Ruby Tuesday - Flowers and Strawberries

Happy Ruby Tuesday to you! Ruby Tuesday is hosted by the Teach and it features photos with a red theme.

I've got a few shots from my patio. These are some sort of geranium. They have a very red center to the leaves, so the plant looks pretty even when there are no flowers.

Here's a strawberry. Yum..........

And another view of the strawberry.........

And a geranium. This plant is a piece off of a geranium that Mom had on her table as a decoration when my sister graduated from college 16 years ago. If you weren't already aware of it, you can easily do this with geraniums. You break off a piece of the thick part of the stem, then you bury it in some good potting soil, water it, and eventually it will root and take off. Pretty cool, don't you think?

If you would like to take part or see more Ruby Tuesday posts, take a look here.

Nature Notes - Bidwell Park and My Patio

Rambling Woods started something she's calling Nature Notes. I just woke up, so please excuse me if I don't get it completely correct. She is inviting people to take photos of their local nature and share them with the blogging world. Please click her name above, if you'd like to a take a look and participate.

Here are some flowers on my patio. I call them pansies, but I think that they are actually called something else. The something else currently escapes me, I'm sorry to say. I want to say violas, but that's probably wrong. I need some coffee.
Bay had a minimum day last week and we took the cameras down to Sycamore Pool, at One Mile, in Bidwell Park. I was messing around with the Through the Viewfinder here. My new Canon works much more effectively for this, because I can set the automatic focus. No leaves on the Sycamores yet.

Here's a longer shot of yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo. That's a Valley Oak over head and I'm looking toward the dam and the bridge.

Bay leaned over and caught her focus on the side of the water with the Nikon. I wanted to try it and then she started taking shots of me taking shots. I don't know how many shots she made of me from my feet up - I was laying on the sidewalk - but I hate to think of the view of my big butt floating around somewhere out there. The park was pretty full for a weekday, but that's what it's like in a college town - the weather turns pretty, everyone heads for the water.

If you'd like to take part in Nature Notes. Then, you can click Rambling Woods name above or the picture, because I tried to make it clickable. :D More nature to come. Have a nice day.

Herb Is Here

I always set my posts up the same. I upload the photos. I put them in "center," then I add my text. At work, I paste the text, then add the photos in later. I wanted to try something different tonight. I tried putting the photos in on the "left" and this is what I ended up with. It looks like a big ol' mess to me.

Anyway, to the left is my Sage. I've had this Sage plant for a few years. It got really big this year. Currently, it's gone a bit woody. I don't use a lot of Sage, but I love the way it looks, the silvery green leaves are lovely. Just to the right of the Sage, in the very same pot is a minature Lemon Tree. Last year I got 4 lemons off of it. That is 3 more than I ever had on it in years before.

To the left of this is what is left of my Oregano. I think that there's a little mint in there, too. The Flat Leaf Parsley made it through, as well. I like that stuff, it's pretty, but I so rarely use it.

The Oregano and Mint both go nuts, just trail all over the place. There's a pansy behind it. I put the pansy in a tree start that Mom gave me. I'll grow the tree, but it's so plain right now. I wanted the pansy to fancy things up a bit.

I put up these little Basil starts. I used the heck out of the Basil. I like to make pizza and Pesto with Walnuts, so having Basil of my own saves time and money.

I got an email from a company today that does these redwood planter frames. They were so cool. There's one that is 8x8 and one that is for "city dwellers" and it's 4x4. They asked if I wanted to "sample" it. I'm not sure what they mean. Do they want to ship me part of it? Or to try it and send it back? Or are they going to send me a kit, because, honestly it's a pretty awesome kit. I would love to see that kit out on the patio. It would look pretty and I could grow some actual vegetables in there.

Well, I'm off to bed. I'm reading the book, "He's Just Not That Into You," and I find it incredibly liberating. So, he just wasn't that into me. So what. Maybe the next one will be.

Ruby Tuesday - Pencils

I haven't taken part in Mary, the Teach's Ruby Tuesday for awhile. So, I shot my box of colored pencils this morning. I haven't used any of them in so long. I have the Prisma colors and some watercolor pencils - I love these pencils, but I haven't used them for awhile. The top of the box was very dusty. I think I'll get them out this weekend. Sarah and I can draw something fun.

I bet a lot of people are going to have holiday decorations for their Ruby Tuesday shots. That wouldn't work for me - my decorations are white, pink, purple, and blue. Bay came home and said, "It's so girly in here!" and it is. I'll post some photos of the decorations later.

Do you color with the traditional red and green or do you like to mix it up?

Ruby Tuesday - Red Snapdragon

Ruby Tuesday is hosted by The Teach, over on her blog, Word of the Poet. It features photos with a red theme.

Today, I have a couple of snapdragons from my patio. I still have quite a bit of color out there, as we are currently enjoying lots of daylight and warm temperatures. This week, it's supposed to get up to the 80s each day, until about friday, when the weather calls for rain. Or at least it did when I looked yesterday.

Friendly Friday

Good morning. :D It's a lovely day here in Chico, CA. I ran some errands this morning, after taking Sarah to school. As I drove into the parking lot, it struck me how pretty it is where I live. Sometimes I take that for granted.

I put away my groceries, grabbed my camera and this is a little of what I found in about 10 minutes of walking around my neighborhood. Below, see a grasshopper's eye-view of the sun shining on the wet grass.

The light was perfect for reflections. I'm not sure if anyone else thinks this looks cool, but I love a good reflection.
Some of the trees are turning, but we're still enjoying Summery temperatures here. I think it's supposed to get to 88 today. I've noticed jackets all over the playground at work. I try to gather them up, put them where the kids can see them, because I know how much it sucks to have to continually replace lost items. You should see how full our lost and found gets.
My Cannas are still going strong. The yellows, in particular. I think when it cools off more, I'm going to dig some up and move them around a bit more again. I'd like to stash some in my potted plants, too.
I didn't end up with any zuchini or pumpkins, very few tomatoes. I really don't know what happened. Oh well, there's always next year. :D My flowers were lovely, so I still feel very lucky.

We are nearing the end of Blogtoberfest over at b5Media's Lifestyle Channels. Lara put a prize-sponsored post up yesterday and there's still time to leave a comment for a chance to win. My friend Eliza has one up at Babylune.com, as well. Eliza's wondering about Mom's and stretchmarks......if you have a story to share, your comment could prove to be a winner. I will have a new post up, my last prize-sponsored post, at 4pm Central time. You can find it at Dating Dames.com.

Well, it's time to head out to recess. I wish you all a beautiful Friday!

Ruby Tuesday - Red BBQ

Here is my neighbor's red barbeque. They've been out neighbors for about 4 and a half years and they are moving to Washington state in a couple of weeks. :( We are really going to miss them. This barbeque looks like it used to belong to an old cowboy. See that horse shoe handle? Orion, he produces some great smelling bbq with this thing. I'm so curious about where it came from - one day it was just there. Where does someone find something like this? It's got to be heavy.
Here's a bonus red, the book that I'm reading New Moon, it's the second book in the Twilight series. That's Sarah's legs - we were sitting together on the patio.
The kids called me out to see this Praying Mantis. It had a very weathered look to it, unreal, as if made of old paper. The head kept swiveling, back and forth. When Taylor, the girl who is holding it, put her hand down by the bush it was sitting on, it hopped onto her finger. When Taylor was younger, she used to go out to the lawn in the evening, lay in the grass, and catch Dragonflies. This year, she's in the 6th grade. She doesn't spend as much time catching insects.
Out of all of Sarah's friends, she loves Taylor best. I'm not sure if it's because she's a little older or if it's because of the way she speaks. Is it because she's never met a video game that she can't master or that she practically flies to school on her scooter? Sarah is crushed that they are moving. I try to remind her that it's very exciting for the family. That they will love Washington and that Orion will have a great new job. Kids don't care about those things. All Sarah is thinking is that her friend will be gone and if she wants to talk to her, she's going to have to get on Runescape. Not quite the same as walking next door and knocking on the door.

The Story of My Wednesday

More lovely weather here in Chico. After suffering through the heat wave of last week, we've had some mild days in the 80s. Yay!

There's a problem at school and it's not with the children. I work with a lady who has MS. She works very hard both in school with the kids, at her home nail business, and for her family. She sometimes has problems with her memory and communicating, but she really tries to plan things ahead so that her day goes smoothly. She has a very strong personality and when I first started working at the school, three years ago, I didn't really like her very much. That changed after a few months, when I came to understand her sense of humor and the way she dealt with the pressures of the job. We don't have to work a long day, but it's a couple of hours of loud, chaotic excitement. She does the breakfast crowd, then lunch, then comes back at the end of the day and works another hour and a half with the kids who are waiting for buses. Another of our co-workers - he works a different job, but our work days overlap - he messes with her. It really gets to her.

She called me today and we talked about it for awhile. She has tried to talk to our principal about the problem - last year and this year. The principal doesn't believe that he is doing it, thinks it must be a child. There are no children in the cafeteria at the time these things are happening - he is in there alone.

I advised ignoring him. If you don't react, he does not get what you want. I don't understand the behavior and I told her that he must be pretty miserable to act out in that way. It's the kind of thing we'd expect from an angry child. I'm hoping that tomorrow she walks in and does not react to his behavior at all. It will be tough, but she faces bigger challenges than him every single day. Oh dang! I wish that I would have thought of that one when I was talking to her earlier.

The cooler weather means it's much more comfortable on the patio. I cut my plants back and fed them. My tomatoes have never grown any tomatoes. How weird is that? I've grown tomatoes in pots off and on for years. This is the first time this has happened and it happened to BOTH plants. I took them out of the pots, put them in the soil - still NO tomatoes. It sucks. Oh well, I suppose that's what the Farmer's Market is for.

Sarah and her pals are out there right now. The window is open and I can hear their music and their laughter.

One of her friends just started middle school. She is sitting out there with make-up on. I wonder if that is odd to Sarah? Yesterday, this same friend came walking down the path and she was wearing high-heeled boots. She walked all the way home that way. Ouch. Growing up, it can be painful.

I'm having much fun with my new writing job. Today I posted the 2nd part of a 3 part series on online dating. Some people think it's risky, that the online sites are full of freaks and pervs, but honestly, I have some friends who have met some wonderful men. I'd love to see or read or hear about others have that kind of luck in love. If you'd like to see it, it's at http://www.datingdames.com

I have a new co-blogger over there. Her name is Lara and she sounds pretty interesting. She is a volunteer firefighter, a plus-size model, an actor, and a zoologist. She's done some more things, but I can't remember what at the moment.

Okay, that's about it for now.

New TTV Box, Mall Security, and Photos

I built a new box for my Duaflex yesterday. I took it outside and got this............ and this, which reminds me, I haven't shot any baskets in forever. I think I'll see if Sarah wants to do that today.
I could feel my neighbors watching me when I took this one. I ignored it, got down in the grass and tried to catch my favorite clover flowers. I got a flare, too. I like a flare. I think that this was the point that I changed to the other camera. It has a more silvery look to it. I prefer it.
More of my Japanese Maple that I introduced in yesterday's post.
In the evening, there was a beautiful sunset. I grabbed my camera and drove over to the mall where there's a wider shot of it available. I got out, focused, then ...........nothing. My memory card was still in my computer. I drove backhome, got it, drove back, took a couple of shots, then Mall security drove up and he told me that I could not take photos of the building. I said, "You can see that I'm pointed away from the mall, at the sunset, can't you?" I could not believe that it's against the law to take photos of the stores signs. I could feel my inner rebellious child wanting to sass this guy. Every once in awhile, that kid pushes me to be a bit stupid.

Anyway, I got this shot - the mall is behind me, but I'm shooting over the top of Kohls. The lights did something here. I don't know what makes them do that. Someday I will. Anyway, it was too late to get any of the pink. Thanks Mall guy and 41-almost-42 year old brain that does things like forget the memory card in the computer. My timing was a little bit off.

After I got home, I looked it up and it is indeed against the law to take photos inside the mall. I read an account of a woman who was chased by mall security (not my mall) and a janitor. Odd. It was a seriously empty mall, too - nothing espionage-y at all.

I'm very glad that my world is much larger than the mall.

Ruby Tuesday - My Japanese Maple

I've had a little Japanese Maple tree for a few years. It's about 5'6" at the highest point - was about 1 ft when Mom gave it to me. It's a lovely little tree, as Japanese Maples always are, but it usually looks pretty sad by this time of the year. My apartment gets the late afternoon sun and it's stuck out there. I've tried to shield it by sticking other plants around and in front of it, but it's pretty much a loosing battle.

Happily, I noticed some new growth on it this weekend. That's when I took these. The pretty red leaves, I thought they'd be a good choice for Ruby Tuesday.

Wordless Wednesday - Big Boys Like Bubbles, Too

A Little Bit Wordy With the Wordless Wednesday

Not very wordless, but I still wanted to take part. I'm trying to think of new things to shoot, but it's hard because I'm sort of tethered to home, so I'm shooting things that are just outside the door. I like to try to get the insects - got a bee here - but I saw some incredible insect photos today. I have got to get another lens. I want to be able to see his wings.

My daughter is currently sitting outside, on the grass, looking at the moon, with a boy. And older boy. A senior boy. This is a first around here. I'm worried about the boy riding his bike home in the dark. I went out and asked about a light - truly mortifying my daughter. Sorry honey, I just want the boy to get home safely. I asked him to please think about getting one before he rides at night again. They are snuggle-ish. She is turning 16 in a couple of weeks.

Twenty something years ago, Steve was 16 and I was 17, and we were snuggle-ish. I'm hoping that this pair is not quite as snuggle-ish as we were. I'm pretty sure that they are safe out there on the lawn - there's a whole lot of neighbors moving around out there in the evening.

Steve is hoping to come down next week. He will be bringing his older kids, but not Owen. Dang, I really like that Owen. The older kids are pretty cool, too. I'm thinking up some fun stuff to do - we will have a really limited amount of time together. I'm pretty excited.

I'm also sore. I started running in earnest again this week. I'm taking a slow pace, but putting in time and mileage. I want to get my good habits back in order before my birthday next month. I'm giving some thought to a local 10K next month - on the 2nd. Not sure though, I'm really not ready.

Oh heck, sure I am. I don't have to run a good time, just finish.

I am so glad it's not smokey anymore. I'm sitting here with the windows open and a nice breeze flowing through. Very, very nice.

Ruby Tuesday - Red Cannas

I took these out on my patio. The Cannas have been with me a long time, through two moves - my mom's move, when I first dug them out of her yard, and then my own move, from one end of my apartment complex to the other when we needed a larger unit. They love the afternoon sun I get in my newer (5 years) place.

Happy Ruby Tuesday to you!

Peaceful, Easy, Weekend

My weekend has really been good. No big events, just a general calm, which I greatly appreciate.

This morning was not very smokey, so I got out on the patio before the heat hit. I cleaned my litle fountain a bit, added some new rocks, and ran it for the hour plus it took me to cut back and feed my plants. Most of my petunias are a bit spent, so I cut them back. This pot is the exception. I've never grown this particular color before, but I definitely will again.
I found a praying mantis when I was cutting back dried pieces on my little patio tree. Here he is upside down. I climbed the stairs to the little landing that is barely visible in this photo and took some from overhead, as well. It was interesting to see a different view of my patio. It reminded me to take the time to try to present things in a fresh way.
I found this little bee, next to the same tree, on a red canna. Bees are tough, they are always moving and I have a hard time getting them in focus.
Duncan brought this dragonfly by to show me last night. This is the second one he's brought by. Apparently I am now the Dragonfly Lady. I can live with that. Steve explained the lifecycle of the dragonfly to me last Summer. I was so surprised - they begin life as something that lives underwater. Did you know that?
Just in case you are interested, I shared a quick stir-in type pasta recipe over at my cooking blog today. It's simple and you can adapt it in a variety of ways. I like pasta on hot days, because it's quick and doesn't heat up my kitchen too much. If you'd like to see it, it's at http://www.acooksbounty.blogspot.com

July 5th

Today feels a bit like the day after Christmas. Sarah and I, we did all this 4th prep and now it's over. We still have our flag-themed nails on, here's my feet and her hands. I'm pretty tired. Last night Sarah was wound up after the fireworks and couldn't go to sleep until after midnight. Bay called at 12:30-ish and wanted to come home, said her friend would drop her, but she needed me to unlock the door. I fell back asleep - she knocked at a bit after 1. I checked Max on my way back to bed and found him hot - as in almost 102 temp. I don't know what happened, he was only at school 2 days because of the smoke and there were hardly any other kids there. I changed him, gave him some Ibuprofen, then tried to go back to sleep. It was hard, he kept having seizures and I had to check on him or he'd call "Mom, mooom," and back I'd go again.

He is a bit more restful today, a little less warm. These are the times I wish he could speak, that he could tell me what hurts. He's laying very still.

I didn't use my camera at all yesterday, so I grabbed it and went out to look at my patio garden. I have new strawberries. Yum. I'm going to point them out to Sarah. Okay, I did, she's on her way out to grab one now. She told me that she'd been eyeing it and that Karlee told her that when it was time she had called it.

I am surprised that I don't have any green tomatoes yet. In the past I've grown Early Girls. Apparently, Heirlooms take longer. Happily, I found a lot of little buds.
Lots of mint. Hhmm.....what should I do with it? I like it's blue-green color.
I have a mini lemon tree. The first year, I had no lemons. The second year, I had two. This year, I have a ......okay, not a bunch, but a few. Yay!
Bay just got up, it's after 3pm. She is sick, too. The teenagers always seem to come down with something at the same time. They are so darn delicate.

When I woke up this morning, I was surprised that my boyfriend was not beside me. I must have dreamed that he was here for a visit. His absence, I'm really feeling it right now. I've felt so emotional lately, sort of raw, and he gives these huge hugs. When he's here, I feel like the heavy weight of my life, my responsibilities, that's it's a little lighter. He's my peace.

Sunday

Here is a miracle shot - all three kids in the living room, nobody fighting. Max is napping (okay he never fights with anything but his dinner), Bay is on the computer, and Sarah is multi-tasking her cartoons and her paperdoll-stickers. I ran today - first run in a month, I looked it up in my log. I still can't exercise outside, had to use my treadmill, but I needed the movement. I need to get out of my head. I've gained quite a bit of weight and I feel uncomfortable in my skin. Not a good feeling and definitely not a good look.

Tomorrow is going to be hard, I suspect. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Maybe I should pick up something for the girls and I to do in memory of Grandpa. Possibly a Hibiscus. Or something tropical for the patio. I'll see what they've got at Lowe's.

I tried to take some photos from the cat's point of view. There's always a kitty on the patio these days. Geez, every word is a struggle right now. Enough of this. Tomorrow I'm reclaiming my brain.