First Rain of the Season

It's that time of year. Sunset time of year. And I really like that shade of orange with the black. Reminds me of Halloween.

Autumnal Sunset

Thanksgiving went rather traditional this year. The standard fare was tasty and plentiful. We opened some local Petite Sirah and had black tongue the next day, which was handy as it was Black Friday.

A local winery was offering up some good wine for $100 a case on Black Friday, so we hustled up the hill to stake a claim, and now we have plenty of wine and plenty of turkey sandwiches.

I hope your T-day was a happy one. Onward to 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.

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.

Summer Sunset

Summer Sunset 2013

Calling Cards!

I am a Cloud Junkie. This is a fact that I have come to accept as part of my whole being. Clouds make break out in song. Clouds make me look like fool as I jump out of vehicles to photograph them. Add a sunset and I'm likely to dance a jig too. So what's a happy girl to do.

Make calling cards of my cloud photos!

This is the word side covered up.

Name.

Phone number.

Email address.

with my icon!

Speaking of which, here he is with his stuff. Catnip and crackers. What a mess!

And I know I haven't really blogged about notebooks much or at all, considering this is Judy's Notebook. But I do collect them and fill them up with words and pictures and other things. I guess you could call me a "journaler." Personally I am so glad I did not call this blog, "Judy's Journal." But if I were to rename it what would you suggest?

On the left is Martha Stewart's newest line with Staples. Totally bringing out the office nerd in me with a selection of file folders and labels and notebooks. I told The Mister "Get me outta here before I spend money on one in every color!"

On the right is the fabulous cult Rhodia lined notebook. It even smells good.

And I just blogged these postcards on Judy's Bento Box. These are postcards that I had made by Moo. There are 20 different photos from my Flickr account and I did some bento, some food, some clouds, some Si. A real assortment.

Do you like to get mail from your postal person? Email me your mailing address and I'll send you a postcard.

Caption Blog

going into town

Valentine's Day wine

Cockpit at night

I'm a passenger.

Herringbone clouds

Gosh, I love this cat!

Watertank sunset

Clashy Colors and Expectations for T-day

This little pom is the only fruit my plant did bear this year. I picked it when I went out to catch the sunset. Same light but totally different colors. So clashy!

Today it is rainy and cold and I'm getting caught up on my blogging and my blog reading. Thanksgiving is this week and I still have not decided what I'm going to serve, if anything. Going out feels like fun this year. You know, a quiet little dinner in a nice restaurant without all the have to's and should's that an emotional holiday is saddled with.

The mister is not convinced however. Of course, his stomach is talking. I make a lot of very tasty dressing (My mother's recipe :D). And he thinks cooking at home is less expensive. But after one buys all the stuff one needs to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, one could have a very nice meal in a very nice venue without all the cooking and cleaning.

Not that I mind the cooking, I just want something different.

Waiting for Irene

Californian Sunset Friday August 26, 2011

Click On Pic To See The Moon

The day after the new moon (2/5/2011), the waxing moon crescent has her horns point up, also known as a Wet Moon.

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}

More weather knocking on the door. We might even get an average rainfall this year.

Here at sunset tonight, I made chicken stock and roasted chicken parts with boiled beets. It was a lovely dinner. I had one of those weeks that seemed like it would never end, and today Silas had to be an inch away from me (and no further) at all times.

I'm planning a vacation in April. I really want to do something different. It's my birthday - a big one. Ahh but maybe I should lay low, you know. If you make a big deal outta something, and it falls through. Well I'm still thinking.

My boss suggested that I go to Paris. My thought is more like Baja. I don't really want to leave Si though. That is the rub, as always.

End of Storm October 14, 2009

Telephone Pole Sunset

Typically Fridays are all about Si. My guilt for leaving him alone during the week and his obvious pleasure to have me home make Fridays one big lovefest. Today though, after an hour of lap time, he retreated to the cool room for some zzzzz. It's 83 degrees in my office. Can't say that I blame him.

Currently I'm heating up the house even more cooking "Country Style" pork ribs with ground cumin, coriander, oregano, basil, salt and lot of ground pepper. I plan to make Chili Verde when they are done served with homemade tortillas. When it's hot, I want hot and spicy food. And a cold Margarita.

I need to map out the next ten days or I might sleep through it all. There are so many things I want to accomplish.

Do you like my photo? There are many participants at SkyWatch Friday.

Two Of My Favorite Things

A very late in the day sunset reflecting off my Scion tC.

Visit SkyWatch for some pretty cool photos from around the world.

Sky Watch Friday - Central Coast, California

The weather that brought in June was rather exciting. Thunder, lightening, polka dot rain, down spouts, and wind gusts of 50mph. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Check out the other participants of Sky Watch Friday!

Postdressing: Sending A Postcard In An Envelope (A Definite No-No)

I just got into postcrossing, not crossdressing, and the thrill of giving so far has exceeded the thrill of receiving, primarily because I have not received yet. But I'm practicing patience. 

  

Postcrossing is an exchange of postcards to randomly selected people throughout the world.

 

My first task was to acquire postcards, which you would think is a relatively easy thing to do in a place that get visits from touristas. But it wasn't easy. I ended up at a gas station with ugly dusty cards, but I did find the one above and thought it was peaceful. So I bought 12 of them. 

  

Dialed up the site and went to town with my first five. Two to Finland, one to Germany, one to Australia, and one to Portugal. 

  

What I didn't realize is that when these folks receive my card, they post it for all to see on my account. So I look like a schmuck sending the same postcard to every person. 

  

Quickly seeing the errors of my ways, I went on an all-out hunt for postcards, interesting postcards. But found Nothing. Anywhere.

  

So I sent out my second batch of "That California Feeling" feeling kind of seasick. 

 

Finally I realized I had to find something different, anything different, so I went down to my local drug store and asked because it sure wasn't obvious where the postcards were, if indeed they had any. Well, the clerk instructed me to go to the far reaches of the store, there, in front of the cereal isle, I would find a selection. 

  

Jackpot! 25 different cards, most are very nice.

  

I made my purchase and headed home with a weird lingering thought: postcards = cereal. hmm don't get it. Perhaps the only people who buy cereal in drugstores are tourists. hmm.

Embrace 365 Days Of Grace

At two o'clock in the morning I had the most incredible wave of thoughts. I was pissed. First I didn't want to be awake. I was cold. I remembered all the horrible things this nasty boss did to me. I went screaming down memory lane about an old flame that I wish gets everything he deserves (and somehow I think he will). And most importantly I was mad at myself for not being to shake it. All this friggin negativity.

Think good thoughts, I commanded myself. You're alive, girl! Be grateful.

But I couldn't. I kept going back to hate. And then my heart started to pound. Bam Bam, like too fast and too hard. Like someone knocking on your door in the middle of the night. All of sudden, I think I'm going to die of a heart attack. It happens, you know, people just die of heart attacks all the time. Bam Bam Bam. Get a grip, girl! (aside: I wonder how old I'm going to have to be when I consider myself an old lady. Get a grip, old lady!) 

Four hours later exhausted I fall back to sleep. I have a theory about all this just in case you want to know. It involves MSG in restaurant food and sinuses. Lack of oxygen really, but anyway.

Today I'm wandering around the web - kind of aimless, but I'm happy. I'm looking for gardening blogs. Kitchen garden, potagers, vegetables and flowers. That kind of stuff. And I run into



and all at once I know I need to incorporate this into my life.

They say happy people live better lives, and I believe it. So much energy is consumed with anger.

First day - my five small things:

1. The way Si leaps on me whenever I sit in the sun, like Yay lady! Time to snuggle!

2. My new crock pot. I made potato soup for lunch. It was good!

3. Going for a walk down to the mailbox. Well, I felt good when it ended. Two miles of up and down hills. Boy if I did that everyday, I'd be in good shape.
  
4. I'm really glad I didn't die of a heart attack this morning.

5. Cloud pictures.

I'm Home!

Pretty nice finish to a pretty nice day.