The Waterfall That Was

When I bought my house it came with a small pond (read: money pit). After two years of patching and repairing I had it taken out and (what was I thinking) redesigned and put back in. The pond is functioning beautifully this year. The fish are happy, the plants are happy, my wallet is okay with it.




The waterfall, however, simply refused to get with the program. When I ran the pump, the well leaked. If I didn't run the pump it became a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The waterfall is now a rock garden. And I'm happy!

Good Friends, Good Food = Great Day!

Some of the friends who had come up awhile back and worked in my yard were here today for a visit and dinner. Another friend from up here who knows them joined us. It was a fun day and evening.

It was triple digit in the valley and only 90 degrees at my home. We munched on appetizers, drank mango/banana margaritas and enjoyed the evap' cooler for a couple of hours and then, as the sun went down, we enjoyed the temp falling as well. By dinner time it was cooler outside than in so we moved out to the back deck. Grilled salmon filets & chunked up veggies along with a rice pilaf salad and a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Grigio made for a very nice outdoor summer dinner which we topped off with chocolate strawberry shortcake. Yummmmmm!

It was a perfect mix of friends who really enjoyed each other's company and dinner outdoors in my mountain setting. Good friends, good food, good time; can't ask for more than that.

They called me when they got home. When they left my house it was down to 74 degrees here, when they got home an hour later the valley had cooled to 90 degrees with an expected low tonight of 74. I love my mountain home!

Caught the Fever

I finally caught the fever. I am most definitely NOT a sports fan. Once upon a time I was a baseball fan. I loved the Dodgers and the Oakland A's, not necessarily in that order. I became a football fan but only when the Raiders and/or 49ers were playing. I don't know the players anymore so I've lost interest in these games and the rest - basketball, hockey, whatever do nothing for me.

I did get caught up in the games in the movie Invictus. Of course, I'd watch Morgan Freeman read the phone book while Matt Damon turned the pages. A lot of action in rugby. I'm not, however, channel surfing to find a rugby game to watch.

And what's the deal with the World Cup? I thought that was yacht racing. I've paid little or no attention to the World Cup soccer matches ... until today. I turned on the TV and the game was on. It was the beginning of the second half and the U.S. and Ghana were tied 1-1. The action was fast and constant and there was no violence other than some serious tripping. I was hooked, I caught the fever, I heard myself yelling at the TV. Here's a sport I could get into. The U.S. lost today. Figures!

An Addition to the Family

I'm still adjusting to the idea of my baby brother retiring this month and now I have to wrap my brain around baby brother being a grandpa.

My nephew and his wife gave birth to a beautiful little girl this week. Princess Ava arrived Wednesday morning at 4:51am, weighing in at 7# 10 Oz. I just saw the first picture of her and, of course, she's absolutely perfect.

We haven't had a little one in the family for years. My youngest grandchild is 15 years and my youngest great-niece/nephew (before Ava) is a teenager. This is my brother's first grandchild. Grandma & Grandpa are very proud and seem to be holding up well but then they've had since Christmas to adjust to the idea. I'm looking forward to meeting her in September when I go to visit with the family. Meanwhile, I expect pictures to be forthcoming throughout the summer.

It's a dog's life

Life can be hard. Just ask a dog with skin allergies. It isn't enough that the heat and grass and whatever's in the grass cause itching that drives you nuts, then you have to put up with the anti-itch sprays when you get caught taking it on yourself to make it go away by scratching. And, of course, there are the allergy pills that make you sleepy. Since that's one of my favorite pastimes, I really don't mind them. But the worst is getting caught chewing or when she checks and finds the raw spots where I've been chewing. Around the base of my tail and the back of my haunches get really irritated and no amount of spray or cortisone cream is helping so I chew.

This is the result ... the cats are laughing, I'm so embarrassed.

Remembering Grandma Julie

It's June. My twin step-daughters' birthday is next week. My friend Madeliene celebrates her birthday in June. Fathers' Day is next Sunday. And my mother-in-law's birthday was June 26th.

This lady was one of the most special people I've had the pleasure of knowing. She came from Italy as a child. She married and raised three children and, later, a granddaughter. She loved her children and her children's spouses, a ton of grandkids and great-grandkids and still had room in her heart for more. Neighbors and friends and their children all knew her simply as Grandma Julie.

She was a best friend to me. She taught me things that my own mother didn't know and so couldn't teach me. From her I learned to not be afraid to love and to not be afraid to show my feelings. I learned these things in time to pass them on to my children. My in-laws, my husband, and I used to go camping together and while the men were off doing whatever, she and I would cook, play cards, and take walks, and laugh. We enjoyed each other. She taught me to crochet and taught me tips and tricks to make cooking simpler among other things. She didn't swim and was afraid of the water. She'd stand in the shallow end of the pool and would get furious when Grandpa tried taking her toward the deep end or even away from the pool's edge.

This family celebrated everything and anything and congregated at Grandma & Grandpa's home. Grandma and I cooked, served, and then sat out on the patio and drank wine together while we let everyone else clean up. We watched stupid movies together, did jigsaw puzzles. A favorite pastime was a trip to Pic' & Save, the discount store that is now Big Lots, where we might spend 2 hours and buy nothing or spend a half an hour and $5 each and come home with absolute treasures. We shared secrets. I knew I could tell her anything and it wouldn't go any further ... and I did.

Grandpa passed away in 2002 and her eldest son, my husband, in 2004. Grandma went to join them last year. I loved her very much and I miss her.

Good Weekend

I've been cleaning out the shed the past couple of days. Our local SPCA is having a yard sale next weekend and the weather is reasonable so it seemed a good time. I discovered where all the mice were living during the winter and what they were living on. Did you know mice like birdseed, preferably finch food since niger seed is more expensive than wild bird seed. Sunflower seeds apparently are another good choice. I thought they were packed better than that but ... oh well. These little critters ate the styrofoam cups and the coffee packages packed in a critter-proof container, they didn't much care for the coffee just the packaging; maybe I should have left decaf for them, and they nibbled on some papers that, fortunately, weren't of any importance. They left finch food and sunflower seed shells scattered all over (not to mention droppings everywhere). Since, thanks to the gophers, I'm on a vendetta anyway I decided a couple of Decon packets were in order. The good news is, I didn't find a single spider. I can handle mice, hate spiders. The shed is cleaned, the dumpster is a third filled, and the items for the yard sale are ready to go. Productive weekend.

It's kinda fun going through packed away stuff every so often. I find a few smiles every time. Not all my memories are in the chest in the back bedroom. I found some fun things boxed away in the shed as well. There're pictures of the grandkids when they were babies and youngsters and Grandpa had them out in the pool teaching them to swim or at least not drown, family pictures from summer visits and Christmas' past. I came across the box of little doo-dads that we thought were important or cute and that we picked up and gave each other at one time or another. I've been through these enough times now that it didn't take the better part of two days (or even one) like it used to for me to go through them. And it gets a little easier each time to cull things out. It's funny how the importance of various items diminishes as the years pass. It'll be cool to walk into the shed and be able to reach what I went in there for. I realize it won't last, but that's what spring cleaning is all about isn't it?

Time to take Kate for her walk, feed her and the felines, and hit the shower. I think after church tomorrow I'll devote the day to Mary Higgins Clark. Her new book arrived this week and it's been calling to me.