as far as being playful and active and his typical goofy self. So that's why I made the appointment. I mean if he was sick, wouldn't he act sick?

I started to wonder if the thyroid test was a false negative. Or if he did get thyroid medicine, would it hurt him if he didn't have hyperthyroidism? Just to see if it would help him. Frankly it is a bit scary to see him get thinner day by day.

Dr. Ann will take more blood, and give him a cortisone shot, and probably traumatize him a bit. And we'll get back the results and go from there. I simply don't agree that he has cancer or irritable bowel disease because he shows no poopy problems or appetite issues. And I just read that up to 10% of cats with hyperthyroidism have normal T4 levels.

Peace Posies for April

Spring is a pert little season around here. So fleeting is the wild flower show on the backroads, so sweet the weather and the green hills, and then it all goes away.

We went wine tasting at Pear Valley yesterday, which is always good for a quick buzz. There were lots of folks too. Maybe the busiest I've ever seen the place. I bought a case of Aglianico, a lovely garden wine for the coming months.

My garden is really rolling along too. We have only one Juliet tomato plant with nine red cabbages plants, six hot red pepper plants, six celery, two fennel, bunches of artichokes, and lots of chard, lettuce, red mustard, miner's lettuce, and parsley.

The irises are out-of-sight this year, and we have lavender with buzzy bees.

Oregano, hollyhocks, milk weed, artichokes, garlic chives, chard, just to name some, have all gone wild. So it's chaos, wonderful chaos. And Mad Men tonight!!!

How is Spring treating you?

Half Pint Canning Jars and a tiny book review of The Homemade Pantry

I have a peculiar delight for mason jars. I often think of getting a flat of them at the wrong time of year. They are seasonal where I live, and this is their season, harvest time. So yay! I remembered this year.

I purchased 12 half pint wide mouths, and the mister gave me a look like what the heck?!

I'm not much of a canner, you see. I'm a bit frighten of poisoning myself. Improper home canning is the number one cause of botulism, and botulism is kinda deadly.

But the way I see it, little glass jars have other uses.

Years ago I read about making cake-in-a-jar on Angry Chicken's blog. I still follow her. She comes up with some fun stuff. Not every single day. And not too over-the-top Martha-like that I need to go out and buy cake decorating tips or something. She gets excited and shares.

So I went back to her archives and found the post I was looking for - Cake-in-a-Jar! I did some googling too. So I'm sure baking is in my future.

Another favorite blogger talked about salad-in-a-jar for lunches, and said she could make up a whole week's worth and they would stay fresh. I thought I might try this for work days. I've slowly switched my fridge containers from plastic to glass, and I have to say everything stays fresher in glass. So I'm intrigued.

A third use for these little containers came from a book I came across and purchased immediately. That book is called The Homemade Pantry. I highly recommend this book. Since I depend on a well-stock pantry to inspire me and pull together a "there's nothing to eat for dinner" day, I was blown away with all the cool stuff I could make and, yes, store in my jars.

Great Balls Of Fire

Our allotment for our computer usage is minimal partly because of the cost, and partly because I don't like the satellite company, and I don't want to give them any more money. I cannot stream videos and I rarely use YouTube or look at videos that people put on their blogs and FB because it whittles away the megabytes. So does Pinterest, dammit.

As such we monitor our daily allowance because when there are "break-ins," the allotment goes very quickly. The only way to solve this problem would be to hard-wire the computers to the modem, but that's not going to happen.

We have always speculated the culprit was "Coexist." That's our neighbor's friend bumper sticker on her white car. Whenever "Coexist" arrived, if we didn't unplug our WiFi equipment, we would lose our allowance. When she got married to our neighbor, this problem stopped. We suspected she got her own internet connection. That lasted a year.


This summer we have been getting ripped off on most weekends, and we went back on alert.

One Sunday morning I noticed Mrs. Coexist was sitting on her deck with a laptop. She was with a friend who had a laptop too. So real quick like a bunny I turned off the AirPort, and super casually I strolled out to my garden penetrating deep into the corn patch. Within earshot I hear a conversation that went something like this. "Yeah, first you go here to get on, then you can download movies...hmm that's weird. It stopped."

So I summoned all the balls I have and walked over to her deck, and said in the nicest way, "Excuse me! What provider do you have for your internet?" Well, she didn't know. "Some phone company." I explained that I have a satellite and someone has been ripping me off by stealing my allotment. Her friend said, "You should call the company. They shouldn't allow that!" So I looked at my neighbor, and she had the textbook face of guilt written all over her.

Guess what? No problems since.

It's good to have balls sometimes.

My 3 Season Bar

This little nook is where my three season bar resides. I have a shaker and an ice bucket. I include a couple of bottles of my high end liquor, some interesting glasses, and bar tools. It's so Mad Men.

Underneath is the wine selection, that is during the three seasons. Upon the fourth season, which I will deem the season of hell called Summer, this area is transformed into a nice spot for the fern, my amazing Jester. All the wine is moved to the summertime cellar saved from the inside temps of 85 degrees or so.

I guess that fern does have a jester-like splay of fronds (see the jester example below). Also notice the baby fern jester in front and to the left. He is still attached to the mama jester. Awww.

By the way, Si never wore this hat. That is the cardboard cat the hat came with. Si has green eyes anyway. Si has never wore a collar either. He's an au natural kitty. Plus try to put anything on him makes him into a ball of pointy nails and teeth. Guess who wins that battle?

Anyway The Three Season Bar has a goose neck wine bottle opener. Well. It works. But. It is so much easier to hand him the bottle and say, "Here. Open this." Because he will and immediately, knowing the just reward for doing so.

Notice on the goose neck opener there is a butterfly. That was my father's. It has a sensor in it that makes the wings move ever so slowly like a butterfly resting on a branch. The sensor, I am told, is the same sensor used in artificial fingers to stimulate touch and movement. And because it moves so gently and quietly, the butterfly can be on for hours, sometimes days before I remember I turned it on. 

Thank you for visiting my little bar. When I fill it back up with wine and booze, I'll take another picture.

Summer Sunset

Summer Sunset 2013

A Few Things in March

 The rain total to date is 7.1 inches, so the couple of storms we had in March helped a little.

My car turned 34567. A thrill to be sure but even better this grand occasion happened out on a country road at one of favorite houses.

Silas is doing a drum roll.

There is this magazine slash gas station slash buy your lottery ticket and junk food type places in town. I'm kind of a magazine junkie, just so you know. I once asked them to carry Bust magazine, but the women thought I meant a girlie rag. Uh no

Artificial Meat and Mags

More Meat and Mags

 Clouds are too few and far in-between that I must take pictures. The local goat said hello!

My cat has the prettiest feet.

All gussied up

My Christmas tree for 2011. 

Christmas Tree Time

Currently it is really really windy here. I'm sure that is why the Christmas tree place ties these large trees to this merry-go-round device.

We bought two trees this year - a live one that is little tabletop size, and a smaller than our usual living room size - a five footer. Both are Nordman firs. I haven't photographed the smaller one yet. I think I might try to bonsai it. Most live trees don't make around here. It's too hot and too dry and the soil is too clayey too. And you think you can alter some of those things, but in the end you just watch the poor plant suffer.

This aloe vera plant on the other hand loves this sunny window. 

Pay no attention to that cat in the background. 

This plant literally saved its own life. He was once in a different pot and sat on top of a six foot bookcase. Pretty much ignored, I dare say. He grew towards the light and one day became so heavy on the lit side that he fell out of his pot, roots and all.

I came home from work and saw all this dirt and plant on the floor. I asked The Mister just what the heck happened. He hadn't a clue, although he said he thought he heard something around noon.

Well, I repotted the aloe with fresh soil and a bigger pot and gave him the sunniest spot in the house. You can almost hear him say ahhhh!

Here's my Christmas tree at the lot. 

Happy (Summer) Solstice!

Or winter solstice for those down under 

- just think, the days will only get longer for you now, 

and for us northern hemis 

- the nights. 

Also I want to thank everyone who reads this blog. 

I am grateful to have you.

That Time of Year

        School's out! I'm free! Remember that feeling? All those wonderful possibilities await you. What should we do first? Go to the pool. Go to the river. Go to the beach.

        The last day of school was right up there with Christmas and your very own birthday. Nothing could replace that feeling of freedom, even today. Ah, the tragedy of being an adult. Say it out loud, "An Adult." Sounds like something to be avoided at all costs. Sounds like it costs. too.

        As a kid, my summer vacation wasn't always a free for all. For at least part of it, I had to work and go to summer school, which I thought was fun until the reality set in.

        But hours and hours of sunlight and good friends in the neighborhood made for many happy memories.

        And then there were expeditions. When my family went to the beach, a one-hour drive, you would think we were going for six days, not six hours.

        The station wagon would be full with every possible beach accoutrements, plus four kids and an anxious dog.

        My father would insist on leaving at 7 a.m. to beat the traffic, so when we got to the beach, we would be the only ones there.

        It was like "pick a spot, any spot." We got the whole darn foggy beach to ourselves. And the next five hours, the people would start to pour in. By noon, it was wall-to-wall blankets and umbrellas.

        An hour or so after noon, we would pack and leave. It was the best time of the day, and we would be headed out "to beat the traffic."

        Well, it didn't matter a whole lot to me. I'd spend the whole time in the ocean getting thrown around in the waves.

        A regular fish, my Dad would say.

        One time the waves were huge and I had accumulated several thousand grains of sand in my swimsuit, so I dragged myself back to the beach towel.

        That night the evening news said the waves were a record size, and many people had to be rescued from the dangerous conditions. Thank goodness I hit the towel when I did, but I learned the power of water at an early age.

        I had a near drowning experience when I was around 5 years old.

        Mom's friend had a pool, so every once in a while during summer vacation we would get invited to swim for an afternoon. Back in those days little kids who didn't know how to swim wore Styrofoam bubbles on their backs to keep them afloat.

        Well, I was sunning myself and got a little hot, so I jumped into the pool forgetting to put on the bubble and sank like a stone.

        I still remember looking up at the surface of water. It was so beautiful and so far away. Then I realized how badly I needed air. I pushed off the bottom of the pool with my feet and lunged for the steps.

        Boy, when I crawled out of that pool, my heart was racing.

        I took swimming lessons at the Y shortly thereafter and graduated by swimming 50 continuous yards.

        Not too shabby for a regular fish, my Dad would say.

{story first published in The Tribune on June 19, 2003}
{I think I was seven in the photo. Oak Creek, Cottonwood, Arizona}

Lambing has begun

little lamb, originally uploaded by Judy's Notebook.

When I was driving to work today, I noticed a bunch of really fat sheep out in the field. One was by herself with a grocery bag - licking it no less. I thought how awful to have all this trash floating around. Stupid humans!

Then I realized about a half mile down the road that the bag was probably a new born (can't pick out a lot of detail at 60mph), and she was probably one of the first to give birth.

I must remember to take my camera tomorrow to get some photos.

This photo here is from a few years ago.

Sunday Si

My Charming Polar Bear

Si just jumped up on me with the coldest ears. Indeed the weather has turned and soon there will be frost on the pumpkin.

When I purchased this charm stone, I was still thinking about how to keep my lunches cool as it was still in the triple digits. My idea is (was) to use this stone as a cold pack. Freezing it the night before tucking it into my bento box.

Of course now I'm thinking of making soup and sausages and putting on a pair of socks and a flannel shirt.

Random Photo Photostory Phriday

The time has come the walrus said. I remember the first day I had my camera. The UPS guy threw a package over the fence. I went out to investigate and discovered it was for me, and it was a camera! A mighty Casio Exilm point and shoot with a cradle to download and recharge. A nifty package, to be sure. Thanks Dad!  

Me and my camera, we became inseparable. I promptly lost the instruction manual and had to figure it out by going through the menus. I probably would have done it that way anyway. I discovered I could shoot movies and download to iMovie and add music and swipes and titles and credits, and then I discovered the whole world knew how to do this and there was this place called YouTube, and boy, are there some freaky people out there!

  

So I shelved YouTube and concentrated on capturing everyday life with photography. The above photo was a random pick of all of this year's snaps. I had to stare at it for a long time to figure it out. Finally I had to look at some photos that were shot before and after to get the whole story.

  

Started to snow on my way home from work last January.
Snow at my front gate.
I got so excited. I ran down to the river. Light was getting low.
Came back to my house, went inside and hung my hat. Hey! It sparkles! The saying in the frame says, "A cat is so nice come home to." 

Except when he's grumpy.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

O Christmas Tree Lot Macro Monday

These were shot quickly without much set up, and in the setting sun so without much light as well. I know they're not the greatest, yet sometimes I'm amazed that anything turns out even slightly in focus. Thanks to Lisa and her gang of macro hunters! 

Happy December everyone!