Winter Wonderland

It was so cloudy yesterday morning that hubby and I didn't wake up until 7:10 a.m.!!!  That's a first for us, but we had both been awake at 1:30 that night for a couple of hours.  Ugh.  Must be the full moon...

Anyway, I couldn't even see our local Santa Rosa mountains.  They were completely covered with clouds.  But, by 8:00 a.m., the clouds started to lift and off I went.  No Black Friday shopping for me!  Ugh.  NO WAY!

And, I was delighted by what I saw!  It was a winter wonderland!  I drove by my friend Barbara's red barn and drove around Pinyon, taking photos.  By 11:30, I was tired and hungry, so I went home.  It was a beautiful morning.

 The sun was barely peeking through the clouds.

 The now-empty Sugar Loaf Cafe

 At the Sawmill Trailhead...

Mailboxes covered with snow!

SNOW!

Our local Santa Rosa mountains have SNOW this morning!  My friend Barb sent me a couple of photos from her place in Pinyon and folks in Anza are posting pics of the snow on Facebook!

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY!  Or, in this case...WHITE FRIDAY! :-)

SNOW at the 8,000 foot Toro Peak webcams! :-)

And, this photo from my friend, Barb, up in Pinyon...don't you love the red barn against the snow?

It's been a quiet week, except...

It's been a quiet week here.  Hubby hasn't wanted to go anywhere and sits at his computer desk ALL DAY...sigh...

So, Tuesday, before the big storm hit our local mountains, I traveled up to the horses.  Along the way, I stopped at my friend Barbara's 2 acre ranch in Pinyon.  She's always ready for a laugh or two!  And, she's a wonderful horsewoman.

Anyway, she now has 5 dogs, 3 horses, 2 turkeys, 1 pot bellied pig, 2 chickens, and a LOT of pigeons and doves that she has rescued.  And, a partridge in a pear tree somewhere, I'm sure!

 She rescues dogs off the streets of Coachella...

 Some of her doves.  Aren't they beautiful?

 She is holding 2 of the babies...

 Her two goats

 Goat kisses...Ugh!

This one was running back and forth from the house to the barn...SILLY GOAT!

We had a good visit.  She won't retire for a couple more years because she is only 60 and she'll get a big bump in her retirement at age 62.  But, she's ready, like me, to retire!  Oh, boy!  I've known Barbara for 25 years.  Her daughter, who is now out of college, was in 4th grade when I first met her.  We got together and did reading buddies...my 5th graders and her 1st graders!  What a year that was! :-)

A few questions

So, now that I've decided to retire at the end of June, I have a couple of questions.  I'll have health insurance provided until I'm 65, then Medicare will kick in.

So, how and where does one get GLASSES?  My eyesight is horrible.  I have progressive lenses for distance and reading, but I'm finding that that middle computer area is a problem for me.  Where do you go for an eye exam and GLASSES?  My current pair cost $900, with the anti-glare finish (I could do without that...) and the transitions lenses (I could do without that, too), but, still, a decent pair would cost me over $500.

Second, what about dental?  I have a mouth full of cavities (I have soft teeth)...Mexico? I'm going in for a visit this fiscal year and again next year, and that will have to be IT here in the United States, right?

Is there a Medicare supplement that covers glasses and dental?

Thanking you in advance for your answers!
~Cheryl Ann~

A trip to the nursery (plants)

Hubby wanted to stay home yesterday and destress, so I headed up to our local plant nursery.  It has been here in the desert for as long as we have...40 years!  It's up in a canyon and from their land, one can view the hikers on the "Bump and Grind" trail above.  It's FULL of birds:  quail, finches, hummingbirds, and even a couple of crows who were calling to one another up in the canyon.  I love to just go up there with my camera and wander around and, since I DO buy plants, the staff lets me.  At first they were a little wary, but I don't take photos of them, only plants!

As I was there yesterday, 2 groups of 2 vintage WWII planes flew overhead.  I caught the first two, but the echoes in the canyon threw my sense of hearing direction off, and I missed the second two.  They must have been flying to an air show down in Thermal.  I heard them return late in the afternoon, but I didn't have time to run inside and grab my camera.

The nursery is always FULL of hummingbirds, but I always have a hard time getting a good photo of the little buggers!  Either they are too quick for me or I'm not ready when they buzz by the plants near me!  I've got to practice getting a good shot of a hummingbird.  Any tips?  I can't take my tripod with me.  I doubt the staff would allow that...sigh...

Anyway, here are some pics from yesterday.

 Pretty foxglove

 Two of the planes that flew overhead.  Can anybody identify them?

 Tacoma stans.  The hummingbirds love this plant!

 Pretty hibiscus

 Looking back into the canyon...

 Don't touch!

Pretty flower and a hummingbird!

Thanksgiving break!!!

I'm now off of school for 9 days.  Then, three weeks, and then my three week winter break.  I CAN DO THIS!  (I can last 3 weeks, I hope, WITHOUT getting sick!)

I'm going to plant another section of sweet peas and hollyhocks this morning.  I soaked both of their seeds overnight, so they should germinate quickly.  With no rain in the forecast for at least the next week, I decided I better soak them and get them into the ground ASAP.

I'm really enjoying the flowers out in the front yard.  Apparently, so is our 20 year old cat, Loki!  I see a hummingbird at the salvia almost daily now.  I may get another couple of those.  They are red, tubular flowers.

 My daisies...

 Loki, our 20 year old (neutered) cat...He enjoys the sunshine in the front yard.

 More daisies

 Rudbeckia...

 Cheerful daisies

A view of the front garden.  I'm not planting as much this season as I did last season.

Parent conferences

Last night my school had parent conferences until 6:30.  Of course, I didn't get out of there at 6:30 because everyone wanted to come after dinner until closing...HA!  I was backed up...I went as quickly as I could, but 10 minutes per parent in some cases just isn't enough time.  But, I made it through intact!

One set of parents came before dinner and I had to call the office for a translator (Spanish).  Their son is absolutely HORRIBLE in class and out at recess.  It's as if he has NO common sense.  Honestly, he does a lot of STUPID things and he doesn't "make good choices".   Ugh.  So, after 20 minutes of conference, the dad announced, "YOU keep getting my son in trouble!  HE didn't get in trouble LAST YEAR!"  I announced to him, "No, SIR, your SON keeps getting himself in trouble by not making good choices."  Sheesh....This is the kid who TWICE now has been spotted trying to set palm trees on fire!  Oye vei!  In fact, it was his mother that called the fire department on one occasion!  OYE!  I'M the one getting him in trouble?  REALLY?  Was I standing next to him when he attempted to burn down the neighborhood?  ...sigh...some parents are in REAL denial.

But, on the other hand, some parents were VERY supportive, in spite of the crazy new math (common core) that none of them understand.  And, I have some kids who WILL be college bound, so that's good news.

All I can say is that hubby had some red wine ready for me last night.  I sure needed it!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

I'm retiring at the END of this school year!  I'm DONE.  30 years of teaching...
I'm burned out and I can't wait for June 10th!  I have a nice little group this year, so it is a good year to retire and be DONE!!!  One should retire on a happy note.  Besides, I've had classes from HE!! the last 2 years.  They nearly did me in...

And, my district is offering a retirement bonus!   :-)

YIPPIE!

Besides, I'll be a grandmother for the 4th time in early May!   :-)  (another big announcement!)

I found my seeds!

I found a whole bag of seeds from last year that I didn't plant.  I had "misplaced" the bag, but I found it while cleaning my desk a couple of weeks ago.  I've been waiting for another rain storm to hit the desert, but I've been checking and checking and NO rain is in the forecast here for the next 10 days, so yesterday I went ahead and planted them.  I had California poppies, some kind of "drought tolerant" mix of African daisies, poppies, and I don't know what else.  I planted ALL the seeds out front, along the wooden fence between us and our neighbor.  I now have 2 daisy plants, 4 lavender plants, and 2 Rudbeckia plants out front.  I'd like to get 2 red salvias, so I may head up to the nursery a couple of blocks away this morning.  Then my front yard will be complete.  I also have some sunflowers growing out front, along the fence.  And, I got my sweet peas and hollyhocks planted out back, along the chain link fence.  So, I'm pretty much DONE with my fall planting!

Here are some photos from last year:

 That's Ripley, my black lab mix, walking through the view looking back at the house.  I sit at the window there and look out onto the yard.

This is our 20 year old, neutered male cat, Loki.  Yes, he is STILL with us.

 A couple of my sweet peas from last April...

 One of my sunflowers along the chain link fence in the back yard...

Flowers along the back yard fence...

I hope this year's crop, with El Nino, will be much better.  Last year's flower crop was very puny indeed.

A little sunshine for you today! (my daisies)

Just a little sunshine for you.  My daisies are doing very well and are thriving.  I may pop over to Lowe's tomorrow and see what else I can plant out front. I have two lavender plants, but they aren't really blooming right now and I have 3 HUGE packages of California poppies to plant!  They'll go out front, by the driveway.  I also have 3 large packages of a dry (water tolerant) mix that I'll also put out front.    I do like to sit at my laptop and view my daisies and all the birds that come into the yard.

One day ON, one day OFF...

Yesterday I drove up to the horse ranch to (1) drop off psyllium for the horses.  Psyllium is fiber pellets that help clean out the sand from a horse's gut.  Mine need it CONSTANTLY.  And, (2) to take some photos.  By the time I turned the first corner on Highway 74, I knew I had to turn on the car's heater.  It was COLD!  DAMN COLD!  By the time I got to the horse ranch, I knew I was only going to throw some psyllium and feed at the horses and jump back into my car (which I did).  It was windy and COLD up there.  Quad is doing well in the round pen.  He has room to self-exercise, too, and I believe that is helping him move the sand out of his body.

Anyway, I got home and felt fine, but by afternoon, my head was roaring and my stomach cramps (a virus) were back.  ARGH!  Fortunately I'd stopped at Whole Foods to get a nice, hot lunch from their deli bar, so I stayed inside for the rest of the day.  By late afternoon, I knew I was in trouble.  I took a nap, got up, watched a TV show, and went to bed at 6:30 p.m.  By 11:00 that night, I was ordering a sub for today.  I didn't have a fever, but I shivered ALL afternoon!   :-(  There are so many different viruses going around right now, it could have been any of them...sigh...MAYBE I'll have the energy to go plant the rest of my seeds, but if not, they can wait until the weekend...

Here are some pics from yesterday's visit.  The trees are turning nicely up there.

More photos from last November

It's nice having Veterans' Day off school today.  But, of course, I awoke at 4 a.m.!  Oh, well...

I have some chores to do around the house (dishes, laundry), and I need to plant my Hollyhock seeds.  They will go out back along with my sunflower seeds I planted on Sunday.

And, I'll be taking 2 tubs of psyllium up to the horses this morning, so I'll have a nice horse visit!  Then, only 2 days until the weekend!

These photos are from November 30, 2014...I'm hoping to see some color in the trees today.  They've had low temps, in the 30's, at night, so I guess I'll find out later! :-)

November 2014

Since I didn't get up to the mountains this past weekend (I'm PLANNING on driving up there tomorrow, for Veterans' Day), I had to go back to my hard drive to find some photos for today's post.  I took a few photos of my daisies yesterday, but not enough to really upload them.  So, here are some from November 30, 2014...