Yard update

The dumpster arrived yesterday and a 4 man crew did also.  It was their job to cut out the eucalyptus tree roots and get the stump into the dumpster.  Good thing they brought a Bobcat with them!  I was at the dentist's office while they did this, so I don't have photos.  There is a huge hole out front now where the tree took out our main water pipe into the house.  I honestly don't know HOW we are going to fill it!  I imagine we'll have to order a couple of tons of rock.

We have a friend coming today to help us load some of the heavier items into the dumpster like the old fence posts.  He's going to take some of the lumber with him.

Frankly, I'll be glad to return to school Monday for some peace & quiet!
~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann

Dinosaurs, oh my!

I made this video yesterday and finished and published it last night.  I wanted to do something with some of the photos from the Ricardo Breceda metal sculpture garden in Aguanga.  I think the theme music from "Rome" was quite appropriate, don't you think?

Anyway, here's the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJG6YV5gaNI

I hope you enjoy it!  I mean, come on!  What 7 year old wouldn't like this?
~Cheryl Ann~

KAPUT!

We had HORRIBLE winds here yesterday afternoon and last night.  The good news is that the storm front dropped fresh snow on our San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains.

The bad news is that it toppled one of our two eucalyptus trees out front.  This was the one next to the street.  We didn't even hear it go down~that's how strong the winds were and how LOUD they were!  I went out at 5 a.m. and the front yard was completely flooded.  It broke our water main when it fell over and there is water everywhere out front.  Fortunately, the water did NOT come into the house!

So, we have NO water, no coffee, and the water district truck is on its way.  Plus, we have a call into a gardener to come chop up the eucalyptus and haul it away.

Our fence is KAPUT, too.  The tree took out half of it and the city wants it GONE, so they get their way.

Ugh.  It's still windy today and it is COLD outside!  I went out and fed the birds, so at least they are happy.

This eucalyptus tree was about 25 years old.  We have another one which is going to HAVE to be severely trimmed because if it falls down, it will take out the neighbor's house (or part of it...)

Memes

Just a reminder for me...I need to get back and post some photos on these memes~

As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.
Thanks to Tom for hosting The Barn Collective

Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday
Thanks to Monica for hosting NF Trees

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

First day of spring break

This is my first day of spring break and last night both hubby and I fell asleep at 6:30 p.m.!!!  We BOTH slept for over 12 hours!  I went out this morning, made a HUGE container of sugar water for the hummingbirds, and washed and then filled up all of them.  It's nice to have the TIME to do this.  I do have a couple of males and one little female who visit the feeders on a regular basis.  And, I have snapdragons, salvia, and penstamon in the yard for them to feed on, as well as lavender (for the bees).  I'm quite proud of my garden.  I'll go out later and take a couple of photos...

Anyway, hubby is off for the next 7 days and this morning we are driving to either the new Aldi in La Quinta or the one in Palm Springs.  I'm not sure which one yet.  It depends on where hubby wans to go.  Both stores just opened yesterday.  We also have one going in here in Palm Desert, but it isn't ready to open yet.

I put food out in all the bird feeds this morning, too.  That's one of my daily jobs.  I try to wash and clean the hummingbird feeders at least once a week so that they don't get black mold and so the sugar mixture is fresh.  I see the hummingbirds frequently visiting the flowers in the garden.

Ahhh...spring in the desert!  It is supposed to be in the mid-80's for a few days, then back down in the mid 70's, as a low front approaches.  I remember some spring break vacations where it has been in the 90's and 100's and we had to turn on the air conditioner.  So far, this season, (...knock on wood...) we haven't had to turn it on yet.

Enjoy your day!
Cheers~
Cheryl Ann

Desert fences~Good Fences~032416

A view from the desert up to our local mountains and Deep Canyon.  This is from Desert Willow Golf Course.  They have such beautiful views there!

Good Fences for Friday, March 25, 2016.    To visit Good Fences, please go to:   http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com

Summer plans

Maybe I should call this "after retirement" plans.  Both hubby and I are retiring EARLY.  I'll be done teaching April 29.  I CANNOT wait!  Hubby will retire sometime after that.  We aren't quite sure yet.

ANYWAY, we do plan on doing some camping.  We will probably start up at Joshua Tree National Park, since it is only a little over an hour away and the temps up there are 10 degrees coller than here in the lower desert.

While researching camping for folks over 60, I came across these websites and thought I'd share them:



DISCOUNTS for folks over 65:

http://www.giftcardgranny.com/blog/senior-discounts/

Other discounts/retailers:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/12/getting-old-pays-off-wonderful-discounts-for-seniors.html

This is a good list of various discounts:

http://www.alexisabramson.com/senior-discounts-for-all/

Here's another list:

http://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/senior-discounts

I know these have NOTHING to do with camping, but I just thought I'd share them!
~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann

Phew! I made it through the week

I had parent conferences this past week and I was totally EXHAUSTED by Friday.  Most of my colleagues were exhausted, too.  We have one late night (Wednesday) until 6:30 (if we only take a 1/2 hour dinner).  Everyone does that, so we can go home earlier than 7:00 p.m.  But, it makes for a really long, stressful day!  I had 21 out of 24 parents show up for conferences, so that was good.  And, of course, I learned some things about the parents.  One mother is a breast cancer survivor.  She's running in a race today (Saturday) and I wish her well.  She actually has such an upbeat personality that she not only survived, but is running in a race.  Another child's father is in prison...sigh...You never really know what kinds of family situations these kids are bringing to school.

ANYWAY, it WAS a long week!  Next week is only 4 days, however, then I have a 10 day break for spring break!  I CANNOT wait!   ;-)

 Pretty apple blossoms up by the horse ranch...

Pretty desert scene here.

More spring photos

I was anxious to see the Sycamore trees near the Dripping Springs campground, off Highway 79 last weekend, so on our way home, I pulled into the parking lot.  Hubby's knees were hurting him, so he chose to stay in the car.  The sycamore are indeed budding.  They were covered with tiny leaves.  I think this weekend I'll try to get back to the Whitewater Preserve and see their sycamores.

Spring in the desert

I took a drive out to the city-owned golf course grounds last weekend to look for color.  There was PLENTY of it there!  The desert has just exploded with color this year.  It is so nice to see verbena all over.  And, after our trip to Temecula, I saw a LOT more lupines blooming up on Highway 74.  Of course, one of the consequences of all this is that our son and his family all have really bad allergies this year!   :-(

Sand dunes and fences~Good Fences~031116

I drove out a road which is the border to one side of the Coachella Valley Preserve after my fall last Saturday.  I needed to use my camera and see if the lens was damaged after my tumble into the rocks.  It wasn't (thank goodness!).  If I had broken my lens, which my husband just bought for me, that would have been the END of my excursions for QUITE a while!  And, I would have had an irate husband.

Fortunately, it didn't smash hard against the rock when my shoe came off and I fell.  It DID land against a rock.  However, it didn't hit as hard as my left knee!

I took these photos off the Washington Street exit, off Interstate 10.  You drive down and turn at the fire station and the road goes behind the dunes.  I've never see THIS before:  (below)

The sand has blown so much lately that it now covers half the road!  Yes, those are telephone poles sticking out.

Good Fences for Friday, March 11, 2016.  Enjoy your day!
To visit Good Fences, please go to:   http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/

Urgent care

So, Sunday morning I had to go to urgent care.  Both my knee and ankle were very painful.  I got there just before they opened at 8:00 and I left at 11:30.  Turns out, I sprained both my left knee and my right ankle.  The nurse let me pick which one to bandage, after x-rays, so I chose my ankle because it hurt the most.  Heck, I didn't even land on it!  I landed with my left knee hitting a rock and I have NO IDEA what happened to my right ankle!  All I remember is my right shoe coming off, and, in trying to regain my balance, I went down on my knee.

So, I am now encased in a molded cast.  I have two days off school (thank goodness) because there is NO WAY I could go to school, sit, get up and down, and make it across the room to answer the telephone!

I started reading The Martian in the waiting room and now I'm 1/4 done with the book.  I came home and took a 2 hour nap.  I'm going to rest up as much as I can.

Here are a few more photos from Saturday:

I took a tumble today! :-(

I decided to drive out to Thousand Palms Canyon and take photos of the wildflowers out along the roads there.  There is verbena, yellow flowers, brittlebrush, and a couple other ones I can't identify.

Anyway, I was out walking one of the trails in Thousand Palms Canyon and my right shoe came off.  I fell to my left and heard my camera lens bang against a rock.  It didn't hit hard and it appears to be working, but I won't know until I upload my photos.  I landed on my left knee and now my right ankle is throbbing, so I must have twisted it when I fell.

I'm going to wait until later to see if I need to go to urgent care.  In the meantime, I'm going to put a bag of frozen peas on my knee and another bag on my ankle.

I'm just so darn MAD that I did this.  OYE VEI!  Stupid, stupid, Stupid!

~~Cheryl Ann~~

My garden

I always love to sit and type and look out the window at my front garden.  Next year I'll have to do it mostly with seeds.  I won't be able to afford to buy the plants that I bought this year.  It is visited by the birds that I feed:  finches, sparrows, and doves.  Hummingbirds frequently arrive at the feeders and the lavender and snapdragons, as well as other flowers.  My garden relaxes me and I enjoy it

Do you have a garden?

 Bougainvilla on the front porch...

 One of the many sunflowers out front...

 My daisies!

 Petunias

 Another sunflower.  I bought these sunflowers for the birds, but the bag got wet, so I just threw the seed out front, along with all the other flowers.  Now there are sunflowers everywhere!

 Another view of the bougainvilla

 Now sure what this is...

 Yes, I have cabbages!  The school provided a cabbage for every 3rd grader.  There were about 25 left, and I brought 9 of them home (see below).

 Daisies again, different angle...

Our sweet acacias are all blooming!

Lupines

I didn't drive up Highway 74 (bottom photo) last weekend as I stayed home (sick).  Maybe this next weekend I'll be able to drive up and visit the horses.  The lupines are in full bloom alongside the narrow road and every weekend more and more burst into bloom.  This isn't a spectacular year, but it is a decent one.  At least it is better than last year!  I always like to stop and look at the view back toward Palm Desert from the road.

Some spring color

As you know, I visited our local nursery center on Sunday.  I was fighting off another bout of bronchitis Saturday and I didn't go ANYWHERE.  But, by Sunday morning, I was feeling better, so off I went.

 Beautiful wisteria.  Yes, it does grow here in the desert, but I don't have any...maybe next year...

 Beautiful pot of color!

 Snail vine.  I have one in our back yard, along the neighbor's fence.  This stuff grows like a weed!