Familiar, comforting sounds all morning from the landscaping project next door (we remodeled everything in our first home). I think today is redwood deck day.
Also the day of tiny flying things - bumblebee, hummingbird, dragonfly, butterfly - in my garden. (Oleanders at their peak bloom, below.)
Clean house, clean sheets, & I still don’t have to cook, thank you taco soup. Another blissful Thursday.
Bonus: Trump GUILTY x 34.
Homemade won ton soup last night but made with P.F. Chang dumplings, which I guess makes it dumpling soup. TGTBTASE (Too Good To Be True And So Easy)!
I’m a big fan of Aussie film/tv and of actor Simon Baker - found two newish movies of his: “Limbo,” which was EXCELLENT, and “Blaze” which I saved to watch today. Yay. 🍿🍿
Vagabond son & DIL sent these pics of Canyonlands NP.
Two-hour afternoon concert by our enthusiastic neighborhood mockingbird, a master in polyphony, with ballet interludes by squirrels & jays.
The hummingbird I spotted yesterday announced his official return with the customary hovering outside my screened slider, and roosting in his regular spot in a myrtle tree.
I snapped this photo scrambling my way through a dense, overgrown oleander to scatter birdseed.
Lazy, pleasant day even if it did include my monthly trek to the salon.
Today the two regular mallards were joined by a third on their zoom run over the yard. If this expansion continues, I’ll have a flock of 33 in a month. 😱
A few of the petunias I planted for color outside my slider, and my view from my permanent seat on the couch. (All reasons I rarely leave the house.)
Still exhausted from the last dinner I’ll ever host, but everything is cleaned up, including the dirty dishes I put away neatly in the cupboards. 🤬 (I thought I ran the dishwasher; it must have been a Vicodin dream.)
Granddaughter took the family’s first dip into NC son’s new pool, in the rain.
Vagabond son & DIL hiked 4 miles into Bryce Canyon at 8000’ elevation. Got some great photos & survived. Also survived the motorcycle ride to the national park.
Spent a satisfying day playing in the dirt. Planted 2 varieties of #potatoes (3 more to go tomorrow) and worked with my spouse to clear more of the bramble from the terraced garden area. Then we planted 3 #blueberry bushes.
Spawn the eldest called & we had a lovely conversation. Spawn the youngest messaged me love & hugs.
Spouse & I will cook dinner together & spend a quiet evening w/the dogs in a cuddle pile on the sofa.
Every bush, shrub & tree in my entire yard has been in frenetic motion from WIND 💨🍃all day, even though it’s sunny & warm. I’m hunkering down inside.
Hosting a birthday 🎂 dinner for my grandson this weekend & had to order a crapload of junk food today. Balanced it out with an indulgent package of halibut.
Vagabond son & DIL left Zion NP for Bryce Canyon, which I remember (as a four-year-old) as the land of pink stone castles with turrets. This pic is of Zion.
Another sunny, beautiful day in NorCal with just the perfect light breeze. Forecast is for more of the same.
Making Mexican stuffed bell peppers in the air fryer tonight - 21 minutes total. Yum.
Rebel root stock from a hybrid tea rose is blooming like crazy — wayward branches wrap around a fence corner & spread 15 feet, plus climbing two crape myrtle trees.
Awoke to “Happy Birthday” texts & calls from family. So very grateful for twin sons, their loving wives & amazing children - & my 94 y/o sister who still thinks of me as a toddler. 🤣
Grateful too for this quiet, peaceful life I’m so privileged to lead, my comfy casita, & my garden with blooms, birds & critters.
Splurged & bought my very fave -halibut- for dinner!
Bonus: Two mallards zoomed on a low pass through my yard yesterday like Blue Angels in their F/A-18s.
Finished and filed my taxes, and will be getting a refund! 💰
Found another teeny tiny seedling sprouting in my flower garden. 🌱
Surprised and delighted to discover that my day lily from last year seems to have survived the winter (with no help from me) and appears to be coming back to life! ☀️
Times have been shit lately, but I feel good about a few things today, so it's time for Three Good Things.
Husband's cancer surgery is one week out, and it cannot get here quickly enough. Feels like we've been waiting forever, and finally we're getting close to taking care of it.
Got the yard work done before the rain tomorrow.
The giant hobo spider in my garage has been banished. From life.
Two peace-filled hours on my patio in the sun and gentle breezes.
One resident hummingbird alerted me (with high-flying shenanigans & insistent clicks) that its feeder needed filling. Bossy little thing!
Fell down the Instagram hole today & discovered a way to propagate an (unpatented) rose from a cutting: dip the stem in honey, place it in a hole in a potato, remove rose bloom & other growths, plant the potato in a container, et voilà!