I shall make a list, to check twice, sometime today. Any tasks undone by the end of the week makes me not naughty or nice.   The weather experts say our area is in for four days, more or less, of rain. Whoot, whoot! That means doing indoor stuff. I need to bring the outdoor carpets inside or drape them in such a way, the rain washes them. Methinks the latter. This morning we treated ourselves to a trip to the cafe for cups of mocha and artisanal pastries. What’s an artisanal pastry you ask? A flaky, robust almond croissant, for example, coated with toasted almonds and tasting of quality ingredients worthwhile of it being six dollars. I’m getting better at not flinching at the cost of treats.  “Baby, it’s cold outside,” the ants are singing as they single-file prance their way into the house. I caught them twice invading the tropical plants by the sliding door window.    So far the ants have laughed at the lavender and rosemary sprigs, the vinegar wash, the spray...

This year I’m planting cover crop plants to help build up the soil. To make it easy- peasy, I’ve mixed different types of seeds into a bowl—buckwheat, red clover, lupine, chia, calendula, black-eye Susan, poppy, coreopsis, dill, and mustard—which I’ll toss around the backyard tomorrow. Yep, that is my plan. Should all the flowers bloom? Imagine….Wow! Today I sowed carrots, parsnips, and wintermelon radish seeds directly into the ground. A few days ago, lettuce, red mustard, and Chinese broccoli (methinks) seeds were planted. Just in time for the rain that ought to start tomorrow.  We’ll be getting four days worth of rain, so say the weather experts. We have a local news station that likes to call their meteorologists the weather authorities. I suppose. Our local news stations feature the weather three times during the 30 minutes of news. The meteorologists come on within the first five minutes of news to give a teaser about the weather. Then ten minutes or so later, they are back ...

A junkyard to some, most likely. Sometimes I pretend it’s an art gallery in the making. The other day, the Husband thought the yard looked like a cemetery. What do you think?  That’s how the backyard looked at the beginning of March before the rain kicked in. After years of drought, I’m enjoying this old-time rainy weather, the look, the sound, the smell. March delight! Here’s how it looked yesterday.  I disappeared again, I did. My last post was five weeks ago on the same day that the Husband’s triple whammy of sore and painful joints, a respiratory virus, and norovirus began. Not all at the same time, but pretty much overlapping each other. I had a 36 hour bout with norovirus, fortunately, after the Husband’s worse of his tummy woes were nearly over.  All’s well today, hurrah! Hope you are all feeling strong and with wonder! ❤️

Dive bomb!  I wonder what the blue jay saw on the decomposing leaf covered ground, and what was he eating in the leafless persimmon tree.  The sun is out. The sky is a clear blue with fluffy white clouds streaming by. The clarity after the storm.  This winter we certainly are having our share of storms with floods, landslides, broken levees, fallen trees, and evacuations. Three weeks worth, so far. Fortunately, the Husband and I haven’t had to experience any of that, knock on wood.  With all this rain and reports of oversaturated ground, some people probably believe our drought is over.  No more need to conserve. We can go crazy with lush lawns, landscaping, and vegetable gardens once again. Nope! Uh-uh.  No, siree, Bob, and Nancy.  Parts of California, including our area, may be good for water this year, if that, but the drought is far from over. We need it to rain throughout the winter and early spring, gently and kindly, alternating with dry days. M...

(1) How hot is it? Well, the Husband is wearing a tank shirt and shorts and walking around the house barefoot. I pretty much do that every day, but not him. (2) It has been seven days of temperatures in the high 90s and triple digits! The iPad won’t charge any further than 80 percent when it’s this hot. If the weather guys are to believed, we’ll feel the last of 100+ degrees today. Knock on wood, cross my fingers. This excessive heat is uncommon for our area. I’m thankful it’s unaccompanied with oppressive humidity. (3) We’ve managed to get by without the the air conditioner or heading to a cooling center. Doing the old-fashioned practice of closing and opening curtains to the sun and staying inside have made it bearable. It also helps that we have a big shady tree in front and a bunch of fruit trees in the back.  (4) We’re one of the few homes that have mature trees on our street. I wouldn’t be surprised if some neighbors wished we’d remove our trees. Earlier this year, a neighbor...