Side Yard

This year, my major yard improvment goal is to finish the side yard. That side of the house boasts 4 native white oaks, and the rule of thumb is that you are not supposed to water under oak trees, so I decided to make this my native plant space. Well, sort of!

It will feature primarily natives after I finish terracing it with railroad ties and building paths with crushed granite (designed for ease in leaf blowing). I also plan to have rock enclosed bulb beds with crocus, daffodils, and irises that bloom before the summer heat. In the open space at the eastern end, I'm going to plant a peach tree to replace the one we cut down in the front yard this year and maybe a grape or berry vine. On the other side of the fence, I have left vinca on the long stretch of road that accesses the park. It's attractive (though invasive) and doesn't need a lot of water.

Four summers ago, Cindy's nephew Rex helped kick off the project by extending the privacy lattice and building the first level of terracing. Then on my 60th birthday, a work party built steps down from the swing and at the western entrance to the yard. Last summer, I bought 10 more railroad ties that Cody helped me pick up and unload. He also built one more step. Then the project languished for a year, a huge pile of ties laying in the yard with weeds growing up around them.

With renewed vigor, I was determined to finish the yard this year. First Argos came and sprayed for weed control. Then we raked and weedwacked and racked more. Then Argos returned to start building the terrace for the peach tree and a section of steps as well as beds from the road up to the fire hydrant. Last Saturday, Becky and I finished those steps and beds and dug up the trumpet vine and put in one more railroad tie on the upper terrace.

There are more stairs to build, and I have to create and plant the bulb beds and do additional work on the hill below the fire hydrant, but I'm thrilled with the major progress in getting this project done. Thanks to all of my helpers. You make me so happy!

Strawberry Fields

We are getting a bountiful harvest of strawberries this year. During the past 10 years, we have relocated the strawberry patch four times. We have battled deer, birds, grasshoppers, tons of weeds, and poor soil conditions. They have been in their present location for 3 years and finally we are getting LOTs of succulent fruit. The deer are fenced out and Cindy has been able to grab the berries BEFORE the birds get to them. I'm not sure if the large number of berries is due to finally getting the plants established in the right place or the late spring rain. I'm simply delighted to enjoy a delicious strawberry-banana smoothie every morning.

Oh, and I'm grateful to my diligent strawberry picker, Cindy.

New Door

Cindy got me a door for my birthday. The back door to our home opens into my office and the room is one of the darkest in the house. I wanted more light and thought a door with windows would help so she gifted me with just such a door. Then she enlisted the STAR family helper to install the door: Michael Tippett. It was an all day project because, of course, there were unforseen problems like termite damage to the beams under the door jam. But Michael got the door in and now I have much more light and a lovely smooth working door.
Thank you Cindy & Michael.
Old Door








Michael cutting away termite damage.

New Door!!

Mission Impossible

Around these parts, 4th graders typically study California history for their social studies curriculum. Jenny enlisted me to to take part in Kyle's study by doing a couple of field trips and helping with his mission project.

Kyle is a little sponge who soaks up what he reads, so when he, Candice, and I went to Grinding Rock State Park last fall to see MiWok artifacts, he was well versed regarding how the early native Californians lived.

Next up was the mission project, which I was really sweating. I didn't do all that well with my own kids projects, and not being a particularly handy person, I was not sure at all what to do to get this one started. The night before our first meeting about the mission, I did not sleep well. I was thinking about using building materials like paper mache or sugar cubes or something like that. I'd downloaded pictures and diagrams of Mission San Juan Batistia, the mission Kyle had chosen because he had visited it with his family, but I still didn't know what I was going to do to get us started.

Then Fred Dixion came to my rescue. Cindy told her mom about my worries, and she told Fred who promptly called me on my cell phone. He told me exactly what to get--styrofoam sheets for the structure and strips of discarded lattice for the roof. He recommended getting twigs for trees and some ceramic angels or crosses for decoration. What a relief! Now I knew how to get started.

I took Kyle shopping at Wal Mart for the styrofoam, and then we hit three thrift stores. By then Kyle was getting imaginative and found some great contact paper to use for the tile entry ways, and he found golf tees and green yarn that he thought could be fashioned into trees. We also found some angels for decorations. Then I came up with the idea of using the corrugated inside of a pizza box for the roof. We were set.

On building day, I brought all the stuff to his house along with glue and an Xacto blade. Kyle had a board for us to build the mission on, and he suggested we use a hot glue gun to connect the walls and roof. I'd never used one before, but he was an expert with the gun. In a couple of hours, we had our mission built, and I was pleased as punch. He did way more of the work than I did, and I felt like the whole thing had turned out just as it should. WHEW, I was glad to have that project behind us.

Finally, we went to Columbia State Park. Kyle was decked out to the max in a cowboy costume, so much so that a bus load of fourth grade kids visiting the park thought he was part of the show. Kyle had plans to arrest the robber when we went on the stage coach ride. He even had handcuffs, but sadly the stage wasn't running that day. So he panned for gold. His plan: "If I find a nugget of gold, I'm gong to buy my mom and dad a house and all the Legos I want!"

I'd say that's a pretty admirable goal for a gold miner.

At the Museum, Kyle wowed the docents with his extensive knowledge about the items in the dioramas. The boy knows his California history! So glad to have had the pleasure of accompanying him on this learning journey.

Two Yellow Things and a Red One

Last night I dreamed about two yellow things and a red one.

I was busy in March, my life full of blog material though I wrote none. Actually I wrote many blogs in my head while driving, walking, washing dishes, going to sleep, and waking up. I still intend to publish them-- HERE-- right after . . .

. . . I finish a freelance project, plant strawberries in the Waldorf Kinder-Garden, go to a Sierra Hope Board Meeting, mow the lawn, fry chicken, pack for Disneyland, enjoy the Waldorf Rites of Spring Wild West Auction, attend an exclusive shopping event at Staples where I'll spend my gift cards and rewards card, and drive to Orange County to play with the Tippetts at Disneyland.

As soon as I get home I'll write those blogs and more.

Two nights ago, I dreamed that a large, joyful German Shepard demolished my computer as I slept.

Last night, I was an insomniac. When I finally fell asleep past 4am, I dreamed about two yellow things and a red one.

Writing a Book

I spent the last month finishing a book project. Twelve hours a day, day after day. I loved it! My back ached from sitting; my wrist ached from typing. My nights were filled with thoughts about the book to the point that I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or thinking. I'd wake at 3am or 4am and wish that 5am would come so I could get up (at a reasonable hour) and get back to work. Thirty marvelous days of writing. What a gift; what a privilege. This was the end of the project, during which I completed the last 75 pages or so.

But the project actually started years before when I had lunch with my friend Julia. The idea for The Right Sisters was hers. She came up with the title and she did tons of research before I ever got invovled. At lunch that day, I absorbed her enthusiasm like a plant collecting energy from the sun. The photosynthesis took eight years before that energy was fully transformed into a book.

When I think about it, the book project really started years before that lunch date, back when Julia and I first met and I reveled in her smile, in her joy of life, in her swinging blond hair and willingness to jump when I was merely tiptoeing . Way back in 1977, we started the partnership that would make a book thirty-three years later. We were the right sisters!

Thanks Julia, for being a part of my life, for shining your light on my creative life.

Snowmobile Adventure

Cindy loves machines and she loves speed, so for her birthday this year, I scheduled a snowmobile adventure. We drove to Tahoe on her birthday eve and stayed at Harrahs. First, we celebrated a belated Valentine's Day by going to see the movie so named. There were only three couples in the theater for this sweet romantic comedy. We left the show in a geedy feel-good mood and went for a late dinner at the casino. Then I headed up to our room and Cindy enjoyed a few hours of gambling. We were nicely primed for our March 2, birthday adventure.

The next day at Zephyr Cove, we got suited up in snow pants, boots, gloves, and helmet and then climbed on a bus with 23 other people for the drive to the trailhead where we would be oriented to the machines. The first thing we learned was that we would be on the Cadillac of snowmobiles weighing in at 700 pounds. That's a lot of machine to maneuver with two riders even with an engine. Of course, the trail guide emphasized safety with a few scary admonitions about keeping your legs tucked so they didn't get broken should you roll the thing. Sufficiently worried--me about everything and Cindy about driving the thing--we took our position on a machine at the end of the line.

Cindy pushed the throttle and we lurched forward making two or three lunges as she gauged how to manage speed. Soon we were flying down the trail, shifting our butt cheeks and leaning into curves. It wasn't long before Cindy was wanting greater speed though thwarted by a much slower driver immediately in front of us. I, on the other hand, was glad for the pokey gal as it was taking me a while to get comfortable bouncing over the bumpy terrain. By the time we reached the first resting spot on the tour, my bladder was screaming from the pounding, and Cindy was asking the trail guide if we could go faster. To distance myself from both perspectives, I decided to take some pictures. After getting one great shot of Cindy's wind burned and delighted face, the camera froze, literally, for the temperature was dropping as a storm moved in.

When the ride resumed, we were indeed going faster, mostly downhill, and I was trying to figure out the best way to position my body for the jarring. If I wrapped my arms around Cindy's waist, we banged helmets repeatedly, and if I held on to the hand rails, my head flailed atop my neck. Cindy meanwhile was really getting into driving her machine, oblivious to our fishtailing rear and my fretful, fearful ride. Good thing the engine drowned out my grunts and moans and occasional plea to "Slow down!" She just wanted to go FAST!

Two hours later when we pulled into our parking spot at the trailhead, Cindy was grinning from ear-to-ear as I leaped from our snowmobile to tear across the snow to the porta-potty. We were soon leaning happily against one another on the bus ride back down the hill-- Cindy fed by speed and I relieved.