Time to Rest ... again

So here's where we decided to spend the night on our way to Provo. I think the last time we were here was back in, maybe, 1978 ... before the Winnebago. The young man doing the desk clerk job tonight did not remember us. Oh, well. We are having fun anyway

Time to Plant

Last year my son Roger furnished a day's worth of hard labor in helping me ready my 8' x 8' x 2' vegetable garden. This year all I have to do is transfer my fall and winter compost pile into the box, till the soil, reinstall my sleek irrigation system and plant the seeds. Here's me rototilling the compost pile and moving it to the box. And here's a picture of our seed packets after we opened the storage can: corn, peas, beans, turnips, radishes, squash and rutabaga!

A Time to Rest

So my hammock always call to me on a warm and sunny afternoon, especially after I have spent a few hours wrestling with my rototiller in my vegetable garden, making the garden plot ready for planting tomorrow or the next day.

An Angel in the House

I was awakened this morning by an insistent, but gentle tugging on my elbow. I opened one sleepy eye and beheld the smiling face of a small, almost six year-old angel, urging her grandpa to wake up and play with her. It was Jenna Kay Murphy, who had come to our house yesterday with two other cousins, Clara and Olivia Hixon, to stay a few days with us this week while Clara and Olivia's mom is in Texas attending a wedding. I tried to explain to Jenna that I wanted to return to my dream (a ploy to linger in bed longer), but my protest availed me nothing. Oh, well ... by now both eyes were open and I could see that it was a beautiful day. Thanks to my Jenna for helping me enjoy it.

What Do You Do With Granddaughters?

You take them to the beach and to the carousel and you let the almost eight year-old make quesadilla's for your lunch and you let them build a train station with blocks and you watch them celebrate Barbie's 50th anniversary! In short, you have a grand time and you love them a lot.

Visiting the Lake District

Yesterday my sweetheart and I drove up the San Marcos Pass Road on our way to the Santa Ynez Valley to see what we had been told was a profusion of spring wild flowers. We were disappointed in the flowers there ... there are more here than there, but we did stop at a vista point overlooking Lake Cachuma and ate a picnic lunch Maureen had packed. After the recent rains, the lake is full to the brim and is a beautiful site to behold. When the weather warms a bit, I am going back for a day of fishing. While there I startled four deer and took aother picture of one dear (with her cane).

Spring is Just Around the Corner

We went for a walk today, like we do everyday, but today it was between rain showers and I remembered to grab my camera. Here are some pictures of our daffodils, a rose, some California Poppies, some Lupine, and a lovely small white flower whose name we do not yet know. Everything not under cultivation around our town is green and lush from last month's storms. Some of the grass is more than waist high. My lime tree is bedecked with white blossoms, heralding another bountiful harvest this year. And I spied a few buds on my plum tree, too!