Three days later, I'm ready to brag about my county fair ribbons. For some of them, I don't know if I would've won if there had been a lot more competition. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for all of them—four blue and one red ribbon in flower arrangements, one blue and one yellow ribbon in photography, and a white ribbon in wearable art. Whooo-hooo! My most unbelievable win was the blue ribbon for my dry floral arrangement in the Country Road Treasure class. You had to use objects found along the road as containers or accessories. I found a broken piece of PVC pipe with jagged edges along the road while the Husband and I were walking home. It was perfect. When friend Kathy saw my arrangement, she described it as modern minimalism. I was told that the arrangement received a lot of comments. Good or bad, I didn't ask.  You saw my Eiffel Tower martini glass arrangement already. If you haven't, click here .  These were my other flower arrangement entries.

My Alphabe Thursday theme: Places I've Been The Husband and I drove over to the coast this afternoon to buy food for Molly the Cat. It was something neither of us wanted to do, but Molly ate her last can of food this morning. Yes, we have a very particular cat. She would rather go hungry then eat something that doesn't taste or smell good to her. But, Molly the Cat is not the story today. The clouds are the story. They were swimming, running, tumbling, dancing, and singing across the perfect blue sky. You see, it rained last night. Hallelujah! It rained throughout the night. Whooo-hooo! And it rained some this morning. Yippee!   All that wonderful rain left us with clear blue skies and whipped-cream like clouds. And, because the Husband was driving, I took photos. I was good at first, sitting primly (I heard that snort of a laugh) in my seat shooting photos through the passenger window and the windshield.  Before I knew it, I was leaning out the window.

My Alphabe Thursday theme: Places I've Been September 23 was the first day of Autumn. It was also the Husband's and my 19th wedding anniversary. And, yes, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago we turned right at the xerox machine to get married. (For that story, head over here , if you like.) Our day began with breakfast at our favorite coffee shop in San Juan Bautista— Vertigo Coffee . That's one of the few places I'll allow myself to drink coffee. The Husband had himself a mocha latte, which is an occasion in itself. Until yesterday, he hadn't drunk coffee in over two years. We also ate BLT with soft scrambled egg panini sandwiches. Yummm! Using coffee stirrers as chopsticks to pick up the eggs that kept falling out of our sandwiches made the meal even more fun and special. We drove over to the coast and headed north on Highway One. Roadwork was going on, but that didn't bother us. We were after all in no big hurry to get anywhere. We

My Alphabe Thursday theme: Places I've Been A couple months ago I had a hankering to be by the ocean and the Husband wanted to be in a forest, so we drove to Rancho del Oso , the western portion of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County.  The entry point is across from Waddell Beach on State Highway 1, where you can see surfers and kiteboarders having fun. It was our first time to visit Rancho del Oso, which translates to Bear Ranch. Once upon a time, the Grizzly Bear roamed the area. Thankfully, we did not meet any bears, but we did come across jack rabbits, squirrels, butterflies, lizards, and an occasional human. We hiked over a couple of miles, the first half going up and along a mountain side and the trip back on a nice flat fire road. Unfortunately, my left knee flamed up on the way back, so it took us longer to get back to the car. On a positive note: We got to enjoy being under the redwoods longer. It's the letter R at A

This afternoon, I shut the car door while I kinda stood between it and the car. The edge of the door jarred my jaw on its way to its destination. Kinda made the nerves in my skull sizzle. I'm very talented. Fortunately, nothing other than a tiny bit of pain in the jaw for a few minutes. "I don't like it," I said to the Husband as we drove to the produce stand. "You wouldn't like being a boxer then," he said. DAYS 47 to 60 with TILDA-HILDA Did you wonder if Tilda-Hilda and I had stopped riding for the year? Not at all. We're been doing things a bit differently. Three Saturdays ago was the the last time Tilda-Hilda and I went out on the back roads.  Since then, we've been sticking to our neighborhood and an occasional ride to downtown, as my left knee recuperates. Most of our riding had been pedaling three blocks back and forth to Godmother Pat, once or twice a day. She had a horrible accident in July that resulted in the loss of t

Hurrah! I completed item#1 on my list of seven things to do before the summer ends. The Husband has his second tunic. It sports a couple of boo-boos. One pocket is lower than the other. And, there's a triangle of fabric missing in the interfacing. I cut it out as I was sewing because the fabric was overlapping in the oddest way.  I should've had more faith in what I was doing. We'll see how the tunic holds up with each washing. The blue print on the pockets and on the sides looks weird. What can I say other than it brings out the happiness of the shirt. The Husband is so cool.

My Alphabe Thursday theme: Places I've Been Moss Landing, California is a fishing village with over 200 residents. From the photo, it doesn't look like a quaint fishing village, but believe me it is. It has a few great antique shops and restaurants. This photo is of the harbor and the more commercial part of Moss Landing. Moss Landing is located on Highway 1, about 15 miles to the north of Monterey. It stands at the mouth of Elkhorn Slough , which is a fun place for hiking, birding, and kayaking. I have three wonderful memories of Moss Landing. Eight years ago, the Husband and I did a kayaking tour with friends on Elkhorn Slough. That was the first time we went kayaking. At one point, we paddled by a wall of pelicans. They were not fazed at all. They did not seem to move a muscle. "Yup, there go more humans." In the early 1990s, the First, Late Husband and I floated down the slough on a wildlife viewing tour. That was my introduction to Elkhorn Slough an

I'm feeling lazy. It may be because I haven't pedaled Tilda-Hilda in a week. Soon, though, we'll be out again. Perhaps tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow, even if it's around the block. Since I've been feeling lazy, I decided to start working on one of my seven things to do before the summer ends. The other day, I opened my fabric stash and came up with a color combination for the Husband's second tunic. I'm patchworking a bit of blue with the brown kalidescope print. Although the two prints felt right together, they looked weird at first. Now, that I've finished sewing the patchworks together, I don't think the colors or the prints clash. Hopefully, I'll have time today to sew the tunic. 'This may be a very cool tunic or an ugly one," I said to the Husband. "I don't care," he replied. "I'll wear it anyway." The Husband is a sweetheart. I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday . To join in or check

The left knee flared up after last Wednesday's ride. By Friday I was feeling a lot of grouchy pain that I gave in and called the doctor. The earliest appointment was for this coming Friday. I suppose if I had cried, moaned, and demanded to see him sooner, the gatekeeper would've squeezed me in that day. Just as well. I prescribed my knee rest. The knee felt good yesterday, so the Husband and I pedaled our bikes around town (4.25 miles) to do errands. I did well, but the Husband had a spill. He has a beautiful egghead of a purple bruise on his shin. The poor guy! Oh, it felt wonderful to be out pedaling Tilda-Hilda this morning. I was good about not going far, but I was tempted. We pedaled 7.5 miles in 43 minutes. The bum knee had no problem. The other knee complained a bit. It's been overcompensating for the bummed one. I might as well present both knees to the doctor when I see him this Friday. Ah, the fun of the body growing older.

The Mama was playing in the mud this morning. Her favorite thing to do. Okay, she was replanting  Filipino onions, which she does every several weeks. The Mama likes to say, "You cannot fool me." And that's what I say. The Mama cannot fool me. She's playing in the mud and she's having lots of fun out there. Yup, she's still out there as I'm writing this post. While the Mama was playing with her onions, Molly the Cat did her rounds of the backyard. She was late this morning. She sat on the chair, which was once the Mama's favorite chair, for the longest time after breakfast. The Mama asked her, "Are you sick, Molly?  Do you have a headache?" The Mama opened the back door and Molly the Cat jumped off the chair in no time. "Don't go far," said the Mama. I think Molly wanted her photo taken because she kept close to me while I was clicking away by the lemon tree. But, would she look prettily at the camera? Of course, n