FAMILY TIME.

Last weekend was a nice time out with family. Virginia, Cedric and the boys came on Saturday. We were able to view pictures of their Australian adventure on computer and the extension trip they took to Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. They took a cooking class in Thailand and a biking tour in Viet Nam. Great memories and getting acquainted with different cultures? What an education. Here Theo practices his juggling. He is good at it.


We took a walk around the neighborhood. It was chilly but nice to get outside. The boys are  13 and 15 now, but still willing to keep company with we adults.


Daffodils are blooming everywhere in my yard.


One neighbor has a tulip tree.


I had never heard of them until I moved to California. Spectacular.


I have a stunted one in my yard that didn't take well to being transplanted from my former yard. It might get two blossoms, sometimes none. This is what they are supposed to look like.


After my mailbox project, I was charmed by this little postal box birdhouse. People can be so clever. Kind of reminds me, sadly, of the carrier pigeons. To think they were of such valuable service to us in WWI and no one thought to protect them.


Our neighborhood has many redtailed hawks. Majestic and beautiful.


Beautiful plumage and adept hunters. A very young hawk makes passes over my chickens as though sizing them up for a future meal. I don't cut their wings so they have some natural protection.


Ken and Laurie joined us on Sunday and we all went to brunch. Not Bix and Coco, though. None of the pictures I took of the adults turned out. Its okay. I've got a lot of pictures of them anyway.
Yesterday was a grand marker day. I've gotten my heating and air conditioning heat pump contracted. The new mini-split heat pumps operate efficiently without ducting. Doug moved in a dumpster and did a major clean-up around the place getting ready for inside installations. Cabinets are chosen and drawn. The cabinet installer will measure the house on Friday. Today, I'll shop for flooring, to get an idea of types and costs. The electrician will come in and do his wiring after the heat pump tubing and wiring is finished. Everything should move along quickly, now for the house. Then Doug will start on a garage/storage building. There is still much to do which keeps me absent these pages. But, taking time out was a welcome refreshment.

DAFFODILS AND TULIPS.

Let me set the stage. Jim and I were talking about going to daffodil hill, fifty miles away. Kautz Ironstone Winery does a great job with a daffodil show of their own. You walk their extensive gardens and view barrel after barrel of gorgeous flowers. Not only daffodils but tulips and pansies and hyacinths. They host a daffodil show, inside, which to me is less interesting than the gorgeous outside gardens.

It was all the more enjoyable because the weather was perfect, but the flowers speak for themselves.

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Still, Kautz advertises this as a Daffodil Show. And people every year come from miles around to show off their efforts.

In one area undercover, but out-of-doors, is a contest of daffodil bouquets. Kind of reminds me of place settings at the County Fair. They are interesting.

This particular setting won a silver bowl.  Suffice it to say, there is a lot to see if you decide to attend next year.

Again, setting the scene, this is the daffodil show room. Their placement and how they are judged is for you to see by attending. I question how anyone can choose one daffodil over another since they are all  beautiful and here you find perfection.

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For a more complete view of his lovely place, you can click on my album to view many more pictures: A full screen slide show is gorgeous.

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SEIZE THE DAY.

When my doctor was one hour behind in her appointment schedule, I decided to cancel my appointment and just amble back to Murphys. A guy by the name of Stewart Laidlaw started planting daffodils on his place in the 1980's on the Murphys Grade Rd. It fills three frames to capture them from left to right traveling west.

I wish I had a picture of his first start, just a straggle of daffodils in one long row right in front of the house and then the barn and then lower next to the road.

I drive by here and remember a rather famous local place called Daffodil  Hill. It has over 100 different varieties of daffodils and millions of blooms over several acres. I haven't visited it in years. Laidlaw's reminds me it is time to go. I noticed that neighbors near Laidlaw are beginning plantings of their own across from him. Such a neat way of sharing with anyone passing by. Annie Voitich of Murphys also had a yard filled with daffodils, so thick she used to say. "I never have to cut the grass." There was no grass left to cut.

It is busy during tax time, but I enjoy visiting with my friend Paul who a widower only a year now and making hard adjustments. Some days it is just best to let all the necessities go and seize the day. Take a moment to enjoy the beautiful weather, the flowers and a friend.

WINTER VINEYARD.

I like to walk at least three times a week. Especially when I'm working on my taxes and the beautiful weather right now calls me. About a half mile from my house is a vineyard all scraggly in winter, with the hills in the background.

 I always carry my camera, hoping to spot a bird, like Jim did yesterday from the Motor Home window. I was attracted to the undergrowth of tiny purple flowers.

The vines are fenced. I couldn't get close enough to really see the blossoms, but as I closed in with my lens I realized the vines are pretty fascinating without their leaves.

I wish my berry plants behaved as well. I lost my thornless raspberries to the Old Gulch Fire created drought. Our water comes from the flume and the flume burned and we had water rationing. Goodbye berries. They are staked but not quite like grapes.

Quite a canopy.

Returning, I realized I hadn't taken pictures of my daffodils. Since hooking up with Jim, I'm often gone when they bloom and the recent rain brought them out in gushes. Pretty. Spring flowers and winter vines. They look a lot better than my taxes.

BUSY DAYS

Finished with my taxes, but still hammering away at neglected paper projects, makes for long days. I complain that I'm cross-eyed with fatigue. My only breaks come from short walks because the weather has been horrific. Somehow the daffodils remain unusually resilient. A storm drenched daffodil may not recover. Yet these have defied the snow, ice, cold, wind, and pounding rain. They do make life cheerier.

There was a time when daffodils were plain yellow. Now, hybrids provide variety.