Passages

My aunt died 2 nights ago.   She would have been 95 next month.   She was my mother's younger sister.

She was the last remaining relative in my immediate family of her generation, the one that grew up during World War II.  My own father was 32 when he enlisted in the Army, after Pearl Harbor and he was 42 when I was born.   He died in 1998 at the age of 88.   Mom died in 2000 at the age of 82, from pneumonia.

Aunt Claire and my uncle always enjoyed coming out to visit the horses.   They lived in San Diego and it wasn't too far of a drive for them.   Then they sold their house there and moved to Indio, within 5 minutes of both of our grown children who often stopped to see them.   My uncle died a couple of years after their move and they continued to stop in and check on my aunt.  She was more of a grandmother to them than their own grandmother, who had passed, like I said, in 1998, so she never got to see her great-grandchildren.  But Claire often had dinner with our daughter in Indio and her family and loved on the grandchildren like they were her own. 

Rest in peace, Claire
September, 1924 - August 26, 2018

67 degrees on the front patio this morning!

As soon as I let Bodie (our 9 month old puppy) out for his morning "business" and breakfast, I could feel a cool breeze and cool air!   I HAD to run and see what the temperature was.   It was 67 degrees!!!   WOWZA!   Of course, today will be 108 at the peak this afternoon, but I've got every door and window open right now letting the cool air inside.   Any time we can turn OFF the air conditioner is a blessing!   :-)

I finished two journals yesterday and they are now listed in my ETSY shop: 
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more

It sure was nice getting the Farmers' Market one DONE!   The papers had been sitting around since July!   I had put it aside to finish it later and, OF COURSE, I completely forgot about it!   But now it is done.

This week is going to be a busy one!   I have to pick up Miss Ellie Wednesday, take her to the library, and then go back and pick up her 2 year old brother.   Same thing for Thursday.   Tuesday I'm meeting a friend and colleague who retired the same year I did.   We're heading over to Coffee Bean for a morning of gossip.

Just waiting for summer TO END!

July was brutal here.   It was our hottest July...EVER!

However, the last few mornings here in the desert have been quite pleasant.  Our temps have been in the 70's and more are in the forecast for the rest of the week!   I can actually go outside now in the morning without melting!   And, it looks like the holiday weekend will be pleasant, too.   YAY!

I sold 3 journals to one very nice lady last week and sold another one yesterday!  I should finish another one today (hopefully), then I need to get started on a third one.  I like to keep my ETSY shop filled.   I'm really enjoying making the oversize journals using 11x17 inch paper folded in half.   That's a good size and it is my own personal favorite size.   My personal journal is that size.   I don't like the smaller journals, but that's just me...

Just some random photos:

 Our daughter took this photo of our grandkids a couple of weekends ago. 

 It is now kindergarten 7, Ellie 6.  When I pick her up on Wednesdays, she falls asleep too.

The "BIG 3"...Atticus, Rommel, and my Ripley....all RIP now.

A change in the air...

There is a change in the air.   Colors are different.  Afternoon light is a delicious yellow/orange.   FALL is coming!   Even night time temperatures are dropping and this morning it is below 80 degrees outside!

So, yesterday hubby and I went out front, armed with clippers and attacked the low hanging branches of our huge mesquite.   We LOVE the shade, but I couldn't even get my car in the driveway due to the low branches.   And, the street sweeper couldn't pass by our house due to the sticking out in the street, so we cut away and filled up 3 of our big trash containers with branches.   I was shocked that hubby actually came out to help, but he did (A MIRACLE!).   It is good to now be able to pull both cars in the driveway without them being scratched.

I sold my grimoire-style journal over the weekend, so it is off to a new home in North Carolina.

Lots to do this week.   Hubby is going to visit the grand kids in Temecula and I'm going to babysit the 2 year old while his mother and sister go to kindergarten back to school night.  Bodie (the dog) and Brady (the grandson) LOVE to play together, so it will tire both of them out!   :-)

Until tomorrow...

~~Cheryl Ann~~

The dog days of August are here!

The dog days of August are here.   My sunflowers are pretty much done.   There are only a couple of the prairie ones hanging on.   My squash is KAPUT.   Maybe over the weekend I'll go out and yank it all out.   It NEVER had any fruit.   Neither did my green beans.   We had the HOTTEST July EVER on record last month and even with all the humidity the past 2 days, most of my sunflowers and even some of my plants out front are dead or dying.   I'm looking now at a dead yellow daisy plant...sigh...One of my lavender plants out in the back yard is now dead, too, and believe me, I water twice a day!

So, I'm going to pull out the dead stuff this weekend and think about fall.   I ordered some seeds from Botanical Interests (non GMO seeds) and they should arrive any day.   I like their seeds.   They have an excellent sprouting rate and our local nursery, right up the street, carries them, too. 

I've noticed the beautiful light in the late afternoon, early evenings.  I hope it isn't just from the fires...sigh...I think I read that California now has 17 active fires?   There is a new one down in Ramona, which is 2 hours away.  JUST TOO HOT AND DRY.

Little Miss Ellie survived her first day (minimum day) of kindergarten and today she went a full day.   I'm anxious to hear how she did, although I did hear they got to go to the library.   Oh, and yesterday they talked about musical instruments.   She knows those because he mother teaches middle school band and she has often visited her classroom.

I'm driving her to school every morning now, so I get back home around 9 a.m. and my day starts then. 

Hopefully I will fill up a couple of trash cans with dead stuff (plants) this weekend.

Temps are no longer in the 110+ category, but, with this humidity, one still rushes inside.   Ugh.   It is HORRIBLE right now.  There is a hurricane down by Baja California and we are getting all the moisture.

~~Later~~
Cheryl Ann

First day of kindergarten for the oldest granddaughter!

Yes~~ Today was Miss Ellie's first day of kindergarten!   Apparently she woke up before 6 a.m. and dressed herself...that's how excited she was!

Both her parents took the day off work to walk her to her classroom (and I went along).   We all got to stay with the other anxious parents for an hour!   And, sit in those TINY CHAIRS!   My goodness!   When did chairs get that small?

Of course, Miss BLABBERMOUTH got in trouble and had to have a "chat" with the teacher!   And, she didn't know what "criss cross apple sauce" was.   She never did that in preschool!   She could, however, print her name correctly (even the "e" was the correct way!).   The teacher read them a nice story about 3 baby owls whose mother went off to hunt during the night and one of them really missed her and was crying!   I only saw 1 kid crying before class started!

And, sigh...the teacher had to talk to mom AGAIN after school because Ellie didn't know how to sit properly and Ellie said NOBODY played with her at recess...such DRAMA!   I mean, isn't kindergarten supposed to be when these kids LEARN these things?

Anyway, we'll see if this teacher works out or NOT.

 All ready for school.   Tomorrow she will wear shorts and shoes and socks.

The happy family.

Thank goodness for dog naps!

So, this month Bodie will be... 8 months old!   He is filling out nicely.   He has extremely long legs, so we aren't sure what he is.   Definitely part lab, but the rest?????

Anyway, he pretty much follow me around the house all day.   Whatever room I'm in, HE is in too.  Right now he is beneath my table in my office, keeping an eye on me.   He sleeps on the bed at night.   Promptly every night, at 8 pm, he is ready for bed!   He gets up in the morning when I get up.   He gets his breakfast and some "outdoors" time.   Then back inside to play and run up and down the hallway and torment the cat.   Then, a nice LONG nap!

Thank goodness for dog naps!

This little guy is ALL ENERGY!   We have talked about doing a doggie DNA test on hi, but we haven't done it yet.  He is just the happiest thing!   He always has a big smile and he is ready to do anything.

I was surprised that he actually JUMPED into the car on his own after getting his last puppy shot Monday.  THANK GOODNESS because he weighed 49.5 pounds!   That's almost as much as a bag of pellets!   I'm going to work with him and get him to jump into the back seat WITHOUT my help.   He can do it...I just need to work with him.

I'm also working on "SIT".   It's strange how he cannot remember SIT, but he sure knows the word, "Cookie"!   Eh?

I gave him a carrot a few days ago.   It held his interest for... about 3 minutes and then was abandoned.  He prefers shredding Ripley's old toys or getting into the trash.   THAT is much more interesting!

So, life goes on...

~~Cheryl Ann~~

August 1st

Today is August 1st, which means another July is behind us.   PHEW!    This one was HOT and NASTY!   I'm glad she is GONE!!!!!

I now have daily visits from the Cooper's hawk or hawks.   We aren't sure if it is the same one or different ones.   I know there are at least 3 of them in the neighborhood...a mama and 2 juveniles.   Our neighbor says he has counted 5 of them!   So, who knows?

The Cranston fire is now 86% contained, as of yesterday afternoon, and some areas of the mountains got RAIN yesterday.   The news stations haven't been issued as update, but that is encouraging.

Anza is getting electricity 4 hours a day.   They were completely without it for 3 days.   NOBODY is allowed to turn on their air conditioner, however.   That would overtax the temporary system which the power company had to rig because some of their lines were burned in the fire.  The horses have water and the ranch owner's freezer kept her food frozen, so that's all good news.

Life goes on...

~Cheryl Ann~
Swim lessons for the 2 year old.   The 5 year old was off in another group...