Tenacious Color

The garden/yard looks frightful !  It's that time of year .

But , don't say that to the pansies .  Aren't they fabulous ?

Look how nice the Oleander Hedge on the outside of the fence is growing .  It will be nice to have a little more privacy when it is taller . However , it has been nice when all the people that walk by give me a "hello" shout out .

The pansies even weathered through a little snow fall a few weeks ago . Like I say "quite tenacious" .

In all this bleak and drab look at all those bright and shiny faces .  All I have to do to them is to periodically cut off the dead blossoms.  So easy and so nice .  And , the bonus is that I see them from my dining room window !!!

If all goes well , on Monday a worker is coming to clean up all of the leaves so that another worker can come on Wednesday to apply some weed control on the areas that produce dense weeds in the spring time .  Especially on the outside of the fence around the Oleanders and the pathway where people like to walk .  I am fully aware of environmental selective herbicides . The roof will also be cleaned of all the leaves .  The gutters are not an issue because years ago I had Leaf Guard gutters installed . Smart decision and worth every "penny" spent .

Not certain about how much or if any gardening I will be able to do in the future but this will help keep the garden maintained and tidy .

Expecting some (not much) rain which we severely need .  Hopefully it will have cleared before the workers come .

My car is home from The Car Doctor and running nicely . It is sure nice to have the service so close to home .

Have a Good Weekend and Stay Healthy .  The death toll is hard to comprehend as well as the insecurities of food , shelter , medical care and employment .  Help your local food bank if you can . 💚 Praying for better times !

Mary  

Nice To Have Memories

Of Christmases past .

Not much going on around here .  Some outdoor maintenance of gathering leaves to be hauled away.  And there are a lot of them all over the place.

Too many for barrels, so I have gathered them up in piles on large tarps covered with other tarps so they don't blow all over ! Hard work , but I find that it is easier on my back to use the leaf blower to move them about than it is to is to scoop them up to lift and put into barrels . Another windy heavy rain storm with snow at higher levels is forecast for this evening . I noticed that since cleaning up yesterday the wind over night has blown more leaves down and all over the patio and driveway .  Living life day by day doing what I can .

Hope your Christmas Holidays are being enjoyed by All .

Mary

Thanksgiving Time And Maybe Snow

And, OH, is it ever cold .  The leaves are still falling with the winds that continue to blow through .  I spent a couple hours outside trying to clean some of them up so it won't be such a mess with the rainfall and possible snow .

For many, many days I have spent a lot of time trying to install my security camera at the front of the garage .  Getting the Wi-Fi  connected with a strong signal was challenging me and I was almost at the point of yelling "I give up" .  But, you know those words are not in my usual vocabulary . The motion lights do not work correctly if the camera isn't working correctly.  I was so happy when it started working properly !

My new front porch light needed a little attention .  One of the wire nuts was not secured well . It is now fixed and all is well with the dusk to dawn light sensor.

I have new weather stripping to install on my three outdoor doors.  It amazes me with the amount of cold air that comes in without proper stripping .  My new small power drill/ driver should made that job go quickly .

This colder weather is not playing nice with my aging body and chronic pain .  But , I continue to push forward .

I recently tried a new recipe called Autumn Umami Chicken . Interestingly, one of the ingredients is PUMPKIN PUREE .  Before I go further , I was wondering what is UMAMI ?  The word was new to me .  Umami is Savory taste .  It is one of the five basic tastes) together with sweetness, sourness, bitterness and saltiness). You can taste UMAMI in foods that contain a high level of the amino acid glutamate, like Parmesan cheese, seaweed, miso and mushrooms. Along with pumpkin some of the ingredients included are chicken (duh), onion, garlic, mushrooms , rice, broth and seasoning like smokey paprika and soy sauce . Interesting ingredients !

These ingredients provide a taste that you might find in the common MSG .  It was in the late 1970's when this flavor was first introduced .

These photos are from when I was preparing this very different, earthy flavored chicken dinner entree . Would I make it again ? Yes . Recipe can be found here .

Also, I prepared a dessert called Pumpkin Dump Cake and it is sinfully GOOD.

And, so so easy! You can find the recipe and more photos here .

That's it for today .  Wishing you a Thanksgiving that meets your expectations and shows your appreciation for the life you have including the smallest of joys that you are experiencing.
 
I had to come back and add this entertaining photo that I saw on another blog.

Mary

It's Been A Week

And, what a week it has been !!!  Not one that I would ever want to repeat !!!  But, now it is time to get caught up with all of you .  Periodically ,  I have started to post and then I would get distracted by my own thoughts or something external .  That's the way it has been going .  So I will include those snippets in this post that I was trying to send you .

TUESDAY - Power back ON About One Hour Ago At 2:30 PM and will go off again in one hour .  It has been a very rough time for me since the power was turned off  Saturday evening .  Other than trying to find something healthy to eat , the biggest challenge was trying to stay warm in a house that persisted on staying about 51 degrees .  I found myself putting on more and more clothes and periodically crawling under the covers with hopes of going to sleep for awhile in the middle of the day .

On Sunday morning I was awakened by thunderous noise of fiercely blowing winds that even caused the house to give a slight squeaking noise . The wind was blowing so vigorously ,  like I have never seen nor heard before and estimated to be 50 to 60 miles per hour ! And, the wind persisted throughout the day . Along with the wind came tree branches , leaves , leaves and more leaves and pine needles and the ground surfaces were covered with a blanket of mess !

The On and Off of power is such an unknown and a very fluid schedule .  Because a tree on the next street over fell and hit the nearby power pole we were without power a half a day longer .  It can be very exasperating when there is no way to find out what is going on other than the old fashioned "grape vine" !  But, you have to leave the house to get information in that way .  When they say the power is going to be turned Off , that means that every service we are accustomed to having other than water . But , that means only COLD water , no HOT water !

THURSDAY - yesterday was quite a remarkable day .  About 11:30 AM I decided that I needed to get out of the house and find a place to get a cup of hot coffee .  So, I was raking enough of the driveway so I could drive out .  And, while I was raking a lady was walking by and started talking to me . I mentioned that I was on my way to find some hot coffee . She said she was from the shop at the corner of main street that is a sporting goods shop that sells outdoor gear for outdoor adventures . I knew about the store , of course .  Anyway, she was telling me about a product that they have for making hot water/ coffee AND that she would bring me one tomorrow morning ! And, then I drove down to main street to find some hot coffee .  And , I heard that some places on main street had power and we did not because of the fallen tree nearby .  So I stopped at a restaurant that looked like it was open.  They had hot coffee and ALSO were serving a small menu .  The stores on either side of them did not have power .  I had the very best hamburger and hot coffee with cream !!  They treated me wonderfully and it was a great heart warming experience !!  I felt like two angels came into my somewhat overwhelming life and brought me joy, comfort and caring .   LIFE IS GOOD .

The generator will hopefully be installed soon . A neighbor offered to help me set it up as portable with outdoor cords, but I have not had the wherewithal to be a part of installing it .  The electrician is scheduled to come and provide an estimate .

My doctor appointment has to be rescheduled with the oncologist because the hospital did not have power except for urgent issues .

When we would be able to receive info from PG&E it would look similar to this - - - San Francisco, CA - - - Due to a widespread dry, offshore wind event on Tuesday, Oct. 29, through midday Wednesday, Oct. 30, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) confirmed today that it is in the process of implementing a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) to approximately 597,000 customers in Northern and Southern Sierra, North Bay, Bay Area, Santa Cruz mountains, North Coast and Kern County. As of 1 p.m., approximately 500,000 customers are without electric service as a result of PSPS.

TODAY - it is wonderful to have Power.  I haven't been able to keep track in my mind what days I have or have not had power!  There are still fires burning especially in Southern California but the weather conditions have improved statewide, however, that could change in an instant .

The Chrysanthemums in the front yard are blooming beautifully similar to this photo that I took last year .

I have started to clean up from the wind storms .  I have filled 20 trash barrels - yes 20 !

It is a beautiful day and I am very tired and hopeful that I will feel more rested in the near future .

Value each and every day as if it could be the last .

Mary

What A Nice Surprise

After a full year (all of last summer) of no air conditioning in my car I was startled by the air conditioner working when I nonchalantly turned it on last Sunday when the weather was beautiful-warm and I was leaving the Garden Center after buying garden soil and a few new plants for the garden .

What a Delightful feeling of cool air !!!  

And, I do not have any idea of why it has started to work  properly.  Even with a refresher course on the Internet on how Automobile Air Conditioning works I still do not completely understand all the complexities of the systems .  To give you an idea --- "Air conditioning is the process by which air is cooled and dehumidified .  Basically, air conditioning systems operate on the principle of evaporation and condensation.  The principles of evaporation and condensation are utilized in your car's A/C system by a series of components the are connected by tubing and hoses.  There are six basic components :  Compressor -  Condenser - Receiver-Drier - Thermostatic Expansion Valve - Evaporator - Refrigerant ."

It is a mystery to me !  Let's hope it continues to work !

The weather has been wonderful - - - for the most part .  We have been having beautiful sunny days and then a day of rain .  Work days in the garden are kind of hit and miss .  The main thing I have to pay attention to is that I don't leave my garden tools outside and they get rained on .  I have been outside quite a lot pulling weeds and general clean up .  I am able to work for about two to three hours when I go out .  Everything is starting to look very nice .  With all the winter rains the plants are really flourishing .  And, the addition of soil amendments for the horrible clay soil is making a big difference and improvement .  I will post some photos when I have a chance to wander through the garden looking for photo ops .

Easter is upon us and the blogs are filled with beautiful photos and ideas for decorating and meal preparations .  Even though my limited physical endurance would make it challenging to prepare a nice Easter celebration I certainly miss the activity .

Happy Easter Week To All .

Mary

Quick Update - It is SPRINGTIME

What a beautiful Harbinger of Spring !  I patiently wait for this Forsythia plant to bloom each and every spring and especially this year following the historic winter weather .  I was on my way out to the garden and got side tracked and decided it was a priority to write a brief post .  It has been a while since I have stopped and updated my blog .  THE GARDEN IS ALIVE !

White Hydrangea .

 White Hollyhocks .

White "New Dawn" Climbing Rose .

 Lavender Lilac .

Outdoor Maintenance continues with successfully unplugging blockage in drain pipe .

During the recent past heavy rains the water flowed briskly down and out this drain .  Hooray for me and my success !

And - - - some random cooking .  Honey-Mustard Brussels Sprouts. The mustard and soy sauce give it just the right amount of tang .

Old fashioned Scalloped Potatoes .  As usual, very good .

White Beans with Bacon and Herbs .  Really good, especially with Pork Chops .

Now - are you ready for this ?   A little repair-replacement of some CAR PARTS .   The rear view mirror on my 1998 Chrysler Sebring Convertible had become very blurry and difficult to see clearly and the support lifts for the trunk lid were no longer holding the lid open .  Not good to have the lid fall on my head !!!

 OLD PARTS

 NEW INSTALLATION OF PARTS

Can you see the buttons on my shirt popping off !!  I have to admit that I am quite proud of myself .      I guess it is true that "When there is a Will, there is a WAY .  Internet shopping and all for less than $150.00 .  Labor priceless !!!

If you are a blogger,  you know there is no such thing as a quick post .  Even after almost ten years I have not discovered a way to "quickly post" .

The sun is bright and I am on my way out to the garden .

Have yourself a Wonderful Day .

Mary