Hiking in the Estrella Mountains

A beautiful day.....

.....in a beautiful place....


......with a nice lunch spot.

A very nice Curve-billed Thrasher's nest.


A very tall Saguaro Cactus.

It was so quiet you did not
even know the big fat rat race was
just over the next mountain!!

Back at the garden

I have been back working at the garden since just

after Christmas. It is so nice to be back and just in time to

have broccoli. Isn't this one beautiful.

Just a little recap, on Tuesdays I volunteer at the

County Extension Demonstration Garden.

We grow anything and everything we want.

We garden year around in Arizona. This is some

of the winter crop.

We did not grow brussels sprouts last year so this

is a big treat.

The artichoke came back even bigger!

It is the third year for this one.

A few greens anyone?

We have three kinds of garlic this year so far, this

one is hard neck garlic.

These sugar snap peas are tasty, we eat them

while we work.

Just a few goodies I got to take home.

Growing up

Not much going on this weekend,

I am trying to clean up my sewing room.

It has become quit messy.

Also Sophie came to spend the night.

I just love it when she sleeps over.

We always have some little project we do.

This time she wanted me to help her with something.

She has these little plastic princes shoes, she has had
them for a long time. I remember when they where too big
for her and now they fit, but she said now she is too
old for princes stuff (she will be 7 in April).
So she ask me if I could take off the bow and heart and make
them more grownup.

Out of all the pretty buttons I have, she decided these black buttons would be the best. This sewing project was not as easy as it looks because the top of the shoe is made of thick rubbery plastic, but we did get it done and she was very happy.

She is growing up too fast!!

Go Tiler!!! # 7

The fact that Tiler is the best looking kid on the team is enough to

make any grandmother proud but he is also a very good player.

He is always right in the middle of the action. He is fast and smart.

Doesn't this just sound like a grandma.

He always has his eye on the ball and today he scored the
winning goal for his team.
We are so very proud of him!!

My new toy.

This is my new Juki Serger

I love it!!!!

I have always loved what a serger could do but was

afraid of start the journey.

People would tell me they are very hard to thread, that they are very

complicated and that projects are very limited on them.

Not to mention the cost.

After hemming the ruffles for this bag on a borrowed serger I was

convinced. They are worth every penny you pay and every minute

you spend learning how to operate them. I took a one hour lesson

and I am good to go!!!!

So now I am all into ruffles and made this pillow out of some
scrap fabric I had.

Just another beautiful day in Arizona.

It was even prettier in person. I took this picture as I was leaving

Tiler's soccer game today.

Tiler's Soccer Game

Soccer is my favorite sport that Tiler plays

and I am so glad I could make the game today.

It was a beautiful day, 74 degrees, so I

drove to Scottsdale to watch him score the only point

for his team. They lost 2-1 but I really enjoyed it anyway.

A Big Day for Tiler

Look at this smile, he is so proud of this new

driving permit and I am just plain worried!!

Is he really old enough to drive??

At least he is tall enough to reach the peddles.

The Christmas Tree 2008

I was going to try and get away with no tree this year but guess what!!

Sophie came over the week before Christmas.....so the tree goes up.

I gave Jen all the memorable Christmas decorations years ago,

so I have a small tree. It is already sparkly , so I only put little frosted balls

and birds on it. That is all I need......WRONG!!

Sophie was very upset that I stuck one of

the little birds on the top of the tree.

She said there had to be an angel or a star and that was that!!

So we made a star.

It is only red construction paper but

we think it is a very nice star, it will

probably last for many years.

We agreed that we would put some glitter on it next year.

As you can see, it made her very happy!!

Sophie's Christmas Progam

Here are some pictures of Sophia's

Christmas Program at her school. She is in the first grade

at The Church of Joy Christan School and she

loves to sing. She also had a speaking part

and did an excellent job.

I do not have pictures of the program itself

because the pictures are always of such bad quality when

the lights are down. I feel lucky to have these pictures.

Tiler is always happy to attend his sisters events.

Sophia does not like loudness, she is like me in this way.


I love to look at the expressions on the
kids faces while they wait for the program to start.

I especially like this one.

Life’s Little Pleasures!!

This is just one more thing that makes me so happy.

My little herb garden on my patio.

I have tried to grow herbs other times in my life but never had success,

especially in the summer.

Now I know it is easy!!

That is if you have a good source of water.

Since I installed my little drip system on my patio

growing has become so much easier and the herbs have become my favorite.

On Thanksgiving I was able to just go out and pick some for my stuffing

and today I had fresh sage, rosemary and thyme for my pork roast gray.

The best part is at Thanksgiving there was no running around to every grocery store in town

to get the herbs at the last minute…just to fine out everyone was OUT of fresh sage.

This is what I have growing right now,

lemon thyme, common thyme, sage, rosemary, curly leaf parsley, Italian parsley and sweet basil.

I planted these the first of November and am curious to see how they grow year around.

Thanksgiving Day 2008

So most of you will have tons of photos of a beautiful table setting, lots of gorgeous food and all the wonderful people that you invited over to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I also had some wonderful people over, my little family.

We had a lot of good food and a lot of dishes,

which Jen did most of . There was also a lot of football,but not a lot of pictures.

There is one video on

my new video bar at the top right that I would like to share.

I wanted a short video to show how tall Tiler is getting.....but since

my family is super hyper-active, after dessert it

got a little out of control.

Oh!! How Wonderful

It was raining when I got up this morning!!

You probably know that it only rains at my

house a few days a year.

So I enjoy it so much!!

Maybe my Rain Lily will bloom.

If it does you know I will take a picture of it.

Up-Date on the Snake

OK, so I obsessed about the snake.

I looked on the Internet and in every field guild I have,until I found it.

It is a Night Snake, gets only 12" to 24" long and of course

is nocturnal and is rarely seen....so I guess he

will not be much company for me!!

Don't worry....he is harmless, I think!!

Look what I found.

Right in my backyard!!

I picked up a stepping stone....

and there he was.

What a treat!!

He is very tiny and immediately started to curl up.


I don't know if he was curling up to strike or
to hide?? He did not move from this position
while I was taking pictures.....but when
I went to get a jar to put him in,
he got away.

Do you know what he is??
At first I thought he was a rattle snake (no rattles yet) but
now I think he is just a garter snake.

When I first moved in this house, a had a small
garter snake that lived in my little rock river.
I would see him from time to time,
it didn't bother me....but one night when it rained, he got
between the screen and and glass door.
When I opened the door it must have scared him
and he jumped right in the house.
I got him out with a pair of spaghetti thongs.
After my first year here, I did not see
that snake again.

I am going to go look for this little one again,
I think he may be under that rock in the picture.
He is so little I do not see him going very far.

If it is a garter snake I will be very happy....I could
use the company!!!!

Picking Apples in Colorado

As most of you know, I go to Colorado twice a year to visit my family on the ranch.

This year I got there just in time for the first frost.

That means apple pick'en time.

I was more then happy to be involved in this task!!

My sister Janet, hard at work!!

The hornets decided this would be a good place
to build a home.



Part of the harvest.
The snow on the mountain in the background
came the night before.



Yes, that is Dad up in the tree.
He is going to be 88 next month but he
doesn't let that stop him.


Most of these apples are off of one tree.
They are Organic Heirloom Macintosh.

Mom cookin' some up to make applesauce.
She is the pro!!

Dad giving us a hand.


It was gooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!