He is the hairy hippie that has my heart. Nothing harried about him, the handsome Husband. This imaginary creature may look harried, but she is not at all. Her happy hairiness was inspired by that pink geranium. Yup. It's the letter H at ABC Wednesday . Come along and check out the other ABCW participants.

Snip, snip, snip. The past two mornings I've been trimming the daisy bushes in the front yard. A lot of daisies to be deadheaded. I chose to wait for the California poppies to go to seed before starting the task, so I reasoned. Snip, snip, snip. Glub, glub, glub. A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been Molly the Cat's and my companion these past mornings. She, the hummingbird, loves drinking the flowers of the Hot Lips Littleleaf Sage by the driveway. Cool name, Hot Lips. Remember Major Hot Lips Houlihan? Click, click, click. "Want to see a hummingbird's nest?" I asked, as I plucked the camera out of the bowl in the hallway. The Husband got up from the breakfast table and followed me out the door. I discovered the nest minutes before in the tree in the front yard. That's an upside to deadheading daisies. I think the hummingbird was used to my presence because she didn't seem to mind that I was standing nearby. Click, click

Dear Blogging Friends, I appreciate your concern to what Jeanna nicely asks, ". . .where the hells are ya?" Time flew. Words stuttered. Thoughts blocked. Fog erased sentences. I shrugged it off by becoming a mad demon downsizing the stuff in the garage and house so that all the stuff that has been in storage for 15 years may get shoved into the garage.  Of course, the decision to make this happen was three weeks before the Husband had his first cataract surgery. Once that happened, he won't be able to lift, carry, and manipulate heavy objects until June. (He has his second cataract surgery in May.) Success! Everything got moved and fit in the garage. Success! The Husband was able to read 20/25 on the eye chart with his new left lens less than 24 hours after his procedure. Pretty good from 20/800. "Keep busy" is the advice some people like to give those who recently lose someone. I didn't understand that when the First Husband died in 1995 nor

1. "Caramel corn would taste good right now?" I said to the Husband. "Yeah," said he. "I wonder where we could get some." "Bertuccio's has some," I replied. "Or we can learn to make caramel corn." 2. The Husband and I have been moving and switching furniture in the house. 3. The old bureau now sits in the front yard waiting to be stained and turned into a big happy planter. 4. Our clothes now rest in the Husband's more narrow dresser that his parents gave him over 50 years ago. 5. The late 1800s parlor organ sits in the foyer waiting to be dusted, photographed, and sold to someone who would enjoy owning it next. 6. The TV, modems, and such now rest on a 1950s dresser rather than the organ. The dresser's name is Roy Rogers because of its cowboy look. At least in my mind. 7. The creamy leather recliner now sits in the living room. The Husband took his first nap on it last night. 8. I love coming home to s

Don't these daisies look like space aliens of some kind? That's what came to my mind when I saw them at the farmer's market last year. So, of course I had to buy a pot. For two bucks, I couldn't go wrong. ARUGULA PESTO Arugula is my new favorite vegetable right now. I like its kick. So far, though, I make a pesto out of the bitter greens. As with any dish, there are different kinds of arugula pesto recipe out there. Here's the one I made up yesterday: I grinded and blended a batch of arugula, a handful of parsley, 8 big garlic cloves, olive oil, a bit of water, Parmesan cheese, and salt and white pepper to taste. I loved how green the concoction looked. A perfect Spring dish. Maybe next time I'll think about taking a photo. Also next time I'll add a lot more shredded Parmesan. (I only had 1/4 cup in the fridge.) A Glorious First Day of Spring, One and All! I'm linking up to two fun memes today: ABC Wednesday and Say Cheese! Come check out

The header illustrates, in my mind, what my world was like when I was a small kid. We lived several miles out of town, one of four houses behind a country store, nearly surrounded by fields and orchards which I explored. I've become aware that our front and back yards may be reflecting my long-ago playground. Here are two views of the lower half of what was the former lawn. It's been over two years since we pulled out the lawn. We don't miss it at all. The daisy bushes have exploded all over the yard. Pow! Pow! Pow! I like the volunteer wild grass that has grown in a pathway. In May, or April, I'll pull it out. Soon, poppies will start showing their orange selves. And, here's part of the backyard that looks like it belongs in a storybook. So I thought when I saw the photo. This spot gets nice shade in the afternoon. If we set a little round table there, we can sit and eat snacks or play at being an artist. Of maybe, instead, we can put a sofa there so we

The fog rushed back in after the sun said good morning. It was strange to watch it fill in the sky rather than fade westerly. Thick, too. So pea-soupy thick, the birds flew low overhead. If I hadn't seen them I would've thought they were bats by the sound they made. Plap, plap, plap.  The other day I mentioned that I was painting a rice dispenser, which can hold about 25 to 30 pounds of rice, maybe a bit more. A couple years ago I tried selling it at a garage sale. No takers. Earlier this week I decided it can sit in the garden rather than the garage. The Mama stopped using it a few years after the Husband and I moved in with her. She switched over to storing rice in big tins that once held her favorite crackers. I think she simply liked the idea of keeping rice in happy looking canisters rather than a dull plastic looking thing. The rice dispenser is no longer dull, and it no longer stores rice. Now, its job is to hold potting soil. Ha! Here's what the other

Toot-toot. I came home with first, second, third, fourth, and honorable mention ribbons for my entries in our county fair this weekend. Toot-toot. "The Train Thistle" is what I call my dry floral arrangement for the category San Benito Hidden Beauty , in which participants must use dry vegetation native to our county. I picked thistles. I entered three dry arrangements and three fresh ones.  I entered one of the Mama's geraniums. I can imagine the Mama's spirit smiling as well as tsking as to why didn't she get a blue ribbon. My painted gourd for the garden art category got honorable mention. That was nice of the judges to give me a place, because there were only four of us participating. Each year fewer adults take part in the various baking, canning, crafts, floriculture, fine arts, sewing, and quilting divisions. That's too bad. When I brought in my flower arrangements, one of women in charge commented on me having the most entries.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Husband and I loaded the back seat with flowers for the dry and fresh floral arrangements I've entered into the county fair. There was also stuff in the trunk. I tend to be over ambitious. LOL We're about to head off to the San Benito County Fair . I hope someone is selling corn dogs. I'll show off my entries on Sunday. See ya.

Temperatures are climbing again. The weather dudes say it'll be in the high 90s our way today. As long as there's a breeze, it'll be fine. If not, well, we'll be fine. The Husband, Molly the Cat, and I, that is. I can't speak for anyone else. Molly Girl and I were out early this morning watering the newly planted flowers. They were only a few so I chose to use the watering can. Only six trips to the faucet, which was far enough away for me to work up a sweat. The exercise also made my knees pop. I like to think that they popped back into place. Dream on. Sometimes as I trudge about the yard spot watering, I'm reminded of The Mama telling me how her brothers used to carry buckets of water to the field to individually water the plants. I imagined her world of long ago being very hot and dry, and water being very precious. Not so different today, is it? Several days ago when it was cooler, I stuck two new daisy plants into the ground. The one in the photo

Joy!

Molly the Cat walked out of the office just now. My taking photos of her while sleeping annoyed her. The camera has a loud beep when it turns on. That's how she knew. The Girl got me up a few minutes after sunrise. I knew this because I'd stumbled back to bed after a visit to the bathroom. The morning already felt hot so there was no instant getting back to snoozeville. I almost got there when Molly gave out a roar downstairs. I chose to ignore it as well as her next roar. Silence. Crash! Then a tinkle of something broken. Sigh. The Husband of course was oblivious to Molly's noises. I found the something broken in the kitchen sink. It was the yellow porcelain crocus that sat in a cup on the kitchen window ledge. Two of its petals broke off. I stuck the crocus back into the cup and placed the petals on the saucer. Still looks good. Molly probably was tracking a squirrel running along the fence. Does she know what she would do if she ever caught one? I still

Happy Summer Solstice, Dear Readers!