090- D-d-d-def-initely A Lion Sort of Day!

Yes, definitely a lion sort of day. March started nice and sheepish! But it's had sever mood swings all month long. But there is nothing new with that. Monday and Tuesday we had highs at 68 and 70 and this morning... SNOW!

I'd ask, "What's up with that?" I already know... it is spring, in the mountains. Is there anywhere in the world where spring isn't full-on mood swings?



Of course after a couple of weeks with highs in the 50's and a couple of days in the 60's my crazy early-bird-apricot tree is in full bloom... I suppose it will just have to wait and see if they will get frozen off this year. Sad.

089- De-Fence

You'll remember that our fence blew down in our monster wind storm a couple of months ago. Since the roof damage was a *have to fix right now* project the fence got demoted on the list.

Our son Ryan came to the rescue again. Yesterday Gordon and Ryan went to Home Depot and picked up all of the building materials to build the fence. This morning Ryan arrived bright and early to start digging the post hole (bless his wonderful 30-year old testosterone body!) I could hear him digging out there and was surprised that he hadn't even come to the door to let us know he was here.



But here is the best part... the only gloves in the garden shed were Mama's pink gardening gloves. You've just got to love these muscley forearms and bulging biceps accentuated with PINK GARDEN GLOVES!



I love you Ryan... you're the man!

088- Small Things

I think that this week needs to be declared *small things* week. Yesterday I had those darling teeny-tiny daffodils. Today I found some equally small violets. I've blogged about my violets before; they live on the south side of my garage where it is sheltered and warm. I just love the colors green and purple together. It makes everything seem right in the world!

Last fall I had some of my friendly Tongans (I love my Tongans and cried when I had to move away from them when we moved from our previous ward!!) came and trimmed my fruit trees. While they were here I had them cut back my lilacs. Well, the little violets that have lived under them for the last five years are cheering for joy with all the sunshine.



But lest they get too excited I need to warn them that *Fritz* says we are supposed to have a 68 degree tomorrow and then SNOW ON WEDNESDAY!

Yes, welcome to spring in the Rockies!

087- Miniature Daffodils

"...not the honking ones that Sprout's got, nice ones."

Every spring I've noticed these teeny-tiny daffodils in my neighbor's yard. Today after choir practice I took my camera across the street to capture them. You have to see them to believe how tiny they are. The little *honking* part is about the size of a pencil erasure! The whole plant only stands 4-5" tall! They are so precious. I can only imagine how beanie the bulbs are!


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086- SAD Experience

Oh, wait... that should be SAD Experiment! (But I couldn't resist that title!)

Any-way, since moving to Utah I've had some problems with SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Two winters ago was the worst, mainly because the winter was so long.

As winter began I was concerned about not having another one of those winters. I wanted to avoid those winter blues or cabin fever. I cooked on ideas of how to avoid SAD. On New Year's Eve day I ended up basking on the deck after working like a dog removing snow. That got me to thinking... what if I conducted a [not so scientific] experiment. I wrote about that back in January. I quickly realized that basking on the deck really only works if a) there is no wind and b) I'd been working like a dog to build up body heat. That was when I discovered that I could move my swanky $10 red folding chaise lounge (covered with a folded quilt for warmth) into the dining room and catch the rays through the French doors. Many a morning has found me [and Harley the hound of the Baskingville!] basking even before oatmeal! Hey, you gotta catch those rays while you can; the weather here is so changeable.

Now, since this has been a very unscientific experiment coupled with an El Niño winter I'm not sure how conclusive my results are... but I've had a much easier winter. I've felt better; I suppose that's all that really matters.

So today after mowing the lawn** I decided that it was warm enough to do some on-the-deck-basking! It was gorgeous! It was probably only in the high 50's but the wind was calm. I took a good book out and read for a good hour to hour and a half! Talk about heaven!

And look what I saw while I was outside! Popcorn Popping On My Apricot Tree!!! What a nice surprise!



Now if I can just count on more mild El Niño days I will have a nice apricot crop. We've only gotten 1 crop in the last 5 years! Usually the tree blossoms early, like this year, and then gets snowed on and freezes. Sad, sad, SAD!

** How can I convince Harley to spread his fertilizer around more evenly on the lawn? I have all these nice green spot all over the back lawn.

085- Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians.

As I was perusing my vacation photos I realized that I had (at least) one more vacation post. But I just want to go on record here and tell you that Cindy wouldn't turn around, double back, retrace the route, all in rush hour traffic so I could get a photo the most beautiful Painted Lady! (bwahahahaha)

I've always loved look of the rows of houses looking so much like bricks stacked on their ends... going down (or up) a steep incline.



After I missed the most beautiful of all Painted Ladies, I kept my camera out so I could capture some of the less spectacular. This one was so quietly pretty... just hanging out on the corner.



I really like this one. Would you like to be the one to paint all that gingerbread?



But this one was definitely my favorite. Here is this tiny Painted Baby Girl sandwiched in between to much larger, newer buildings.



Isn't she sweet?



And what's up with this? Does this hall go through? Is there a firewall? What does this mean? So many questions!



And to go along with all of the Painted Ladies... Grace: Grace Catholic Cathedral. What a beautiful old building.



The thing that impresses me the most is all of this is built on hill after hill after hill. Did you notice that none of my photos are on the level? That was not done on purpose!

084- The Marina

* Since today is my 600th post I thought I would give you my finally vacation installment... (that sounds like a good enough excuse!)

On our first full day in California we took a little trip to the local marina not too far from Cindy's house. I've been here with her before; there is always such an easy, peaceful feeling. I feel so much closer to my ancestors as I sit there enjoying the bay.



There was no shortage of bird-type wild life with us enjoying the warm spring-like day. Of course there were the obligatory seagulls (in the photo above). There were also some enormous Canadian geese looking fat, sassy and eating grass!!! Did you know they ate grass? (And leave miniature cow piles!)



Next I saw Mr and Mrs Mallard... she's looking just a little out of sorts to me. Do you suppose she caught Mr Mallard looking at the other *chicks*?



Since this marina is up one of the estuaries from San Francisco Bay the waves come in in these long straight lines. I was amazed that they continue past the pilings and wave breaks. This is where I saw the Avocets. Ann knew just what they were and pointed out their funny upswept bills.



The minute I saw these great rustic pilings I thought *wouldn't this make a great place to have a photo shoot?* Too bad it is 13 hours away! (I did take a photo of my sweet niece, Sarah, here.)



We ambled to the end of the pier, sat down, enjoyed the warm sun and chatted.



I watched this kayaker as he paddled himself across the water... I wish I like the water better, this almost looks like fun. (Hasn't his guy ever seen JAWS?)



After about an hour we decided it was time to start moving on to the city. What a glorious day.

083- Hyacinths

As I walked up to the Temple today I saw that the hyacinths were doing what they do best... looking beautiful and smelling like heaven! As I left I pulled out my little *marsupial-pocket-camera-phone* and captured this. And since I can't seem to leave well enough alone I added some of my favorite filters and textures.

Hyacinths=Spring!


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082- Mama & Bebe

This evening I spent a couple of hours working on announcements for baby Sophie. When I came upon this photo I knew it was one I wanted to play with and include.



I normally don't do a before and after-s of my photos but I want to show you the magic of PhotoShop actions. Rita at CoffeeShop.com has so many wonderful free actions. Her Baby Powder Room was my choice for this photo. One of her contributors, Morgan, recently did a great post about using this action.

So without further ado here is my before and after!



Magic isn't it?

081- Sophie

I got to go do *grammie-duties* up at new baby Sophie's house! I love these times. I took my camera along so we could do a newborn shoot while I was there. Can you believe it? Today is the first time I've seen her with her eyes open! She's a good baby... just what a mama needs.



I will be making a birth announcement for them in the next few days but I wanted to share one of my other favorite photos now as well.

080- Another Happy Family Dinner

We had our regular big dinner tonight. We were missing a few including new baby Sophie and her mama (smart mama stayed home with the new baby... but we sent her lots of yummy corned beef dinner and fixin's). Have I mentioned how much I love these dinners? Only about 4 dozen times? OK... just so you remember!

Laura is having a marathon birthday weekend! So we *built her a cake or somesing* to prolong the party. But can you believe this? Look how old she is!



After dinner Suzi commented that little Ethan was just in love with his cousin Roxie. I love that these sweet children get to interact often! Are they just adorable? Yeah, I think so too.

079- The Dress

Eighteen years ago my oldest daughter got married and I made her wedding dress. It was the dress she'd picked out when she was about 14... it was a given, it was beautiful... it was so Rebekah.

Since then I've made many other wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses. I loved creating beautiful MODEST wedding dresses for my sweet little friends in California (where finding a modest dress is nigh unto impossible).

But we live in Happy Valley- Modesty Central! I was not dead set on making Camille's dress; if we could find a reasonably priced dress I was good with that. So today found us shopping at Alyse's Bridal. We went with the thought that if we didn't find anything Camille LOVED then we would move on to Plan B (Mama makes the dress).

I took my sorry little marsupial-pocket-camera (Which I have to stop doing; I'm never satisfied!) to take photos so that in case we went with Plan B I had ideas.

After about 6 dressed Camille put one on and it was the one!! So I pulled out my American Express (cash back at Costco, you know!) and we bought it. ALL SALES FINAL!

I got home and started to think about the dress and just started feeling sick! My belly hurts. What was I doing? Did I spend too much? I don't want to do all that beading! Is this really the dress Camille wants? My belly hurts!! Look at the photos... ahh, heck, they're awful. My belly hurts. How do I use THAT photo for my blog. My belly hurts. (Do you get the picture?)

I cropped down the best (eek) photo and sent it to Camille.

"Does this reveal too much of your dress? Will this be ok?"

"That's fine. Mom are you ok?"

"My belly hurts."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. My belly hurts."

"Mom, did we spend too much?"

"NO!"

"Is it that your little girl is getting married?"

Ahh! Now the tears started to flow! It's not the dress. It's not the money. It's not that I don't absolutely love her choice (husband and dress).

It is... MY LITTLE GIRL IS GETTING MARRIED!

With that in mind I took some creative license in PhotoShop and made this photo reflect my feelings this day. The day I realized that, yes, my little Camille-y is getting married!

078- Piano Recital

Each year our grandchildren have their spring piano recital. We've been going now for 6 years. (That hardly seems possible!) I've enjoyed watching Ashton and now Ashton and Christian as their skills have improved. It also been interesting to watch the other children who've grown over the years.

Hello, my name is Christian...



After Christian played his selection he and Ashton played a duet.



Then finally, saving the best for the last, Ashton played Fleur de Lis. She was wonderful.



After the recital little Roxie wanted her turn. What a cutie-girl.



We followed them home and I got my Grammie fix with new little baby Sophie. Daddy video taped the recital so Mama could see their wonderful performances. Happy times.

077- Aloe Blossom

This is an aloe plant in bloom. I used to have a small aloe vera plant that grew in a sheltered area just outside my front door in Palmdale. It would bloom a couple of times each year... but this! THIS is an aloe blossom on steroids! It grows just up the street from Rosehaven Cottage in that place called spring!

I am awed by its beautiful color and sheer size!



We all know the healing properties of the aloe plant, particularly with burns; but it is also used for other herbal remedies. It calms and soothes.

Today I sang with my friend, Maureen (with friend, Vicki, accompanying!) at a funeral. I am so grateful that I am able to do this. We sang Abide with Me! I just love the words to this hymn.

I've thought about the healing properties of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the speakers said he'd been in the clutches of grief and felt the comfort of joy this week as they've prepared for his grandmother's funeral. How grateful I am that we have that calm soothing assurance and the hope of a glorious resurrection! How could we go on without it?

076- Shamrocks

I took this photo 2 weeks ago when I was at niece-Cindy's Rosehaven Cottage and saved it special for today. Doesn't this just embody Saint Patrick's Day. I just love the color green and this one is just so *lickably* good!

I'm grateful for my Scotch/Irish ancestors who've passed their love of our Savior Jesus Christ down through the generations.



A friend shared this on Facebook today so I've cut and pasted it here. I like this idea better than what we normally associate with St Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick spread God's word in Ireland. He used the Shamrock to explain the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today was not made a holiday to celebrate Irish culture or drink beer. It was made a holiday to celebrate the life of someone who spent his life sharing the gift of God's love and eternal hope. Thus giving them not just one day of happiness but showing them the way to true happiness for eternity. Let's celebrate that!

075- Porch Sitting

Late this afternoon I went up to friend-Vicki's house to practice some music. She is a marvelously talented musician... you know the kind; it just drips out of her fingers. When she plays the piano it just feeds my soul.

After practicing for the better part of an hour I got ready to leave; we stepped onto her south-facing front porch and into heaven! It was one of those heaven-sent early spring days that almost make you believe it's May 16 not March 16! She has two over-sized rockers that live there and they just begged us to *sit a spell* and visit.



Recently Vicki loaned me a couple of books; the topic quickly turned to Same Kind of Different As Me. (Briefly, it is the true story of Denver Moore, a black man from the *wrong side of the tracks* and Ron & Deborah Hall, devote Christians who are inspired to help the homeless. Denver is blessed with the gift of receiving messages through the Spirit that ends up blessing not only Ron & Deborah but other who are seeking the Lord.)

Since Vicki and I have both experienced difficult losses this was a very poignant story to discuss. Why would Denver receive these prompting on behalf of others? I was reminded again how much the Lord loves his children. The Lord is no respecter of persons. If you are obedient He will bless you. If you "earnestly covet the best gifts" He will "shew unto you a more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:31) I just love that language earnestly covet!

This scripture (1 Corinthians 12) is the one that I randomly turned to just after Tony and Amanda's death (just a coincidence? I think not!). It filled me with a longing to be blessed with the gift "of discerning of spirits" (verse 10). Over the years, as I have prayed for this gift, and been obedient to the laws and ordinance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I have been blessed with that gift. No, I've never seen Tony and Amanda with my physical eyes, but I have felt their spirits come to give me comfort. What a rich and wonderful blessing.

Vicki and I sat for a good long spell; we talked, cried and enjoyed the warmth of the sun (Son). I am so blessed to have a dear friend like Vicki.

074- ... Just One More

7:35 pm MDT

THIS is what I love about Daylight Savings Time! Look at the time... look at the light! By the time we hit the Summer Solstice it will be this light at 9:35!

So to what is the...

Just One More?... (multiple answers here!)

• beautiful sunset... I can never see to many!
• reason to stay up too late
• gorgeous view from my playroom
  
• reason why I like living in Utah
• happy thing about Spring
  

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073- Happy News

So I've just been dying here! I've had some happy news that I needed to wait on. Two weeks ago tomorrow Kevin came to our house mid-day and asked for Camille's hand in marriage. He is such a wonderful man. He is so good to Camille. They are deliriously in love! I am so happy for them!



He officially proposed to her last Saturday while I was in CA. We are so pleased to have him as part of our family.

Tonight we had a small family dinner (as opposed to the BIG Family dinner). First it was just going to be Camille & Kevin and Stuart & Laura. We realized the Ryan & Nikki hadn't met Kevin yet so we called them on the *spurt of the moment* (a Helenism) and they came too. It was so nice to sit around and visit with our family. I'm so grateful that we are close enough that we can get together with them. (And so sad that half of our family live MUCH TOO FAR AWAY!)

Gordon, Laura, Stuart, Kevin, Camille, Ryan, Nikki

072- C S Lewis

I'll bet there aren't many people who can honestly say they are related to C S Lewis! But I can!! Shall I introduce you to her? She's pretty tired... she had a busy night!



This is Channing Sophia, Sophie for short. She is #17 grandbaby for us. She arrived at 6:34 this morning. She weighed in at 8lb 6oz and is 21 3/4". Can you tell that she comes from our tall family?

Sophie's mama loves the familiar C S Lewis and his writings, as many of us do. What a wonderful memory for little Sophie. He just might be her favorite author too.

We went to meet her this afternoon and deliver her welcome little Sophie quilt.



I just love the Minkee fabric. It is so soft and comfortable.

071- Dreaming...

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love
Even more than I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you...

Now make up some more lyrics about how I want to be back in spring... you know the kind... the Central Valley California Spring! Green, verdant, fragrant, warm, green, soft breezes, blue skies, fluffy white clouds, birds singing, green... just look at this photo... it says it all.



But guess what? We have another storm headed our way and I get to wait another 6-8 weeks for our Utah spring.

070- Swine Deer

Just before I left on vacation I carefully cleaned up my flowerbeds so that the weak March sun could start working its magic on my bulbs. HA!! What I didn't factor into the equation is that I was also uncovering all of my tulip shoots!

Enter the swine deer! The cropped them off right at the ground. Ooh... I like to give them such a whoopin'! If you have any good ideas for discouraging tulip-munchin'-swine-deer you let me know, OK?



I just Google this subject and came you with this:

Here is a recipe I obtained from my local greenhouse, and they advise it was from Backyard Magazine:
Beat together 1 egg and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Add 1 galloon of water and shake or still well.
Spray or sprinkle plants every two weeks or after a heavy rain. Store in a covered container. DO NOT SPRAY ON EDIBLES.
NOTE: I blended 1 large clove of garlic and 3 teaspoons of Cayenne pepper powder into the mix. I have had no further trouble with deer, but I put the mix into a sprinkling can and applied it where I had trouble with deer eating. Maybe I was just plain lucky.

069- Ents and Orcs

This is not the first time I've noticed that Sue has an Ent that lives in her front yard. I just love the toes, legs, arms and fingers of the beautiful Ent-olive.

When I commented to Sue, again, that she has Ents she replied, "Yes, and the Orcs are the gardeners!" (How sad! But we do know that Orcs take great delight in destroying the Ents and other green things!)



The Orc-gardeners seem to be very, well, Orc-like! Anything green and bushy must be trimmed to within an inch of its life or drowned with too much water.

Sue writes;
"When you blog about the Ent trees, be sure and mention that the Orc gardeners in my neighborhood think you prune rosebushes with a weed trimmer. That's the way they trim everything, making sure to cut off all new growth so that the flowering bushes never bloom."

Sad, sad, sad.

068- Vacation Recap

What a wonderful vacation! I don't even know where to start!

So bear with me...

• Emmett, Sarah's car, performed like a champion even on the snows of Donner Pass and the very steep hills in San Francisco!
• We got to visit on the way out and on the way home Sarah, Ann and Wayne read the Princess Bride (I love spending time with *old-friend-books* AND we know that Little Joanie loves to be read to!)
• We got to see all the Bay Area family! Reconnecting is so wonderful... I love my family so much!
  
• We did family sealings at the Oakland Temple
• We went to Sue, Josh & little Sarah's ward dinner and not only got treated to a Seis de Marzo Fiesta but got to hear Josh sing Cielito Lindo and La Bomba with his back-up Mariachi band
• Leaving said fiesta I stepped off the curb on to large roca in the dark parking lot. I twisted my *good* ankle and went down on all fours and sent my chocolate cream pie sailing! (It was well wrapped, but much flatter!) The good news? I didn't tear my brand new jeans I just gotten that day. The bad news, yup, I did a *good* job and have blooming bruises on one palm, skinned knees and a blackish ankle (but when your ankles have been sprained as many times as mine have there is already so much scar tissue and damaged ligaments it isn't as painful as the first time... trust me, I know these things!)
• I got to split up my visit spending two nights at Rosehaven Cottage with Cindy and three nights with Sue and Chica.
• After Brent's delicious Sunday dinner Cindy, Sarah and I went to the hot tub to soak for a couple of hours. (Ah, that felt so good on my poor ankle.)
• I came home with a ginormous bag of fresh lemons that I shared with Sarah and Wayne & Ann. (Do I smell some Lemon Curd in my future?)
  

Lastly, here are some of the strong women in our family! What a blessing they are in my life! (BTW I thought to take this photo AFTER we were totally steamed in the hot tub!)



Interestingly, the hugging couple photo just above Chica is of Mom and Daddy when they were courting.

067- Revisiting the Past

I needed a day, Friday, to just have a few hours alone to visit the cemetery, remember, grieve, contemplate and regroup. Fortunately, my sweet family realized that and allowed me my seclusion.

I feel so blessed that I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life! There I find solace and strength to carry on rather than allow my heart to become rotten or cankered. What a blessing!



Sue left me with her truck so I could *do my thing* while she went on errands with Josh. I've been back to Livermore on many occasions since moving in August 1982 but I've never felt so calm and my mind so clear as this visit.

First I went on an explore to drive past and photograph the houses I lived in in my short 2.25 years there. (Do the present occupants wonder why this person is taking photos of their house?)

I spent a year and a half in this little house on Bernal. It served my purposes well and was the first house I'd ever lived in that had more than one bathroom! (Interestingly the cankered tree is directly across the street from this house that I lived in when my children passed away.)



When Gordon and I married I moved a short mile to his house. We lived there for just 9 months before moving to Palmdale. (This is the home of the olive tree and pyracantha bushes.)



I took a plant, a Bridget Heather, to the cemetery to Tony and Amanda's grave. I've never happened to be there before when another funeral was arriving. I had to move the truck down the street to the nearby shopping center and walk back to free up the narrow driveway. I sat and pondered the blessings of comfort I have received over the past 28 1/2 years. The words of an Easter Hymn went through my mind, "He is not here, for He has risen! " What a joy to contemplate that glorious resurrection day!



I am so grateful to know that Tony and Amanda are not here in this lovely little Roselawn Cemetery... what comfort to this mother's soul.