My theme for #23 Round of ABC Wednesday: Signs & Such of San Benito County, California The Masonic Lodge of San Benito County was established 147 years ago ago, three years before San Benito became a separate county from Monterey County. Its home is the familiar brick building with the infamous clock tower at the corner of San Benito and Fourth Streets. The Masonic symbol of a G in the middle of a square and compass is on the outside wall above the lodge's entrance. The G stands for Great Architect of the Universe, as well as for Geometry. If you're interested in learning more, check out this page at the Masonic Lodge of Education web site. To check out ABC Wednesday , click here . For this week's participants, click here for the list of participants.  Thank you, ABCW Team!

Someone once asked my humans, "Where does Molly sleep?" "Wherever she wants." So true.  Purrrrrrrrrr. During the day, they let me wander in the backyard. I sleep all over the yard. One of my favorite spots is beneath the avocado tree shielded by the butterfly bush. The only times they won't let me sleep out there is when it's raining, it's too cold, or it's too hot. And, when they go away. I don't really have a best sleeping spot indoors. I like to circulate to keep Hero Man and Missus Lady on their toes. Missus Lady is really good at finding and cleaning my throw-ups almost right away. My humans don't make me feel bad when it happens. They tell me it happens to the best of us. They also say that they would love it if I would do it on the tiles in the hallway. Sometimes I can oblige. Last night, I slept with my humans, next to Missus Lady's feet. That's the safest place to be. She doesn't turn much. I like t

Can you find Molly the Cat? This morning's experiment: Along with my camera, keep a pen and notebook ready at all times while I deadhead daisies in the front yard. I wanted to see if it's possible for me to re-establish an old habit of carrying a journal. So, what did this old lady note this morning? Here were a few thoughts that got me to put down the scissors and write. The driveway looks cleaner than the hood of the car. The Mama would say I was stingy with the water. Proof—all the dried branches on the daisy.  Must remember to clean the hairball Molly barfed early this morning on The Husband's favorite spot on the couch. The faint breeze from fog rolling back west, ahhhh. Two hummingbirds. Ruby throated guy shows Anna's hummingbird guy the sea of red flowers very near me. Don't mind that human. So, how did I like having pen and notebook on hand? The greatest advantage, of course, is recording my thoughts rather than forgetting them. The

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

This is Silver. Aren't his blue eyes amazingly blue?  Old Silver lives on good friends Missus and Mister H's ranch. He's a Persian mix, methinks. He rules the cat roost on the ranch.  Molly Girl doesn't know a thing about him. I think she prefers to not know about any cats that The Husband and I know. "Miao, miaooo! That's right!" exclaims Molly from down the hall.

This summer actually feels like the summers from when I was a kid allowed to do whatever I wanted (within reason) after all my chores were done. The days go by fast doing nothing. How fortunate am I.

My theme for #23 Round of ABC Wednesday: Signs & Such of San Benito County, California About two months ago, The Husband and I came across this bulletin board at the old courthouse, currently home to various county offices.    To check out ABC Wednesday , click here . For this week's participants, click here for the list of participants.  Thank you, ABCW Team!

"You got something official from Medicare," said The Husband, going through the mail the other day. "Be sure you open it up and read it." "Yeah, yeah." "You tear up envelopes without looking inside. This may be important," he cautioned. "I'm putting it on the table." "Uh-huh." Yesterday, the letter caught my eye. It did look very official, so I ripped the envelope open rather than in half. "It's my Medicare card!" The Husband patted my shoulder. Wowza! Medicare won't kick in for another three months. It is nice to know the organization has its ducks in the row. Now, I need to get mine in a row and choose the best Medicare plan for me. Thank you, President Lyndon B. Johnson!

Once I publish this post, I'm heading into L Studio to prep the place for sewing this week. That means I need to clear stuff off surfaces so I can strew fabrics and sewing stuff on them. My sewing objectives: Make curtains for our bedroom and upstairs hallway windows as well as a tunic for me. My intent for today's post was to share more countryside photos, but, then I got enamored with playing with the above photo in Photoshop. That's the original shot of walnut trees. Below are two renditions of the photo with Photoshop filters. Which do you prefer? By the way, for those who wondered, The Husband and I took BART to Oakland on Friday. Sunday means All Seasons , a weekly meme hosted by Jesh at Artworks from Jesh St.G , which is where I'm heading to share my post. Click here to check out Jesh. For the participants list, click here . Thanks, Jesh!

The Daddy and The Mama raised chickens in our backyard, as well as a cow, several goats, a couple of pigs, and a whole bunch of pigeons. All for food. We lived in a house on a decent size lot with a big field behind us, about two miles outside of city limits, so they could. The neighbors on either side of us didn't complain. Not that I knew of. During the summer, my job was to feed the chickens, which lived in a structure with two small rooms that The Daddy built. There was enough for the chickens to roam free. And wild, so I thought. When I opened the door, it seemed like they were waiting to attack me. Cackle, cackle, cackle. Flutter, flutter of wings. Bwak, bwak, bwak .  It freaked me out. I imagined them pecking me to death. My method of feeding them was to throw a handful of feed into a far away corner, step in, quickly fill their trough with feed, and get out the door as fast as possible. Shudder. The other evening we were over at the ranch of our good friends Missus and

I suspect that I may not ever have been spontaneous.  I've done the all-of-a-sudden turn onto an unfamiliar road to see what's there and where it takes me. I've walked into a salon on a whim and got my hair cut or permed. I've suddenly decided to go somewhere, generally never far. But never ever have I been truly spontaneous. Don't ask me what that is? I don't know because I haven't done it. When I was a teenager I thought about running away. Mainly, I contemplated what to stuff into my knapsack. Should I bring a change of clothing? Change of underwear at least. My notebook, of course. Should I bring a pencil and a pen? Two pens, maybe several. Food to get me to my next destination. Money, which would probably be $20, if even that. Do I want by guitar? What I never thought about was where to go. I didn't want to run away, did I? Today, the Husband and I are in Oakland hanging out with his college buddies. (Yesterday was when I wrote this.) Will we h

What's a handshake? What kind of unsaid agreement is made when we shake hands with each other? Why do some men still find it odd to shake women's hands? And, is it just older men? Last Saturday, The Husband and I met up with good friends Missus and Mister H at the two-buck senior brunch hosted by the local hospital volunteer group. As the brunch was winding down, a bunch of handshaking was going on. At our table, the first person to shake hands with The Husband and Mister H was a city mayoral candidate. After he shook the guys' hands, I held mine up for a shake which startled him. He quickly hid it and shook my hand. I was surprised that he was momentarily stunned at the thought of shaking a woman's hand. After all, he has been working in the community for over 40 years, including being on boards with women. A few minutes after that T, whom The Husband and I are getting to know more each time we see him at community functions, said his good-byes. He shook hands

My theme for #23 Round of ABC Wednesday: Signs & Such of San Benito County, California Perhaps after drinking several beers, I may be enlightened to see window reflections with my eyes closed.  But, I'll stick to sipping one glass. :-) To check out ABC Wednesday , click here . For this week's participants, click here for the list of participants.  Thank you, ABCW Team!

I love the lighting magic that happens as the sun starts its downward path towards the horizon. I often ignore the experts' advice and click into the west just because I like how the light reflects on objects. My camera is a point-and-click. So, that I do, glad that I can crop, sharpen, highlight, fine tune the contrast, and so forth and so on with Photoshop. These photos were taken on Sunday afternoon at Good Friends Missus and Mister H's ranch, who invited us to a smoked turkey dinner. They raise free range organic turkeys. Missus H said it was time to consume the last frozen turkey from last year. The Husband and I were happy to help. Yummm. The above photo is of Mister H carving one of the turkey legs with a rather humming electric knife. Time for Our World Tuesday . Here's the link to check out participants from around the world, and maybe to join up yourself. Thanks, Our World Tuesday hosts!

Closed eyes no more. Time to be responsible, my aching knees.  ~ Su- sieee ! Mac That was my pronouncement to myself this morning. Neither The Husband nor Molly the Cat heard, so you, dear readers, are my witnesses. I am going to do my best to go through, organize, and throw out the piles of papers and boxes of stuff that are in this house, as well as "do" instead of "thinking about doing" something fun and creative for no reason at all. Yes! In that second regard, I am happy to say I made something yesterday evening. Actually two somethings—those coffee cup cozies you see in the above photo. Sewing them was easy-peasy. Unlike the first time, a bunch of years ago, when figuring how to do it completely stumped me. I was sweating bullets while stitching it on the machine. Sweating bullets, what an image! We've been getting coffee to go lately so cardboard coffee sleeves have been collecting in our car. We don't remember until we get back into t

In yesterday's post , I mentioned that I decided to accompany the Husband into the Big Store in Our Town to pick up his prescription because a guy was yelling in the parking lot. Inside the store, I said, "Go ahead. I'm going to take my time." "I won't take long," he said. "I'll be on the main aisle. You'll see me when you walk back."  Off the Husband went. There wasn't much to see, and I was nearing the aisle to the pharmacy. Ecco! Notebooks for sale. I didn't need a notebook, I told myself, as I picked up the bright mustard yellow covered one.  Ooh la! Oh, mio! The sign said .25 per notebook! I might as well get two. This red one is cute. Heck, if the next one is blue, I'll buy it. Now holding three notebooks, I convinced myself that if the cover of the next notebook is green, I shall buy it. Ecco! Four notebooks for a dollar. Does anyone else think that's a greater than great value? Thank you, Big S

A guy was yelling angrily in the parking lot at someone we couldn't see. We parked next to the building, a good distance away. Yet, we heard him yelling. So I changed my mind about waiting in the car while the Husband fetched his prescription from the pharmacy. "Good idea," said the Husband. "We're starting to be like Mama," I said. "She was scared to sit alone in the parking lot." "Remember that time I sat in the car with her." I can't remember where or why we stopped, only that it was towards the end of shopping in another town with the Mama who was too tired to get out of the car one more time. When the Husband offered to sit in the car with her, she gave no protest. Settled. Both looked quite content waiting in the car. What a guy, I married. Lucky me. Lucky Mama.

  "I've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. . . . I'm doing all right" ~ Irving Berlin I'm linking up with the monthly photography meme Wandering Camera hosted by Soma Acharya of Whims and Fancies . Click here to learn more about the meme and to check out other participants.

My theme for #23 Round of ABC Wednesday: Signs & Such of San Benito County, California This warning sign hangs in the window of one of the tattoo and piercing shops in town. To check out ABC Wednesday , click here . For this week's participants, click here for the list of participants.  Thank you, ABCW Team!

Giggle. If only that Girl had joined us in the picture. Molly the Cat happily watched from the sidelines. She said she only works on Mondays for the blog.  Oh-oh. What can she mean? Will she not let me write or show photos of her on non Mondays? Cosa sara. As Doris Day used to sing, "Que sera, sera." Here's a close-up of the cherry tomatoes that I picked this morning. They are sweet as candy. Time for Our World Tuesday . Here's the link to check out participants from around the world, and maybe to join up yourself. Thanks, Our World Tuesday hosts!