puppies & apples

These are the adorable cupcakes that my daughter's co-worker made for her last day of work. Puppies because our entire family are dog lovers and apples for her journey in becoming an educator. How cute are these? What culinary talent she has and obviously Angela is going to be missed.

the arrivals...

The baby girl is here and it begins ;)

We've opened up a Wood Pecker Hotel...

The Mourning Doves are back for round 2...
Someone needs to teach this bird how to make a proper nest!

Now this is where I'd want to sleep...
if I were an egg?

And yet another pair of Finches call this farm home.

Their moving in from every angle :)

surprise!

If you took a peek into my window you would see a momma preparing for her baby girl chickadee to move back home..."What?" You heard me right, my 25 year old daughter is temporarily moving home...for part of the summer :)

She is leaving the Big(San Fran)City for 3 months to take a long (out of the USA) 6 week vacation and plans to live here, back at home, until entering the credential program in the Fall, at San Fran State. So, after 4 years at UC Davis and 3 years of working for the man, she has decided to follow her mom and dad's footsteps and become a teacher. A couple of weeks here and there, all added up together, she will be home for about 6 weeks and we couldn't be more excited.

My city girl has never lived in the country before and I have a feeling that just like myself, it just may creep into her blood too. And...we happen to be planning all kinds of landscaping this summer, so the help will be greatly appreciated...

and so will the blessing of her presence :)

all beak and no bite ; )

My succulent "Parrot's Beak" is in bloom and yes, I really am that corny (title). I am told that I take after my father, but Den and I are convinced that we really are dorks at heart. The word here in Northern Cali is that a big storm is moving in tomorrow and bringing a ton of rain with it. Where is our beautiful you don't even need a sweater Spring at?

But what am I doing complaining about the weather when our Ocean's are being poisoned with muck and no solution is in sight...why?!

tic toc tic toc tic toc

Above my kitchen pantry hangs an obnoxiously huge clock (hubby had to have it :) I also have a small grandfathers clock that noticeably tic toc's in the background noises of my home. It makes me very aware of what time it is and there are days that seem to run in fast motion. And then I have a day when my body says, "I'm demanding you to stop."

Since I am a girl who struggles with being told what to do and the fact that I always end up accomplishing things the hard way, stopping doesn't come easy for me. Oh, I stop...but I do so reluctantly and often have a 5 year old temper tantrum in my brain. I read somewhere that Lady Gaga was recently tested for Lupus and when asked about the results she said, "No comment." Maybe I can give her a call with some advice? ;)

When I'm done acting like a child I obey the rules and rest. I've been resting the last couple of days. I don't announce it to my Universe I just do it, but I will say that time...literally time creeps so incredibly slooowww and the "tic toc" of my grandfather's clock increases in volume and sometimes hurts my ears. Every now and then I purposely stop it from ticking...and when my husband finds it halted the next day and I hear him say, "I just wound this sucker up 2 days ago!" I just smile and keep that little secret to myself...

...at least until he reads this :)

gluten free decadence

This gluten free chocolate mousse pie was adapted from a regular recipe. Rather than crushing Oreo cookies for the crust, gluten free chocolate cream cookies were used. The mousse part has no unfriendly ingredients.

Add a few sliced strawberries, a dollop of cool whip and "Voila" Sunday dinner dessert perfection...enjoy!

i heart containers

I found this treasure at my local nursery, an aged wooden box with a chalkboard front. Sitting inside is a succulent called a lotus vine, or "Parrot's Beak." This plant flowers all summer and are most unusual looking. With bright orange, yellow and red, it really does look like a bird beak. I can't wait for it to bloom and you know I'll post it here ;)


Our Uncle Richard and hubby's Mom are in Australia right now for a 6 week vacation. The post cards are coming and it sounds like they're having a great time. While we are swooning with 70-80 degree weather, they are freezing down under. They are being spoiled by the folks there and eating yummy foods. Some day I'll go too...

treasure hunt discussions...

We can't stand it...when mom and I get together we talk about family.
Cedar Cedar Cedar...we miss the funny faces you make

We miss reading books to you and the way you smell in the morning.

We didn't even get to see you ride the BUG car...boo

We miss your beautiful Mommy, my sis & Gran Marmie's daughter...
kiss her for us xx oo

And we think you look adorable in your Canada hat. Can auntie dd have one too?

Today, we missed the treasures we have in our family :)
Tomorrow, we will show you the treasures we found :)

girl's day

So happy to be spending the day today with my Mom. So thankful that Dad let's her come and he takes on the responsibilities of home. We don't do very much pre-planning...just let the day unfold, go where we want, each moment a surprise that usually involves a green tea frappuccino and coming back home with treasures...

so many treasures ;)

Zeus's poem

Zeus loves dirt
Zeus loves water
Zeus loves dirty water
and he loves loves loves
to get dirty

silly dirty puppy

Then, the silly dirty puppy ran through the door around daddy's legs and got dirt all over the house...

hello...silly dirty house!

saturday views

I spent most of today perched by the back door watching for the parents of the baby dove I saved this morning...I feel terrible, let me explain.

About 5 days ago, Zeus the farm dog, came tromping out of the orchard with a baby bird in his mouth. I was mortified but also understood that baby birds often fall out of their nests and since we have hundreds of trees we are bound to come across one here or there. While I was eating my breakfast I saw something fall off of the roof. Investigation revealed a baby mourning dove on the ground and it just sat there looking scared at me. Zeus was loose, so I ran to get the ladder, scooped the baby up and carefully placed him back into his nest. I did everything very fast and didn't even think about putting gloves on first. My husband told me that my smell was now on the baby dove and his mother would reject him. I remembered being told that as a child. So, my vigil began...

The parents showed up both cooing and paced back and forth on my roof.

Finally, they both flew to the nest and the momma stayed with the baby. She has been cooing all day, something she normally doesn't do. Dad returned now and then, but something doesn't feel right.
*sigh*

I replanted a couple of ficus trees with Baxter's help...

and snapped a few more house finch photo's during my vigil.
(all taken through a window...a dirty one ;)
I count 4 beaks...

momma finch...

momma feeding babies...

proud momma finch and daddy finch...
(they take turns feeding babies about every 30 min)

better view of beautiful daddy finch...

Hey...your nest looks like poop! ;)

Finally, a cactus I've owned for about 7 years bloomed today for the first time!

Gotta end with a flower...today has been rough!

the reason is beauty...

oh prickly cactus...how I love thee

your blooming is brief, but oh so beautiful

and a little more growth from baby birds

you guys are so adora...uh...little ;)

keeping it current

First of all let me say that I am still enjoying the homemade gluten free granola. Breakfast never tasted so good...Greek yogurt rocks!

And then, a "thank you" to my mom, who keeps me draped in ponchos, whether they're in style or not. I heart ponchos! You're the best mom ever ;)

Momma's big and small

We have babies...

To get an idea of how small they are, the bolt head in the upper right corner is approximately one inch wide....teeny little baby birds.

My Mother's day was celebrated from Friday through Sunday and also included a "Girl's Night" on Saturday evening. We had a small party with my daughter's best friend and her Momma. The house to ourselves was necessary because the giggles were a plenty and the food divine. We were 2 very proud momma's :)

mama lovins

Happy Mother's Day

To each and every
sweet pea :)

friday yumminess

a daughter that makes mexican casserole...

homemade granola waiting for fresh fruit and vanilla greek yogurt...
breakfast heaven!

puppies dashing for ANYthing that falls on the floor...

adorable Vera Bradley Happy Mother's Day purse from said daughter...
see? total.yumminess.

silly beautiful

This silly beautiful girl is coming home to her Momma tonight to spend the weekend with her. The first thing I do when my children walk in the door is hug them tight and sneak in a big sniff of their neck. It feels very primitive and I love that she still smells the same since she was my baby girl. So, there will be a lot of cooking, shopping, snuggling, giggling, puppy playing, walking, bubble baths, movie watching...and loads and loads of laundry to be done. (she saves it for weekends like this ;) SO glad I passed down the laundry gene to her!

today

Have you told someone that they are a rare individual?
Have you said I'm sorry?
How about I love you
or I need a hug

Do they know that life is better because of them?
You value their opinion
Thoughts of them fill your heart
and make you smile

Just do one thing from this list
or you can choose to do them all
I bet your day will be a little brighter
and someone else's will feel extraordinary

lost & found

~Today my childhood best friend and I found each other. We ended up lost because we both have moved around quite a bit. Mutual friends of ours connected the dots and the next thing you know, emails were exchanged with questions to make sure we were indeed the right Darlene and the right Cindy.

Tomorrow we will hear each other's voice for the first time in years and remember our shared past. This is the friend that I played all day long with, giggled relentlessly with and got into trouble with. We went on each other's family vacations, made perfume with flower petals and shared boyfriend crushes...and so much more.

I have a small knot in the center of my stomach and my anticipation levels are off the chart. I am 49 years old and feel silly for feeling this way.

At heart, I think we're all still just little children. Little children who are trying to survive some very adult lives.

weekend work

My job is to ride this good Ole boy around our 20 acres and pick up any fallen branches...both big and small. Then I move them over to the burn pile and watch it grow bigger. We only actually burn once a year. Hey, it's not easy maneuvering around the trees with this haul!

~Zeus~

and a girl has to have her loyal farm puppy!

Update: we also planted 33 new trees replacing ones that have either fallen or died...not an easy job!