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!

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. 

...it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for beetles*

Last weekend a storm blew through at a rapid rate. It became dark and the wind picked up and I have to admit I was frightened. 

That didn't stop me from taking pictures though. Yet even while I snapping away, I had the feeling that something really freaky was going to happen.

Then I discovered all these black iridescent beetles on the milk weed. 

Sure glad they were dedicated to their plants!

*J. B. S. Haldane

End of Storm October 14, 2009

Yin Yang Clouds

I talked with my Dad this evening. He lives in a place that is currently burning like crazy. Thankfully his home is far enough away, although he is getting lots of ash and all that. He said, "wherever you live, it's always something - Best to just be happy where you are." Sound advice.

SkyWatch is a place to watch the sky. Come visit.

Is Anybody Out There?

It's all about communication, I firmly believe. Even if you vow for silence, you still say volumes. In my first cut I disliked this photo. I wanted to capture the beauty of the clouds not ugly technology or weeds!

But the photo made the team when I contemplated. The common name for that weed is "telegraph weed," and those are two of my satellite dishes. All are pointed out to sky.

The Hail Before The Storm

When I was growing up in Southern California, hail almost always meant the end of the storm. Hail would bounce around on the patio and a rainbow would appear, and that would be that.
This would make me sad. I like stormy weather. I like sipping a hot beverage and looking out at a grey sky being thankful for shelter and a warm fuzzy cat. And I almost always know when it's going to rain. Yes, certain joints hurt. What can I say? I'm a human barometer. But I also have this other thing that pops up before a storm. A desire to sing!

So when we came home and saw this hail a few days ago, I got my camera out and shot a few pictures. Say good-bye to the rain, I thought. 

  

Nope, not by a long shot. Yesterday we had gale force winds and the clouds looked like spaceships. Very trippy! Now it's raining, and Si needs his paws warmed. 

  

So if you will excuse me.

Rainy Monday Starts The Week

First thing he says to me this morning is that he doesn't want to disturb the birds. Trying to get out of the rain, the birds are sitting on the gazebo frame under the eave.

  

First thing I say to him this morning is oh how sweet! I've got to take a picture.

  

First thing Si sezs this morning is get outta my way. It's birdy time!

The storm brought snow to the mountains around here. I took pictures of that this morning too. 

  

I'm absolutely loving my camera. It's a D60 Nikon. I just loaded the trial software you need to manipulate the photos on my computer. I know I've had the camera since Christmas, but I really wanted to get use to it before exploring the software. I'm sure I'll have lots funky pictures for your viewing pleasure soon.

High-end Macro Monday

Atmospheric disturbance have made it difficult to download photos to the blog, and patience is not my middle name. I had a paper carrier who would write long notes especially around Christmas that said things like, "Please be patients when I am running late." 

  

So Macro Monday is on a Tuesday, my fellow patients. It's a close-up of a little card promoting a High-end Japanese beer, better known as the dude with the fish, and if you visit my Flickr on the sidebar, you'll see what we ate. So good! I also mentioned it on my other blog. 

  

Also if you visit Flickr, you might notice that I'm a "pro" now. Sure anyone can be a pro. All it cost is money. I gave myself a present, so I can access my own photos and bypass Blogger photo upload. Thanks Amanda for sharing.
  

Thanks to wild and crazy Lisa and her way too close photos for hosting Macro Monday.

Planning Future Projects

I woke at dawn and watched the clouds hang heavy. It rained last night, but I didn’t realize it was going to be a horizontal rain. So in the midst of watching the HBO miniseries John Adams I said to the mister, “My pumpkins! My corn! It looks like the top of the gazebo is going to shred in the wind!” I can be sooo dramatic sometimes. :)
He replied calm as usual. ”Well put the show on pause and let’s see what we can do.”
So we ran out there and bustled back and forth from patio to garage bringing in the pumpkins and corn as the wind whipped up the rain. He took off the gazebo cover and dragged into the garage, threw it over a step ladder. And we sighed and went back to the signing of the Declaration. Whew!

Last night too was the time to return to regular time. On to winter, I suppose. I love cloudy rainy weather. It puts me a creative hunkered-down mood. This morning I came up with three (more) projects. The first I will chronicle on my other blog. It has to do with propagating blue oaks to revitalize this area. The second project will be to recreate the Wizard of Oz characters as Christmas tree ornaments. And the third is to separate the husks from the corn and make corn husk angels tree ornaments. I guess I have a little Christmas on the brain.

Also currently in the mix are lounge lizard pajama bottoms in flannel. I will definitely take some photos of them when they are done as they are made out of some darling fabric.

On Being Green

It goes to show you how changing one little thing affects the whole picture. Today I'm a green crayon.

"Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors.
While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around.
Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease.
You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows!

Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you."

All true enough.

I think I changed one answer. I went from sunsets to blue sky with puffy white clouds, kind of wishful thinking on this stormy day. The clouds are very dark right now and the wind is whipping and there's a tornado warning! I kid you not.

So it's kind of hard to feel relaxed, and I certainly hope Alicia doesn't read this until tomorrow. What do you do to protect yourself in a tornado anyways? It's all so random.

I think I'll go make some soup while I still have electricity.

Snow Day and Night

Snow! I couldn't believe it when I drove over the pass, but then I started to panic. Would I even be able to get home?

I did, and I had no satellite coverage at all. Cut off from the world in a soft quiet whiteness. 

And The Bells Rang...

A storm came in right around the time I got the mail. These four sycamores might lose all their leaves tonight.

I cooked beef stew today, such a comfort food, and I decided to have a salad for dessert. 

The garden is looking good. Leeks and carrots are under the white cloth. The lettuces are covered up too. (It has gotten to 22 degrees at night.) But the peas are on their own.

I put up the lights on the tree while listening to carols. I'm really liking Alicia's playlist.

It was Christmas Everywhere!