For Karen C bee update

This post is for Karen C because she wrote such a nice comment about the bees.  I wanted to give you an update.

The guys said bees would still be around for 4-5 days.  They are.  In fact, there are MORE NOW than before!  Turns out, our neighbors to the east (the ones who threatened to SUE US if we didn't cut the cottonwood)!!! have 2 hives out in their bougainvillas!  And, obviously other neighbors do too because the hummingbird feeders are crowded with bees.  So, apparently our hive wasn't the only one (although it was probably the biggest one!) in the neighborhood.  And, none of the bees are aggressive.  I can walk right up to the hummingbird feeders, take them down, clean them, and refill them, and they are eagerly waiting for the sugar water.

I sat out on the side porch yesterday morning and watched two different Cooper's hawks light on the utility pole in our back corner.  One flew to the neighbors DEAD pine tree in their front yard.  They are going to have to take it down sooner or later...sigh...another tree gone.

BUT...GOOD NEWS!

I'm in the process of planting my backyard garden and, along with the vegetables, I'm planting lavender.  I can't wait to see how it is in March!  So far I have 3 lavender plants, 1 basil, 2 rosemary, 1 mint, and 6 packs of red cabbage, green cabbage, and cauliflower.  I also planted (seeds) some sugar snap peas.  Oh, and 3 cherry tomato plants are now climbing up the chain link fence.  I WILL have to protect them when we get a frost, and I also bought 1 pepper plant that I'll plant near the tomatoes so I can protect it, too.  I used all the wood chippings to enrich the soil and some leftover leaves from previous years, so the soil is in pretty good shape.  The lavender is to attract bees, and I'm sure they will love it.  Our hummingbirds will enjoy it, too.  I seem to have 4 permanent residential hummers:  1 female, 2 males, and 1 that moves so quickly I can't tell what it is!

We had rain here yesterday afternoon and another storm (from the north) is bearing down upon us with snow forecast down to 3,500 or 4,000 feet tonight.  We were going to drive to Temecula, but we've put that off.  Don't want to be out in that stormy weather on New Year's Eve!

Stay warm, stay comfortable and have a Happy New Year!
~Cheryl Ann~

Got my garden planted yesterday!

I was reading an interesting article on FACEBOOK about a farmer up in Northern California who has very high yields thanks to his practice of developing compost and spreading it in his garden.  He also does NOT rototill.  Hm...That got me thinking...I looked out back and I have about 1-2" of plant matter built up in some spots out there, so I went to my local small nursery and bought cauliflower, red chard, 2 lavender plants, 2 rosemary plants, 1 basil plant, and a spearmint.  They were all in those 3" plastic container and were all NON-GMO.  So, into the ground they went.  That part of the yard is fence off from the dog, so she won't be able to dig them up!

Here's the link to the article:     https://craftsmanship.net/drought-fighters/

His topsoil is 4' deep!  WOWZA!  Mine is about 2".  He also doesn't roto till and simply lets his crops rotate back into the soil.  Hmmm...seems reasonable!  Farmers here grow a top crop like sudan grass and then roto till it back into the soil in the summer.  I've seen them do that.  He also gets more crops per year (7!).  Our valley farmers get 2, maybe 3 (corn).  I have plenty of old alfalfa to gather and spread around and lots of horse manure, too!  I think I'm okay on that front, at least!

I'm also planning my spring garden:  green beans, yellow squash, zucchini (I already have the seeds).  I don't think I'll plant corn.  It is readily available here in the valley and it takes up a lot of room.  Oh, and tomatoes!  Those will go into the ground next month, as long as I can protect them from frost.  I'm going to plant them along the chain link fence so they have some support.

I really DO have some excellent compost out back...it's about 10 years of leaves in the yard and, with the cutting down of our cottonwood, some chips from that tree.  It's nice and smelly and BLACK.  I also have leaves from the chinaberry tree on the other side of the fence and I'm starting a compost pile.  We have outdoor cats, so the critters shouldn't be a problem (if they do their jobs)!

Anyway, I was excited to get that done yesterday.  I may go back this weekend (Saturday morning) and see if they got in any other non-GMO vegetables that I would plant.  I'll go out, take photos, and post them as soon as it gets light.

Take care.
~Cheryl Ann~

PHOTO:

Rain and fog!

We had two days of rain here in the desert this week~Thursday and Friday.  By Friday morning, the rain was slowing down and I was eager to get out of the house, so I grabbed my old Nikon and headed for the hills. Another storm was supposed to move in Saturday, this one from the north.  The previous one was a tropical one from Mexico.  The difference is that the first one had a lot of RAIN.  The second one was supposed to bring snow levels down to 3,500 feet.

I had talked to the ranch owner earlier and she told me the horses were nearly out of pellets.  By keeping an eye on the forecast, I knew the first storm was moving out and I had a window of opportunity to drive up to the feed store, buy pellets, unload them, and get home before the next storm hit.

So, that's what I did.

First, however, I took 171 photos on my way up the mountains off Highway 74, the Santa Rosa mountains.  It isn't often that we get the kind of fog that we had here Friday.  In fact, I only recall one other time in the last 10 years.

So, here they are!  Yes, the horses got their pellets before the next storm hit and 2 bags of senior feed, with molasses, so they will have lots of calories to burn!   :-)

Stay warm!
Merry Christmas!
~Cheryl Ann~

 Fog drifting down through Deep Canyon

 More fog

 As I drove up Highway 74, this fog bank followed me!  I could actually see it moving!

 Another view of the fog moving in...

 This is looking down from Highway 74 toward the Palm Springs Indian canyons.

 Another view looking down into Palm Springs...

 This lone tree is at the edge of a field up in Anza

 I drove out Highway 74 to take this photo of Mt. San Jacinto and its fresh snow.  Those mountains got a LOT more snow Friday night and Saturday.

Fog moving up Deep Canyon as I drove home.  It was still clear on top, at about 4,000 feet, but as I entered the Coachella Valley, the fog was so THICK that I could only see 3' in front of me and it was raining.  Good thing I'm familiar with that road!  It was treacherous driving!!!

Stay warm and have a happy holiday!

Got my seeds planted and then the rain hit!

I knew a storm system was heading our way so yesterday afternoon I scattered more California poppy and African daisy seeds out front.  We had the crew that was here doing the yard cleanup a few days ago move our very heavy 2 part fountain over in front of my office window. It toppled over last spring when we lost our eucalyptus tree to the ferocious winds.  And, it is a good thing we trimmed the cottonwood.  A wind warning is in effect today, with 65 mph gusts expected!  YIKES!

Didn't do much yesterday.  Cleaned the dishes, puttered out front and back for a while, fed the birds, ran to COSTCO for birdseed, cat food, and dog food.  I'm switching over to the COSTCO mature dog food.  First, it's cheaper.  Second, a bag of it will last longer than the 20 pound bag of Taste of the Wild salmon that I've been feeding Ripley.  She's also on raw food (chicken), but I try to give her one meal of the dry food.  Otherwise, it is too expensive.  She gets a tsp. of coconut oil daily and also some fish oil supplements and her coat is NICE & SHINY!  I'll TRY to get her to sit still and take a couple of photos today, but she is a little SCOOTER BUNS!

I'm taking my essential oils over to a friend's house today and we are making up some diffuser blends for her to try.  I ordered her a diffuser when there was a 24 hour sale a few weeks ago.  Instead of $70, it was on sale for $7.99!!!!  So, we're going to have FUN this morning!

Take care.
Cheryl Ann

All gone now.  I DID see a woodpecker in it the other morning, however, enjoying what's left of it.  It's down to the trunk and the two main side branches, but even they were trimmed WAY BACK.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Hubby and I haven't really gone anywhere, but we sure have been busy!  First, we got a crew in here to save the bee hive up in our 30 year old cottonwood tree.  And, they cut most of it down.  Then, another crew came in and did a thorough yard cleanup.  We actually have stacks of cottonwood branches and logs now for a friend to come by and chop down to burning size after he seasons it.

Yesterday we drove out to Home Depot and ordered 2 chain link gates, one for each side of the house.  Damn dog needs to be kept in the yard and we decided to get a double one for the side that is 10' wide, so if we ever again need a truck to come into the back yard, it can get in.  We are also putting one on the other side of the yard, since DD (damn dog) ruined the wooden fence there the night I spent down in Temecula when hubby had his emergency hospital visit.  We simply CANNOT leave her alone in the yard if we are ever gone again.  She's escaped twice and I really do NOT wish to encounter a 3rd time!  She is tagged, licensed, and microchipped, but, as I've said before, we are just 1 block off two of the busiest streets in town and I don't wish for her to wander onto either one of them!  NOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

I've spent 5 days now out back trimming our palo verde and rogue acacia trees.  It looks pretty clean out there now and in fact, I put a couple of chairs into the middle of a nice, shady area.  It looks very Celtic.  I have hanging bird feeders and a couple of wind chimes.  I'd like to find a couple more and I may go "thrifting" today!  What fun!

I'm slowing down on the yard work because, frankly, after 5 days of it, I'm TIRED.  I filled up 5 of the large Burrtec trash recycle containers and yesterday I filled up 2 more.  I need a break, but there is just so much to do!

Instead, today I'm going to throw out California poppy seeds and African daisy seeds into an area of the front yard that gets full sun.  Hopefully I'll have some nice flowers next spring for photos!

We bought 6 extra heavy duty Adirondack chairs at Home Depot yesterday.  They were on sale for $12.00 each!  What a deal!  They are usually over $20.00...we will put them on the side patio.  Hubby wants to buy a wood burning outdoor chimney stove thing, so we may go back today and buy that.  Then we can sit outside on our patio and have a brandy at night!  Ha!

Take care.
Cheers!
~Cheryl Ann~

End of an era

After 30 years, our beautiful cottonwood is gone. My husband bought it for me right after we had been in our house for a year.  He drove up to Victorville to buy it.  For years owls visited it, as well as the neighborhood Cooper's hawk.  Doves lined her branches, as well as a family of ravens.  It had a beehive in one of the main branches and the neighbors next door threatened us with a lawsuit if we didn't cut it down because two branches were hanging over their yard.  We have been TRYING to find someone to remove the bees before we had it trimmed now for 6 months!!!  Either the guy can remove the bees, but can't trim the tree, or they could trim it, but NOT before the bees were removed.  We were in a Catch 22 situation. The bees were NOT aggressive.  I bumped into them almost daily while out back putting out birdseed for the finches, sparrows, and Verdins.  They never bothered me nor were they aggressive.

I had a couple of gardners drive by, look at the 60' tree, and speed off.  I actually saw one of them do that.  Our own crew that removed the eucalyptus out front never responded to hubby's phone calls.  Never showed up, never called, never texted.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch communication.

In desperation I started following trucks with tree trimming cranes!  YES!  I even called a couple of them (well, hubby did), but they were so expensive we couldn't afford them.  Then, an UNLICENSED tree guy who cut two dead trees down the street stopped by with a written estimate, but he was unlicensed and carried NO INSURANCE~  Uh, no...that wouldn't work out.  Was it a deal breaker?  YES, absolutely.

So, back to stalking tree trimming companies.  However, their prices were WAY out of our range.

Finally, in desperation, I started calling pest control companies that advertised bee removal and ONE called back and said the guy would stop by to take a look.  He wasn't scared off!  In fact, he said he could not only remove the bees (safely), but he could trim the cottonwood.  SAY WHAT?  I let hubby work out the details and he and his crew showed up yesterday with a truck/crane/lift combination.  However, it took them 2 HOURS to back the truck into our back yard because our sand was so slippery the truck couldn't get traction.  I finally said, "I've got a whole roll of chain link you can put down." So, they put it down and the truck made it (FINALLY!) into the back yard.  2 hours later, I heard chain saws.  The limbs over the neighbor's yard came down first, then some outer ones, and finally the huge, hollow one with the beehive.  They got to work smoking the bees and vacuuming them up.  By the end of the day, 90% of the tree was gone.  Only the trunk and the two main (HUGE) branches are left.

They did get the queen because at the end of the day, she was contained and the worker bees were swarming their truck.  Fortunately, they were NOT killer bees!  They will be taken down to Coachella and set up there to pollinate the crops which are grown down there in the lower end of our valley.

Now, however, we have a yard full of debris.  Anybody want some wood?

I'll post photos when I upload them from my cell phone.

Take care.
~Cheryl Ann~

Chores and getting things done

We have a LOT of tree trimming to do here and, unfortunately, WE can't do it.  The trees are just too big.

The cottonwood in our back yard is going to HAVE to come down.  The neighbors are complaining.  They've never liked it.  So, home for the doves, ravens, and the occasional owl and Cooper's hawk will be taken down today.

We need to trim the huge mesquite tree out front, since it is hanging over our porch and when the winds blow, it is scratching the porch....sigh...

Finally, one of the eucalyptus trees out back is apparently hanging over the neighbor's yard and now they are complaining about that.  Complaining to their lawyer...THAT kind of complaint.  So, we'll have to get IT trimmed.

In the meantime, we got the bill from the ambulance.  $240 to drive less than 1 mile from our son's house to the hospital and $1,800 for hubby's transport to the hospital.  Between my Blue Cross and his Medicare, however, we shouldn't have to pay much.  Now we are waiting for the hospital bill...4 nights there and umteen tests...OY!

I'm going to go ahead and sign up for Medicare and see what happens.  If it is privatized, I'll deal with that, but I need to get signed up either today or tomorrow.  Hubby purchased a separate portion for his Part D coverage and for $17 a month, I think I'll do so also.  You never know when I could fall again while taking a photo!

For those of you who have Medicare...are you happy with it and the coverage?  For those of you who have a Medicare Supplement, are you happy with it?  Please share your thoughts.  I'll be 65 in February and I DO have medical insurance through my school district until then, but this whole process of choosing health insurance is giving me nightmares and headaches.  What did you do?

Thanking you in advance,

~Cheryl Ann~

Life is slower now

Now that hubby and I are both retired, we are finding that we are going back to our roots for many things.

First, life is much slower now.  Whatever doesn't get done today can usually wait until tomorrow.
Second, we aren't using as many modern appliances.  My garbage disposal quit and died and frankly, I'm not interested in replacing it.  I put strainers in the sink and that is working out just fine.

My dishwasher is on its last legs and I bought a dish pan for $1.00 at the dollar store and I actually enjoy washing our dishes by hand.  Of course, it is only the two of us, so we don't have that many dishes, but I find hand washing them quite soothing.  I DO splurge for nice dish soap, however.  I like the Meyers line and I'm currently using their cranberry one.  Why not?  I also use a LOT of the Dr. Bronner's soaps, even in the laundry.  I pulled out a hand woven blanket this morning to use when I sit on the couch and I washed it in Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap.  It's actually cheaper than laundry soap and doesn't have all the chemicals.

I also have my grandmother's gray hairs in exactly the same spot that she had hers.  I'm actually quite proud of them!  I waited for YEARS to get them!  I only hope that her wisdom goes with them.

Yes, life is slower now.  I just enjoy sitting at my window and looking out front at the birds and the hummingbirds which come to the feeders.  My cat often curls up in my lap while I'm doing this and our black lab, Ripley, is frequently asleep on the floor by my feet.

I think this is a good thing.  I worked for 37 years.  Hubby worked for 50.  It's time to enjoy life and to slow down.  I appreciate a beautiful sunrise.  I love to listen to the birds.  I planted my wildflower seeds and I'll be happy when they sprout.  My sweet peas are in.  I actually decorated the front porch with Christmas decorations this year, the first time in probably 20 years! 

I hope you are enjoying life, too.  Hubby is doing well with his medications.

Take care.
~Cheryl Ann~

 Me and my maternal Grandfather.  He taught me everything I know about gardening and he grew the most beautiful sweet peas!  He put horse manure on them!

Ellie and her two grandmas.  Life is simpler now.

A dose of reality

I use Facebook A LOT.  I'm on it several times a day, in fact, much to the neglect of my 3 blogs.

One afternoon I decided to download some music from Amazon (I have an account).  I tried and tried and I kept getting a message that said I didn't have Adobe Flash player.  EH?  I knew I did.  I've created several YouTube videos using Amazon (paid) MP3 songs.  So, I was puzzled.  I downloaded the newest version of Adobe Flash player (again), but still got the same message.

THEN I got a message that popped up (saying it was from Microsoft) telling me my computer had 2,787 issues and to click on it.

Uh, no thank you.  I knew better than that.

So, after a hasty phone call to our son (a computer geek), I was informed to get my grubby fingers OFF my laptop and to go read a book.  So I did.  Son called that night, did a complete scan, did a virus scan, did a malware scan, and located 3 suspicious items on my hard drive, one of which was...Candy Crush or some such stupid game which I NEVER downloaded.  He spent 2 hours isolating them and told me to stay OFF Facebook.  And, he informed me I had a worm, but he caught it in time and it didn't ransom my photos or damage my hard drive.  PHEW! 

So, I talked to him again yesterday afternoon.  I am now ONLY allowed to look at photos on Facebook and to never again click on links there.  I'm doing this post as a warning to you.  He says the Facebook links are VERY deceiving and they take you to fake websites where you can get a virus or a worm. So, unless you are confident of the site and the link, DON'T GO THERE!!!  I am allowed to share my photos there and LOOK at stuff, but ABSOLUTELY NO linking on links.  No more history quizzes.  No more "who would you be in the 18th century" stuff.  No more "Are you smarter than an English major?"  (I am...) quizzes.  I deleted a bunch of feeds, especially those from unreliable sources.  So, now my Facebook feeds are limited to the Washington Post, New York Times, and a few family members.  I have NO (zero) unknown, unmet friends now.  I did, however, re-friend my 2nd cousin.  And, he says, NO MORE DOWNLOADING photos from Google or other sources.  NO, NO!!!!!!   

So, I'm just passing alone this info to you.  I now run McAffee twice a week, and my Malware program twice a week and I SHUT DOWN my computer when it is not in use.

I need to find an online photo storage website OR have hubby remove my photos, since my son told me to get them OFF my computer or risk losing them forever.  I have about a year's worth of photos on my computer...the rest are already on an external hard drive.

I don't have any new photos to post right now, so this is a good time to clean up my desktop and get them on that external hard drive.

Please DO be careful out there...it is a foreign world for some of us.

Take care and BE COMPUTER SAFE!  I was lucky.  One of my colleagues and good friends DID get her computer hacked and received the ransom demand and she DID pay it and get her computer back, but I wouldn't want ANYBODY to go through that!!!!!
~Cheryl Ann~