This has been a great summer for the Mama's backyard jungle. Trees, vines, and plants are producing like crazy. This is just a bit of the Mama's bounty—Sweet Asian pears, sunny sunflowers, and sour, but yummy lemons. Today, I'm participating in the photo meme, Monday Mellow Yellows , hosted by Gemma Wiseman. To check out other participants, please click here .  P.S. ' Tis the month of the Mama and Molly the Cat.

Okay. It is a puddle of water on the patio cement floor. Water collects there when it rains or when the Mama waters her potted plants. Makes me wonder if the natural dip there may actually be over a spring. ' Tis the month of the Mama. P.S. I'm participating in Weekend Reflections . Click here to see the photos of other participants.

Seriously, Lady. Have you nothing else to do, but take my photo? That's what I imagine Molly the by-golly Cat said to me after I snapped this shot. What can I say? The friends have children and grandchildren to brag about. Me? Why, I'm pretty proud about the Husband, the Mama, and Molly the Cat. Yep, I'm still here. I know. It has been nearly a month since I've written.  I've been busy being a writing hack. And, I say that in a good way. Hope you're all doing well out there, dear Readers, each and every one of you. Molly yawns healthily  at night because of the prowling she does during the day in the Mama's jungle.

Check out other A to Z Challenge participants by clicking here . Did you think I was going to talk about rock and roll stars? Hahaha. Nope. I'm talking about actual rocks. Granite—or are they basalt?—rocks that edge the ocean shorelines, to be precise. But, my question can be about rock formations anywhere. That question: Do you ever see faces in rocks? How about figures? Here's what I saw at the rocky shoreline in Monterey recently. Mr. Big Nose Fat Lips Old Snorer—Zzzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzzz

Goooooooood Morning, Sunshine! Yesterday was a wonderful dark day of rain, rain, and a bit more rain. Something we definitely needed. Today is a bright, cheery day of sunshine, although cold and colder in the shadows. And, a head full of snow is on the mountains to the east . As for tomorrow—and the couple days later—with grace, it shall be raining again. Don't you just like how the Mama's pink daisies look with their shiny faces full of rain drops?

Molly the kitty Cat and I never know what we're going to see in the Mama's backyard. The other day, I shared with you the roses . Today, uhm,  the apple trees in their naked splendor.

"Outside, please," says Molly the Cat When we adopted Molly the Cat a few months ago, we were told that she had always been an indoors cat. Only once in her life did she ever live outside. Molly's previous adoptive humans had taken in Molly and her brother who had special needs. The humans didn't understand what that meant because after a few weeks, they tired of cleaning up after the brother and dumped both Molly and him outside. Poor babies. We were upfront with Molly's foster human. We wanted Molly to explore the outdoors when she was ready and if she wanted to do so. Within a lot of reason, of course. Never the front yard unless she was on a leash. And, only in the backyard if the Mama was agreeable to Molly wandering around her flower and vegetable plots. No problem there. So, when Molly the Cat somehow got out of the front window a while back , we decided to give her the chance to wander around the backyard. Supervised, that is. "Micro-m

As the lemon snapped off, the robin flew from the slightly bouncing bough bowing heavy with lemons. (How's that for purple prose?) The red-breasted bird landed on the fence and scolded me. "Excuse me," I said, and continued gathering lemons for lemonade. Several days later, Molly the Cat and I were wandering near the lemon tree. Two robins swooped by and landed on the neighbor's roof. The bigger bird stared at me, as if saying, "Out! Now! Please." I understood immediately. "Come on Molly, let's go inside. These guys have a nest in the lemon tree." As you can tell from the photos, the robins hid their nest quite nicely. At first, I thought it was precariously situated on the limb, but, hey, if nobody picks the lemons, it's safe. And, that is what has happened, which is too bad since there are some nice-looking lemons on that branch. The mama and papa robins have been taking turns sitting on their babies. I wonder if they like

"Take a photo of the pink roses before I clip them," said the Mama, as I was cleaning Molly the Cat's litter box. She—the Mama—rarely asks me to take a picture of anything, especially of her works of wonder. "Take it so you can see the apple tree," the Mama said, showing with her hands the angle she wanted me to shoot the photo. She was sitting in the living room. I love it when the Mama gets artistic on me. That, too, is rare these days. That is, except for her gardening.  The Mama is one of those people with a green thumb. She can clip a rose branch, stick it in the ground, and most of the time it grows into yet another beautiful rose bush. The rose bush in the photo was once upon a time a small pot of roses that was bought at a grocery store. I don't remember how long ago, but I do recall she didn't really care for that kind of rose at the time. But, the Mama being Mama, rarely throws a gift plant away. By the way, that is not the apple

Let's play the guessing game. What do you think this is? Ah, you don't want to scroll down, do ya?  Easy, huh? A hidey-hole. Most certainly a huge one. Who else thinks this could be a portal to another dimension? Or, a place to hide treasures? Or....? Whoa! Would you believe this is an avocado tree? It's one of the oldest ones in California—more than 100 years old.  Just think of all the secrets that may have been hidden in that hidey-hole. If you're ever in Santa Cruz, California, you can check the tree out at the Santa Cruz State Historic Park .

Spring? Winter? I dunno. We're finally getting rain. Lots of rain. Plenty of rain. We may have a lousy apricot crop though. That's okay. We have several bags of frozen apricot form last year's harvest. Yesterday, the husband and I went out for a walk. After two days of being indoors, because of the lovely rain,  our bodies were shouting "Exercise, Pu-leese!" The rain had stopped. The sky was blue. The wind was strong. And, bitingly cold. I complained, of course. "You'll warm up. Walk fast," said the husband, stretching ahead of me. I kept my head down and let the wind zig and zag me as I walked. I pretended I was a kite. By the time we reached our goal, we were both game to go a further distance to return home. I'm glad we did. We would not have known that there was snow on the mountain range to the east. Nothing like all-of-a-sudden treats. Have a wonderful week, dear readers. It may look like white clouds just above the mountain