1. Some time today (or tomorrow, or the next day), I’ll pull out the oak seedling next to the mailbox. I hope it’ll be easy. It’s more than a foot tall. Could it be considered a sapling? 2. I thought it was a holly plant so I left it alone last year. Who doesn’t like holly come Christmas season?  3. It turns out we have quite a few oak seedlings growing around the house. Some have volunteered in pots, some in the ground.  4. The birds and squirrels must’ve heard me say it would be nice to grow an oak tree or two.    Who else would’ve brought the acorns and dropped them at random? 5. The Husband thinks the acorns were introduced by me. I tend to pick up acorns with the intention of planting them, but they mostly are left in pockets, the car, and forgotten safe places. 6. More than likely, the few acorns I didn’t stow away, I cavalierly tossed in the yard, invoking Mama’s incantation of “If they grow, they grow.” 7. So, yeah, acorns have sprouted all over the front and back.  8. Oaks bel

The ornamental pear tree in the front yard is more than 20 years old. The Husband planted it for Mama a few years before we moved in with her. Come this summer, we’ll have lived here 19 years.  Wow. Here’s what the tree looks like today when you stand beneath it and look up. Amazing!

"Knock on wood, said Dr. Eye, who then knocked on the side of a medical supply cabinet. I turned to my left. Nothing but eye examination machines. All metal. I looked back at the cabinet. "About the closest to wood," Dr. Eye said, somehow knowing what I was thinking. "Maybe this," I said, leaning over to tap a small box, probably made of balsa, on the cabinet. "It probably does have the most wood in this room," Dr. Eye said, tapping the box. Someone asked me if I felt confident about Dr. Eye taking out my lens and inserting an artificial one with my current prescription. Totally. Four more days.  :-)   Linking with All Seasons at The Jesh Studio.

I baked a lemon bundt cake this morning for my county fair entry, which I hope shall reach a mellow, not so loud, lemon tart flavor when the judges taste it this Wednesday afternoon. This cake has several firsts for me. It's the first time I've entered a cake in the fair, I tried a new recipe, and I experimented with the recipe twice (I wrote about the first attempt last month). I added a lot more lemon zest and a heaping measurement of sour cream to the recipe for more lemon flavor and less dryness. And, yes, I used a bundt pan this time. Thank goodness that the Husband hung out in the kitchen while I was working on the cake.  He looked up things on Google: How many tablespoons equal 1/4 cup? How do I make lemon syrup? When do I douse the cake with lemon syrup? Which end of the bundt cake do I display (the Husband had it right—the bundt ridges must show)? and  How do I store the cake if I'm not serving it right away? Sorry, no photo. The cake is nothing truly excit

I saw a bunch of naughty trees the other morning. Okay, knotty, to be precise. It's time for Our World Tuesday . Here's the link for you to check out participants from around the world, and maybe to join up yourself. Thanks, Our World Tuesday hosts!

On Saturday, I saw a few California poppies waving "Hey ya! Hi ya! How ya?" from some slopes along the road. Whooo-hooo! I also saw irises nestled in with some yellow ice plants along a sidewalk in the town next over. Yippieee! On the home front, our ornamental pear tree is full of snow-white blossoms.  Wheeeeeeee!   I'm hooking up with Our World Tuesday . Here's the link for you to check out participants from around the world, and maybe to join up yourself. Thanks, Our World Tuesday hosts!

As our side of the Earth begins to rotate away from the sun, I like to watch the late afternoon sun's rays glimmer and glow on the tree branches above our neighbor's rooftop. Ever heard the song I Got Plenty of Nothing ? Barbra Streisand sang it in the 1960s. If I had a theme song, I'd definitely consider that song. Part of the lyrics are:   . . .I got no lock on the door, that's the way to be They can steal the rug from the floor That's okay with me, 'cause the things that I prize Like the stars in the skies they're all free Oh, I got plenty of nothin', and nothin's plenty for me. . . Today's share is with Skywatch Friday . It's been awhile. Here's the link . 

Whoooooo-hoooo! Our olive tree has its first olive. It's a cute little olive. Our olive tree is two years old, which we bought at our local olive festival in its six-inch pot of glory. It's about two feet tall today. One day it'll go into the ground. My, oh, my, think of all the olives that it may produce. What shall we name our first lovely olive? How about Daisy?

Imagine: You are on a tree-lined avenue. You may be walking, driving, standing, or grandly sitting. The thoroughfare may be as rustic as pepper trees edging a private road or as sophisticated as a boulevard in sweet-smelling shadow of the flowering trees. You are on a xyst. The word was coined in Ancient Rome to describe covered garden paths and tree-lined gardens.  A word fanatic might disagree with my application of the word to our imagined tree-lined streets. "Where is the garden?" that word fanatic might ask. I would simply respond. "Look around you." Giggle. It's the letter X this week at ABC Wednesday . Check out the  meme here .  Thank you, ABCW team!

Yesterday afternoon, the Husband and I safely exited the highway onto a road that led us briefly through a magical eucalyptus forest. We zigged and zagged up hill and down dale along vaguely familiar roads to a small town where an artisan's holiday fair was happening. Shall we turn left or right? One way or the other we'd find our destination. We could've taken the direct route. But, where's the fun in that? We wouldn't have come across two young deer quietly and delicately making their way up a hillside. It was almost like they were holding their breath as they walked. Were they afraid we would see them? The Husband stopped the car and opened his window so I could quickly take a photo of the young deer. It wasn't until I was fiddling with this photo that I noticed a creature in the brush above him. At first I thought it was a bobcat or a coyote. Would the deer have gone so slowly if it was either creature?  It turned out it was another deer. I'

The cues for this week are: 1) Starts with O  2) Week's Favorite  3) Eyes Don't you think this tree's "eyes" look owlish? Ha-ha! O for owlish. O is also for opposite. On the opposite side of this tree is young growth. Very cool, which is why this photo is my week's favorite. Friday's Hunt is a weekly meme hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills . To check out other participants, please click here .

Today's topics are 1) Starts with E   2) Week's Favorite  3) Bounce I like coming up with a photo that covers all three topics, because, I admit it, I'm lazy. This afternoon I didn't think I could come up with something even for the letter E. Maybe I'd simply flake out this week.  While getting a photo ready for my other blog, I thought how much I liked the way it turned out, so maybe I'd also use it as my week's favorite for Friday's Hunt. Boom. Pow. Light bulb. Oh, yeah. The photo was of eucalyptus trees. Ha! I bounced back. The photo covers all three topics. Okay, I may have stretched the bounce part. But, I'm sticking with it.  Okey-dokey.  Now, head on over to Teresa's blog, Eden Hills , to check out what other participants have posted for today's Friday's Hunt .

Ha! I'm actually doing Teresa's meme, Friday's Hunt , on the actual day. This week the photo hunt was 1) The Letter L, 2) Week's Favorite, and 3) Lace. My interpretation of the letter L is also my favorite photo. A lovely landscape of the Southern Diablo Range in my neck of the woods. I clicked the photo (above) as the Husband drove us homeward on Highway 25. A big fat black wire streaked across the scene which I erased in Photoshop. These tree branches reminded me of lace. What do you think? Okay, now it's time for you to check out the other participants in the Eden Hills Friday's Hunt . See you later.

Hello Singular Live Oak Tree, So huge, so healthy, and so handsome! Thank you for helping make sweet oxygen for us as we walked through the Elkhorn Slough Reserve National Estuarine Research Reserve . It's the letter H at ABC Wednesday . Thank you, ABCW team!

The items for this week's Friday Hunt, hosted by Teresa of Eden Hills are: 1) Starts with D. 2) Week's favorite. 3) Beautiful. For me, they all came together in this reflection of tree branches in a puddle of water near our public library. I didn't find anything I wanted to read in the New section. Any disappointment I had was quickly wiped out when I saw this reflection. To check out other Friday Hunt participants, click here . If you'd like to join the hunt, you have until Sunday evening to link up.

After a rain, a temporary shallow puddle develops on our patio. I like to call it our cement pond. The cool thing about this cement pond is the reflection I can see in it.  That's what I saw this morning.

I love the way the leaves cover our front yard this year. This may be the first year the yellow-and-red blanket is is thick.  The photos show how it looked today.  The Husband raked the leaves the day before yesterday.  While the Husband raked, I put up a few Christmas decorations around the yard to cheer up the Mama as she looked out the window as she ate her breakfast.  This time I did more than add red bows to the tree. See the green bough on the fence? That's new, thanks to the Godmother. She was downsizing her Christmas stuff, so she gave me the bough and a bunch of cool ornaments. The Autumn leaves and the holiday decorations in the front yard are a few of the things that perked me up this week. How about you? I'm linking up with the lovely Jenny Matlock's Warm Heart Wednesday . Click here to join the meme and/or read more warming posts.

The Husband thought the photo was that of a cave. Nope. It's the hollow of the mighty old oak tree that I shared in last week's The Weekend in Black and White . And, that's where I am again, today. To participate in this Friday meme hosted by Dragonstar, or to check out black and white photos from bloggers around the world, click here .   

It's Friday and means the Weekend in Black and White hosted by Dragonstar. To participate or check out other B&W photos, please click here .

Yesterday morning, I was being resourceful in front of this building, which once-upon-a-time was the hospital in Hollister. It was in fact the place where I was born, one of many babies that came into the world between 1907 and 1962. Today, the building is home to various offices and shops. Probably a few ghosts, too.  Anyway, back to yesterday. I was lying on the bottom steps trying to take a good picture of the huge trees that line the sidewalk in front of the old hospital. I was doing as someone said to me about getting one or all five trees in a picture, "Be creative." Imagine what the drivers passing by must've thought.  Or, the Mama, if she had seen me.