I just wanted to post a quicky. I am terribly excited, we found out that my daughter is having a girl. I went to visit her this last weekendand was given a surpise Christmas gift. I was able to be present at her ultra sound to find out the sex of my newest grandchild. While I would be happy for a healthy child or either sex I was tickled "PINK" to find out it is a girl.

We are afloat here in the desert right now ne have had nearly nonstop rain for 4 days now, the Serria Nevada Mountain range just to the west of us is covered with snow and according to the weather station we are due for the mother of all storms tonight. Two storms are colliding above us, one from the north and one from the south. I guess I better batton down the hatches. Dont tell no-one but I am excited I love storms!! I have a good supply of food and heat is gas so if the lights are lost "oh well" I just wont have the internet.


cyn

They're Here!!

They're back!! I love it when the snow geese come here. They spend the larger part of the winter here. It is warm and they feed till they are full on the insects they find in the grass, .... yes we have grass in the desert. I cant begin to describe the feeling I get watching and listening to them fly across the valley from west to east at night and then travel back east to west in the morning. they have perfect formation and you can hear the lead geese calling out the cadence. Fore the most part they are all white with black tips on their wings. Our skys are so clear and a briliant shade of blue, which makes the Geese stand out. I am always sorry to see them leave when it warms up in May. But I am sure where they are going someone is waiting in anticipation for their noisy arrival.

cyn

It is the day after my birthday. It was a good one as birthdays go after you have hit the top of the hill and are headed down the other side. the ones I love the most were here and we had a great time. I was concerned for half a minute, as I was having a Murphy sort of day. First I had a flat on my way to my Doctors appointment, then after I stopped at Burger king for a dollar menu lunch while I was ordering the car behind developed a mind of its own while the drivers attentions were in the back seat with her children, and I was smacked father firmly from behind. Before I knew it I was collared and taped to a back board and on my way to the ER. Long story short I am fine sore in a place or two but in one piece. The car? Just a little scratch.

I am decorating bit by bit for Christmas. My tree is up and lit but not finished with all the bobbles and such. the outdoor lights are up and pretty. I decided it was better to take my time. It is so less stressfull this way. And I am enjoying myself. Going through the boxes of things I have collected over the years brings back many sweet memories.

I hope all your Christmas preperations are full of love and laughter,

Cyn

I was working away on writing and I became aware that the purring had gotten much louder. How strange I thought and I turned to have this sweet little face just inches from mine. Aren't her blue eyes to die for. I rescued her from the pound 3 years ago this month. I was told she was 2 years old when I got her so she should be about 5. You cant tell to look at her she still has a sweet innocent baby face. and she still plays like a kitten. Happybirthday Sweetpea!!

Thanksgiving

It has been over a month sense last I posted here. I have missed it ,but as it goes life got in the way. I got sick, then got well. I had to travel, had to go through an ugly court hearing. It took some stuffing out of me, ok a lot. I got to go on a trip for Thanksgiving to Morro Bay. It was just my style the first 2 days it rained, it was all blustery and stuff. Across the road from my hotel was the bay with sail boats and fishing boats I spent the first day sitting by the fire place all cozy and warm watching the storm outside. For me it was perfect. We spent Thanksgiving day on the beach eating a non traditional fair, but it was tasty and fun. The area is somewhere my parents used to take me when I was a kid. We spent many Thanksgivings there camping. and exploring the coves, looking for treasures. The memories were good, and made the trip all that more pleasant. I am thankfull for that.

I really hate rollercoasters!!

This weekend has been a giant rollercoaster of emotions. My daughter is finally safely home in Calif. after a sixteen hour drive and 3 years of one disaster after another I am so happy to have her close to me again. Especially sense she is expecting my forth grandchild.

Just as I settled into the good feeling my phone rang. My son who was wisked away by the navy to parts umknown is calling to inform me he is well, however he is stationed somewhere in Irac, my heart lurched. I am now fighting the fear I am sure is not a stranger to all mothers of sons and daughters in active service.

I hate having things in an emotional mess, and true to form I will endever to hunker down with my stack of projects and keep my mind on good and positive things.

Sweet wishes for a gental autumn,

cyn

HOT DOG!!!!!

Finally we have rain ....and thunder ....and lightning ... and severe storm warning ....and Emergency Broadcast Alerts ....yep When it rains in Southern California it pours! We were told to go indoors and stay way from the windows, warned of the "killer" lightning, take cover and hide!! ....Ok, first I should tell you that rain in the desert is like a major social event. The first thing everyone does is congregate in the street. If you have a 4X4 you ride around and see who can cause the biggest waves. And if you are a child or young of heart, as soon as there is water pouring down the street, you grab the nearest floating device and jump in. No really I kid you not. And here we are being told to run hide. It will never happen. Did I mention I love storms .... from the inside safety of my home.

Happy rain drops,

cyn

It is a good thing we only have to live each day once

Wow what a week ... and am I ever glad it is behind me. Monday I was hospitalized for a bad infection Wednesday I was released Home with home care nursing. This week had been full of ironies. I found out Medical will pay for a private nurse to come to my home twice a day for an undetermind length of time, as well as IV medications, and dressings for a wound, but stopped at an oral antibiotic. Go figure. Anyway I am glad to be in my little nest again, with all my books, teddy bears and treasures. My poor cat cried for the first hour I was home. I could almost hear her saying "where you been why did you leave me?". My canary sang to me for the first time in months I guess he was glad to see me too. I am worried about getting the rest of the pears processed before they go bad. I am a bit behind schedule.

Today I got to do one of my most favorite things. The local library had a used book saleI have been saving my can and bottle money all year for this event. I even made the doctor promise to let me out of the hospital in time to go. I made quite the haul two huge bags of books for $13 and I helped a great cause, as Martha would say, "it was a good thing". i am thinking I may need to start looking for a new/used book shelf I am starting to develope substantial piles of books. It is hard for me to give up books to make room for new ones they are all like dear friends.

hoping for a great week for all,

cyn

Alas no rain , however ...

It has been an insaine week, never a dull or quiet moment. My best friend is moving her pet store 2 doors down in the same building, so I have been taking care of her son and granddaughter. We always have fun together doing crafts and watching silly movies like "Harry and the Hendersons". We made pencil holders from tin cans with 2 coats of paint and stickers.

In the middle of this i processed and packaged 20 ears of corn, from husking them to cutting off the cob. Yes I know it was only 20 ears of corn, however it was my first time , it was fun, and a great learning experience for the kids. and I wound up with 10 packages of frozen corn. Corn I plant to make yummy Corn Chowder with. I also canned 12 pints of pears. one didn't take so now there are 11. But I still have at least 25 pounds to process as they ripen.

I am also getting my home ready for cooler weather. This includes closing windows rearanging the furniture away fronm wall heaters and changing the beding on 3 beds to warmer cozier colors. I had made a duvet cover for my white feather comforter and had just made the bed when my poor cat had an attack from a hair ball. Yes the cover is in the washer at this very moment. I planned to take a picture of the bed all made for fall and winter. I guess that will have to wait for the next post. I also dyed 3 crochet pillow shams with tea to make them the same shade of creamish/tan as the background on the duvet cover.

Hope ya'all are having a great start to the fall season,

cyn

50% CHANCE OF RAIN!!......

Those words excite me like no-ones business .... Ok so I live in the middle of the desert and rain is a joy! The "Weather Bug" tells me that for the next 4 days i have 50% chance of rain i sure hope they are right, I have been running around all day taking pictures of the building clouds, They are absolutely beautiful against the blue sky. Last evening I took pictures of the clouds through my kitchen window ....really I am not silly it just looked pretty. To bad the pictures didn't turn out though. but the ones I took today did.

I am in the midst of doing some canning the first I ave done in nearly 20 years ...so far so good. I have Pear butter working things out in the crock pot right now looks like it has a while to go, it is still too watery. It smells wonderful though

.

just a note before bed

I have spent a while wondering through these blogs tonight. The funny thing is I find it almost as hard to close this window as it is to put down a good book. My eyes are tired and I nod off every now only to jolt awake and go back to reading, just another blog or two.I so envy the friendships I see played out Not to worry I have friends, I just sometimes wish for friends with interests similar to mine. My friends tolerate my hobbies and occasionally tease me about my joy at finding pretty little foo foo things (as they like to call them)., or the funny clothes I choose to wear. I have been told my home resembles something my granny would want to live in, if either were still alive. I admit I have a deep love for doilies and sweet little pillows plump little foot rests and all that makes one comfortable. I live in a small town in the middle of the Mojave Desert ... not to many foo foo admires here. Even fewer gardeners, I mean this is the desert after all. Well I have babbled on long enough and when I fall asleep writing my own post it is time for bed, good night.

cyn

I made it!!

Ti's the first day of Fall and at 10pm I am still here to spread my cheer. Ok that might sound a little dark, but... today I had to have some serious testing done on my heart it was scary going into it. I had heard all kinds of horror stories and to be quite honest I was terrified.

Good news it wasn't even a fraction of as bad as I had been lead to believe it would be, and while I am a bit tired I am no less the worse for the wear. I plan on going in a dark room and removing all my clothes (by myself) and see if I glow in the dark. I had 2 injections of isotopes so I am wondering if I will be glowing.

The only bad news I got today is that I have 5 books that are over due to the library. However even that has a happy ending. I went to the library and paid my fines, and as I always do I checked the "Friends Of The Library" shelf for anything interesting to buy. OMG!!! there on the second to the bottom shelf sat a book I wanted soooo bad and only for $2.00 "MaryJane's Stitching Room" and if that wasn't enough a volume of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare for $0.50. I love my Library. I had search all over the place for MaryJane's book only to be told it was out of stock. so yep it is the first day of Fall and I couldn't ask for more.

cyn

Autumn

Yes it is true tomorrow is the first day of my favorite time of year. I laid out 50 lbs of pears in trays under my bed to ripen as soon as they are done I will be a canning fool. I also want to try making pickles for the first time. Perhaps in a few weeks I will get to go up in the hills where the apple orchards are I am looking forward to making apple butter

My grandmother showed me a short cut which almost garenteesa perfect apple butter every time. She used a crock pot with it lid lost she cooked the apples down to an applesauce then put it in the crock pot and laid a plate on top adding spices to her taste. then she left it to cook on low for a couple of days checking it every now and then till it was the consistancy nd color she wanted. I tried the same thing last fall (except I had the lid to my crockpot) it turned out tasty and thick.

I really like Autumn, sense I was small my mother and I would try to see who was the first to smell it in the air. Here is the Mojave desert there really isnt the fall ya'all enjoy in other parts of the country. There is a subtle change in the tempurature gradually the nights cool down at one point we have as much as a 50 degree difference from day to night. It is the smell of Autumn that finally does it for me. The acrid smell of smoke from chiminnies that have a coat of dust from disuse. and from the few trees that have leaves that turn bright colors. Be quick though the change and drop of leaves happen in about 24 hours if your not paying attention you will miss it.


cyn

Not A great restart ....but I am trying

Ok so I see it has been 20 days sense my last post, the one I anounced how important I deemed blogging to be. I have spent the greater part of today reading other posts and feeling quite inadiquate. Then I reminded myself I am new at blogging, well at least this kind of blogging. Then second I am nerveous (sounds silly huh) I sometimes feel there is this great wall that blocks me from just opening up and pouring my heart out. I have seen others do it and they seem to recieve scads of encouraging responses.

I have gained a lot of information and encouragenment from reading so many different blogs. I also get to live through their eyes and experiences. I am almost envious of their lives. Many live on farms or at the very least in lush green areas. I live near DeathValley in the Mojave Desert In Southern California. I tried to grow a vegitable garden the first year I had my own place ( a small duplex). After paying an unbelievable water bill for the summer I had a total of 5 tomatoes maybe a dozen zucchini and a pepper the size of the end of my thumb. All the root veggies were pencil thin. the following year I planted Morning Glories they did real well, but not as well as this yearmy entire back yard is a jungle of Moring Glory vines they are very pretty unfortunately you can't eat them. For the last 2 years I have been working on building up a compost pile. My plan is to rework it into the soil (sand) in my yard the Morning Glorys have taken over the compost pile. I am telling you it is almost scary. The one place I realy had high hopes for the Moring Glories to do well , they are thin. This would be my east facing kitchen window it is huge and in the morning it heats the kitchen up quickly, making it nearly uninhabitable.

This summer I have tried to start a small (ok tiny) home business, Making aprons, tote bags, green lunch bags. I have recieved a wealth of comments and well wishes and todate have sold 2 aprons and ...hmmmm yeah 2 aprons ...maybe I should have a sale??

I have read a bunch of good books, something I havent had the time to do in years. I found that wearing reading glasses is a real good idea, and a vast improvement on the squint method.

I am going to be a grandmother again ...yea!! I am hoping for another grand daughter I only have one of those but 2 of the other kind ya know the snails and puppy dog tails type. I am all geared up for pink quilted blocks and foo foo booties.

Happy days

cyn

Now that I am beginning to understand the powers of owning a Blog I will be more careful in maintaining it. I have lots to learn about how to make this a more comfortable place, which is what I wish for my blog. I have been traveling about and reading others, and finding places where encouragement and insite can be cound. While I do need a place to let down my hair and say what is on my heart, I need to find a palitable way to do so. So nearly a year sense I opened this blog I find myself rearranging it repurposing it and hopefully comming up with a better one over all.