Night in Norway!

I just added this gadget to my homepage and it imposes a lot of conflicting feelings. At first it made me feel sad...so far away from my Jilly......opposite ends of the day. Then ...after staring at it for a while [ it was a quiet kind of day here!]......I decided it was kind of like tucking her into bed when she was a little girl.......safe, quiet , and cool. Hope you're all having sweet dreams.....I can't wait until you get here in June!

More Lilac!

Okay, okay.....you all must be sick of my little botanical tour of Lupine Hill! In my defense it's been a great Spring for all things flowering........which brings me to wild California Lilac! This awesome shrub is indigenous to the foothills here in California...and we happen to have a gorgeous specimen right here in our front yard. The deer.....of which we have hundreds....love it,but the lilac seems to love to fight back! I've read many years ago in my Girl Scout days that by rubbing the blossoms in your hands with water you can create suds, but I haven't had much luck with this bush......maybe I'm expecting too much!......I'll just enjoy the deep blue blossoms!

Jim's out planting tomatoes and eggplant in the garden....my mouth is already watering. It's warm enough today that it feels like they could be ripening any time soon...however, the outlook for next week talks about more frost and cool days. We've used so much firewood this year it feels good to conserve what's left, but maybe only a few more weeks of wood fires. I guess I could put on real shoes instead of sandals....maybe use a sweater.....but Hey, I'm a California Girl now!

Why we call it Lupine hill!

It's that time of year again...Lupine time! If you've never smelled a field of lupine in the sunshine.....well, you've only 1/2 lived! Lupine scent is so overlooked....never offered among the millions of essential oils available....but it is a fresh, sweet scent full of Springtime. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to condense the oil.

It's been a while since I've posted ....first the wedding......we had a ball! Then getting things back to normal...all while Tessy was hanging out here for a while.....another great visit with the most rambunctious of my wonderful kids.

Jim's painting the kitchen today...he's about 1/2 done with the house.....I'm sure he's glad we only have 1 anniversary a year! I told him next year we need to figure out something to get that doesn't require more work for him! If you haven't been here for a while you're in for a treat....he's done a whole lot of home improvement!

I'm still nursing a sore knee...all that dancing at the wedding.....so I guess I'll have to just sit on the deck, in the sun, ice on my knee, book in my hand........ah, such is life!

Forget-Me-Not

A little hidden harbinger of Spring .........these dainty little blue flowers grow and thrive in hidden, neglected areas around and under the front porch. How aptly named...Forget-Me-Nots!

This photo of a little bougquet I picked does not begin to do them justice.....they are a true heavenly blue, with sweet little white centers. Short lived.but every second justified!

Jim's out in the veggie garden getting it ready for more Spring planting......lettuce. chard,peas...but alas the coveted carrots have failed this year....don't know why ....maybe it stayed cold too late this year.

Leftover Chinese food for dinner....I just made Jim's favorite dessert...pudding. No King's game tonight,but some good pre-playoff games.........plus my favorite..a clinton/obama debate.......GO BARRACK!

Roseville'n

Oh yeah....off to Roseville today...to mingle with the minions! It seemed so crowded...everyone had errands to do. I was supposed to meet Granny, but she had to wait for a guy to come fix one of her chairs...so she never made it. However......Molly called me and said she was in Sacramento to take a test for Grad school and so she drove on to Roseville and met me! We went to a bookstore and she picked out a book for Jim's Bday and then we cruised Marshalls! Molly had a bit of luck there!

On the way home ..about 4:00...iPod blaring!....I was so glad to be headed up this way! Sometimes it's a hassle...always takes alot of time and gas....but....it's hard to imagine living "down there". Jim, Jenny and the cats were happy to see me..and I was SO happy to be here!

Gardening

Another beautiful spring day....at least it started to warm up by about noon. I went up to Worton's because I had a feeling they might have gotten some flowers in. Up i drove ...and sure enough there they were! It's wonderful to have Worton's so close...with gas at almost $4.00 a gallon I go there for everything now! Anyhowwwwww....I got my groceries and my flowers and headed home. I got half of turkey sandwich there and so enjoyed it with a book on the deck for a 1/2 hour or so...and then to work! It's now about 4 hours later.....and I'm sunburned and dirty, but I feel like my flowering deck has begun and I'll devote at least an hour every morning now to nurturing everything.......I guess it's pretty wonderful to have time in my life to be able to do it!

I was also on the computer and phone part of the time trying to get Seth and Molly's graduation times the same so we didin't have to go to two 3 hour long graduations on the same day! I just got an e-mail from someone and it sounds like I may have gotten it done! I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Tess-Butt called today also she was on the way to the airport to fly up to Seattle with her new beau, Ryan. She seems to be having a blast.......even though, or maybe, because, she's unemployed! Whatever...it's wonderful to hear her sounding happy!

Lilac Time

Well..I try this again! It seems my last post which I thought I saved, has disappeared. Apparently they are only saved so long and then are gone in the vast universe of cyper space! Having no knowledge of any type of space...I can only persevere and write another blog!

The reason I saved the first one I wrote was to get a picture of one of my lilac bushes to insert in the blog....well, I have that now...so again I'll talk about lilacs!

It was last Sunday I wrote...a lazy, beautiful Spring day. Jim and I played a bit with Jenny, I read a while out on the deck and then I went for a stroll around the yard. I'd been watching the lilacs for a week or so from the front porch, but when I got down to then the fragrance was amazing! Long story short......I now have a huge bouquet in the kitchen and the whole house smells like a fairytale!

Back to present time.....Jim just called , he'll be late getting home. His hours are so long now...the weekends so precious. I'm afraid there won't be a scrumptious dinner awaiting him....BLT's, as a matter of fact!.....I've been sewing most of the day....it's 6:00 and I just started to think about dinner!

Now to try to insert my lilac photo...wish me luck!