Winter Wonderland Part 3

I left Temecula about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.   I knew a lot of the snow would have melted and today we seem to be having a Santa Ana wind condition, so I imagine by the end of today, most of the snow at the lower elevations will be GONE!!!!!

These are photos of my trip home to the desert:

 Near Aguanda...Highway 371

 At Paradise Corner (Highway 74 and Highway 371)

 Across from the Paradise Corner Cafe

 I LOVE this cabin!

 More snow

 Back toward Pinyon Pines...quite a bit of the snow had already melted

A view toward the San Bernardino mountains and Big Bear from Highway 74, above Vista Point

Winter Wonderland Part 2

I knew there would be a lot more snow at the Highway 74/371 turnoff toward Anza and I was right.  The Paradise Corner Cafe is at that corner and it was packed with customers.   I continued my drive toward Anza.

 On the Indian reservation

 another view

 snow on the oak trees was falling!

 Looking down Hamilton Creek toward Anza

 From Anza, looking up toward Thomas Mountain

 The community park building

 Looking out toward the fields in Anza

Another view in Anza

A drive up into our winter wonderland! Part 1

Our son's 40th birthday was Saturday, so Friday I drove up and through our local Santa Rosa mountains to visit him and his family in Temecula.   It was a gorgeous drive the day after a huge storm dumped snow above 4,000 feet in our local mountains.   There was snow from Pinyon Pines through the west side of Anza.   The Anza valley was completely covered with it.   I stopped at a turnout on the Indian reservation area, where there is an oak forest, and when I exited the car, I could hear snow falling from the oak trees!   I even got hit a couple of times by falling snow!   It was amazing!   And, yes, hubby's car even skidded a few times in the shady areas, even though I was driving very slowly and carefully.   We had a good visit and I'll do another post about Temecula Creek later.   Here are the snow photos:

 Looking down from Vista Point, Highway 74 across to Joshua Tree National Park and its fresh snow.

 Another view.

 Mt. San Jacinto in all her glory.

 Looking up at Santa Rosa peak from Pinyon Pines

 A view from the entrance to the pinyon Flat campground toward the San Jacinto mountains

 San Jacinto mountains

 another view

Another view from Pinyon

The 3 year old told Nana to GO HOME!

Last night I "got" to babysit the 2 grandkids of our daughter.   The girl is 6 and her BROBBER (as she calls him) is 3.   The six year old (first grader) was a delight.   Her brother...NOT SO MUCH.

He got out a puzzle and emptied it all over their floor.   When I asked him to pick up the pieces, he turned to me and said, "YOU DO IT!"    Excuse me?   I put him in the TIME OUT CHAIR.   He got up.   I added another 3 minutes.   He got up AGAIN.   Ellie, the 6 year old, rolled her eyes and said, "He does that to daddy ALL THE TIME."   So, I set the Alexa timer for ANOTHER 3 minutes (twice) and finally yelled at him, "IF you get up again, I'm going to spank you!"   (I was that close to spanking him, yes, I was!)  (I didn't...I don't spank either one of them).  Defiance at age 3!   CAN you BELIEVE IT?   Then he turned to me and said, "When are YOU going to go home?"   (He is already QUITE the little thinker!!!!!  AND STINKER!)

I had to go sit down at the table.   Now, mind you, these are my 2 closest grandkids.   They live 11 miles away.   I pick each one of them up after school or day care 1 day a week (each).   They constantly see me. I take them for treats.   I take them to the library.   I take them to the nursery to see the plants.

It was a difficult evening.

I fed them dinner and he was much better after that.   The six year old went in her room and we all gathered on her bed and watched 3 of the Elf movies (Elf on the Shelf or whatever...).   He calmed down and curled up on the bed and was the delightful little critter that I knew he COULD be....FINALLY!   However, it WAS a long evening.   Thank goodness hubby had dinner waiting and a bottle of wine!   The little stinker did hug me when I left, apparently over his temporary hatred of Nana.

On a positive note, my sweet peas and sugar snap peas have sprouted!   YAY!   I'm doing the happy dance!   And, I have California poppies coming up out front!   And sunflowers and hollyhocks in the front and back yard!

Times are changing and I guess I'm stuck in the past

Our daughter thinks I'm crazy.   I still have a check book and I still mail out my bills.   She, of course, does everything online.   I know it saves time and a trip to the post office, but, you know, I kinda enjoy going to the post office in the next town.   It is right on the way to their library.   Hobby Lobby is also on the way, so I do occasionally make a slight detour (or rather, my car does!).   What's the line from Skyfall?   "Sometimes the old ways are best".

There are a LOT of "old ways" I want to teach the grandchildren.   For example, yesterday I had to pick up the now BIG first grade granddaughter, since every Wednesday her school gets out 2 hours early so that the teachers can meet together and plan.   So, Wednesday afternoons are our time together.   We went to that library and checked out 14 books (and a book bag).   She's never read, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"!!!!!    SAY WHAT?    EVERY first grader has to read that book!   She hasn't read the Frog and Toad series, so I checked out one of those books for her.   SHE picked out "The Gingerbread Pirates" and something about a Christmas goose (not cooked, thank goodness!)

We then went and sat at the Aspen Mills little cafe (very tiny) in the building and split a chocolate chip muffin.   That's part of our Wednesday routine.   They usually have chocolate chip cookies, but were all sold out by the time we got there yesterday.

She told me she is growing radish seeds for her science class (they switch teachers for this), so I asked her if she had ever been to Lowe's (it is on the way to her house) and she said "NO", so we stopped there.   they had their Christmas tree lot already going and...SIT DOWN!    This kid has NEVER seen a live Christmas tree or smelled one!   So, we went inside the lot, touched them, and smelled them.  .... (shaking head...)   They have a fake one that they put up every year...

I'm going to teach her how to sew and how to grow things in the garden.  And, maybe how to put a stamp on a letter.  I want Papa to teach the grandkids how to use a bow and arrow because he did that in college and he's very good at it.

What about you?   What are you teaching your grandkids?

Rain and RAIN and now weeds everywhere

We had 2 days of rain last week, which I am thankful for, but now the WEEDS are thriving!   They are... EVERYWHERE! 

My front garden does have some California poppies coming up and some herbs.   I threw out seeds of chamomile, sage, lavender, and I forget what else.   Guess I'll have to wait until Spring to figure out what they are!   I knew the rain was coming, so I ran out and sowed them in the ground.   I still have cosmos and marigolds, which are thriving!   I also have some sunflowers coming up.    Our son and his family stopped by Sunday to visit her parents in the next town, so the kiddos got to see "Nana's Garden".

I planted sweet peas out back along the chain link fence that bisects the yard and I planted sugar snap peas along the neighbor's fence, but they haven't sprouted yet.   It seems to take them about 10 days AND RAIN to sprout.   I went out yesterday and watered everything, since it has been a few days since our last rainfall and we have none in the forecast for the next 10 days.   I don't want my seeds to dry out, for sure!

Here are some photos from the front garden:

Yes, I have bees!    So happy to see them!!!

I'm getting ready for the coming storm!

We have a 3 day storm event coming our way this week, starting Wednesday, so I've been busy scampering out front and back madly planting flower seeds.   I also planted my herbal seeds:   rosemary, sage, chamomile, and a couple others.    Next to the mail box, where I had my hollyhocks last year, I planted California poppies, lupine, and larkspur.   I've been selectively planting hollyhocks all around the front yard (since I have a whole bucket full of seeds!), so by next spring, the front yard and back will be FULL of flowers for the birds and bees.   I noticed last spring that the bees especially enjoyed the hollyhocks!

So, yes, I've been busy!   I also completed 2 more journals, sold one, and the other one I just listed in my ETSY shop:     https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more

So, everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!   Do take care if you are driving.

~~Cheryl Ann~~

Random photos from my visit to the horses 2 weeks ago: