"Let's make valentines for our friends," I said. "Okay," he said. Have we started? No. #1 Am I becoming Mama? As I pulled out the pit from the avocado, I noticed that it had sprouted. It gave out vibes like it wanted to grow, to become a tree.  Our avocado tree began bearing fruit about 10 years ago, more or less. Mama planted seeds throughout the backyard and many (if not all!) of them sprouted. After Mama's Spirit soared into the Universe, I pulled out over 20 avocado plants in the yard, including a couple growing among the roses. Ouch! Yeah, I saved the avocado pit. It's nesting on top of a potted plant on the kitchen counter. If it grows, it grows. It's time for Mosaic Monday , a weekly meme hosted by Angela of Letting Go of the Bay Leaf . It's a cool meme and blog to visit.

"Did you see our new butterfly sanctuary?" I asked the Husband.  "Look to the South. . .by the fence. . .to your right. . .I mean the other way." "Where?" The husband turned his head here and there, mostly here. "There," I said. "Our butterfly sanctuary!" The Husband groaned. "I thought you meant real butterflies. You nut!" :-)

It was the sweet hour of the sun heading home. I stood in L Studio, my back to the window, taking advantage of the still bright natural light. La, la, la. I snipped away at a strip of red card stock to fit in a discarded book's hanging-for-dear-life spine. I wanted to fortify the spine before sewing in my own page signatures to make an art journal. Fun.  La, la, la. . . . Bzzz. What the heck? Bzzzzzz. Louder. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz. And louder. BzzzZZZZZZZZZ. Over my head and around to my back. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.  I turned and stepped to the window.  Striding around the corner of the house and towards the window was our neighbor to the north, his leafblower strapped to his belly like a weapon. I recognized him instantly. What was he doing here? How did he get in the backyard?  Our neighbor is a law enforcement officer. Was something wrong? We locked eyes immediately. Neither of us seemed that much surprised to see each other.  "Your husband said a lot of dust blew over to your side when

  I was so intensely busy the last two months that I'm finding it difficult switching into rest mode, or simply a slow-going pace. I feel like I ought to be doing something productive. Not doing big things such as repainting the garage door or writing my family history. No. It's more like the other day when I rolled up nearly a hundred bucks in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters or like today when I did an editing sample that was not requested.  If this is my rest mode, well, good for me. :-)

Zip, rip. Wrap. Zip, rip. Wrap. "That looks like fun," said the Husband. "Want to make one?" See the yellow butterfly in the above photo mosaic. That's the Husband's creation. I love it when the Husband plays artsy-crafty with me. Over the past few months, we transformed hangers and colored and patterned tape into four butterflies. The fourth butterfly was shy about getting its photo taken. We think it may be hiding near the back fence. I thought it would be cool to hang butterflies around the backyard. I was done after making three. I still have a lot hangers. What to do with them? What to do? A PLYWOOD BOARD Who has made a desk by setting a solid piece of plywood (or door) over two file cabinets (or something like that)? My canvas of a plywood board was once my desk top when the Husband and I lived in the big city area almost two decades ago. Pshew, wow. I wrote a whole bunch of good stuff on that desk. Before being my desk, the plywood board was the

1. The Husband and I successfully fulfilled our monthly date for vacuuming, dusting, and mopping the house. Three months in a row. Definitely a whoop-de-doo! for us. The carpet feels so good beneath our bare feet. 2. Here's another thing I'm proud about doing today. I successfully pulled a curly dock weed, more than 60 inches tall, from the middle of a young butterfly bush. Poor guy. The two plants' roots were stuck together, but not entwined, so I was able to pry them apart. Hopefully the young butterfly bush was not too traumatized. 3. I need to go out and check the seeds I planted last week. They may need a drink of water. 4. But, first I need to go cook our main meal for us. I do miss not cooking. 5. Here I am again. The seeds got their sips of water. I saw two sunflower sprouts. Yippieeee. 6. After marinating locally produced grass-fed beef stew in a concoction of spices, vinegar, oil, and whatever else for a few hours, I sliced the meat thinly a

"Do you think someone might report our backyard as a nuisance?" "Nobody can see back there." answered the Husband.  "Snoops can," I said, thinking about that drone we saw one afternoon turning around above our house. I wondered if it had followed us home. The bastard. As Mama liked to say after I said something weird, but quite entertaining to her, "You have too much imagination." "It's nobody's business how our backyard looks," the Husband said.  I imagined him word-sparring with a snoop. The Husband, my hero.  At this particular point in time, the backyard looks like a colorful junkyard in the Spring. I find its look comforting. It's familiar to a time past. It gives me strength to keep on keeping on. I wonder if that's how Mama felt when she played out there, growing her vegetables and tending to her flowers.  It's my turn now to transform the backyard into a fantasy of my making. I have

I forgot what I thought I wanted to write about. That's what happens when too much time passes between Ah-ha-I've-something-to write and turning on the computer, which may only be a matter of climbing the stairs to the office. Obviously it wasn't anything worth saying out loud. Ever wonder if you've said or written something that was quoted by others? Wouldn't that be cool? Yesterday our governor (in California) urged all of us, senior citizens, to stay put in our homes so that we won't risk contracting the coronavirus. The Husband and I pretty much hunker down most of the time, so this suggested decree is not a burden. Although I did panic for a moment when I thought we might not pay our property tax bill on time because the bank and the tax office may suddenly close. Then it came to me that we can use a credit car to pay online or over the phone. I'd rather not, so I may suggest to the Husband that we go out in the world sooner rather than l

Sometimes I just got to shake my head and roar with silliness. I like retirement. My smiling thanks to these meme hosts: Jesh at All Seasons , Angie at Mosaic Monday , and Jeanna at Say Cheese!   P.S. The photo of me was taken by the Husband.

1. See the jack rabbit. That's what I saw this afternoon. 2. Yak, yak, yak.  Chat about this, wonder about that. Discuss current events. Reminisce. Giggle, chuckle, laugh. We spent a wonderful afternoon today hanging out with good friends. One of the many fine things about being retired. 3. What else about today? I got to climb the ladder to saw away at tree branches, to be continued on the weekend. 4. By four o'clock, the almost full moon was already saying, "Hey there!" 5. Some call the second full moon of winter the Snow Moon. 6. The California Coastal Redwoods, sequoia sempervirens, range from Monterey county to the Oregon border and may grow within 50 miles from the coast. So, it's possible for redwoods to grow in Hollister where we call our home. 7. Experts say redwoods can be raised in a pot until it's about 5 or 6 feet tall. Hmmmm. 8. The Giant Sequoias are the largest species of redwood, which live only on the western slopes of

1. To avoid doing something on my Really, Definitely, Certainly, Absolutely Must Do list, I sewed two kitchen towels. 2. Nothing difficult. The material simply needed hemming, some only on three sides. The towels were made out of medium heavy cotton sacks that I found among Mama's stash of things to sew into something else. 3. I not only inherited the sacks but also the conclusion they will become kitchen towels one day. That was over three years ago. 4. Not all the sacks will be kitchen towels. Some of the material may find its way into clothing, a wall hanging, a painting, and/or a something that has yet to come to mind. 5. Molly the Cat just reminded me that I didn't transfer two house plants into bigger pots. Also, that I wanted to pick apples off the tree. 6. This morning I woke up thinking that I would work in the garden before breakfast. Then I got distracted thinking about scones for breakfast. 7. A half-a-cup of organic heavy cream, more or less, was

Most of last week was being lost in Sudoku. Two, three, and, sometimes, four hours at a time, I was distracted only by making meals, eating, doing minimal errands and chores, being just a bit creative, and combing gnats and fruit flies out of Molly's fur. No excuses for my slacker activity, not even the few days of high temperatures. It wasn't until recently that I learned to play Sudoku. So far I've been able to solve a puzzle every eight games or so. I'm indiscriminate: I play easy, medium, hard, and very darn hard games, whatever happens to by lying around in a newspaper, magazine, or Sudoku book. Whatever its level, the puzzle I'm playing is difficult. I like the process so it doesn't bum me too much when my solution doesn't work.  Solving Sudoku reminds me of doing algebra problems once-upon-a-time in high school. I loved solving for x's, y's, and z's, regardless of whether I got the correct answers. The chase! ( Cue wicked grin. )

Despite the current state of our world and the fruit flies in the backyard, I am enjoying the summer with the Husband, Molly the Cat, and Friends.  Yes, that is a bureau in front of the house. It was Mama's, one of the first pieces of furniture Daddy bought her in the late 1940s. I brought it outside earlier this year but only got around to painting it in June. I like to think Mama's Spirit is okay with that. On Saturday, my high school graduating class held its annual Class of 1971 Scholarship fundraiser. For the past 10 years or so we have awarded a $2,000 scholarship to a graduating senior. We're the first, and still only, class to have established a scholarship at our high school. Pretty good for us, slackers. Yes, we were when compared to the achievers in the class on either side of us. That's okay, look at us now. Go '71 HayBalers! For the fundraiser's silent auction, I donated this one-of-a-kind, perfectly imperfectly handcrafted coffee cup cozy. 

i That apricot tree grew from a seed that Mama ate and planted, which came from her Blenheim apricot tree. That makes this a second generation tree, but not necessarily a Blenheim according to some experts. The apricots are delicious, Blenheim or not. ii I can forget something I thought of minutes ago because I climbed upstairs to the office so I could plop it into the computer. Where are pen and paper when I need them? iii Two Sundays ago we stayed overnight in a faraway place and it wasn't because one of us had to have surgery. Hurrah! That's what our last few overnighters had been. Not two Sundays ago. We drove straight across the state to Shaver Lake in the Central Sierra Nevadas. A lot of driving that we weren't used to, but it was well worth it. iv How fun it was to zig and zag, to go down a road with matured abandon (mature abandonment? oxymoron phrases, both?). Left, right, right, right, left. . .too late. oh well,  turn right, this road runs paralle