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.

BUSY TIME OF YEAR.

Christmas is a busy enjoyable time and if I ran the world, I’d stop all those pesky things during the holidays, like funerals, frozen pipes, and a leaking septic system pipe. (Being fixed today… )



I’d also have pesky snow gone, gone, gone by now. Still hanging around in spits and spots. Today, today, snow, be gone!

I took time out from my tasks for a walk. The weather was beautiful and sunny at 63 degrees.
One real treat was spotting a woodpecker I didn’t recognize. Those red-headed pileated woodpeckers are common around here. This one had an orange head, thicker in the neck than his red-headed cousins. The wing feathers were striped black and white like a herring bone suit. Beautiful!!
But, raise the camera, and flit! Gone.

I guess I have to quit complaining about the lingering snow if mother nature also brings me the joy of a beautiful bird.

A GOOD IDEA FROM AMERICA.

Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday. A time to take stock, reflect on the good things in life and…a time to take goofy pictures.

A pomegranate almost the size of Owen’s head. It has dried, cracked and shrunk some since it was picked from their backyard tree.

It is November and crisp enough outside for sweaters. These guys never want to wear long pants or shoes unless they are visiting the snow. They are all legs.

My daughter is mentoring a Brazilian PHD student. Stuffed Turkey isn’t new to him, but Thanksgiving is. Each person at the table shares what we have to be thankful for on  this day.   I may rant about politics, but this is the greatest country on earth and I’m thankful for that.

Everyone gives a hand with the dinner.

After dinner the desserts: apple crisp, pear tart, pumpkin pie, and walnut pie. Son-in-law is the artistic pie baker. Equally fit for pilgrims and kings.

Then a walk in the park. And, if you walk with three biologists, you have to inspect what an owl ate for Thanksgiving. Little bones, feathers and a small skull are evidence in the owl pellet.

Marciel came here almost four months ago with no English. In Brazil, he had only played cards a couple of times. He did not know how to shuffle. No trump games or bidding. He learned three new card games, trump, bidding, betting. A new dice game. He then bested Doug seven games in a row too much howling on Doug’s part. We relished Doug’s loss and shouts of anguish at being bested.

The two grandma’s look like they’ve been sucking too long on a wine bottle. Goofy pictures are part of the deal, doncha know. We think we are a normal family, whatever normal is.

WALK AND HAWK

Yesterday hit 92 degrees. I  was dreading it.  I keep my doors and windows open and let in the night breezes. I have to wear a sweat shirt when I get up at 5:00 a.m. I closed everything up when it reached 60 degrees. By lunchtime it was 89 degrees. In the house,  It was still cold and decided to eat lunch on the deck for a little warmth.

It was comfortingly warm and balmy, I felt like I was taking a warm bath. Delicious. The only downside was eating alone. But I chuckled as I thought of Jim, in his sweats, having cold rainy mornings. Hmmm! Even Northern California weather has a lot to recommend it.  Low humidity is key. I like it.

Earlier I picked strawberries for my breakfast. And, before it got too hot, I took a walk.
This young Red Tail Hawk was perched on a low wire, and I stopped to take his picture.  He  stayed there for several minutes while I watched.

It wasn’t until I loaded my pictures into my computer that I noticed something unusual about this hawk. Do you see it? Then I realized why he  flew only a short distance away to a nearby tree.  There was another bigger hawk, probably a female,  nearby calling from atop a telephone pole.

He may have a mate. I’ll watch for him in the coming days. I know hawks stay within a range of about ten to twenty-five miles.