Tomato seeds and pepper seeds PLANTED

 I got a half of a packet of yellow cherry tomato seeds planted a couple of days ago and a half a packet of peppers too.  I planted them in the little seed starting trays with some good potting soil and carefully watered them.   Good thing I covered them with a pillowcase because that night it got down to 40 degrees here in the desert southwest!   We have one more day of sunshine and then an atmospheric river is coming out way Wednesday night and all day Thursday.   I do have some California poppies sprouting out front and I'm hoping this nice rain will get them going further.

I'm so glad that I got my garden up and going this year.   I have a feeling we will ALL be bartering for things we need soon.   I remember my grandfather's garden.   He owned 2 lots and half of the 2nd one was for his garden.   He grew green onions, tomatoes, rhubarb, beets,cabbages,  turnips, radishes, corn, and even had an avocado tree.   He had another plot up at my parents' yard and there was a fig free, boysenberries, and a small garden with crops. I remember my parents giving me a bucket and sending me out to pick boysenberries.   I certainly wasn't a fan of figs, however!

I'll try to get some photos today of my garden to share with everyone.

(((BIG HUG))) to everyone and... STAY STRONG!

Still surviving!

 We are still alive and well (mostly)...We both are noticing that we just don't have the energy we used to have and we do get tired easily most days, but we're still plugging along.   I have a nice garden going out back and I'm using plastic bins for my vegetables.   It's just easier that way and I don't have to battle the damn Bermuda grass!

Sugar snap peas...

early tomatoes

Additionally, I now have 13 plastic tubs FULL of vegetables~~celery, cabbage (3 types), broccoli, cauliflower, mint, lettuce (various types), and Swiss chard.   I absolutely LOVE going out to the garden and picking fresh, organic vegetables!   Next year I'm going to DOUBLE my growing space.   I already have one 8x4 foot raised bed that the son-in-law put together and I have another one that he needs to get ready.   I'll use the second one for summer vegetables, so it can wait a while.   

I've attached my YouTube tour of the vegetable garden here:

garden update January 2025

I also planted sunflower seeds out by the mailbox and here are some photos of them.   The bees LOVE THEM!

Sunflower out front.   Unfortunately the wind has now knocked over about 2/3 of them and the rest are leaning into the street.

Bees LOVE the sunflowers!!!!!

...until next time...

Still here...August 2024

 Still here...alive & kicking!  (most of the time)...

I'm still adjusting to the death of Gigondas.   I know she was old, but I miss her.   She would softly nicker when I drove up to the ranch and I think she actually kinda/sorta looked forward to my visits.  She ended up with Cushings and one night she quietly passed in her sleep. I REALLY do miss her.

Last summer was brutal here in the desert, but this one actually hasn't been that bad.   We haven't had that many days of temps 120 or higher and we have about 3 more days of heat and then a drastic cool down!  We've already had some cooler mornings and I've been able to go out front and do yard work.  My tomatoes from last spring are all done & gone and I have 4 new totes to fill and plant this fall.   YAY!

I'm still pckking up the 2 grandkids here on early release days and we get together quite often.  Haven't seen the ones back East now for 4 years...sigh...It's not like Papa and I can just get up, leave our house and dog and inside cat and go visit them.   Nope...so we talk by Skype when we can.

Otherwise, life is just going on, as usual.   I still feed the birds and we have a momma cat and her 4 kittens out in the garage AND 2 more showed up.   We have NO idea where THEY came from, but she took them in.   They all play together and are quite entertaining.

Cheers!

Cheryl Ann

Nice view looking west from Toro Peak...afternoon monsoon

 Still here!   Alive and kicking (barely, some days)!!!!!

We are enjoying the grandkids.   Life happens at a slower pace for both of us (hubby and I) nowadays.   We are active with our daughter's 2 kids and our son and his family of 4 kids has moved across the country for a new job, so we don't see them often.   We still have Bodie, our lab rescue, and our cat, Abby (now 14 years old!) and we've been adopted by 3 feral cats who now live in our garage AND a momma cat and her 3 kittens!   We do leave food and goat's milk out for them and we cook them eggs for breakfast.  They seem to have taken over our side patio.   Fortunately our dog ignores them!

I don't get up to see the herd as much as I would like to.   Honestly, some days I'm too tired to even drive to the store and hubby doesn't drive anywhere anymore, ever since he has a "fender bender" last September.   So I do ALL the errands.   And, that wears me out.

So, just plugging along here, one day at a time.

Some recent pictures attached.   Daisies are from a few years ago.   Sunflowers are this year's.   I do have quite a few sunflowers, hollyhocks, cosmos, marigolds, and Black Eyed Susans still in the front yard, so I'm enjoying them.

Gigondas has crossed the Rainbow Bridge

 Gigondas is no longer with us.   I felt it this morning when I saw beautiful, pink clouds streaking across our sky.   I knew she was gone.   She has not been well all Fall and she didn't lose her fur from last Spring.   It was in clumps all over.   She had a nasal discharge which the vet gave her pills for, but her old body just didn't last and she died last night.  She was my oldest horse.   She always nickered for me when she saw my car drive into the ranch.   I miss her already.   We also lost our 17 year old cat this week, so it has been a shitty week.

Still here!!!

 We are still here, although we both seem to be moving slower these days.   Hubby pretty much stays indoors most days and watches the news and baseball.   I stay in and work on journals.   I did get outdoors in July and start my porch side garden, then we all got hit with watering restrictions, so half of my plants died.   I AM recycling kitchen sink water and even shower water, however, so the rest of the plants are struggling to stay alive.   Everything pretty much dies in August each year.   I did buy some vegetable seeds which I want to put into containers this fall and crops are exempt from water restrictions.

The birds are happy here and we have 3 feral cats who come into the yard, mostly to check out the gopher holes and leap up into the air to try to catch a bird (they don't...).   The gophers out front are pretty much OUT OF CONTROL.   I gave up for about a month and just let them run and dig wildly, but now I'm back on them.

Speaking of gopher holes, I looked out back 2 days ago and...a  big, fat GROUND SQUIRREL was sitting up next to its hole, surveying the back yard.   Now, Bodie, our dog, has caught 3 gophers, but I'd never seen this VARMIT before.   I absolutely HATE ground squirrels.   The horse ranch is full of them and their holes are EVERYWHERE!   So, I'm going to borrow a trap from the ranch owner and hopefully catch this one.   And, this is in spite of the fact that Bodie goes out back about 4x a day and I've even seen one of the feral cats in the #RIGGING  back yard!!!!!   THIS MEANS WAR!

We joined our daughter and her family over Memorial Day, up in Idyllwild.   Hubby, Bodie, and I had a small cabin and they had the big one 2 doors down.   The grandkids had a blast.   We haven't gone anywhere else (just too expensive), but they've gone up to Crestline a couple of times, and Arrowbear.   We are ALL staying home over Labor Day.

Our monsoon season this year is a real dud.   We got some sprinkles ONCE.  But, we haven't had days of 120+ ALL SUMMER!   Yippie!   And, it doesn't look like we will this month either.   In fact, next weekend, it is supposed to be "down" to 99 degrees here!   YAY!   Double digits!

Horses are all find except for Gigondas.   We think she has Cushings.   We all brush and brush her and she's still full of hair.   I'm going to have my vet look at her in September when all needs their shots and I'll have to make a decision about her at that time.   She's had a good, pampered life. While I would miss her, I DO NOT want her to suffer or be uncomfortable.   

So, that's all for now...just taking one day at a time.   The arthritis in my knees is so bad some days I can barely walk.   Getting up to the horse ranch is difficult, too, because of my lack of energy.   Hubby and I are pretty sure we both had COVID back in February of 2020, before it was widely known or suspected, and our energy levels since then haven't been the same.   We also BOTH suffer from brain fog some days.

Take care of yourself!

~Cheryl Ann~

Summer's COMIN' !!!

 Still here.   Summer's heat is coming.   All my plants and flowers are really struggling this year, due to the heat and drought.   Fortunately I did not plant a garden.   My hollyhocks came back on their own and I've just been watering them enough to maintain them.  I have very few sunflowers.   We had horrible winds in March which almost took out all the hollyhocks.   We also have fewer birds this year, but my resident hummingbird population seems to be stable, at about 5.  I go out now and clean and refill their feeders almost every day.

Gigondas seems to have developed Cushings.   She is a shaggy wooly beast now.   I went up Saturday, brushed her, and her hair just came out in clumps.   I'm going back Tuesday and brush her again.   I'm also picking up some supplements for her.   I always wanted a big, chestnut thoroughbred mare and she is my dream.   The ranch owner says she'll be fine as long as she isn't in pain, which she isn't.   She kicked up her heels in her corral Saturday and nickered to me and even nuzzled me!   Gosh, it's only taken 18 years to get to this point!   She wasn't real fond of people when she first came to me, but she has learned that humans give treats and rubs.

Grandkids are growing.   I pick them up a couple of days after school each week and we spend one afternoon here at our house.  Their school year is soon coming to an end.

Just a few random photos.  I'm sewing tote bags, journal covers, and keeping busy.   I enjoy still being able to have some quiet mornings outdoors (so far) with my coffee.

Pretty Gigondas in 2016...

Anza got SNOW!

Our local mountains got snow in March...view from the Toro Peak webcams at 8,500 feet.