Hubby and I took a day off yesterday!

After Thursday and Friday's mad DECLUTTERING, hubby and I took a day off yesterday.  Well, HE DID.

I mopped the kitchen floor, vacuumed the entire house, and dusted off items in my office!  I still have some work to do in it, but that can wait.  I even made a new video for my YouTube channel (deserthorses5)...It is about my own, personal journal.

We'll be back at work decluttering and donating today!   :-)  FOR SURE!  It's our last chance before the new tax law goes into effect and we are NOT happy about THAT AT ALL!!!!!!

Have a safe, happy, and sane NEW YEAR!
~Cheryl Ann~

CLEANING, purging, and decluttering... oh, my!

You know, I hadn't purged my closets since I retired in May, 2016.  It was TIME, especially with the new tax law going into effect.  So, Tuesday I retreated to the bedroom and purged... and purged... and purged.  Later that day, I had 10 HUGE bags of clothes ready for the thrift store and then I purged some more and I had 5 more!   :-)  I certainly DO NOT NEED a bunch of dress pants, skirts, and tops! And dresses!  No, no, no!  I'm a jeans and t-shirt gal now!  I also donated 10 bags of books!  PHEW!  Then, I spent 2 days cleaning up and rearranging my office.  NOW I can actually GET INTO IT!  YAY!  I set my laptop up on my table near the window, but away from the dust.  Our son is always reminding me that sitting it right next to the window is a BAD IDEA and then he has to come and blow out all the dust! 

Lesson learned.

Yesterday hubby went through one closet of HIS work clothes and we now have 10 bags of his stuff to go to the thrift store.  And, he still has his MAIN CLOSET to do today!

PHEW!  By 7 p.m. last night, we were both exhausted!  Cleaning is very tiring!

If I don't post again until the new year, have a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!  and STAY WARM!

~Cheryl Ann~

Merry Christmas and Living Desert pics

No words needed here except Merry Christmas!  Okay...maybe a few words for each photo!

 I've always loved this garden gate at the Living Desert plant center.  They CLOSED the plant center and they are busy turning it into an animal exhibit!  Bummer!  I bought quite a few plants from them.

 Another view of the garden patio.

 I LOVE the tall, stately palm trees!

 This fella was cleaning himself!

 Pretty buds.

 The 20 month old is learning "OUCH, STAY AWAY!"

 More "OUCH!"  No, he didn't touch any of these.  He was off looking at the jaguar.

 Lights hanging down at the gift shop.

The little guy LOVES the Christmas tree with all the stuffed animals and balls on it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and your family!
~Cheryl Ann~

Living Desert visit with the grandson

Our daughter, a teacher, is off now for 2 more weeks (winter break), so yesterday she wanted to take the 20 month old to the Living Desert Reserve to wear him out.  HA, HA!   He wore GRANDMA out!  I came home and took a 2 1/2 hour NAP!!!!  Actually, he went home and slept for 1.5 hours, and so did his mom, so it was a success!

Unfortunately, he fell head first onto one of the rock lined drinking fountains and got a new boo-boo on his forehead.  I could hear him screaming 100 yards away!  (I went ahead to the carousel, DETERMINED that he was GONNA ride it with me).  So, we picked out an appropriate animal (the lion) and off he went, SCREAMING again!  OY!  My ears!  And, those were once again REAL TEARS streaming down his face!   :-(  He couldn't WAIT to get back to Momma and away from mean old NANA!

Oh, well...At least we got out for the morning.  Hubby took his new LUMIX hand sized camera and took photos and videos.  I'll be able to use that one for my YouTube videos now!  WHOOPIE!  And, I won't have to upload videos from my cell phone!

Below are a few photos from that HORRIBLE morning (horrible for the 20 month old, I guess)!  The rest of us enjoyed our outing and we are RETURNING this morning with the 4 year old.  It's GOOD for Nana and Papa to get out and WALK!!!!!

 He LOVES the trains!  This is one of the largest model train exhibits in the country... 3/4 acre.

 Yup.  He's ALL READY for his big adventures!  Look at the pants leg.  And, he INSISTS on carrying his backpack full of diapers! 

Getting tired (FINALLY).  He climbed up onto EVERY BENCH he saw in the park!   OY!

Reality sets in...

Hubby and I both retired in 2016.  I retired April 30 (the day our 2nd grandson was born!) and hubby retired that August.  We had such WONDERFUL travel plans...

...sigh...

At the time, we had the Nissan XTerra.  While it wasn't a 4 wheel drive model, it WAS high clearance and we did do a little bit of exploring off road with it.  But, hubby never wanted to really push it.  I did!  He didn't want it scratched.  He didn't want it muddied...you get the picture.

Then, this summer, he traded it in for a... HYBRID!  YES!  He bought a Nissan Rogue hybrid (probably the last car we will ever buy)...We LOVE IT, but off roading?  Uh...nope.  We love the gas mileage and we both forget to fill it up!  (GOOD THING, with the price of gasoline here in California).  On the way to our daughter's home in Indio yesterday afternoon, gas prices ranged from $2.89 to $3.39, depending on the station.

So...our plans?

We have... NONE.  He's still recovering from a horrible cold (and has coughing fits).  I'm content working on my journals and my art books.  Hmmmm.....

I NEVER would have thought that he would be the homebody that he is!  As the oldest of 4 children, the other 3 are all over California!  But, hubby has settled down to within a mile of his parents' house in Rancho Mirage!  GO FIGURE!  If you had made me a bet when we were in our 30's, I would have bet we would have moved several times.  Instead, we have now been in our home for...41 years!  I guess we are turning into our grandparents!

I enjoy feeding the birds out front and back and doing a little gardening.  The Swiss chard I planted last fall made it through the summer and is now thriving.  So is the mint I planted out back and the 2 kinds of lavender!  I threw out sunflower seeds and I have little seedlings coming up ALL OVER out back!  HA!  The birds will have a feast this spring!  We both enjoy watching the Cooper's hawks (2 of them) that terrorize the neighborhood and the black & white feral cat showed up yesterday morning.  She was out back chewing on SOMETHING and after she left (she's VERY wary of people)...I couldn't find anything on the ground, so I guess it wasn't a bird she was eating.  Maybe it was a tree rat!?

So, life is slower now, but, you know, we are both enjoying it.  Hubby sits and watches the news all day and harasses readers on the Washington Post.  I feed the birds, do a little gardening, occasionally rake up the yard, and work on my journals.

We are content.

~~Cheryl Ann~

Winter plans

What are our winter plans?

HA~~~  We have NONE!  It looks like we are pretty much just staying home.  Hubby has a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE cold and I took him to urgent care on Monday.  He's been coughing, sneezing, and wheezing now for 4 days.  Today he is going to Walgreens to pick up some antibiotics.  I haven't seen him this sick since the last time he had pneumonia!  Please send good wishes his way.

I'm currently working on two art journals, not writing journals.  I found a You Tuber lady up in Northern California whose work I really liked and she has about 30 tutorials.  I started at video #1 and now I'm on #13.  The books are SO FAT I cannot close them!  When I get done, I'll show you some photos and do a You Tube flip through of them!  I've made pockets, pop up pages, and windows.  It has been a lot of fun and I think one reason I haven't been sick (YET...) is because I'm so focused on finishing them.

After I finish them, I want to work on some spring journals.  We have had ZERO rain here since August, so I don't think there will be many wildflowers up on Highway 74 this year, although they have had rain when we didn't down here in the desert, so who knows?  It certainly won't be a bumper crop!

We went to see our son because granddaughter #2 had her 3rd birthday last weekend.  It was a fun day for all.  We gave her an art kit with crayons, colored pencils, and pastels and by that evening, she was busy making art!   :-)  Her dad (our son) was a fairly decent artist himself.  I have absolutely NO talent for art, however, and neither does my husband, so we don't know where our son got his talent...

So, we are basically just hanging in there for now.  No big plans for Christmas...I DO have a date to make Christmas cookies with our daughter, so that will be a fun filled morning!  That is after she's off for the 3 week winter break.

Stay well and keep busy!
Here are a few pics of what I've done so far...
~~Cheryl Ann~~

 I call this "The Wonder of It All"

 This is the pocket window.  The window is plastic.

Yellow flower on black gesso with stencils.

A different kind of journey

I've been home making a family memory journal.  This is the first one of its kind that I've done and it was QUITE an emotional ride!  It took me a week to make it and I already had 2 boxes of my dad's photos and family papers.  I just didn't want to rush it.  I wanted to take my time.

You can see it here:      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxUmMFvM5Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSxUmMFvM5U

I had a really hard time ending this one.  I still keep it on my desk and pull it out and look at it and frankly, it has been HARD to even start another journal, but I started one last night and I'm pluggin' away at it.  I NEED to move on.

I never knew my dad's family.  They all lived back in Connecticut and he moved out here to California before WWII.  He did take us back to Connecticut when I was about 4 years old (I do remember the train ride...), and his parents did come to California before I was born.  I wish I had known his parents.  It is a shame I really didn't...and I regret that.  They WERE my grandparents and, as a grandparent myself now, I don't think I could live without knowing our precious little bundles of joy (all 5 of them!)  But, I guess things were different then...My mom didn't like her mother-in-law (I don't know WHY...), so she "discouraged" any more trips back to Connecticut.  My grandmother died when I was about 12, so I could have visited her and I WOULD have remembered her.  I kind of resent my mother for that.

I did, however, grow up with her parents, whom I dearly LOVED.  And, my next family album (journal) will be about that side of my family.  I have many, many, many fond memories of that set of grandparents, but, you know, why couldn't I have similar memories of my dad's parents?  It doesn't seem fair...sigh...but that's life...

Anyway, have a great day tomorrow.
~Cheryl Ann~

Got my sunflowers planted and nasturtiums, too!

We didn't have any babysitting stuff yesterday and I'm taking a break from journal making, so I headed outdoors.  It was a nice morning here, so I gathered up my seed packets and did a quick inventory.  I have a TON of sunflower seeds, so I planted 2 packs (from 2016...) out back under the dripping hose and the bird bath.  There are a few already sprouting there from loose birdseed anyway, so I figured, why not?

Then I went out front and planted nasturtiums and some kind of white daisy seeds along the front walk.  The nasturtiums are coming up from last years' crop too! 

Today I'll go out and plant a few more sunflowers here and there.  I have about a dozen packets to plant.  And, like I said, some are from 2016, so I'm not sure how many of those will sprout.

I'm anxious to plant my sweet peas and hollyhocks along the back chain link fence.  I MAY get to do that Friday.  We have babysitting today, tomorrow, and Saturday morning...so we'll see...

This is a good time to plant things here in the desert.  This is one of the prime growing seasons.  There is a huge plot down by our daughter's home and sometimes I see a big green John Deere tractor there.  The 4 year old granddaughter always enjoys seeing the big green tractor!

Until tomorrow then...

~Cheryl Ann~

PEEK A BOO!

Our daughter and her two children getting ready to head out for Halloween.  Daddy dressed up as a pirate, but stayed home to pass out candy.

Black and white barn~For Gaelyn

Gaelyn Olmstead nominated me to participate in her black & white challenge this week, so I have been posting photos on Facebook.

Here is today's photo:

 Abandoned house somewhere in Arizona... for today...

 I posted this flower from the Living Desert Reserve...

The previous day was a photo up at the ranch where I board my horses.

And, yesterday's photo was this one of plant leaves at the Living Desert Reserve.

I've enjoyed changing some of these to black & white and I think I'll keep doing this!

Thank you, Gaelyn, for pushing me to do this!

Here's a link to Gaelyn's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/gaelyn.olmsted

First Christmas journal ETSY

Okay, so I FINALLY decided to post and hopefully sell my first journal!  It is a handmade Christmas one, a chunky monkey, with over 164 pages!  She has Christmas stationery, coffee dyed papers, Christmas cards and envelopes, lace, fabric tags, and a fabric cover!

Here is the link to her at my newly reopened ETSY shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/554857582/christmas-journal-fabric-covered?ref=shop_home_active_1

PLEASE stop by and take a look.  I will be adding more journals today, after I take photos of them!

Phew!  I have about 7 other ones to add...2 fall ones, 2 cooking type ones, 1 horse one, and 2 more Christmas journals!  Hubby says it is TIME for me to do this and he's right...I think I've FINALLY got my journal making process down!

TIA (Thank you in advance)!

~~Cheryl Ann~

Busy, busy, busy!!!

I've made 7 journals this month...actually 8 and #9 is nearly completed.  I just have to finish sewing the pages into it.  PHEW!

I'm REALLY enjoying the Christmas journals!  There are so many pretty papers to put inside!

Here are some photos of what I've done so far:

 7 journals DONE!!!

 One of the Christmas journals.  I LOVE sewing different fabric on them.

 The backs of 2 of the Christmas ones...

 One of my fall altered books.  It has its pages intact and I glued on various papers for writing or art work.

 Just the cover (so far)...I love this fabric!  This is the second one that I've sewn the fabric onto the box.  I just learned how to do that yesterday.

My FIRST sewn-on fabric cover!  Whoo, whoo!  Unfortunately, my bobbin ran out of thread and it took me 30 minutes (and a few unladylike words) to get the darn bobbin OFF my machine.  Hubby couldn't even get it off.  The problem is that the metal bobbins are "universal" and I don't think they properly fit my 25 to 30 year old sewing machine!!!  I finally jammed a pair of scissors under the bobbin and was able to lift it off, but it went flying across the room and I'm too lazy to go find it!

I want to finish the other Christmas one today and then I'll have 9 journals DONE!  I'm thinking about reopening my ETSY shop and listing these for sale...

~Cheryl Ann~

Just some photos from the Living Desert Reserve

I forgot I had these!  Sorry about that.  I'm at the CRS stage in life (can't remember SH$%)...you know...

 I LOVE these leaves, don't you?

 Very delicate...

 Yes, they cover the dates which they are ripening so the birds don't get them...

 LOTS of butterflies that day!

Oops!  I was playing around with my Microsoft photo editing program and I guess I now have this beautiful YELLOW flower in black and white...see what I mean about CRS?

Mogollon Rim you tube video

I think I forgot to post this!  I made this video in March of last year, before I retired!  I can't believe it has now been 18 months since I retired!  WHERE does the time go?

Please do take 2 minutes and view it.  Don't be put off by the burned areas in the beginning.  When we traveled through that particular spot this summer, MOST of it has now grown back and it looks healthy again.  Of course, the charred trees will remain, but new growth is seen.

Thank you, in advance!  Please do leave a comment!  I'm feeling very lonely...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0NmvzOea84

Birds and hawks~Nature Notes~October 19, 2017

I sit at my laptop for quiet a while each day and I look out into our front yard.  Hubby and the gardeners set up the large fountain right outside my office/craft room window so I can enjoy all the birds who now come there to drink.  I view doves, sparrows, finches, and even a Cooper's hawk now and then, although they usually prefer the horse watering bowl that I have filled up with water by the sumac. Little verdin have returned to the valley and they feast all day on the niger seed. I also have some hanging feeders for the finches and there are flowering plants for the hummingbirds.  I love to watch the doves drink.  They are so messy!  They drip water everywhere and seem to be quite carefree with their drinking habits!

In the back yard, I have hanging feeders and water dripping into a bird bath.  Birds seem to LOVE the sound of dripping water and it attracts them.  This morning I watched a hummingbird taking his bath:  splish, splash, wiggle, jiggle...such ENJOYMENT!

Life is slower now that I have retired and I try to enjoy each morning for what it is.  Yesterday it was the sunrise.  Today it was the hummingbird taking an early morning bath.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

~Cheryl Ann~

To visit Nature Notes, please go to this link:    https://ramblingwoods.com/

A sad end to the missing hikers story, but closure for their families

I have a couple of sad stories today...

First, the young couple that went missing from Joshua Tree National Park have been found, their bodies in an embrace, not far from the trail that they were on.  The young man's father has been out every weekend for 3 months assisting searchers and looking for his son.  At least now the family has some closure.  They were both only 20 years old.  I remember that a couple of days after they went missing, the park got a lot of rainfall and the search dogs couldn't find their scent.  Search parties went out for a long time after that, but the rains washed away any scent or tracks.

Here's a link to one of the stories:    http://www.kesq.com/news/female-missing-hikers-family-releases-first-public-statement/640045977

The second story involves a young man who was a student of mine...let's see..29 years ago.  I remember Garrett in 4th grade...small, skinny, lithe, with a smile that lit up his whole face.  We called him, "Taco" back then.  His sister, who is 2 years older than him, often came into my room and I had to shoo her out!  He was a friendly, outgoing boy then and when he grew up, he started his own trucking business and moved out of the valley to Missouri.  When the California fires started, Garrett was involved as a firefighter.  He was always looking for ways to help people.

Unfortunately, he was driving a water truck at 7 a.m. one morning, assisting with the firefighting efforts,  and it overturned on the Oakville Grade (a HORRIBLE, winding road), and was killed. Once I saw his name on the Facebook story, I broke into tears.  This was a decent, honorable young man who was assisting the firefighting effort.  I ran into Garrett a couple of times because his godmother was boarding my horse at that time.  He was a fine young man.

Here is his story on the local news:     http://www.kesq.com/news/firefighter-originally-from-mecca-dies-in-wine-country-fires/639920253

We had an absolutely beautiful, gorgeous, bright sunrise this morning and I would like to think this was Garrett shining down from the heavens.  RIP young man.  Why do the good die so young?

So, it is with a heavy heart that I begin this day...
Take care and give your loved ones a hug today.
~Cheryl Ann~

I FINALLY got a day off! Yahooie!

Well, I FINALLY got a day off!  I counted back and I have either been babysitting, running up to the horses, or driving to Temecula for a baseball game now for 6 days straight.  PHEW!

I'm going to clean up my craft room/sewing room/office this morning.  I BARELY have room to sit down at my laptop!  I've been throwing stuff in here for 2 weeks!!!!!  NO PHOTOS...I'm sure you would faint from the MESS!

I went out and cleaned out and then refilled all my hummingbird feeders this morning.  Let's see...I have 8 of them!  Little buggers didn't have any fresh food and that isn't good for them.  I scrubbed them ALL with soap, rinsed them, and added fresh sugar water. The little guys sure are BUSY! 

I need to still go out and add water to the fountain out front and to the bird bowls.  We have a Cooper's hawk that now enjoys coming every morning, soaking his/her feet, and having a nice look around.  I didn't realize how far they can swivel their head!  Amazing!!!

Anyway, while of course I dearly LOVE the grandchildren, I DO need a break every now and then!  I have a 2 day break, then back to babysitting.  Ugh.  One of our local libraries is having its annual BOOK SALE tomorrow morning, and I'm GOING!  Come ____ or high water!!!!

Here are some pics of the little monsters:

 Helping mommie put the tomatoes in the bowl.  No, she did NOT have that knife!

 Wearing his mac & cheese, I see!

This kid CLIMBS everywhere!  Last night he climbed up onto one of the bar stool chairs, opened up his mother's laptop, and started banging on it!  NO, NO!  You literally CANNOT take your eyes off him for a second!  I was washing dishes and to my HORROR, he had climbed up into his high chair at one point!  I guess he was hungry!  Another time he was too quiet...yup...he and the dog were sharing dog food.  Another time he closed the pantry door and was rearranging all the food items in there!  ACK!  The only time I can rest is when HE is taking a nap.  Thank goodness he still takes naps!

Reality sets in...sigh...

I read with interest Al's post today and had to reflect on our situation...

Here's the link to Al's post:   http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2017

We both retired a year ago.  We have done 2 trips since then:  One last October to the eastern Sierra Nevada and one this August to the Mogollon Rim in Arizona.  THAT'S IT.  PERIOD.

Hmmm.....

We seem to be tied down now by babysitting duties.  We have 5 grandkids:  our daughter has a 4 year old and an 18 month old.  Our son has an 8 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby.  So, Saturdays we either go to the 4 year old's soccer games or the 8 year old's baseball games (evening).  PLUS, if our daughter's kids get sick (like that past week), WE have to babysit them.  I am now fighting something in my head and chest, thanks to the little man!!!

I'm only 65.  Hubby is 67.  However, I've had pneumonia...let's see... 5x.  I had it 3x one school year, and then twice after that.  My lungs are SHOT.  I used to get bronchitis each year after the pneumonia.  I haven't had it yet this fall and next week we will get our flu shots.

I'm not complaining.  Frankly, I enjoy staying home and working on my journals.  I hardly ever take photos anymore.  MAYBE next week we can get to Oak Glen or the Whitewater Preserve...???

How are you doing?
~Cheryl Ann~

Family FUN at the Living Desert Reserve

I met our daughter and her family in the parking lot this morning at 8:30.  Can you believe it...they forgot their stroller?  Not to worry, you can donate money and borrow one from the Living Desert, so they did.  It was a nice one.  Little Man could sit in it with his little legs out and see everything.  Of course, he spent most of the morning crawling in and out of it and at one point, he sat on the cement by the zebras and got out his water bottle for a drink!  It was either we met this morning or they wouldn't be able to meet for some weeks, so off I went.  Hubby stayed home because he just awoke a few minutes before I was supposed to leave.  We all had FUN and the young ones were EXHAUSTED!

Who says I can't WEAR THEM OUT?

 Father and son...

 The kids got to see ALL 5 giraffes this morning!

 Learning which is the correct way to sit in the stroller!

 Trying to get on the warthog sculpture...He finally made it!

 Mother and daughter...

 I told you he got thirsty and... TIRED!  He fell asleep as soon as his parents put him in his car seat for the drive home to Indio.

Bye, bye!

A good time was had by all!   :-)  And, we ran into our son's best friend there with his son, who is about the same size as our granddaughter!  They apparently come every Sunday morning, so I guess I'll start walking up there on Sunday mornings so I can run into Aaron and Levi again!

More Arizona photos

More photos from last August that I just uploaded:

 Looking west from the Mogollon Rim, which is on top of the mountains.

See...lots of standing water!

Pictures from Arizona

I finally got around to uploading the photos on my camera and there were 219 of them, including some from our trip to the Mogollon Rim this summer.  FINALLY!  I went with our daughter and her family to the Living Desert Reserve today and took my camera along, so I had a ton of photos from that visit!

I've been TRYING to get a decent photo of a logging truck FOR YEARS and finally, upon spotting one at the General Crook overlook, I handed my camera to hubby and told him to "go for it".  The results are here, along with some other photos from the Rim.  There had been so much water up there that it was standing in the meadows!  Amazing!  From drought to deluge in a year!

 Logging truck, Mogollon Rim.

 Woods Canyon Lake, one of our FAVORITE places in Arizona!